XWuffo

BEER !!!!! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Believe me, I DO want to get it. My life may depend on it. I dont understand some words/syntax you use like 1. ona ?? Anyway, I think I understand that you now use exit training on the ground, where the student actually drops off a strut, and lands on a soft surface. I think that is a brilliant idea, and JM's & I's out there should take note ! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Interesting thread this. No sign of any non death penalty lovers.........yet As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Uh what fatality...what practise jump ? Are you saying a student died doing a practise jump ? A bit more detail would be much appreciated As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Uh, what does this have to do with Skydiving, other than getting to the DZ ? As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

QuoteThis is a great place for me to sneak in an extra post to increase my numbers where it might not be noticed. In a big, stupid thread like this!!!! Quote Blahr...........what a coolidea ! It is such a stoopid thread.... As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***your implied comment here is that the U.S. should be spending the time, money and lives of its citizens to go around the world to every place where people are acting like fucking animals against each other and make them all behave and love each other. --------------------------------------------------- You really sound like a spoiled BRAT who does'nt give a toss about anything outside the borders of the USA, simply because you have never travelled to Africa, and understood the problems of trying to coexist in a 3rd world/1st world mismatch. You are so LUCKY that you can sit there in your ivory tower and criticize millions of people who never had a taste of the blessings you take for granted every day. You are shameful and a disgrace to your wonderful nation. I have taken the trouble to travel to the USA four times, and I can rest assured that most Americans are not as pig headed as yourself, especially the ones who come here and see for themselves first, before ranting like a spoiled child. As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Your example of an "overheard a conversation of two fellow students" is rather lame. Anyone with two brain cells knows that's just being stupid. I'm so tired of this type of student bashing. The only thing I'm trying to say, is that sharing information is the best way to learn, about ALL skydiving related matters. of course I have total respect and trust in my instructor (if I can ever find him on the DZ with a minute to spare) fact is: I will choose to LISTEN to everything that is said, from WHOEVER, and then go and make the effort to find out the correct procedure from and Instructor. My post was about Michele, and not about students teaching each other, which obviously is crazy As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

QuoteYou have something like 70-80 jumps in a time span of over two years. You should NOT be providing tips for any jumper. --------------------- I am very grateful for Michele taking the time to share her experience, in order that I might learn something. She has every right to give out as many tips as she sees fit. Ever been on a load of SL jumpers, and they all giving each other tips ? You seem to imply that we, the uneducated/inexperienced, are not smart enough to deceide for ourselves what information to use or loose. As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

You just gotta wonder about the person that put that together..must be very bored or very depressed/desperate...or both! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

" What are we doing here? Overcoming the fear of death, of course. Why are we in the air? We are practicing, you might say, what it is to be alive" - Richard Bach Cath, try reading this: Http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/pages/articles/oct99/copingwithfear.htm As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Looks damn good and headdown to me As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- go away troller -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can out hook most people with more than a 1000 skydives as well. If you you dont believe me QuoteYou are so right, We DONT believe you & never will. No sane Skydiver tries to 'outhook' anyone As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

This pic was posted somewhere else on DZ.com I showed it to a friend, an X fighter pilot who just hapens to be a photographic expert. These are his comments: This F16's at a high angle of attack with afterburner, in a positive, nose-up attitude. The condensation over the wings suggests a very high wing loading. All this gives the impression of a looping manouevre where the aircraft is approaching the bottom of the loop, supported by the smoke trail that appears to trail a curve behind the aircraft. It appears that the pilot made the decision to eject based on the aircraft 'mushing' into the ground, so that while it appears to be at a positive attitude, it in fact still has a high rate of decent that would soon approach impact. The problem I have with this scenario and the picture is as follows: Under this high-rate of decent condition (his call to eject), there would be significantly less heat haze behind the aircraft. Even with full afterburner, this haze would be limited to a thin line only. The haze in this picture is more typical of slow-speed steady-attitude flight. (It also looks suspiciously like the 'glass' filter effect available in PhotoShop was used to create this haze.) Ejecting close to ground with a rate of decent is one of the most demanding situations for survival. Modern ejection seats are designed for zero/zero ejections (no forward speed, at ground level). However, as you introduce a rate of decent, there is a reducing envelope to how late (low) you can eject and still expect the chute to deploy enough to retard your speed - if you escape the aircraft's own fireball you may well land into! For this reason, pilot's don't waste time jettisoning the canopy ahead of ejecting under these critical ejection situation (as shown in the picture). The seat punches straight through the canopy, sometimes assisted by pyro-charged threads embedded in the acrylic canopy itself. Even if part of the ejection sequence, the canopy should be further back (smaller) as it would retard to several aircraft lengths in the time it took to reach the height shown in the picture. The ejection process is incredibly violent - approaching 14g force as the pyrotechnics reach full power. It is very unlikely that the seat would have rotated 5-10 degrees off axis to the aircraft in the milii-second of flight time since leaving the top of the ejection rail. (The aircraft's at an angle to the camera, but the seat appears dead on). The starboard wing leading edge is behind the canopy, and even with the leading edge flaps deployed (also an unlikely configuration for a loop), there should be no shadow as the ejection seat would be lighting the area like a flare! Other suspicious aspects of this picture is that there is absolutely no blur on the aircraft, pilot or canopy. No as this aircraft is in a decent and the pilot is rocketing up at over one hundred kilometers an hour, I am surprised the photographer was able to avoid any blurring. Even a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second traces a blur of 6cm, enough to blur the details on the pilot. I would be surprised if the photographer was able to push a higher shutter speed as the poor depth of field indicates this was taken with a telephoto lens, and there is no visible graining to show a high sensitivity was used (either film or CCD). Also, to have a high vantage point as he did, this photographer would have been forced to use a longer lens as he would not have been close to the runway. The picture was probably taken from the control tower, through glass, as there are some blurred artifacts in the sky that should be clear (eg: at X:Y co-ords 225,30 and 788,82). In truth, what we have here is a low-speed fly-past - a standard, easy to photograph, routine at airshows. (Indicated by the leading edge flaps and height of the aircraft - and the fact that the photographer had time to center the aircraft in the frame, get the horizon level - indicative of a panning level right-to-left shot). The aircraft is real, but the pilot and canopy have been dropped into the image and the heat haze/smoke/flames are additions. Someone spent a lot of time altering this picture, and unfortunately as this is a jpeg it is impossible to prove that it's a fake...

