Surf

I don't know if Gary is married, but if he is I know his wife sits in the back of the car, as his balls are riding shotgun. If you can get the whole story from him (or get him here to post it himself) I'd be indebted. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Those exceptions bug me too. There are plenty of people alive today who may die because they were grandfathered. In my own newbie opinion, leave just the S&TA waiver in place, this way every jumper in the air will have to be reevaluated. This way the S&TA gets to make the call on the individuals skill level. Anyone who feels they should be exceptions to the rule should have no problem showing their S&TA that they can fly. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Newbie here as well. Caveat Insilior. If you take the "who cares" approach to your legs, you have to counter poor leg position with poor arm position. with a bad enough leg position you could tie yourself into a pretzel- not very fun, not very stable, very difficult to do RW with your legs and arms all out of whack. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Sorry, your right. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Sure-but would you sabotage your rig, or simply not pull? There have been many suicides over the years , iirc most of them have been "no-pulls" with a note, though a few have been cut-aways w/notes, and I have even heard of one man who shot himself under canopy. I've never heard of a skydiver sabotaging his own rig though, that would be a first. I think this 'Theory' stems from two sources 1)The cops have NO CLUE and don't want to be left standing in this highly public case. 2) The public in general believes all skydivers are suicidal. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

just don't catch anything in those bands, ouch! "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

It's wierd to read the high-winds hook turn procedure, in light of recent skydiving trends. So anyone ever hook a PC as described? "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I think most will agree that they know of more long relationships broken from skydiving than made stronger, especially if only one of you is diving. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

(My impression of that phone call) "Hello? my name is Norm Petersen, I represent over 100 skydivers in the Bristol area." "We want to come to your theater as a group and watch a movie.." (click) "Hello? Hello? is anyone there?" If I ran the theater I wouldn't want a group of 100 skydivers anywhere near it :) "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Scariest for me was the *irst time another student jumped my packjob. I don't think I've ever felt sicker at the dz, waiting to see that canopy... Student never noticed anything out of the ordinary, by the time she had touched down I had gone back in to make some cash for gear rental + jump. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I've been thinking about the origins of the abuse I see here (not just in my post, in the ones I've been lurking as well) and I have an idea Many of us think of ourselves as safe and conservative skydivers. A a person progresses in jumps that gets reinforced. Anyone who questions that we see as a personal attack. the degree of attack is proportional to the jump number. It's not an attack, it's an assist. The only way to stay safe is to continually use our brains, and this means asking and answering questions. No one should be complacent. Skydiving is unforgiving. Maybe this is too philosophical but if you think your a safe skydiver, think again. But then I'm just a Lowbie, and a safe lowbie at that, so keep that in mind. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I've lived here for 15 years, but I really don't know of a station close to the airport. George Bush Intercontinenal is on the extreme N side o town where BW8 crosses 59 and 45N http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=YI72QRRsNZI%3d&longitude=mGEPhpECR%2fI%3d&name=George%20Bush%20Intercontinental%20Airport%20%28IAH%29&countryid=250&country=US&address=2800%20N%20Terminal%20Rd&city=Houston&state=TX&zipcode=77032&phone=281%2d230%2d3000&cat=George%20Bush%20Airport&spurl=0 My suggestion would be to Call Greyhound, this is probably a typical request. Have a good Xmas boogie. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

So I jump into the world's most-hated-thread-that-will-not-die (General-"would this piss you off?") hoping to get some info on canopy control. instead I touch off a flame war No prob. so I abstract the situation into the "hypothetical but common situation thread" in the Safety and Training forum, hoping to keep it impersonal. Everything starts out fine and then my thread gets hijacked into bickering. GAAH! What the hell is wrong with skydivers (myself included) that we can't exchange simple information without insulting someone? Reminds me of the old "Hey, Asshole?" "WHAT!" greeting... Please, don't post angry. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

thanks to all, don't know why I didn't see that in square ones cat.. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Thats a good attitude IMHO. Ask to exit before them and do a float exit. If the TM and Vid are OK with it, that'll be just as good. We all want to be there, thats the whole point, right? but I'll know I'm ready when the TM INVITES me, rather than me having to ask. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Welcome Jumpy, Giving advice on what canopy to buy would be dangerous, and no-one here has seen you jump, no one knows anything about you here. I suggest finding a DZ near your school (every school should be close to one, students are fools for jumping :)) get to an A license, and THEN start worrying about gear purchase. Best o luck! "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I have an older Oxygn helmet (with the button release). It's in like new condition, except its 5.5 years old and the visor has crazed over. is it possible to get a new visor made? I looked for replacements online but couldn't find any :( I know Andre Petriese (now in Chicago?) used to make these for people out at skydive houston. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Print out a list of incidents where the person lost alti awareness, hand it to her and say these people probably thought the same as you. I had a friend knocked out in RW a number of years back. IIRC a skygod in her group went after her, pulled her, and she came to under canopy. Does your lowbie always fly with skygods, ready to pull her at a moments notice? "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I was wondering about this as well, is he talking about a reserve which opens but is somehow entagled? I can't imagine cutting away a perfectly good canopy. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Just like to say thanks to all who participated here, it's nice to see a thread not turn into a flamefest and actually discuss these things in a civil manner. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Oh you silly nonAmericans, don't you know? it's our world now. everyone start speaking American NOW and quit using kilometers or we'll use the bomb. Multiply mph by .87 to get approx knots. 14mph=12knots 25mph=22knots 35mph=30knots 45mph=39knots "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Remember Bush Sr. went some 53 years between jumps. Many here have had long "vacations" from skydiving. I thought I'd never jump again after a 5 year hiatus. But I will. If it's in your blood you'll be back. Not everyone who jumps once or twice is a skydiver, but if you went up 12 times, and based on your post, I'd say you're hooked. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

Yeah, thats what I thought. Any instructors, what kind of instruction do you give for this situation? "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence

I M H O In

Sorry here are the assumptions I was making, probably some or all of them are bad. 1)his spot was fine for an opening at normal altitudes, he's just high. 2)the winds aloft (uppers) are less favorable (stronger or different in heading) than the winds down lower. All these questions have me worried I've been doing something wrong. My thinking was in this situation I would spiral down to the more favorable wind layer and then use rear risers to get to the DZ. How much harder is it to pull on the front risers compared to holding a chin-up? If the canopy isn't spinning you're only holding up your own weight. Since we're getting off topic here I posted the question in Safety and training, to help me better understand what you're saying. Feel free to continue the discussion there, I don't want to hijack funks thread any more than I already have. "Nothing is written"- T.E. Lawrence