winsor

If I want to pay retail, I have many opportunities to do so. This generally does not include person-to-person sale of older, used gear. How much is used gear worth? Whatever the market will bear. The range of sale price for a given piece of equipment can easily vary by an order of magnitude. Price can be a function of seller, buyer, venue, season, and a host of other factors. A brand new rig with all the bells and whistles can fetch a pittance at a storage facility auction ("heck, I wanted to use this as a car cover, and this thing is not much bigger than a bed sheet..."), and gutter gear occasionally fetches princely sums ("the Government paid thousands for this for their paratroops and I got it for half price! I even got the lines they cut off!"). If you put a price on something, you will weed out the people who are simply testing the waters. In addition, you will let potential buyers know whether it is worth their time to pursue a potential purchase. If you do not put a price on something, serious buyers are likely to lose interest before they figure out how much you actually want for it. In any event, you really have no right to complain about respondents offering less than what you might think is fair if you do not let on how much you think that is in the first place. If you think it's worth $12,500 for everything and you get a buyer, more power to you. If you pick a price based on your estimation of its current value and it does not sell, either you asked too much, you did not do a good enough job describing it, or the right buyer has not come along yet. People sell gear on Dropzone.com, and tend to get fair market value. If you do your homework and change your approach accordingly, you should be able to do so as well. Blue skies, Winsor

Neither. I do not undo straps, just loosen them. I put on and take off rigs "Mike Nelson Style" (the Lloyd Bridges character from 'Sea Hunt,' not the Mike Nelson from Alabama). Blue skies, Winsor

Sorry about the delay, I just put it in the mail. It turns out I had about 30 copies squirreled away, which I laid in specifically for people who scared up ParaCommanders with no info. Have fun with the canopies; they are quite a worthwhile change from your everyday ramair. Blue skies, Winsor

I beg to differ. In order to lie, you must be aware that what you are saying is untrue. If, on the other hand, you put forth a tale that you believe heart and soul, it is not lying - regardless of the fact that there is not one iota of truth contained therein. Compared to alcohol or tobacco, marijuana is truly a Gift from God (which is, of course, not saying much). In order to oppose legalization of marijuana, one must subscribe to rather a large number of patent falsehoods. Unfortunately these falsehoods are useful to quite a few vested interests - the apprehension industry, the criminal trial industry, the incarceration industry, the pulp and paper industry and so forth - so their veracity is not questioned. I do not happen to touch any mind-altering substances stronger than coffee, so my vested interest is that I am expected to fund policies based on ignorance and stupidity through my taxes. Unfortunately, the dumber the policy, the more vociferous is the defense put forth by those who enforce it; paradoxically, in order to avoid the appearance of stupidity they embrace it wholeheartedly. In any event, if you smoke and jump just try not to bounce, since it makes stoners look bad. Blue skies, Winsor

My favorite saying is "Smoke a joint a day," and, uh, I forget the rest.

I have nothing against marihuana, but have it on good authority that it will cause your babies to be born naked. Not only that, but a study at a Major University concluded that 100% of people who smoke pot will die. In Europe, it is common for people to roll their own cigarettes, which only look like reefers. Thus, I am quite sure that the picture to which you refer is simply someone smoking good old tobacco. I do not believe that anyone is actually irresponsible enough to drink or take drugs before parachute jumping, since that would be bad. Blue skies, red eyes, Winsor

Yes, but can they funnel a formation properly by Day Ten? Indeed they can. In addition to learning the Oppenheimer Breakoff and the Pulsating Sphincter Transition, people go home knowing the fine points of a Crack the Whip and other variants of your basic Fruit Loop. Starting with a standard Horny Gorilla, we progress to the Saucer and Teacup. Similarly, a simple Tube can turn into a 20-way Steamroller if there is a C-130 on hand. By golly, we put the "fun" back in "funnel!" Blue skies, Winsor

You bring up a very good point here. The pilots of specialty aircraft may have all kinds of qualifications and no concept of how to fly jump operations. With the likes of Mike Mullins, Fleahop, and Larry Hill's and Paul Fayard's crews around we can easily get spoiled (I sure as hell am). The regular crews that make the Convention happen are brilliant, and they are used to doing complex tasks all day long and making it look easy. The performance of the DC-3 and Carvair crews during jump operations has made it quite clear who has the necessary skill to make it all come together smoothly. It is my recommendation that the specialty aircraft should operate under the direct control of the pros, since they have a track record of working together smoothly and safely. Regardless of the personalities involved, in practice they cooperate marvelously and do not step on each other's toes. Specialty aircraft, on the other hand, tend to interfere with normal jump operations by virtue of the fact that they are not used to the flow of a complex jump operation. Under the direction of the mainstay jump operations, the specialty jump operations can do less to interrupt the normal operations, and integrate with the flow that works so well. We have a lot of people working hard to implement improvements at the Convention, so what you saw last year is not necessarily what you will encounter next time around. We have a lot of talent available, and we are doing our best to use it to good advantage. Blue skies, Winsor

