arni999

I found this article earlier and thought it would fit in perfectly to the 'Safety and Training' section of the forum. Not sure if its been posted before but this is the first time ive seen it and thought it was hilarious (i know, simple things and all! ) ___________________ Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips By David Carkeet Admit it: You want to be the sole survivor of an airline disaster. You aren't looking for a disaster to happen, but if it does, you see yourself coming through it. I'm here to tell you that you're not out of touch with reality—you can do it. Sure, you'll take a few hits, and I'm not saying there won't be some sweaty flashbacks later on, but you'll make it. You'll sit up in your hospital bed and meet the press. Refreshingly, you will keep God out of your public comments, knowing that it's unfair to sing His praises when all of your dead fellow-passengers have no platform from which to offer an alternative view. Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what? First of all, you're starting off a full mile higher than Everest, so after a few gulps of disappointing air you're going to black out. This is not a bad thing. If you have ever tried to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you know what I mean. This brief respite from the ambient fear and chaos will come to an end when you wake up at about 15,000 feet. Here begins the final phase of your descent, which will last about a minute. It is a time of planning and preparation. Look around you. What equipment is available? None? Are you sure? Look carefully. Perhaps a shipment of folded parachutes was in the cargo hold, and the blast opened the box and scattered them. One of these just might be within reach. Grab it, put it on, and hit the silk. You're sitting pretty. Other items can be helpful as well. Let nature be your guide. See how yon maple seed gently wafts to earth on gossamer wings. Look around for a proportionate personal vehicle—some large, flat, aerodynamically suitable piece of wreckage. Mount it and ride, cowboy! Remember: molecules are your friends. You want a bunch of surface-area molecules hitting a bunch of atmospheric molecules in order to reduce your rate of acceleration. As you fall, you're going to realize that your previous visualization of this experience has been off the mark. You have seen yourself as a loose, free body, and you've imagined yourself in the belly-down, limbs-out position (good: you remembered the molecules). But, pray tell, who unstrapped your seat belt? You could very well be riding your seat (or it could be riding you; if so, straighten up and fly right!); you might still be connected to an entire row of seats or to a row and some of the attached cabin structure. If thus connected, you have some questions to address. Is your new conveyance air-worthy? If your entire row is intact and the seats are occupied, is the passenger next to you now going to feel free to break the code of silence your body language enjoined upon him at takeoff? If you choose to go it alone, simply unclasp your seat belt and drift free. Resist the common impulse to use the wreckage fragment as a "jumping-off point" to reduce your plunge-rate, not because you will thereby worsen the chances of those you leave behind (who are they kidding? they're goners!), but just because the effect of your puny jump is so small compared with the alarming Newtonian forces at work. Just how fast are you going? Imagine standing atop a train going 120 mph, and the train goes through a tunnel but you do not. You hit the wall above the opening at 120 mph. That's how fast you will be going at the end of your fall. Yes, it's discouraging, but proper planning requires that you know the facts. You're used to seeing things fall more slowly. You're used to a jump from a swing or a jungle gym, or a fall from a three-story building on TV action news. Those folks are not going 120 mph. They will not bounce. You will bounce. