cmchristian

Having made a number of RW skydives out of a C182 launching out of anything bigger is cake. For 2 way you can do 1 diving and 1 floating with the diver taking a chest strap or a high arm grip, or both floating and taking 1 high arm grip and rotating into each other on exit. The ways to do this out of a large aircraft are easy, but if you want to feel at home you can always try to get into the "V" of the Otter but I don't recommend it :-) Hope that helps some. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Well I'll tell you that I never had any problems with my ears but I did have some severe eye pain when I jumped with a cold. After my 2nd student jump my eye felt like someone stuck a pen in it and I could not see. What happened was that my nasal sinus unclogged and went all over my goggles blocking my vision in my right eye. On top of that I have alot of pain in my right eye. I thought my eye exploded and I was blind. Nervous I was for a bit. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Thinking back to my funniest skydiving moment I came up with an 8 way RW jump. At a drop zone where to achieve an 8 way we had to use 2 C-182s to accomplish the task. This is the way we finish our day of jumping is with a formation load. Well myself and a few other members on our plane decide to spice things up a little when we have to dive to the formation from the trail plane. So while in the plane myself and 2 other jumps strip completely down to nothing. Imagine the surprise of everyone in the formation when swooping from up above are 3 naked skydivers. It also made for an interesting landing! Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

I broke wind really bad one time and it affected everyones vision. It was really painful too Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

LittleOne, Nice story. I think everyone out there has a rather humorous off the DZ landing. While it is not considered a good thing to land off and sometimes down right dangerous, they can be rather humorous. Any of the jumpers at my DZ can attest to the story I am about to tell. My jump started with a sunset CRW. The wind was almost 0 so myself and a buddy were looking to take the spot a little long so as to avoid having to make a bunch of turns over the DZ. Well we make our jump and deploy at around 13k. Unbeknownst to us we had a wind change so as we are attempting to make our first dock we notice that it is a little more brisk so we decide to abort our CRW and make for the DZ. Well me and my wing loading of 1.0 at the time was not getting any drive and I was actually side slipping a little as well. The wind continued to pick up and the proceeded to blow me off course (later I measured and determined I was off the DZ by 3 miles). Realizing I am not going to make it I set up for an open field. By this time the wind is getting a little more choppy so I prepare for a PLF. I do just that. I performed not just 1 dynamic PLF but 2! After thanking the powers that be for not being hurt I begin gathering up my things. After the 2 PLFs I got up rather disoriented but arrogantly figured, I'm in the Army and have excellent land navigation skills. So off I begin walking with parachute in hand. I jumped fence after fence and crossed creek after creek. After about an hour of walking, the sun went down and I'm thinking maybe I should rethink my route so I stop, take a short halt and listen, and low and behold, I can hear the interstate. Hallelujah I am saved. I continue walking. As I walk, I begin seeing scenes out of "Deliverance" as I walked passed shady looking farm after shady looking farm. Part of me wanted to call out for my mommy, but part of me was scared of getting a reply :-) Now about 3 hours into my journey I finally reach the access road (by now at the DZ the police have been notified for over an hour). Yes, I am almost home, but then I realize I am at the rest stop nearly 2 miles away. You should have seen the look of all those people in the rest stop when I walked out of the interstate woodline, sweating and carrying a parachute. Well I begin my 2 mile journey down the road. By the time I walk into the DZ after journiying for 3 1/2 hours, I see the acting DZO worrying sick that I was out dead somewhere or some backwoods farmer thinks I have a "purty mouth." Boy did I get a nice talking to that night, however it was nice to laugh about my journey in the backwoods of Salado. After it was all said and done with, we retraced my steps and determined that I had walked over 6 miles to get back to the DZ. That is my story...does anyone else have anything out there. Oh and if you ever want a tour of the Salado, TX woodlands, I am your man. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

I myself am a beginning camera guy. I am looking at an HC40 for myself. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Yeah, good point. Unless on those "special nights" create a temporary block on the chat room link. You could still slip in though through using a third party IRC program like mIRC or something. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Well once I get out of this lovely country known as Iraq I hope to get at least 250-300 jumps plus maybe attend a tandem cert course Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Whoa! Ask and ye shall receive. I learn something new everyday :-) Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

What about this idea...How about a single Java style chat room that can be accessed from the web page. That way people can ask questions and possibly get quick responses to questions than having to wait for someone to post to a forum. You could also have guest speakers/special events for Primier members. Thoughts? D-26329 Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

San Andreas is by far one of the greatest games I have played in a long long time. I did not realize that you could open a paracute in the game when you "go over the edge." I'll have to check it out! Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

I know this was similarly addressed a few posts down, however I did not find the answers I was looking for there. I was talking it over to a cameraflyer friend of mine about mounting the HC40. He recommends a top mount for the HC40 due to its width. I think that I would prefer for a side mount, but I am not sure what is the prefered method for the HC40 out there? Thoughts from the audience? Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

I would think that the riskiest sport would be free climbing. You know it isn't a real sport unless you can die from massive internal trauma. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

After having come from a large DZ I was rather skeptical at first about coming to a smaller DZ. I was amazingly surprised. Everyone there is super friendly and willing to help out or jump with low timers. The drop zone has a lot of tradition and history. The management is awesome and the staff is exceptional. All sorts of fun jumpships have been brought out (i.e. CH-47 Chinooks) Never in my life have I called a group of skydivers family, but these guys are. I anyone in the Austin, Killeen, Temple, or Waco areas this needs to be your home DZ if it isn't already.

