Erroll

From Hookit's "13 years" thread - Does superstition play a role in anyone's skydiving routines or habits?

In the Pagan and Native American religions 13 IS a lucky number. Indeed. I did my first freefall on jump 13, literally 10 minutes after my last DRCP. Didn't have time to consider the luck or otherwise of #13. At the risk of highjacking this thread.... Does superstition play a role in anyone's skydiving routines or habits?

Touché!

I don't post a lot (I only registered recently because of Incidents), but I have been lurking for a long time and I read the forums a lot. I find it mildly annoying when folks have clearly spent some time composing a sensible post in reply to a question, but then they negate or de-value their own opinion by finishing with "Just me 2 cents", or "But what do I know?".

"gilder's club " Hmmmm.... seems to me you can't complain too much. Calling them members of the Dutch stock exchange, or a clique of goldsmiths perhaps?

My most memorable ride down with the plane was way back in '91. I was completing my AFF at a CASA boogie in Mmabatho (SA). On the way to altitude my reserve pin dislodged causing the reserve PC to pop out. We were supposed to exit last which meant my instructor (Lob Lobjoy I think) and I sat right up front (where the pilot couldn't see me). Lob made sure I had my PC tightly between my knees, sitting down, then he ran out the back for a 'sponsored' solo. The pilot, a very young, very competent airforce captain, didn't know or forgot that I was still there. He made a rapid descent and (as was quite common then) he decided to 'buzz' the DZ..... The look on his face when he looked back towards the tail after his pull-up was abosutely priceless. It must have been me thudding into the ramp that got his attention! And no, we weren't using safety belts at the time.

I don't have lots of jumps but certainly many more than is required for licenses. When I was more active I jumped at every DZ I could get to. Whenever I heard that a 'different' plane was going to be somewhere (eg the Lett, AN 2 , DC3 etc), I would turn up. I found that most DZ's were more concerned with currency (a la logbook) than licenses. Being a fun jumper with no ambitions to compete and not interested in training, there was no incentive to get any license. I did get my Cat II rating (SA version). This allowed me to jump RW with any other CAT II or higher. Being known as a conservative and safe jumper at my home DZ, I was allowed to spot for and despatch lower-timers, even follow out students to check their full series or turns. I attended the big boogies, and was fortunate enough to get to jump most aircraft operating in SA. I was lucky enough to do a few jumps in the UK (Sibson and London parachute school) and there too, they were more interested in my currency than my license (or lack there of!). Not having any license did prevent me from doing balloon jumps, although I never understood how someone with 200 exits from various aircraft (from a slow little 180 taildragger through to the C130) was more at risk from a still-air balloon exit than someone with a 50 exits and a 'B' license (earned mostly because they could do RW and dock fourth) . Rules are rules, eh?

You are quite correct. It was indeed Long Pete (checked my logbook - hey, it was 10 years ago!). Of course, Pete (and Bayley) were pro's, with gizzilions of jumps. I agree completely - with their numbers landing with a cast is not such a big deal. I noticed that Bayley and his team yet again took top honours at the SA's. Haven't heard much about Pete in recent times.

Tonto, I remember doing a coached jump with Bailey Edmunds after he bust his leg at Pilanesburg. He had been swooping the pool and came short, if I remember correctly (must have been about '92 or '93). I still had to pull his one bootie over his cast just before exit. He flew like the pro he is and he landed like a butterfly!

I was fortunate enough to jump at Peterborough (Sibson) while on a business trip. I found the people extremely friendly and helpfull, the whole setup looked well run, with competent staff. The facilities are excellent. We jumped the Skyvan - don't know if it still there. Only (slight) downside, the LZ is quite a distance from the airport, across a little 'valley', but no worries - their van was there, waiting for us upon landing.

I had an almost identical experience doing a coached two-way out of the big Antonov. At around 7k my coach pointed straight at my throw-out. My AFF instincts kicked in and I waved and tossed. We were very far away from the DZ, having exited last with the rats and mice, and what I mistook as a signal to pull was my coach pointing at the DZ. Fortunately from roughly 6k my trusty 210 got me home (just), but the lesson from my coach on this dive was "to find the DZ in freefall". Obviously this is not always possible nor practical, but on low work/low pressure dives on big loads, it could save lots of walking, especially if you are amongst the last out. Erroll

Agreed. I also started late. I started with the S/L progression, got stuck on 10 sec f/f and switched to AFF. One major benefit of having done S/L was that I was never afraid of low altitude exits. All in all it took me around 30 jumps from first S/L to graduating AFF. My son, who was 17 at the time, finished the entire S/L progression in one long weekend. Some people are fast learners, while others do take a little longer.

Does it apply to all forums or only the Incidents? HH has recently changed the Incidents forum to only allow logged on (registered) users access.

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