gavmaniac

Hey it's great that you guys can laugh at the misfortune of losing something in freefall but just a heads-up to be careful of dropping stuff with valuable objects & people below... At a boogie 6 years ago, I was standing on the apron waiting for the jumpship to land when a Nikon camera lens smashed on the ground 3 to 4 feet behind my uncovered head! Shat my pants!

Dudes !!! As one who did AFF & other initial training in Cape Town (Stellenbosch 10 years ago), admittedly I'm a little biased & will therefore promote SA (especially Cape Town although have jumped at most SA deezees). But, I personally visited the US 3 times to get further ratings & licences, etc, coz I found that things moved along quicker there with less red tape hassle. Another reason is the exposure (hey, I got to sit NEXT to Eli Thompson once , jump with Mike Swanson, etc, etc ) you'll get over there. Yes them yankee boys have loud mouths & can't spell shit (there is NO such word as aluminum! )but they're generally very hospitable & willing to share knowledge with you. THEN pull in to SA & get ya freak on! YOWZERS!

Pay close attention here, people. (in 'Merican: Listen up! or Lookit!) It does NOT matter what extra risk-reducing equipment you have on your rig (Cypres, Vigil, RSL, Skyhook, whatever), always execute your emergency procedures, pull your handles & pull your handles in the correct sequence. (in 'Merican: It don't matter whatcha wearin', pull them goddamm handles! )All the extras are great innovations & do help to make the sport safer but it's up to YOU to make sure that you're under a fully inflated working canopy before you meet the ground. So the RSL or Skyhook may beat you to the reserve, but go through the motions anyway. Stick to the plan - any deviation normally results in disaster.

To those close friends of mine in the C172, Thanks for all the jumps we've done together around the world, at boogies, at competitions & just for fun. Thanks for all the parties. Thanks for all the laughs. Thanks for not taking me too seriously. And as Deadly has said, thanks for the "vrot" sessions & the hardcore hangovers. I'll miss you & will definitely have a cold beer under canopy in the setting sun for you. Goodbye for now... Maniac.

If intentional chops don't count then I had none until I started doing tandems... have chopped on Strong (wasn't the gear, Ted) & on Vector (again, wasn't the gear, Bill) but not on Sigma yet... I remember when Egon at The Relative Workshop had 2 tandem chops one after the other one Saturday morning... I told the students that he's had more chops than they have jumps, that morning only !!!

Big planes, small planes, big choppers, small choppers, radial, tubine, jet, civilian, military... a jumpship is a jumpship is a JUMPSHIP !!! Still, I gotta say that FREE, NON-WORK jumps are the shit !!! Especially running my ass off from the front of the C-130 & EVENTUALLY launching off the tail severely out-of-breath (it's the altitude ) a few times courtesy of the South African Air Force (I was already a civilian) has gotta be my memorable moment... but, enough about me...

Hey JD, Thanks for putting that post up on the forum. Right now I am in the healing phase after a front-riser acci-crash on Saturday 6th November. Damage was fractures in the L2 & L3 vertebrae, with the L2 being classed as a blast fracture (pieces of bone exploding outward), a bruised liver, a bruised pancrease & some bleeding in a kidney. Organs have all healed nicely but am still obviously wearing the backbrace & experiencing some uncomfortable days. I realise that I still have a few months before I'm fully mobile again but am already beginning to think about what I'll jump when I'm back in the air. The incident was on my elliptical Hurricane 120. (At the time I weighed 196 but am now down to 171). I'd just sold my Hurricane 105 & started using the bigger canopy as I had been doing loads of tandems & felt that I was no longer current enough on the smaller canopy. Obviously complacency set in (just one of the dozen or so contributing factors to the incident) & I had a ruse awakening. Fortunately we land on soft beach sand down here in Cape Town or things would have been real bleak for me. Anyway, your posting & the follow-ups have me feeling more comfortable with wearing my own equipment again when I get back in the plane. I realise that it's not the tools that bite, but the stupidity of the user.

"Do you know what NEMESIS means ? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by a 'orrible c*nt... me !" Bricktop - SNATCH

Aah yah, can call it clouds down here is S. Africa coz industrial haze or pollution doesn't come in cumulus nimbus or whatever!!! we can & do jump through it... sometimes it's fun but sometimes it increases the pucker factor... 'specially when 'they' proclaim it to be 500 to 1000' thick but after freefalling for 2000' & visiblity is still absolute zero... good feeling gone... I want my mommy !!! I believe our only restriction is that we can dump above or below the cloud but not in it... below this ??? The friggin' ground's below this !!! MOM !!!

All the way from Africa, you Texan WETASS !!!!

Last year, a relatively new jumper (20-something jumps) on our medium-sized DZ went to visit a larger DZ one weekend. Unfortunately he did not survive the experience. Why? These simple rules were not followed: 1) LISTEN to what experienced jumpers/instructors tell you. 2) Do as they SAY, not as they DO! They're still jumping because they've successfully managed to avoid the Gung-Ho temptation. 3) You are NOT indestructable! 4) EVERYONE ELSE has the right-of-way under canopy! 5) KNOW your collision avoidance procedure, the landing pattern & the landing area for your skill level. 6) ASK, ASK, ASK! Then thank the instructor with a beer at the end of the day. 7) Use your own common sense. If it seems dangerously stupid, it probably is! 8) Baby steps! 9) Smile, breathe & relax. 10) .... I could go on & on but I think my point is made. The bottom line is that you're responsible for yourself. Use this great opportunity to learn as much as possible & apply the knowledge to your long skydiving career... See you in the sky...

Hey Mike, Mmmm, must admit that I've never done a CAT A or B jump on Sygma or Vector (most of my tandems) but have done them on Strong, where, owing to the mid-container drogue attachment, the headup attitude seemed to make it pretty easy to see the student's body position & toe-taps. As far as pulling goes, putting your hand around the housing behind the handle also seems to help ascertaining where exactly the student is groping around for the handle &, if you're out of time, allows a quick pull by yourself (obviously keeping the other hand well clear of the student for alternative use should he/she grab your main pulling hand in a vice-grip). Also, discussing student pulling difficulties with the DZO/S&TA may lead to moving the handle position for an easier pull. My African cent's worth... Gav.

Er, which is Vinny & which is Vinny's nephew ? Hey Vinny, stand up !!! P.S. I'm still waiting for my cheesecake-pumpkin pie recipe, you vertically challenged mountain ass kicker !!!

Bad/Sad news regarding such a great guy even has an effect here on the other side of the planet... I only met/knew Nate for a month at ASC but learnt a lot from him... Heartfelt sympathies for all family & friends.

Gotta say I've had some tandem students bring their own music which really did NOT fit the occasion... even had opera & chamber music (not saying the music is crap, just that I can't see it being suitable on skydiving footage)*ANTI-LAWSUIT STATEMENT