FreeFlyFreaky

A 4 WAY FREEFLY ON YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT A SIT???? WHO THE HELL WOULD INVITE YOU ON SUCH A JUMP? Man, I had to pipe in....Lazerq3, you really should spend 20 or 30 plus solos or one-on-ones with a coach before you even think of big ways or trying to dock. IMHO Horny gorillas aren't even recommended until you can successfully manage a stable sit, certainly not for two newbie freeflyers. Also stable meaning NOT drifting all over the sky into other peoples air space. And certainly forget going from a sit to belly to sit at this stage of the game...way to many fall rates to be warey of.....our rule for newbies is if you cork and end up on your belly you immediately track away and pull high.... And new people on no more than a 2 way with an experienced jumper......Freefly 2/3/4 ways of inexperienced divers is a recipe for disaster. Take it slow....please be safe... Whit

SkyFrog, I have found that a paper ring reinforcer (the circular stick-on jobbies for reinforcing torn paper holes) mounted on the inside of my goggles works just fine as a ring sight. I mounted one on the inside of the left lens. To align it I turned on the camera and ran around the house videoing different objects, large and small, near and not too far. To center it I had to reposition it a couple of times to get it just right but it was a very simple procedure. My videography improved on the very first jump. This was certainly NOT my idea. Lots of guys at my DZ have been using the same method. Actually, only a couple of guys use ring sights. Safety wise the benefits are obvious. Money wise...well, you can buy a lifetime supply for about $.69. Be safe, Whit

OWNER FOUND!! Thanks for all your input and private messages. I posted on rec.skydiving and managed to track down the owner and his bag is on it's way. Pin check please, Whit

I'm answering my own post to keep it alive... After a little more sleuthing we've heard this guy may be vacationing the gray bar hotel...but it's third hand info at best. Someone knew someone who heard someone say...blah blah blah.... Please, anyone with any info on this guy speak up. I'll give it a couple of weeks before the Finders/Keepers goes into affect. Be Safe, Whit

btw, concerning cloud jumps: BE CAREFUL! 3 weeks ago a jumper at our DZ did a hop'n'pop at 14G to test out a brand new rig and canopy... He passed out at 2500 feet under canopy and rode into the lake (Okeechobee) unconscious. He woke up upon landing in knee deep water. His legs straps were tightened so tight it cut off the circulation of the femoral artery. Had he been jumping anywhere else it could have been fatal. We have nothing but miles of sugar cane or lake all around us so we can land just about anywhere. He is of course all right but was a good bit spooked by the whole ordeal. So gang, if you're going to be doing long canopy rides be cognizant of what can happen. Cheers, Whit

OK, OK....let's straighten out a couple ASSumptions made. First off it's FreeFlyFreaky...not fffreak, not FFF I was using it as an AOL IM handle long before I ever logged on to Dropzone. So, no I wasn't trying to copy anyone...you do flatter yourself an awful lot, FFF. ~snicker, snicker~ Secondly, Come on FFF, you screaming to the whole world that you like to fall...I personally want to be known as a Flyer...heh heh heh Good day, Whit

On Saturday, June 9, 2001, a man drove up to our DZ,Skydive America Palm Beach, with a bag he found on I-95. He wanted $40 for his troubles of locating us, plus his driving time. I glady paid him. I just lost a wallet two weeks ago with no money in it but would have paid twice that for it to be returned. Inside the bag were invoices and other items with the name Matt O'Gwynn. We called around to some other DZ's to see if anyone knew him...no luck. So we don't think he is local to Florida. There are rigger's tools and other items of value that I'm sure the owner will want returned. So, Rigger Matt O'Gwynn are you out there? Do any of you know this guy? If so, please contact me either through this forum or email me directly. Thanks, Whit [email protected]

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!

Geoff, Mirage certainly makes a pull-out/pin-pull system. I bought my rig in Feb and chose the pull out system with the PUD handle. I bought it for two reasons, 1. the PUD is infinitely harder to accidently dislodge and 2. Horseshoes are avoided completely. The downside as I see it are twofold: 1. You can't see at a glance whether or not the pilot chute is cocked. So, you better trust your packer or yourself to make sure it is. 2. If you drop the handle during deployment it may be a little difficult to grasp again if its flapping around on your back even if it's within reach. At first it seemed a little strange pulling it, I initially yanked it with more force than is needed. A simple twist then pull is all that is required. After 60 plus jumps I'm very comfortable with it and it feels to me like I have a throw-out system. IT'S EASY ONCE YOU GET USED TO IT. For me I feel safer with the pull-out, others may want the security of a cock check