***the major worry for me is hitting with a high vertical speed Quote probably the only way that would happen, is if you get 'dumped' by some wretched downdraft. Even then, the most basic paragliding harnesses come standard with a back protection plate, usually kevla. Dont sweat it, your experience with canopy control will help a lot & you should be just fine. The trap you have to avoid is going in thinking you know it all already like we say in SA, dont be a vint-gat ! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***So what is landing a PG like? is it comparable to a skydiving canopy? Or am I likely to biff in the first few times? Quote There are three main parts to progression in Paragliding: Student, Intermediate and Advanced. During your student days, you are probably going to have a few tumbles, and maby a high speed landing or three. As the angle of attack on landings, will be far more shallow, as compared to a skydiving rig, you will probably risk injury to your lower back. You have a natural 'swoop' when landing, due to the excellent performance of the wing, you can skim the ground, and even ride the odd thermal bubble, very close to the ground. However, you body position is inclined backwards, and you should get your feet well down, and sit upright in the harness for landings. Some pilots like to stay in the reclined position, until the last few seconds, and pop up onto their feet, as the glider comes to a stop. Lets put it this way, you are going to have to be VERY careful, and fly conservatively during your student days. I guess by the time you hit intermediate stage, your back should be in better shape, but this is the stage where you start to push your envelope, and risk even worse injury. There is no reason for you to get injured in Paragliding, at any stage, but I would say the risk is a tad higher, flying a higher performance wing, in close proximity to the ground. Turbulance will get you....anywhere! It's how you react to it, which makes the difference. You wont however, be exposed to any 'shock' openings, as in a skydiving 'slammer', which should go a long way to helping your back heal. Be careful, and be a good student, and your doc will love you. As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

...and walk the streets of Bagdad in a Boy Scout uniform...Quote You really crack me up Tonto LOL. Maby you should try standup comedy, you seem to have what it takes As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

Paragliding is great fun, and your canopy skills will help, but I would caution you not to skip any theory! As an x instructor, I had many skydiving students come on my course, and thought they knew it all. Many of them crashed and burned all too soon. A paragliding canopy is a very different animal, having a far better aspect ratio, thereby giving fantastic glide performance, but far less overall stability, compared to a skydiving canopy. Also, you are flying in much closer proximity to the ground, for much more of the time, and the risk of collapses are very real, as well as object strikes and turbulance of all sorts, especially rotor effect and wind shear. Dont think for a second that Paragliding is any 'safer' than skydiving - it's not! The harness is way different, and you will instantly feel very uncomfortable, being used to hanging vertical, you will have to get used to lying back in your harness. (This cuts down on drag) You should go ahead and take the course, it will give you more depth and understanding of wind conditions, thermals and canopy control. If you persue the sport, to expert level, you could expect to spend hours in the air, and cover many miles of countryside, without paying for a jump ticket! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***I don't agree. If I'd had enough of living, I certainly wouldn't slit my wrists or struggle on the end of a rope. I'd have one last skydive, with friends. That's how I'd like to go. Quick, absolutely certain and the thrill of total ground-rush that none of us will ever live to experience Quote Yes perhaps, and have your 'friends' clean up the mess afterwards, not to mention the horror and grief. Sure, if you have to go that way, go and do it over the desert or the ocean, far away from a DZ. As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

I have been scared of course, but more when I am thinking about skydiving than when I am really doing it. However, I just read the story above. If I were her, I would be scared too! The equipment that was used back then is so different than what we have now. The yechnology is much more advanced now and I think that I have confidence in our gear and what we know, which makes me less scared. Blue skies and SAFE landings! ~Amanda~ ________________________ *** Oh boy I would LOVE to get hold of one of these yechnology rigs.........sounds awsome to me ! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***Now turning 40...that's a scary thought.... Quote Oh boy....that is SO true. My 40 is coming up next year. I feel like I need to book my place at the old age home But hey, what the hell, at least I can look forward to one razzle of a party !! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***I was drunk. It was fun, even though I never won. Quote Now I know why you dont drink (much) anymore !!! As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***I have almost 3,000 jumps, and probley 10,000 practice malfunctions (6 real). Quote Ron, thanks for always taking the time to post such useful information for students. Please can you elaborate on your 6 'real' malfunctions, and illustrate how drilling your procedures helped you in those situations ? ie. did you do all 6 incidents perfectly ? As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

*** There are plenty chinks. Did you say chinks ? man you must have a passion for Chinese food !! ROTFLMAO As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto

***As for the parties... ever seen me party? Ever seen me with more than 1 woman? Ever seen me miss the 1st load? Some stuff's important. Quote Yes, I know, you are the IceMan of JSC. I guess that's why I try and find chinks in the armour, but with no success. You do realise that's why we respect you so much young lad As we in Africa know - "If you're going to be dumb - you'd better be tough." - Tonto