kimemerson

Members
  • Content

    657
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by kimemerson

  1. As a Ranch Hand, I knew Max from his days with us. Of the many fond memories of Max, one that tickled me quite a bit was when his Doc told him he would have to stop skydiving because of his hip. So he bought a Sabre instead. They had just come out and he figured they would land him better anyway, so he simply made it a point to land in the peas (every single time!) on his ass. Showed that doctor! Max shot up in my esteem with that one act. Thanks for the post, TK.
  2. ...and most of you didn't even know it ever existed. https://www.facebook.com/RanchFilmFestival2016
  3. The general concept of S turns can be practiced higher up, where it doesn't make a difference. 180° toggle & riser turns are part of the A license proficiency card. And it isn't like proximity to the ground drastically changes the general concept. Learning how to do S turns is not much more than learning how to turn. It's elementary FJC stuff. As for being terrified of brake turns or approaches, all I can say is I'm sorry. I'm more terrified of landing in the river, tree, building, plane, road, oncoming bus... Because the technique is a known. We're not asking anyone to try anything that has not been proven. And as it is a preferred method over S turns or sashaying on final, the choice is clear: Lose the terror or work through it. That or go away. Even student canopies can be slowed down and the glide ratio shortened. I agree that deeper brakes or a wrap or two would be even better. But they can still be slowed. Full flight or S turns are not the only options just because it's a Manta or Navigator. Aside from students themselves it is also a matter of teaching future habits for when they become licensed and stop jumping student canopies.
  4. Please stop teaching S turns for final. They are not anything an experienced skydiver should be doing so it makes sense to not teach them. They are dangerous because of their unpredictability to anyone else attempting to negotiate their own landing. They teach, by sanctioning, unsafe behavior. S turns are an asset only when landing off or if no one else is in the air at the time. I teach braked approaches to avoid landing long. I also stress a good set-up and early planning: Figuring it out before the downwind leg even begins. There's just no logical reason for even introducing S turns for final. It should be taught only as a dire emergency situation (if landing at the DZ with others) and not as a viable landing approach. If - IF - one is to do an S turn approach on final it must be pointed out that that alone indicates an initial fuck-up and that fuck up needs to be addressed too. If a student must do an S turn on final it should be made clear that that damn well ought to be the last time they do, and appropriate re-training or review should begin as soon as possible.
  5. It was 300' according to the experienced witnesses, as well as according to the skydiver himself. Even taking into consideration that it's still only an estimate, we can't find anyone who would agree it was closer to 400' than it was to 300'. The canopy was a Sabre 135 (or 150. I can't remember). He spent about three days in the hospital and walked out. He was banged up and a little broken. But no where near what we would have expected. He earned a reputation as a dead-man-walking for a while and caused the facetious among us to wonder just what it is you have to do to die if you can deploy a main at 300' and be back jumping before season's end. For the benefit of anyone who has not already done so or who does not know this video's notoriety, half the story is told in the shadow. Watch the shadow.
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twG6dKmxacQ Deployed main at approx. 300' AGL. Didn't walk away from it but he lived.
  7. Full load, full altitude sunset hop and pop.
  8. When I sold some gear on DZ.com it was advertised world-wide. Which meant that while it was winter here it wasn't winter everywhere. And I was not in a great rush for the sale or the money. So I could ask my price and get it. Much depends on what you're selling too. PD reserves sell nicely. Anytime. So, no,prices do not have to come down in the winter. I don't think season has any affect anymore but that's because we can now advertise globally. And there are more DZs open in warmer places in the US that operate year round, as though they are not affected by seasons. So, if you're selling, you can probably hold a firm price without going too low. You'd have to drop a bit below new and have an attractive used price to get people to consider used. It seems only newbies really consider used gear at all. So you'd have to have a good price to make someone want the used gear. If you're buying, I wouldn't expect much of a winter break.
  9. Back when I went through AFF at Elsinore, they showed you a video clip of what each level was supposed to look like. For AFF 7, they had a guy jump out in a sit, which he held for several seconds, before transitioning to his belly. When I was going over the diveflow with my instructor, he told me there was no way I was going to be able to hold a sit, and the point was to have me tumble and then recover. I remember secretly thinking I had a chance of pulling it off --- it didn't look that hard, the guy just jumped out, put himself in a sitting position, and had his arms out. Needless to say, I tumbled almost immediately, but then went into a stable, belly-to-earth arch. Which sounds like what I was saying about why I don't really teach the flips or for that matter a decent diving exit. I let the student flail and get on their backs. So using a sit-fly exit is an ideal way to see a student get on their backs (I hesitate to use the term "unstable" because I've seen hundreds of very stable skydives in any configuration. Unstable has no relation to body position so much as it has to do with how that position is handled). So I like this, using a sit-fly exit in AFF, knowing it'll never succeed... unless it does. It just isn't an official USPA teaching method. But it's beautiful now that I understand what we've been talking about. I may try it with a student myself one day. Hmmmm.... got me thinking.....
