gus

Hi Jaap, Glad that you came through that ok dude. I've drawn a pic of how I understand the 'bad' packjob. Is that right? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I watched "Masters Of Stone V" over the weekend and Dean and Steph......well, they make BASE look pretty tame. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I don't think I've ever been on a load with 3 tracking groups but I don't think it's impossible to manage. Just talk to each other and figure out the best plan. Be realistic about people's skill levels and ability to stick to that plan. Not a dig at your group, just a general observation. It's good that you're worried about what happened but don't stress too much. They key is (1) 'fess up and apologise, which you've done (2) figure out what happened, which you're doing (3) don't do it again, which it sounds like you won't! Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Your attached diagram is exactly the image I had in my mind when you described starting at 90 then bending it round to 45. It looks like a plausible explanation. I do quite alot of tracking so here are my thoughts, for what they're worth: If you look at your diagram what happened is actually quite predictable. When you took the track from 90 to 45 you started to close the distance between you and the solo tracker. Don't underestimate how far you can track. Even a relatively 'casual' track can cover a lot of distance, easily enough to catch other groups. Consequently, even slight deviations in heading can have a big effect on seperation. Organising 3 seperate tracking groups on a single pass can be difficult. Maybe have group 1 go first and left, group 2 go 2nd and right and group 3 go last? Or in the case of that particular load if you'd gone 2nd or 3rd (out of the trackers) your move to 45 wouldn't have created that situation. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Yeah, you didn't sound too impressed and I don't blame you, the good will of UK jumpers towards their home dropzones is too often abused. It seems to me that too often that good will flows in one direction only..... Langar's my home dz and I think Darren's right, it's generally a pretty cool place and it feels like it's become a lot better in terms of customer service recently. Hibs was also very good when I visited. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Spot on, thanks J. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Anyone have it? Thanks, Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

There are a couple of videos floating around of some pretty low jumps, the one I'm thinking of was from something like 64 feet (on to a beach?). That canopy was nowhere near full flight when the jumper landed. I haven't done any jumps even approaching that kind of altitude but I have recently done a couple of static lines from 160 (Troll 265 MDV). I had time to pop the brakes, let it fly for a few seconds and get a proper flare. So in answer to your question, I think under 100 ft is unlikely. 120? 130? There are a lot of variables. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Ahhhhh ok, that makes a bit more sense. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Gone already. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Bought in Eloy but not much use in the UK. Was going to throw it away but I've only used about 10 minutes out of 120 so if you want it, PM me. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I met Jay (and his V-1) in Eloy last week and whilst discussing the suit I think he told me that at pull time he's going through the wing. I took that as meaning he was grabbing the pc whilst the wing was laying over it. Jay is that what you meant? Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? It sounds a bit 'weird' to me! Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

pdr-126 loaded at 1.3 I had a reserve ride recently when my mate dumped me out by accident - whilst I was back tracking! It opened quickly but comfortably and with no line twists. I was seriously impressed by this canopy. I did a couple of practice flares up high, expecting them to be a bit 'limp' but they were quite the opposite. Then I floated around in brakes watching my freebag and was very impressed with the slow descent rate. I landed softly right next to my freebag. My next reserve will be a pd.

I've never heard that. What would make a container "rubbish sub terminal"? I have a number of sub terminal jumps on my wings and have had no problems. There are serveral other factors that could have produced your odd opening. Was the pc definately fully cocked? Did you give the pc a good throw? Did you look over your shoulder and actually see it in tow? When I got my Wings it was so tight that I was convinced they'd made it wrong but it does seem to have settled down and now it's fine. Still tight but perfectly ok. Clearly your canopy's snivel has nothing to do with the container. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Wow. Seriously? Would we even be jumping if it weren't for them? How many early/experimental parachutists lost their lives and did they do us a disservice too? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Thanks for the pics Dexter, I'm going to get one made and have a play with it. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Yeah you're absolutely right. I didn't spot the 3rd bit of break cord on the pics of your setup. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Sorry, crap picture. I always leave the pc on. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Up until now I've been tying my break cord directly around the anchor point/hand rail (as in staticline1.gif). But on a recent jump I noticed that the break cord is definately breaking where it's in contact with the anchor point. So I'm interested in using a sling and the whole "carry-on" thing. Does anyone have any opinions on the setup in staticline2.gif as a slightly simplified (?) version of what 689 and Faber are using? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Nothing spectacular I'm afraid, mostly just waiting. A month or so ago I spent 45 minutes at the top of an A, freezing my nuts off in the British winter, waiting for a couple to finish shagging in their Transit van that they'd (very incosiderately) parked in my landing area. I know what you're thinking: 45 minutes?! Well done to the lad. Respect. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Hi David, Congrats on your first jump, it sounds like you did a good job, had fun and survived it. I don't think the negative responses have been directed at you so don't take them personally but do you understand where they're coming from? Your profile says you come from Florida and you said the jump was from 900 ft so I'm assuming this was an antenna. A short slider up delay like you did is probably the worst combination of delay and gear config in terms of heading performance - ie a 4 second slider up jump is more like to open off heading than pretty much any other jump. Had you thought about that? Have you discussed stuff like that with anyone? Add to that very little clearance from the object, the presence of guy wires, the strong likelyhood that you'd under delay and the fact that you don't really know how you're going to react on the exit point and that's why people are saying it was a bad idea. And that's ignoring the whole 2-way thing. It's great that you've got plenty of experienced jumpers around to get advice from. Get their thoughts on whether that was an appropriate first jump. Get your mentor's thoughts as well, he might have changed his mind after the fact. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

There will always be a risk of injury/death but you have a large degree of control over that risk. Behave like a jackass and the risk soars. Behave sensibly, progress cautiously and the risk is significantly lower. I've managed 928 jumps with nothing more serious than a few scrapes and bruises - and most of them were from me behaving like an idiot. mr2mk1g has it right - only you can decide whether the benefit is worth the risk. It sounds like you've got the urge. My advice is to stop wasting money on tandems and get on a course. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

You big woolly afro'd woofter, where ya gonna go? Muchos BASE. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Check out skydivingfatalities.info or the incidents database here, they include the experience level of the individual. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

That's interesting 'cos I believe Trolls have also changed (at some point since I got mine 16 months ago) to having all the cascades the same length. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com