bertthebaron

I have made posts that are not accurate. What I remember and what actually happened are two different things! I have emailed the staff and asked that all my stuff be deleted. People's safety may rely on what they read and it must be accurate. A long time has passed since then and things I have entered are from old gossip, with no substance, or embelishment on my part. Please forgive my ignorant misunderstanding of reality. I will not post anymore. I think real skydivers deserve better. I sincerely apologize

Damn! I don't think one can deploy any lower unless you start splitting hairs.

I saw that video where the birdman "Robert" was flying off the cliff with a smoke can on his ankle and all I could say was "HOLY CRAP" !!! He looked as if he had a rocket pushing him. That was the best video I've ever seen in my life about parachuting. Even my kids wanted to watch it over and over again. I saved it as a favorite. Freakin good work people, I never knew such a thing was possible. I now think a suit could be landed on water with a belly-mount solid sponson, like a boat. Landing like a duck does. But I won't be the first to try it! Thanx Birdpeople, you made my day. .......skies.......

He was an excellent skydiver and pilot though. I don't know why he made the choice that he did or if it was even his choice at all, but someday I'll find out and I hope that day isn't soon. To him I say "Blue Skies Brother", and leave it at that.

Just had to post one here... Bout 20 years ago (at a secret location), we saw a pilot buzz the airfield in a 182 at around 500 ft. after dropping a load. Funny thing is, he was hanging from the strut like a static line student in the buff! That's right, no clothes and the plane on auto pilot! I'm surprized the weight of his balls didn't cause the plane to crash. He climbed back in and landed the plane.

A bunch of planes including a Piper J-3 Cub

Just wondering how common this type of function is, or has been over the years. I've been out for a while.

I would have to say Wayne N. and all the people from (former) Skydive IL. for putting up with all my crap. The training recieved there was top-notch and I wouldn't be here today were it not for them. Thanks Blue skies Rog.......

Jump # 13 All you new timers beware of big 13!! Hop-n-pop/long ass snivle/pulled silver on student S.O.S., Landed in the peas (good spot D.H. FB#8) .......skies.......

Wondering if any have ever had problems with a pull-out deployment where the bridle got stuck and could not pull the pin? Read "Incidents", under same suject for more detail. Thanx, .........skies.........

Thanks Andrea, one of my daughter's name is Andrea also, cool name. I have been to DeLand and jumped with Tom Piras years back. Maybe I will skydive again someday, but for now I must work out some other details of life here on terra firma. Thanks for your post, please be careful up there and blue skies, skymama!

I have to admit that I'm guilty of the same thing I question. I use to hook a downwind and start flaring while nearly horizontal,swooping in and sliding my bare feet through the wet grass only to gain a few feet in altitude afterward and float to a soft landing to my amazement back in '86. I know that skydiving will continue to evolve and nothing can stop it. I remember the feeling of utopial bliss and of utmost respect for the sky. Nothing else like it! It just hurts when close friends and mentors are snatched away in an instant, before you had a chance to say hello once again. Then you read the why's and what if's in a forum. I've been out of the sport for 5 years, it always tries to draw me back in and it probably will someday. I can see I will have plenty to learn and maybe something to offer. Blue Skies All.......FB2340

I don't mean to be a smart ass, but it seems that this is a mind-set issue. There must be some limit to this madness. In nature, an eagle is given a set of wings proportionate to his body. A big man jumping a little skinny canopy just doesn't seem natural. There is also a limit as to how fast a human brain can think, no matter how much exposure to a particular environment it has had. Reduce the thinking time and increase the risk of the subject and all who are around him/her. I have been cut off by an experienced jumper before. He didn't see me when he hooked under me, the wake of his canopy deflated about half of mine and I came down hard and suffered a compressed disc in my back. I weighed 150 and the canopy was a Clipper 194sq.ft. If it had been any smaller I would really have busted my ass. It was an accident and I didn't put blame on the guy but he reduced his thinking time by performing a hook, he had a fast canopy as well. I just wonder if small, fast canopies and reduced thinking time have anything in common? Or, has a person with a demonsrated extreme ability level overcome the thinking time deficit by merit of experience? Maybe I'm totally off the mark here but it seems that experienced skydivers like to jump smaller, high performance rigs and the up-n-comers want to be like them so they downsize. Is this a mind-set issue or just a waiver?

Hmmm? I started skydiving in the mid 80's. All this stuff about smaller and smaller canopies and HOOK turns before landing is crazy man. Look at it this way, lets increase the wing loading of our jump aircraft for a change. As the pilots become more experienced the wings become smaller and smaller! Before long we will be loading into a rocket ship with a giant engine and little fins for wings. Don't worry about the pilot, he can land it safely, after all he has so much experience with this new trend and landing his dart. All he has to do is flare at exactly the right instant and all will be fine. But we don't want to add weight to his intense take-off so we will continue to reduce the size of our 'backpacks' and canopies (reserves included!) until we too are approaching at higher velocities. Hell, lets be 'cool' and take it a step further. Let's just wear roller blades and a wing suit! If you time it out just right you can flare and have a nice two point landing right down the runway and come rolling straight into the hanger, no prob! Oh, be sure and watch for air trffic with the few seconds that you can devote for that kind of thing cuz that rocket ship will be landing soon to pick up another load of the like minded! So, fly as fast as you can, swoop as fast as you can, land as fast as you can and be as safe as you have time to be. And don't forget to bait that HOOK, the ground is always hungry! COOL man, ya, way cool!

High all! New on the site with a few jumps under my belt, bout 350 logged. Cool site and good talk, see you up there sometime. FB#2340