  10. Sit flying? In AFF? Must be new. The whole presumed point of these (flips or barrel rolls) is to see if you can handle leaving the comfort of belly-to-earth and recover in order to deploy. When I teach these levels I purposely do not teach how to do a flip or a barrel roll. I teach what to do if it doesn't go well and the student ends up on their back. Because if I teach a perfect front flip, say, and the student actually pulls it off perfectly, then what, as an Instructor, have I seen that helps me evaluate the student's ability to get off their back? Nothing. And once you have done one or two, even imperfect ones, you'll love them and learn that it's nothing to worry about, but is actually just more fun to have.
  11. Dead. Dead is too old. I disagree!! After I die, throw my ass out one more time. I won't mind.... really! Hell, it could even be a naked jump without a rig. Ok, but how much learning do you figure on getting in post death? That's the question I was answering.
  12. Dead is not too old to skydive. It's too old to LEARN to skydive.
  13. Never owned one. Wouldn't make a difference in my life.
  14. I know more than one skydiver - ex-skydiver- who did exactly that. How do you go from skydiving to golf? That's like after dating, living with, sleeping with the most beautiful, intelligent, funny, loving, caring woman in the world you decide to give it up and go live with mom.
  15. We might be agreeing. All I mean is that a tandem can be used as a teaching tool. But it has to be done properly to insure tat real, skydive instruction is happening. Tandem skydiving doesn't have to be nothing but a joy ride. It depends on how the DZ chooses to put it to use. That said, the TI then has to actually teach. With all that in place, it then follows that it's safe to refer to the people in front as students. I'm also saying that just the language we experienced skydiver use, even in humor, to describe those people in front can make a difference in their experience. And that by calling them anything that doesn't show some level of respect for them, fist as humans and second as people genuinely interested in checking out our sport, we are debasing ourselves regardless of whether the passenger/student ever hears it. Calling them somewhat or fully derisive names such as baggage, luggage or meat, to my eyes, shows contempt for those people and a genuine lack of professionalism. And frankly, I have no respect for anyone who does use term such as those. As for the "passenger" vs. "student" issue I just feel that by seeing them only as passengers misses an opportunity to have a student. Calling them passengers also reveals an unwillingness to be active in turning someone on to the thing we love and instead assumes they are the source of a paycheck and little else. Of course that attitude is also evident when we consider that far too many TIs seem to never really get into sport jumping anymore and have allowed their work to take over their being active in a sport. They're so content with a paycheck that their rigs collect cobwebs.
  16. Exactly. And that's the bottom line. Let's not call them Tandem Instructors. call them tandem drivers instead. Same difference. If you ain't teachin' you don't deserve the "instructor" moniker. Telling them to arch is not teaching. At the Ranch the first tandem is the joy ride. The next two are intended to be instructional and the TIs are expected to teach. It's the dz and the program they use that either does or doesn't make use of the tandem as an instructional vehicle. If there's no intention to teach, say at the known "tandem factories" where they might even discourage fun jumpers, then, fine, they're paying customers on the 10 ticket ride. But if the intent is to instruct and they do indeed learn and the TIs are teaching, then what would you suggest we call them then if not students? Whether we call them students or passengers will depend on what the goal is and how the tandem is employed. Calling them baggage, luggage, meat or anything that doesn't reflect either paying customers or students is largely cynical and to some degree self centered and disrespectful. Like none of us was ever a beginner with stupid-ass questions and a head full of confusion and misunderstanding. Calling them anything even borderline derisive is sort of a denial of one's own beginnings and could be just the sort of thing a fat head would say. I don't know, is it some sort of attitude that says "I'm cooler than you because of what I do and you don't"? Telling them to arch isn't teaching unless you teach them to arch. Telling isn't teaching. Teaching is. So if a TI teaches, why can't he/she be thought of as a teacher? Seems too simple to me.
  17. Letting them identify themselves as students sets them up to believe they are considered as much. Calling someone to their face, "my student" as opposed to "my passenger" changes - or could - their perspective. It places them in a light that suggests we care about them as other than cash cows. It's perspective over truth if the truth is just that they are viewed as cash cows and nothing more. The perspective that they are students is probably a better way to build retention and a return to the sport. I mean, how many people take up bungee jumping after one trip to Great Adventure, Six Flags or some Water Park, or whatever it is? They are clearly just big kid amusement ride passengers there. We are a legit Association engaged in a real sport which is recognized by the FAI & the FAA. Showing the newbies that they are considered students has a better shot at keeping them and helping our sport than calling them anything less can do. Considering them students vs. passengers also informs the TIs attitude toward them. If you treat them as students they may respond as students and may consider furthering their education. If you consider them passengers it can be reflected in their not coming back. The choice is ours to make. If we ask why we are not able to retain students then a little self-reflection might reveal a certain disregard for the source.
  18. Hmmm... Perhaps you can tell us what it means to you. Your words are the key to unveiling the deeper meaning. Then again, some dark secrets are best left dark & secret. Did you dream I gave it back to you? Or did I keep it for myself? You tell me. It's your dream. In my dream - and in my reality - I've never lost a free bag. I've managed to keep all my handles every time too.
  19. Hmmm... Perhaps you can tell us what it means to you. Your words are the key to unveiling the deeper meaning. Then again, some dark secrets are best left dark & secret.
  20. I think this is common. The non-injurious bounce followed by the dusting off and walking away. I had mine within the first months of starting up in the sport and I've had several weird ones since. I've often wondered, Freud & Jung spoke of dream symbolism. For many, dreams of flight have a generalized significance and in some it is specific, but those people likely don't actually fly and have not experienced anything close to it. We have. So I wonder if we now bring a whole other meaning to our flight dreams that Freud & Jung could never have imagined.
  21. Yeah, that's Billy. I co-authored Skydiver's Survival Guide with Marcus Antebi, who produced Pack Like a Pro, and Billy did all our test jumping for malfunction photos.
  22. DZ kids were probably the first to get to pack. Harold Stewarts son Johnny packed for 2 10-way teams at the '74 Z-Hills Turkey meet.Para Commanders in sleeves. No malfunctions. "Professiona"l packing may have started with competition teams wanting to save time and energy. The Air Bears in '85 had Alaska Bob for a packer. He went north after they won the Nationals and didn't come back to DeLand for a while. Tommy asked if I wanted to go to the world meet in Yugoslavia. I let him know that I was no where close to Bob as a packer but they took me anyway. A great trip that led to the demo EVER. (That's another story) The next year, "86, Aziz (sp) came to DeLand and hired Tommy to coach his 4 way team. That was the beginning of professional coaching. Aziz was the only one of the four who could skydive well so Tommy built a team around him. Aziz paid for everything. Skip Kniley was the paid video man, Fang was the paid packer/rigger. This might have been the first professional team other than the Golden Knights. Billy, Rickster, Todd, and Andi were all there at the beginning and jumped on the band wagon. Other teams saw the advantages of having their own packer and it went on from there. And it was Billy Weber at DeLand who was instrumental in having jumpers set their brakes during a meet where time was an issue. Thereafter it became the norm. Yes it was Billy to start the set your brakes thing. He figured out how much time it saved overall, and how that translated into either more jumps or being done sooner. And like you say, it's just standard stuff all over now. Billy is also responsible for coining the term PRO packing. (Proper Ram-air Orientation)
  23. Yes, but....IMO... When properly done, video can be a very useful tool to aid learning. However, not just any video is good. Flying AFF video is just that...flying AFF video. This not a tandem jump where head-down "looks cool", taking hands/feet "looks cool", transitions "look cool", video flying skills "look cool", etc.. It's not a time for circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one. AFF video should be a straight up learning tool. Right side up, action side on screen, no distractions, no question of placement at student pull time. -head-down exits or flight destroys learning opportunity for exits -full-time close-up facial shots do nothing to show what is going on with the student body position etc. -close-ups distract student particularly at/near pull time -pulling early and not capturing student deployment is a missed learning opportunity -extreme awareness is needed at student pull time and instructor escape. The student just may turn in a way that will put you in an instructors escape path. I was wondering about that. The video I'd want would be an objective one where I could see what I was actually doing up there. A "look at me!" souvenir zoomed in on my head wouldn't do that.