I too am about to drop a load on a new PC-110 and don't relish the idea of giving it the proverbial drop kick but will gladly do so if I have to. A safe and stable deployment is obviously the key. But if you ever found your self dangling by the neck from a canopy you just tried to cutaway a method to get untangled from it makes a lot of sense too. I saw a helmet system that relates to your post and one that I really want to get. A few weeks ago a guy came to our DZ with a chin-strap cutaway system for releasing his helmet. The corrugated straps were fixed to the helmet, normally I have seen these mounted on the chin cup. The chin cup had the little strap grippers mounted on the edges of the cup. The chin cup also had a bowed piece of surgical tubing mounted on the underside of the cup for a quick finger snatch release. The release disengaged the gripper on one side of the strap. The surgical tubing was a cover for a wire connected to a cotter pin that went through the metal post that held one of the grippers on the cup. Other methods could certainly be employed but it was a very ingenious setup. Thoughts on this? Have any of you seen this before? Know of anyone who can make something like this? Whit

"Three Whistles for the Dog" Couldn't resist! Whit

Check out Skydive America After the intro click on the link for FreeFly Circus. There is all sorts of info on the Atmosphere Dolphin (an unsanctioned freefly license) requirements and they all involve the use of a Space Ball. Of course, a tennis ball filled with lead shot poses a huge danger to anyone on the ground, so the rules at this dropzone are ball jumps are only done by AD licensed flyers and we have to wait for the winds to come from the west so that any ball jumps can be made over the lake (Okeechobee) where we're less likely to boink a sugar cane farmer. When you think about it, what better way to measure ones skills with an object that flys perfectly straight down and at a constant speed @170 mph. IT AIN'T EASY! Whit

Hey Grrrl, ----- Congrats on the big 'A' ------ It's well worth a few greenies, huh? Ciao bella, Whit

The headline “Skydiver Dies” admittedly sell lots of fish wrap but, DAMMIT YOU’RE SCARING MY MOM TO DEATH – STOP IT! My parents live in Orlando and I knew my mom was going to clip the article of Bungee Drapeau’s accident in Deland and send it to me. She of course did and I had to write back and explain low hook turns, swooping, ellipticals, wing loading etc. What really upsets me is the media coverage of skydiving accidents. In this case I speak particularly of the statements of Sean Mussenden for the Orlando Sentinel. The account of Bungee’s death was not sensational to me but the statement he made concerning the last two fatalities in Deland I thought was entirely misleading. He says, “a 31-year-old New Yorker, died Dec 27 when her parachute failed. In April 99, a 55-year-old French woman, fell to her death when her parachute failed.” Excuse me? Parachute failed? When skydivers die with good reserves on their backs is this to be considered faulty equipment? I’d say the skydivers failed the equipment and not the other way around. I wish the journalist had said something closer to that than to leave the impression that double malfunctions are happening all over the place. My point is this kind of man bites dog journalism does more to perpetuate biases against our sport. For most of the general public the very mention of skydiving causes beads to form on their foreheads. The most I guess we can do is educate as many around us and try to dispel the myths where we can. I wrote to this journalist asking that he be more than just “journalistically accurate”. My mom wrote me back, I’ve got her believing I’ll live now…until the next article anyway. Whit Baker

Hey Krishan, Thanks for the comments and yeah, it was way fun....I'm a he not a she however...LOL You know I don't think anything we did was illegal per FAA regs, but I'm not sure about that. We weren't flying through the clouds but skirting the edges. I've spoken to lots of folks who have also done 'cloud dives". Since our pilot's butt was on the line (of course he didn't know I was going to have an article published about it) I'm guessing everything was kosher. Anybody out there know the rules here? As far as turbulence, there really wasn't any near the clouds. On days like this there is usually a zone at around 1000' where it gets bumpy. I've had a couple of ball tightening drops, thankfully at altitude...it's that last 30 feet that has me worried. I'm in Florida, jumping next to Lake Okeechobee. Whit Baker

Hi Erica, Welcome to South Florida! Have you been to Skydive America Palm Beach? We're on the other side of the Lake from Clewiston. Mostly a freefly dropzone but lots of RW folks too. Its a very busy place on the weekends with a very family atmosphere. Lots of international flyers too. Come on out! I live in Hollywood, just around the corner from you. If you ever want to carpool, just send a note. Whit

