obelixtim

A couple of quotes I found that address some points. Its about to start raining, their cavern may quickly fill with water. There are no known "lower caves" they can drill into, even if they could get a drill in there to their location. Remember the narrowest point on the way in is just 70 cm wide, under water, a diver can't get through there without taking his tanks off. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Best I can think of is to drill a shaft down from the ground, if they can figure out the location of the trapped kids, and not come down right on top of them. I think they are 800 - 1000 metres below the surface. The Chilean miners were trapped for 60 odd days before they were able to drill a shaft down to them. The technical problems and time constraints make that an impossibility. They have very few options. I think this will end very badly. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

When you change a tyre, its easy to put a dollop of grease on the threads. Then you won't be fighting to get the lug nuts off. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

WTF is that supposed to mean? Do you think that this is some sort of joke? My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

They are more than 4 kms inside the cave. It took 6 hours to reach them. One section is 750 metres of flooded tunnel where you can only get through some parts by crawling on your belly. This bit took the experienced divers 3 hours to negotiate. 99% of experienced divers would not be able to manage this. These kids are weak and stressed. They can't even swim and are afraid of the water. Trying to get them out with scuba gear will kill them. With monsoon rain on the way till October, their outlook is grim, to say the least. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Kudos to those cave divers. You'd have to have balls of steel to do that. Made of special stuff those guys. Makes skydiving, and the dangers associated with it, look like a Sunday school picnic. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Gives you something to chew on when you are stuck up a tree waiting for rescue. Could be dangerous if you choke on one. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Best you hand in your man card.... Some things are worth it. Ah....Miss Whiplash. Now I understand. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Best you hand in your man card.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Not Marty Feldman. Monty Python sketch. Four Yorkshiremen. You'll find it on You Tube. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I'd forgotten about frap wraps, but the R2s and R3s were the bees knees. Couldn't think of a better system than that, then Booth came up with the 3 ring circus and that just killed the others stone dead. And time has proven the genius of his design. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Just be aware, that on the road, everyone is your enemy. Be very visible, and trust no other vehicle or driver. They all want to kill you. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

We seem to be going round in circles here. A licence is a Certificate of Proficiency and can not be revoked. The Articles of Association state, but as I very much doubt he is a current member Council would be unable to do anything until he reapplied for membership (at which time he would have served his time, albeit remaining on licence for the rest of his life). There have been bans in the past, in relation to fixed-object jumping fatalities but they turned out not to be lifetime (I'm confused as to whether that was the intention or not), but there were threats of lifetime bans if BPA Members were found to be BASE jumping afterwards. The BPA Operations Manual later changed to state that Fixed Object jumping did not come within the provisions of the Operations Manual in order to distance itself. So here's an interesting question; has it actually been prejudicial to the Association? Would people think less of the sport and the association because of the actions of a criminal? Or do they think it is the act of a psychopath who could have used a number of methods to carry out his crime? If he'd tampered with the brakes of the car would it be prejudicial to the manufacturer of the car? I suspect it is all moot as I too doubt he would ever visit a dropzone ever again. I think it would reinforce the perception amongst the great unwashed that skydiving is an incredibly dangerous activity, and so it could be argued to have damaged the sport. Although it would be unlikely to change the minds of those so prejudiced anyway. But it is bad PR, especially for those making a living from skydiving. I've spent a lot of time over the years educating the public about skydiving, so anything that reinforces an opposite view is a negative, in my mind anyway. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

He's damaged the image of skydiving and brought the sport into disrepute because of his actions. For those reasons alone, I would think the BPA could pass a motion to ban him for life, at an AGM. I would hope someone brings such a motion to an AGM, regardless. I don't think anyone would regard that as unconstitutional or unfair. I doubt he would have the balls to show his face on a DZ ever again anyway. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

His licence would be invalid after 18 years anyway. And he won't be forgotten. But it would be an appropriate gesture from the BPA anyway, to demonstrate skydivers revulsion and contempt for his actions, and to show the public how we view him. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

No. One second can be the difference between life and death. There is a reason EPs are taught the way they are. Stick to that, it gives you your best chance of survival. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

The first Ramair jump I did was on an early Strato Star, which had the pilot chute reefing system in place, but that system didn't have a slider. Instead you had a bridle cord that consisted of 20 odd feet of rope that went down through the canopy and through rings around the bottom of the canopy. It worked fine, but was made redundant when the slider came out. I remember hearing about the Volplane, which apparently had some sort of hydraulic system which you could apparently set for terminal/sub terminal jumps, but I know nothing about how it worked. I saw one jumped once, as I recall. It was owned by an old guy who was a physics professor, so maybe the hydraulic system was his own invention. I can't imagine how it would work. People were messing around with the early squares at that stage. Apparently the Volplane had the performance of a cheapo. Maybe an older fart than me can elaborate on that. ETA: Just found something about them on this very site...so the reefing system came out with the canopy. Maybe we could begin by looking back to help sort out the future. The Delta 2 OSI system is another. Modern versions could be a starting point. http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/Skydiving_History_%26_Trivia_F21/Volplane_Hydraulic_Reefing_Device_P4582058/ My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Rubber bands on the tail to hold excess brake line and slider is nothing new. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

