GravityGirl

Thanks Andy. I missed my Nor Cal family tremendously this past weekend. We'll see ya'll next weekend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

If I had the capital, I would love to be the bank. But most banks don't trust/understand the skydiving industry. It's high risk for the banks. The interest rates would not be attractive. Unlike a car or bike, it's pretty hard to track down a rig (for a bank), should one take a hike and bail on the payments. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

You are right Bill. You can't see in your blind spot. You have to combine intuition and trust at some point. Or like you said, land on the outskirts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>So you think it's up to the low, slow flier to keep out of the way of the high, fast one.

I guess my point was to try your best to estimate the tragectory and determine if an collision may occur.... watch for his/her head or eyes to see where they are looking.... be prepared to do a brake turn if necessary. So many "what ifs" have come up these weeks. The best advise I can give, is to stay out of that position to begin with. Evaluate traffic after you open. Try to let the smaller canopies go by you and get lower in the pattern. Don't land in the "hot swoop zone". If there is a smaller parachute above you, try not to loose sight of it during your approach. And for goodness sakes swoopers.... don't hang brakes from the time you open! Do your part and rally for your slot in the pattern. If you want the sky to yourselves do a hop n pop or get out last and open high. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

Solo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

Even if that were true, there is still a question of what you do in that case. Suppose you just turned onto the base leg in your normal straight in approach. You happen to notice someone above and in front of you about to perform a 270 . Maybe sees you maybe not. What do you do? What do you do if you are standing in the landing area and someone comes swoopoing right at you at a high rate of speed? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

I'm not doing patches, but I have another special surprise in mind. They won't be ready by this weekend, but I'm sure they'll be enjoyed when they arrive! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

Great pics Anita! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

I think people tend to look at the "First Gear Purchase" with a cookie cutter mentality. First, find out what sizes you want/need right now. Then find out what size harness will fit your body. Then start shopping with an open mind. You are looking for good quality gear that fits your current needs as well as at least one downsize of main parachute.... ....WITH A GOOD RESALE VALUE. If you get a good deal on used OR new and treat your gear well, you will enjoy a good resale value. That way IF you do downsize again, you won't be out of pocket too much. So when you find the gear you need, consider it's resale value. Is it old and about to expire? Don't be the last guy holding the bag! Is it an unpopular or older model? You don't want to sit and wait for a buyer when it's time to trade down. If you find good modern sport gear at a good price, you can downsize fairly painlessly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

To me it sounds as if the length of the harness was not set properly. Tightening the leg straps won't do much (unless you had a lot of slack). Adjusting the harness to a smaller setting seems fitting. What type of rigs do you use there? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

Hey those are my store colors. I like #2 best. If you want I can send you some color swatches in the mail. Lemon is very bright, but would look nice, IMHO. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>I jump an alti track and absolutely love it..... ....truth be told, so does everyone I jump with(now they all want one) Gravity Gear!

I wear Flex-Z minis. I've tried several smaller mid price with frames, but they block my periferal because my face is so narrow. PM me if you need to know where to find them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

IMHO the lack of skill/experience is a direct result of lack of training and like minded guidelines. From personal experience even the most egotistical jumpers are willing to suck up any valid bit of mentoring that's out there. If a 100 jump wonder on the dz starts asking around about what path he/she should take to become a high performance canopy pilot, he or she will get 25 different responses. Not every jumper has the opportunity to seek out formal training. I really think some updated BSRs would set us on the same page and help eliminate confusion for our up and coming jumpers. It will make our jobs a lot easier too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>What's wrong with the landing patterns we teach in the first jump course? At what point in someone's skydiving career do they they decide that the pattern taught in the first jump course is "wrong" or not cool.

I'm on board with the Grass Roots level of education and LZ planning. But if there is one thing that USPA could contribute, IMHO, it would be to define.... I mean truely define a landing pattern. It needs to be modern and take into consideration all of the componets in the pattern. As you know, Q, I'm married to an airline pilot, and he will be the first to admit that he prefers NOT to fly aircrat all day and them come to the DZ and fly a parachute. The landing patterns for planes and parachutes are not and should not be the same. We don't have a tower. We cannot add and take away power at will. We cannot do a go around. And yes, we do a variety of turns to final. I think the idea of the pattern is loosly defined and only touched upon in FJC and DZ briefings. So if there is one thing that the USPA, DZOs, S&TAs, etc can do, it's come TOGETHER and clearly define a parachuting pattern. Then educate old and new skydivers. The rules of yesterday can't last forever. They need to be modernized. I'm a wild heart, so I'm not all about mega rules and regulatons.... but we all need to be on the same page to protect ourselves and each other. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

Kevin, I know from my late night conversations with Tom, how much your family has been through. I know this is an amazingly difficult time for all of you. I wish I had some majic words of comfort to offer that would help to carry you through this time. All I can do is offer an ear, a shoulder, a story or two. You can find me here on dz.com or my contact info is on my web site (GravityGear.com). I know your dad has my number as he used to use it to contact Tom before his cell phone days. Peace to you and your family. And lots of Byron Love too. Tom was truely happy here at Byron. This last year in particular, he really started to show his bright and happy side again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>People doing s-turns or deep brakes on final are much easier to see and avoid than someone that starts in your blind spot and then approaches at a high rate of speed from behind you. Gravity Gear!

Rigger Rob: Which brings me to the original point that I brought up on page one of this discussion.... we need to separate the landing areas. I wouldn't say separate landing areas, but sectioned off with a "do not overfly" zone that extends 1,000 feet up. Some drop zones have to integrate their pattern with the aircraft. It should be the same thought out process when mixing such varied canopies in one landing area. Yes. We will have to disagree on this one. I think if a person/skydiver is actually willing to sit out, observe and evaluate the loads landing, it is possible to predict who is going to do high performance maneuvers based on how they set up. I conclude this from personal experience teaching new jumpers to spend time evaluating the pattern. If the swoopers are not predictable in the pattern, that's when we as instructors or S&TAs need to march out there and have that discussion with the swooper. I have the distinct pleasure of always gravitating towards little/big drop zones. Big enough to turn loads, yet intimate enough to be able to have a personal relationship with all of the jumpers and visitors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

If a swooper "opts" for a downwinder, that is another can of worms. As for a 270 to final looking like a 90, well. If you see a small crossbraced canopy turnig to final at 700 feet, it just might be a 270. I understand that it takes a bit more practice to recognize and predict that. However, I've sat with Tandems and Students to watch a few loads. After a while they can start to pick up which ones are going to do high performance maneuvers. It's in our own best interest to be as familiar as possbile with the environment we fly in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

To Tom and All of my Byron Family: I wish I could scoop you all up in my arms and rock away your pain. I wish I had words of enlightenment to offer my "kids" that are suffering right now. I know all too well that the only way to the other side of this is to go through it. But not one single Byron jumper needs to go it alone. That's what the Byron Love is TRUELY about. (Contrary to popular belief, it's not about the smell in the plane!) Ya'll know where to reach me. Any time of day or night is appropriate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>2) WHEN (not if) you do fuck up, how to save your life, and turn a fatality into a hard landing or a hard landing into a buttslide. Gravity Gear!

Yeah Tom! Rocking the GG hoody like it's cool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

>>I wonder if many of the people planning to do 270s actually know where to look before they start for the individual doing a standard (90 degree turns) pattern that they will most likely collide with. And if they do know, how many actually look there? Gravity Gear!