***** PUFFY ****** Diana is to be first. She is at the door looking a little nervous. I know how she feels, neither she nor I wants to screw this up. I will be second and John will be third. John organized the dive and rode with the pilot to altitude discussing what we wanted to accomplish here. We’re at 14,000 feet and the last people on the plane. The tandems have all exited. The pilot, has graciously agreed to take us about three miles east of the drop zone and drop us near a huge cloud head. Today these large Florida cumulus clouds look like huge wads of white cotton candy. Their tops are close to 11,000 feet and the bottoms extend down to 4,000 feet. They’re globular and fuzzy and quite beautiful to look at from above. They completely line Lake Okeechobee but immediately above the lake it is cloud free. The cool air rising from the lake disperses the clouds to hug just the edges of the lake. The locals call this area the cloud’s edge. Above us the sky is a crisp dark blue. To the east is the big lake and to our west we can see the coast of West Palm Beach. It looks like a green carpet of laced with fluffy white cushions all the way to the coast. The sun is shining brightly from above. It’s an absolutely beautiful day. We’re about to jump. Normally, the jump run is just above the drop zone, we drop from an altitude of 13,500 feet, we free fall for about a minute, pull at 3,000 and float under canopy for a few minutes and land. That is a horrible over simplification and the skydivers that read this are probably cringing, but in 40 words or less you get the idea. Today we’ve decided to fly a few miles away from the drop zone, immediately pull our chutes upon exit (hop’n’pop) and ‘fly’ our canopies back to the landing area. The fun part is we get to literally ride next to the clouds. I haven’t done a hop’n’pop since my A license jump. No big deal really. The idea this time is for us each to gain a little separation for safety but stay close enough that we can fly together about 100 to 300 feet between us. The trick is we each have different size canopies and weight ratios that can make the fall rates and speeds we generate widely disparate. John will be fastest, therefore in front, I will be faster than Diana so I go second, Diana will be flying behind me. The jump order is therefore Diana first, I go second and John last. After Diana jumps, she is to wait for my exit then pull her chute. I will do the same. She goes. I am right at the door with my head out the door watching her fall away. I motion that I’m exiting. John stops me. I’m not leaving enough separation. Diana is 7 or 8 seconds into her fall before John signals me to exit. I leave. I look up at the plane, falling the entire way in a pull position with my right hand ready to pull when I see him leave. It seems an unusually long time. John leaves, I pull and have a very soft opening because I haven’t gathered that much speed yet. John pulls a second later and we’re now all three in the saddle. I look behind me and see Diana a few hundred feet back. John is close ahead. It is so beautiful up here. I look around and I have a perfectly unobstructed view in 360 degrees. It’s so quiet your voice seems like it only travels for 10 feet before it is absorbed. It’s also very cold. I’m wearing only underwear beneath my jump suit. What is almost intolerably hot on the ground is not nearly adequate up here. Oh well, its for just a few minutes. I’m already feeling this dive is going to be so worth it. We’re still way above the clouds. I check my altimeter and see we’re at 12,000 feet. John takes a sweeping turn to the left. I wait until I’m near where he began and initiate the same turn. Diana follows and we’re still together. I’m losing a little on John and start doing front riser turns to gain speed to keep up. John is riding his brakes to stay back. Diana is still safely close by. We’re doing pretty well all things considered. We’re getting to ‘tree top level’ and John is picking our path through these giant sky monsters that are starting to surround us. We’re skirting the edge of this huge cloud and trying to follow its jagged periphery. What a total rip. John finds this hole that looks like the deformed eye of a hurricane and dives down two spin rotations before leveling off on a new edge. I follow suit. This is so totally cool. Diana follows behind and we’re now chasing the tail of whole new part of this cloud. We dance with the cloud’s casing, pulling left then right. I see John’s silhouette through the translucence of the vapors. We pop in and out of the cloud’s edge. We find another hole to dive through. This time four really hard spins to get down to John. We level off again and find a new glide path through the sun rays. The lights and shadows and sun rays fill your vision in all directions. This is so totally beautiful it can’t be described. I’m flying a small piece of fabric, my very own synthetic feathers right through the clouds thinking of what all my ground-mortal friends are missing. As I fly around so totally elated I realize that when I get on the ground any attempt I make at conveying this experience to others is going to fall way short of the actual experience. I want so badly for everyone I know to be able to do this just once in their lives. As I fly I think to myself that I need to go purchase Jonathan Livingston Seagull and reread the part talks about conquering his fears so that he can soar through the clouds. Wow, if there was ever a greater payoff for getting past a such a little fear I don’t know what it is. We’re close to 5,000 feet. I can now see the ground in almost all directions. We’re just about to leave the clouds and make the last approach to landing. I’m hooting and hollering trying to get John’s attention. I know he can’t hear me but it doesn’t matter, I just need to scream. Now is canopy play time. We’re doing spins left, spins right, anything to scratch off altitude and have a little fun in the process. I do 8 to 10 rotations in a wickedly hard spin. I can feel the centrifugal forces pulling my blood and muscles away from center. Whuffos have no idea what they’re missing. I’m now close to 2,000 feet, what is normally the beginning of my canopy ride to the landing area. I see the Otter on the runway and watch the next load take off. I look back to see Diana safely on her way back. We land in the empty landing area. Every sentence is now laced with the word ‘awesome’. Diana and I are especially thrilled with our first ‘puffy’ dive. I mention that this will be a memorable one. For Diana, this dive was her 98th, she did her 100th this same day got a pie in the face for it. Today, April 7, was also her 34th birthday. I know that she had a memorable day. Whit Baker Jumping with Diana Lowe and John Hobart April 7, 2001