We had one, the container was painted yellow. The lines were fully stowed in bands, because part of the reserve drill was to throw the canopy, then pull the lines out of the stows and feed them out. Where the canopy was "S" folded into the container, the deployments were messy, because once the container was opened, often the canopy would just fall out in a big mess. To alleviate that, we roll packed the canopy, just rolling it up from the apex like a toilet roll. You had a much firmer grasp on the canopy, and it deployed in a much more orderly manner. (Easier to repack too) I was glad we switched to cutaways with pilot shot reserves. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

On 3 separate counts, enough to establish that the incidents were more than coincidence....blood on the gas valve pretty damning. How he thought messing with a parachute would escape detection show him as not being very smart. Sabotage of a parachute is a dog act, and the sentence should reflect that. Our sport relies heavily on trust. His shenanigans with his ex wife and girlfriend while still married paint him as rather an unpleasant person with low morals. Glad it was resolved finally. Did they give a date for sentencing? My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Awesome work Gabe. Did IFLY give you any logical reason for their decision making? It seems odd that: a: They would turn down business. b: They wouldn't recognise the positive PR they would garner from participating. I've participated in a programme with an organisation called Canteen....kids (teenagers) with terminal cancer, where they had an annual week long live in camp (mainly to give caregivers a break) where volunteers gave up their time to help out (doctors, nurses etc) and the local operators donated activities for them. We gave free tandems, but they got to go jetboating, white water rafting, sea fishing, rides on Harleys (the local bikie gang chipped in with that), as well as many other activities. The local service clubs (Rotary, Lions etc) provided all sorts of help and organising, and basically the whole community got involved. Those kids had a ball, but I think all of us got much more out of it. Money can't buy that kind of experience. Sadly very few of those kids were seen at the next years camp.....which was sad. Not a good look for IFLY, especially in todays world of social media. I'd like to hear their reasoning.... My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

Fear is normal. What you are experiencing at this point is fear of the unknown. However, once you have been through the training you will understand a lot more on how the equipment works, and how to deal with problems. Knowledge dispels fear. What you learn will better prepare you for the jump, and while it won't dispel the fear totally, it will reduce it to manageable levels. If you are not ready to jump, your instructors won't let you get into the plane. Even in the plane, no one will force you out the door at the point of a gun. Jumping is voluntary. Every skydiver in the world has experienced pre first jump nerves. Just go for it! My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I've been considering intentionally packing myself a toggle fire (on a dedicated jump with nothing else going on, of course). Has anyone tried this? Will I regret it deeply? Under test conditions, with experience, yes. For you, bad idea. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

I've watched those, as well as the Australian Parachute Association videos. They only cover serious malfunctions, and not common "opening mishaps" like this, with the exception of line twists, which were easy the first time I encountered them. This time the canopy failed the first visual check; it wasn't there (*points up*), it was _there_ (*points forward*). Intellectually, sat on the ground, it's obvious, but on this first time it happened to me, I just couldn't see what was wrong; the canopy was mostly inflated, riser input did nothing, it sped up in very short order, and my reaction was more instinctual than logical. I think this is probably something of a gap in training: not really a malfunction, but surprising enough to be tricky to deal with. The only videos of toggle fire I can find through Google are cases where the human was smart enough to pop both and get it under control; am I the only one who has ever chosen to cut away in this scenario? You won't be the first or last to chop this. Don't beat yourself up over it. Move on. You are better prepared for next time. That's a positive. Be very aware, simple problems can get you just as dead as major ones. In fact, IMO, simple problems are the ones most likely to nail you. Major mals, no problem, easy decision, go straight to EPs. Minor problems tend to make people indecisive, and while that goes down, a minor problem can very quickly turn nasty. Canopies spinning up can create a whole new set of problems, not the least of which is eating up altitude. It doesn't matter what is causing the problem, the important thing is decision making. Not a good idea to spend the rest of your life wondering. Don't waste precious time and altitude trying to figure something out. If you have a set procedure ingrained, (as you should) have one quick go at solving the problem, but be ready to go to EPs at once if there is no result. Its difficult to have a solution practised for every scenario though, so keeping it simple is the best move. Canopy good? or bad? Make a decision and stick to it. Tried and true. I had a very lucky escape when I tried some in air rigging on a simple problem one time. And I was experienced enough at the time to have known better. Stupidity overruled good procedure, and I benefited from some good, rather than bad luck. But the reaper lurks for us all. My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....