Not a problem. Our goal is to provide an environment where people have the greatest freedom, yet work together to keep it safe. The best tool I have found is communication. If, before boarding the aircraft, various groups talk amongst themselves and get a clear idea of who is doing what, they tend to work together to avoid problems in the air. They agree on giving enough of a delay between groups, order groups properly to maximize separation, and know to expect people opening at their declared altitudes. If people actively perform an equipment check 2 minutes before exit, any misrouted straps and errant handles are caught before they become a problem. Bringing up the issue of safety is responsible. Danger is a reality, and you can't expect it to go away if you ignore it. In days past, the number of Boogie attendees who could expect to wind up in an ICU was substantial. It is now an unusual event if someone is injured enough to require more than first aid (and a lot of that involves alcohol after jump operations have closed). We take safety seriously, and welcome comments that help us to get everyone home in one piece. Blue skies, Winsor

First off, the aircrews at the WFFC are the best in the business. These are not 320 hour pilots trying to build time, flying for aircraft owners trying to pay off airplanes they can't afford - they are the Varsity. The level of coordination between the various operations at the Convention is superb. If you listen to the radio communications between the various aircrews and the ground support staff, you rapidly conclude that these people are very good at what they do. Larry Hill's people, Paul Fayard's people, Mike Mullins, Fleahop, Rod Tinney and the specialty aircrews are as good as they get. The timing and separation between loads at the Convention is choreographed brilliantly, and you have a greater assurance of separation between successive loads there than much of anywhere else (except, of course, at Paul Fayard's place, or Larry Hill's place...). As far as how to fly your parachute safely in a high-traffic environment, we have that worked out to a science. If you come to the Load Organizers' tent, we can give you a clear and simple breakdown of how to do so. Every phase of jump operations has been addressed in our procedures, and using the Cliff's Notes version will keep you out of trouble (safety should be simple). We have jumpers between 0 and 200 jumps on a regular basis, and canopy traffic is simply not an issue. Where problems arise is with people with 300 jumps who try to fly like they did at their Cessna DZ; usually the problem is heralded by a loud "Hey! Watch this!" Where people have followed the basic safety procedures, they have stayed safe. We are available for you, and are happy to work with you when you stop by (Tent 3 is where I hang out, but any of the Load Organizers are great). Blue skies, Winsor

In both cases people succumbed to pilot error. The malfunctions involved would have been identical at a Cessna DZ. Playing with the malfunction, cutting away low and trying to get stable before deploying the reserve is a bad plan, regardless of where you jump. If you show a normal level of prudence (don't jump hung-over or overtired, don't spiral blindly through popular airspace, open at a proper altitude and observe your hard deck, and so forth), you are no more likely to come to grief at the Convention than anywhere else. If we observe you making bad decisions, we may make suggestions that improve your life expectancy if followed. Unfortunately, some people insist on making choices that result in their injury or death, and some of them do so at the Convention. Our goal is not to be safety-nazis, but for everyone to go home unhurt after having a very good time. If you come to the Convention, feel free to stop by the Load Organizer's tent. Even if you do not jump with us, we will happily provide the Safety Briefing which details an approach that maximizes your likelihood of staying unhurt. Three of us have penned articles on the subject; mine is basically a checklist for use in flight planning. At the Convention you have the best aircraft and aircrews in the business, and you might be surprised at how much energy is devoted to ensuring that our procedures are safe. Your typical smaller DZ would have to be in operation for centuries to amass the experience that is concentrated at the Convention. If you make use of it, you will benefit. Blue skies, Winsor

