riddler

Relaxing solves 90% of my problems too. But I also had a Pringles Problem while tracking, and got the best advice from a tandem guy in California City. He said most of the time it's a problem with legs not being extended enough. He said to push both legs down three times - think, one, two, three, as you are extending your legs further each time. I did this and it worked. No more tracking problems. This might work for you. I had problems with legs during AFF (honestly, I still do), so I think it was related. If you've had leg problems, it might be the answer for you. Cheers to Soko in Cal City for the good advice. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think it hurts to turn it on before free-fall, but I don't think it helps either, other than to make sure you don't forget. I think it was just this year or last that they changed the SIM to say it only needs to be on under canopy. I know it used to be required to have it on for the whole skydive, but I'm pretty sure that's been changed recently. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sorry - should have clarified - the strobe is pointed down. If you point it up, you will get blinded. Thanks for the tip. Some people do attach to legs or ankles, and no on ecomplains about that. The advantage of everyone doing it the same way is that you know if people are coming toward you or going away. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've only done three night jumps, so I'm no expert, but I can tell you how we do it at my home DZ (which is the most safety-conscious DZ I've been to). 1. Make sure full moon, minimal weather, and really pay attention to those uppers! I got blown backwards under canopy nearly a mile on one jump, since the wind seems to pick up at night around here. 2. If you normally make one pass, make two passes with the plane to give people more spread. 3. First-time night jumpers go solo. 4. Line up the jumpers and make sure they deploy in 500 foot increments - first at 2,500, second at 3,000, third at 3,500, etc. 5. Everyone has a glowstick on altimiter or helmet to see altitude. Everyone has a strobe light attached to chest strap that gets turned on immediately after deployment. You won't see anyone else when you're under canopy, unless you're lucky. But if you see another strobe, that would be a skydiver under canopy coming toward you. Do not turn on the strobe inside the plane, and cover your glowsticks, with the interior lights off. This will let jumper's eyes adjust in the dark on the way up to altitude. 6. Slow turns under canopy - no spinning or riser dives. You want to maintain vertical separation as much as possible. 7. Line up automobiles in a row near target with all headlights pointed up-wind. Jumpers make final approach OVER cars and land in area lighted up by headlights. No swooping between cars, since ground observers seem to like to stand there 8. You may see your shadow right as you are touching down. It will look like another jumper that is beside you and angling in to crash with you. Trust me - this happened to me on my first night jump. It's the first thing you really see since opening up, and it does look three-dimensional. Do not turn. You will turn right into the ground and feel stupid for running from your shadow. I did this and I still feel stupid. 9. After you land, look up for other strobe lights coming down, since jumpers might not be able to see you on the ground. 10. If you can, take a cell phone or radio and call the DZ if you land off. 11. You may not be able to see trees in the dark until it's too late, so everyone should already have jumped in the DZ during daylight and know where the trees are. These are the rules for night jumps at my DZ. I don't make the rules, but we've not had any major accidents on night jumps, so I think they work well. Also, it's not a rule, but most of us attach a glowstick to a riser in case we have to cut away the main. It's easier to find in the dark if there's a glowstick on it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This may be a good time to point out that training for up-jumpers might need to be different than for students. We constantly train ourselves - touch handles, visuals proceedures, et al. I was taught immediate cutaway and reserve pull too, and I think that's great for AFF students. But there are reasons why a lot of jumpers prefer not to have RSL - they want control between cutaway and reserve deployment. It seems from talking to lots of people with more experience than myself that the highest percentage of reserve mals have to do with not being stable before reserve deployment. Experienced jumpers usually have enough altitude awareness to know if they have time to get stable between cutaway and reserve pull (which may be moot in the face of the adrenaline rush :-). Maybe the training should be more like this: AFF, low time jumpers or anyone with RSL - immediate cutaway and reserve pull. Experienced jumpers with no RSL - cutaway, get stable if above 1,500 (or some such number), then reserve pull. Just an idea - I won't take your flames to heart :-) Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Same thing happened to me - jump #46. Sit flying with a friend and the loose spandex on BOC allowed the pilot chute to come out. Luckily, it went behind me and resulted in a premature deployment at 7,000 feet. That's what I get for sit-flying rental gear!! BTW - this was a good excuse to buy my own rig. That rental gear is dangerous! I currently have a vector 2 and have had it modified with velcro on the two inches where the bridle is exposed between BOC and closing flap. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was always taught to turn cypress on while it's pointing away from me - not in case of a misfire - but while it's self-testing, I check the reserve pull cable can slide through the steel casing (occaisionally small rocks get up there and jam the cable from sliding through smoothly). Extremely unlikely (IMO) that a cypress would go off, but even less likely that a reserve deployment in your face on the ground would kill you. Sting yes, but the spring isn't all THAT powerful. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Brush, Colorado - $20 to 13,500 Longmont, Colorado - $20 to 12,500 Calhan, Colorado - $19 to 11,000 I believe rental is $25 at all DZs as well. I need to live in a cheaper state. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Every DZ has to have one. It's tradition. I went to a new DZ today after my home DZ's King Air lost an engine. Had a good time there. They warned about McNasty. There I was! Third jump! Sunset load! Winds were strong below 700 feet and I turned upwind 100 feet behind the peas and got blown backwards over 100 yards. After crashing landing backwards with no jumpsuit (a few scrapes and a banged knee that's still swollen), McNasty rides out on hs ATV to the three of us that landed on his property. After thouroghly yelling at each of us individually, he drives to the next person. I was last in line to hear about how sick he is of skydivers. Then I asked him for a ride back. He wasn't too happy about that ;-) Anyway, one of my jump buddies points out that maybe if a skydiver gets hurt landing on farmer's property, they could sue the farmer for damage, and that's one reason farmers hate us. Most home and farm property insurance has clauses for third-party accidents, so it seems like it could happen. Anyone a lawyer here that could give us an idea of this is possible? We all sign waivers for our DZ, but I don't think that would apply outside the airport. Anyone heard of any case like this? It seems like it would be hard to win, but we've all heard of more frivolous lawsuits. Also, I'm trying to figure out the legality of landing on someone else's property. One of my friends that's a hot-air balloon pilot told me that in an aerial emergency, a balloon can legally land on private property in the interest of safety, and I wonder if that's true, it may also apply to skydivers. I'm only curious because McNasty sometimes brings out a shotgun with him and I wonder if someone "accidently" gets shot what the liability of that would be. Here in Colorado we have the infamous "make my day" law, where you can legally kill someone that is on your property and threatens your life. Obviously that wouldn't apply to most skydivers, but when you live in a state that seems to pride itself on it's wild-west mentality, you have to wonder if your life's at risk. Can't we all just get along? So if anyone has any idea, and if we could try to avoid rumor and speculation, I would love to hear your input. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD