darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. I used to jump a top secret. Wish I had a photo of it. I don't think they were TSO'd though, so it would be tough to jump it these days. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. It looks like a Viking to me too. Can't see in the photo, but didn't Vikings have round ports in the bottom skin? Instead of the rectangles in a cloud? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. Most skydivers are quite different from what most non-skydivers think they are. Lots of regular people skydive. Try it, then you'll know. In general people are not good predictors of whether or not they will take to skydiving until they try it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. This sort of thing has been happening since the dawn of skydiving time. "accidental" low pulls are part of the landscape. In the old days, this would have been four guys grounded for pulling low. It seems that they realized what was going on, just later than they should have. Don't think that I am making less of it than it was. I'd have reamed and grounded them too, and did in the old days when I was in a position to do so. This turned out OK. Several people got a good lesson out of it, and nobody died, and there is a good story to tell. These things have happened before and will happen again, even to experienced, current skydivers. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. What airspeed at exit? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. There are plenty of people who have 9-5 jobs and can make 500 jumps in a year, so you can definitely be in the high end of activity levels. You can compete with everyone but the best open-level pro competitors. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. If they are cascaded (as most are), they most certainly do not HAVE to be destroyed in the removal process, but it takes a lot more time (thus money) to remove them that way. Talk to your rigger if you think you want to save them. As a rigger I'd say it would be pretty unusual for it to be worth the hassle of saving a set, but I suppose it is possible that it would be worth it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. I have know a few skydiving cops. They are just people, and skydivers. They fit in just fine. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. The quick answer, than I will state more forcefully than comes through in the above linked thread is "don't do it". You can replace stuff that is worn, but don't dye any part of your harness and container system. Most riggers won't pack it if you do. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. Video isn't the point, skydiving is. Just jump. Get some video when you can. Don't worry. A long time ago I was on a good team that jumped C-182 all the time. We did OK, for the time. Had fun too. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. In my experience you are much better off in the long run just trying to launch everything. That is part of the fun, and you will learn more. Hopefully you will laugh more. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. I used to own an Infinity I-45 with a Spectre 190. I think the dacron version would fit, although somewhat snugly. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. Lots of gas stations do the same thing these days. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. Yup, that's it all right. It is more symmetrical than most. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. As someone who has gone through a long layoff, I can relate. Tell him to go to the DZ and talk to the folks there. Take his logbooks with him. I think he will be REALLY happy he came back. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. I packed a pod many times long ago, but I don't have any instructions. It simply boiled down to a series of neat folds. The only hard part was keeping the stabilizers neat when folding them. It isn't a hard thing to pack though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. [reply... Also recall that the Swift system was the official rig of the US Team (Mirror Image and US Army) at the 1981 World Meet at Z-Hills. The Swift reserve was the official reserve of the US Team in 1979 at the World Meet in Chateauroux, France. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. Just a thought, but maybe your hand placement on the risers caused the problem? Since they are shorter riser, I'd wager that you grip them the same height from your shoulders, which would mean a different place with respect to the toggles than your longer risers. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. In 30 years you will wish you had written more, however much you write now. I am a religious logger, and have been since the beginning, and I still wish I had more details, especially who I jumped with, but it would also be nice to have the N-number of the airplanes, so I could see where those planes are now. Google is your friend. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. Just a warning. Great historical stuff, but the video includes actual bounces. The base jump at about 2 minutes looked like it hurt. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. Dang, Bill Ottley was NEVER that young. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. Road rash on body parts that are usually protected by the jumpsuit. Don't forget to leave your wallet and keys and cell phone on the ground. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. I'm 35 years into it, and it hasn't stopped yet. Even in multi-year layoffs. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. Hey Woody, how about a bigger image? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. Good. Now you have enough information to make it worth your time to contact the manufacturer. -- Jeff My Skydiving History