I don't see where your first 50 jumps has to be expensive or hard to do at all. Once I passed AFF I did maybe 2 coach jumps to get my A license and the rest were fun jumps. A lot of them were on my own, experimenting with the air and practicing just learning how my body reacted to the air and the rest were with friends. I did not mean to say that the first 50 jumps have to be hard; but they can certainly be hard to come by. For one thing, the logistics of going to the DZ to either get weathered out of maybe make a couple of jumps per jump day can be frustrating. It can be tough developing skills when you can barely get enough air time in to maintain a particular skill level. Some people have to pay a premium to be in an environment where they can both jump a lot and make skydives that develop skill rapidly. What I am trying to get across is that the Convention provides an environment wherein someone can show up unskilled and leave after ten days with a pretty solid level of competence. Convention Load Organizers are volunteers, and our goal is to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for jumpers ranging from rank neophytes to world record holders. If someone wants to try CRW, we have people who do that. If the goal is to do big formations, we do that, too. If someone is entirely unfamiliar with jumping in a high-traffic environment, and just wants to do one-on-one drill dives, we are happy to do that as well. Year after year I have seen people show up with very limited skills, but leave the Convention as heads-up skydivers after jumping with us for ten days. Going back to their home DZs, they find that their skills are now sufficient to participate safely on a wide range of skydives they would not have considered previously. My main concern is that people assume they should not come to the Convention if they have very low experience, since there is hardly a better place for them to go. After jumping with us for ten days, they can do well pretty much anywhere. Blue skies, Winsor

Well, no, I did not get into the extensive details as to why this is the case. I am not unusual among Load Organizers in that I go over safety fundamentals before jumping with someone for the first time, if for no other reason than to ensure we are on the same page. I try to get people to develop a mental picture of where to fly to avoid traffic. If you are in "popular airspace," you are competing with the maddening crowd for elbow room. If you are in "unpopular airspace," you can pretty much guarantee that nobody is going to spiral down through your altitude. Even at a venue as busy as the Convention, if the decision tree is kept simple and defined clearly in advance, a rank neophyte can decide where to fly to stay out of trouble and where to look to avoid collisions while doing so. It only takes a couple of jumps with a thorough briefing and debrief before someone is comfortable with the procedures, and can then relax and let their skills develop. FWIW, it is people who have, say, 300 jumps at a Cessna DZ that have the hardest time adapting - someone who goes through AFF at the Convention just deals with it from Jump #1 as part of the normal environment. It seems counterintuitive, but the safest people at the Convention are often the low-timers who jump with the Load Organizers. They are quite happy to make safety their first priority, and they go ahead and jump safely. If you come out and jump with us I think you will see what I mean, and I do not think you will be disappointed. Blue skies, Winsor

One of the biggest hurtles in skydiving is getting the first 50 or so jumps. Training is expensive and proceeds at the convenience of the instructor (and the weather), and getting enough air time that anyone else wants to jump with you is just as bad. No number of air-baths is going to get up jumpers to want you on their load, and paying for quality jumps absorbs great quantities of time and money. IMHO the single best place to go from your first tandem to being in on formation skydives is the World Freefall Convention. We are geared toward developing the greatest level of skill - from the standpoint of safety and practice - in the least amount of time, for the least amount of money. People who show up on Day One and can't even funnel a formation properly by Day Ten are organizing their own skydives together, executing them safely and having a great time. For complete beginners, the AFF concession is geared to getting you in the air and through the training process in manner that justifies the "accelerated" in its name. Jumpers cleared for solo jumping have the option of jumping with any Coach or with the Free Convention Load Organizers. The rule for the Free Convention Load Organizers is that our slots are covered when jumping on a 4-way or better, so a coached jump or 3-way drill dive does cost the price of an extra slot - otherwise we are volunteers. A-license-qualified jumpers have the further option of jumping with a Mentor. A Mentor is an up-jumper who agrees work with a low-timer, passing on skills and working with them to stay safe. We invite up-jumpers to register as Mentors. After 50 jumps or when cleared by one of the staff (we work with you, and are happy to sign off someone who is heads-up about safety procedures), jumpers are free to jump without a Coach, Mentor or Load Organizer. They are, of course, welcome to jump on organized loads. Paradoxically, the WFFC is one of the safest places to learn to skydive. The people who jump with us are drilled on safe procedures from soup to nuts, and get used to flight planning that minimizes their exposure to the unexpected. In any event, if you are either a student or a low timer, the Convention is the place to go. Blue skies, Winsor

I have maybe 10 copies around, which I pass on to people who need them. PM your snail mail info, and I'll send you one. Blue skies, Winsor

Larger than its conventionally designed equivalent (Jedei vs. Jonathon). Blue skies, Winsor

A) Shutting down because someone neglects to open their parachute in a timely manner is unwarranted. If there is a life-flight or whatever the helicopter takes precedent, and an incident involving substantial damage to the jump aircraft or crippling injury to the jump pilot puts a damper on things, but otherwise life goes on. I have been on a load where on climbout we tried to locate the body of someone who had impacted on the last load. It turns out he arrived (with nothing out) in the middle of a family picnic, so our efforts were wasted. If you fall off a ladder, you should climb back up it before going to the hospital. B) 3 deaths in 2 years? That sucks, but I consider it unlikely that the DZ was responsible per se. Ted Mayfield aside, DZOs tend to try to keep their customers alive. In some cases, skydivers are hell-bent upon proving that something or another is NOT fatal - with predictable results (Hey! Watch this!). If you want a hobby that doesn't reward bad decision making with a mild case of rigor mortis, skydiving is a bad choice. Stick around long enough and you will be on hand when someone bounces. On the up side, so long as it is not you, you are ahead of the curve. On the down side, it usually involves losing friends. BSBD, Winsor

Now THAT'S the way to go out...with a BANG!Quote "He came - then he went!"