I heard about this old skydiving movie called the "Gypsy Moths." Being what I think is one of the first skydiving movies, I was thinking about buying it from a historical perspective. Has anyone else seen this movie and let me know if it is any good or not? Thanks Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Unstable, I think you may have solved your own problem. Relaxation. For the longest time I was beating myself up about going low on formations. I could not figure it out. Before I started I had no problem swooping down to formations, but all of a sudden it started. With the help of some more experienced skydivers I was back in the mix. The one thing they told me was to relax. Sure I got some technical skydiving advice from them but for the most part it was relaxation. At your boogie, try to get in on some of the RW jumps if there is an organizer. The more practice you can get in, esp with other skydivers of various fall rates can help you tremendously. It did for me anyway. Also, get in a few jumps for me. I'm stuck in Iraq on deployment and won't see another jump for at least another 8 months. Blue skies Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

No matter how you look at it, you both will be coming out of it with some minor bruises and bangs. I don't think it is possible to perform this dive without getting them. Last on I did I was bruised underneath each arm and got my bell rung from banging heads with the other jumper. Good luck! Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Actually, aim for a field with bails of hay. I understand they disperse quicker than water will. I heard a story somewhere about a British pilot bailing out and landing in a bail of hay and surviving. I don't know if there was any truth to that story. Also don't forget to PLF. Anything is survivable with a properly performed DYNAMIC PLF. :-) Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

I think I am going to have to agree with a few of the other posters in this forum. The Z-1 is the way to go. At least for me any way. I like the way they designed the face shield with the easy locking mechanism and also the shield seems more durable. I love mine. However I think that there are a few new helmets that are out now. I am deployed with the military and have been out of the loop for about 4 months. I wear contacts and have had no problems. Actually I lost a pair of goggles in freefall and didn't loose a contact then. I was pretty amazed. Anyway, go for the Z-1. You'll be cool. :-) Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Inspirations are always rather interesting stories. What inspired me in skydiving was my old college buddy Scott. The summer after our Freshman year, Scott and I were in Tenn. Low and behold just driving around we came to the Pigeon Forge Wind Tunnel. Never in my life did I think I would ever want to skydive, however after struggling in the tunnel for a bit, I was hooked. I could not get enough of looking up skydiving stuff. All I could dream about was getting to skydive. Nearly a year later my dream came true. Nowadays, it is all the different people that you meet that keep me inspired. Whenever I think I am getting bored with skydiving, I just travel to another DZ and all those original feeling come flowing right back. Thanks to all those people I have met at new DZs around (Skydive Temple, Skydive San Marcos, Skydive Aggieland, Spaceland, Greene County Sport Parachute Club, Skydive Atlanta, Atlanta Skydiving Center, and all the other cool places I have yet to go) you are the ones that keep inspiring me with your spirit and enthusiasm. Blue skies to all Chris Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Sounds like a good opportunity for a tracking dive to me!! Or for my fellow flockers, it is a good spot. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Considering that wind tunnels have such a great appeal with not only skydivers but also with whuffos wanting some sort of safer introduction to skydiving, why don't you see more of these around? Is it cost of operation? What is it. I think it would be a cool deal to be an owner/operator of such a facility. It was a wind tunnel that got me hooked in the first place. Chris D26329 Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Try www.square1.com. I know they have one there. I have used it before myself Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

If they were to add skydiving as an Olympic venue, which discipline would they cover? I would think you would want something that would be quantitative such as accuracy, RW, or even swooping. I'm sure watching skydiving is boring, but jeez how much golf or tennis do people watch in a day. But I agree with idea that only accuracy or swooping would take off. But why not freeflying. Gymnastics is a similar arena in qualitative analysis of scoring. Now hows about adding a Biathalon type event to skydiving. Shooting targets while swooping. Swoop and Shoot, now that sounds like a sport to me!! Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"

Is there really a comparison of the two? I have put a few jumps on the Crossfire 119 and loved it! However, I deployed to Iraq just before its release so I haven't tried it out or seen it in action personally. but would love some info. If anyone has any technical type comparisons would be great. Something I can look through and let my mouth water for the rest of the year. Chris -------- "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body; but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy s#$* what a ride!'"