I'll go for the oh-dark-thirty blast from the Herc. M-60 and ruck - though I want to rig my own red-ball release for the ruck. I landed one in Italy after a butterbar substituted 550 line for 80# tape. 1,250 feet is high by combat standards, I admit, but I'd like a little more time to get that 24 footer deployed if everything doesn't work as planned with the main. All the way! Winsor

I'll comment, since it seems no one else has. A ton of jumps, but less than 70? A 1.2 wingloading at 70 jumps, plus your attitude? You may not have been hurt yet, but you are still new. Good luck, it sounds like you will need it. I kind of figured someone out there would say something. Some people just progress faster at things than others and I don't mean that in an attitude way. I sprained my ankle early on, think that was on the 170. I'm loaded at 1.2 now, not under a 170 at 170 I was loaded at 1.06. There are many others out there with just as many jumps as me with the same loading. Oh and thanks for the vote of confidence. Right. I can think of someone who placed at the Nationals (I think it was Silver for 4-way) with less than 160 jumps. I helped put him on a backboard shortly thereafter. I bet dollars to donuts that he was every bit as good as are you. Whether you like it or not, it is not the 99% of the landings that go as planned, it is the 1% that could use a little work. Your choice of equipment can make a big difference in how bad is the outcome of a seemingly minor misjudgment. Jumping the smallest canopy you can barely control and pulling it off doesn't win you any points. If you talk to people who have been around a while, and still jump, you will hear things on the order of "I did that when I had X number of jumps, and somehow managed to pull it off. I am lucky to have survived being so stupid, and some of my friends were not so lucky." If you survive and are still jumping in 10 years, feel free to revisit the decision making process you are now using. Blue skies, Winsor

That sucks. I always enjoyed Don's company, and looked forward to seeing him again. I am glad I got to know him, and will miss him. BSBD, Winsor

I do not have a canned response to this one. I have seen people land personal biplanes successfully, and that was great. They did the right thing. I also know a couple of people who landed personal downplanes, and they were not very happy with the results (both sort of survived). Since I am given to jumping the largest reserve I can get my hands on, regardless of the size of the main, there is a good chance that the main and reserve won't be particularly compatible. I think I know what to expect if a huge 7-cell opens up behind a tiny ground-hungry elliptical, but I could be wrong. In any event, given sufficient altitude I think I would like to get them flying in different directions and stick with the big, slow one. Though two out is not as dire an emergency as, say, a horseshoe malfunction, the fact that it can leave you maimed or dead puts it into the serious bracket. Thus, I try to avoid having to figure it out firsthand. Prophylactic measures include checking all your handles before exit, so you can get to your cutaway handle if you wish to use it, as well as staying the hell out of the basement. The adage "don't pull low - unless you are!" is good advice. Altitude is your friend, and it is hard to get back once it is gone. Something that is a NSTIWTIWGTD story at 3,000 ft. can be an incident report at 500. Another thing I strongly recommend is getting some CRW training. The best way to learn how canopies fly together is to spend a weekend with some dedicated CRW dogs, learning the fine points of intentional entanglements. You stand to learn a hell of a lot more about flying your canopy when doing CRW than by playing chicken with the earth with the swoopers. Your average CRW dog can swoop with the best of them, but all too many swoopers have a very poor concept of all-around canopy piloting. While you are learning CRW (from seasoned CRW dogs), be sure to ask their opinion about two-out procedures, and pay attention to their answer. Blue skies, Winsor

Someone suggested using the Roman numeral for fifty. => SOL Blue skies, Winsor

'And lo, from the back of the multitude came a stone, smiting the woman mightliy.' 'And Jesus spake, "Aw, mom...." At least that's the version I heard. Blue skies, Winsor

From all accounts, using the sunroof in a modern fighter is anything but recreational. There is a big difference between living and not dying, and the point of an ejection seat is to avoid dying - even if by a hairsbreadth. Make sure your medical insurance is paid up. Blue skies, Winsor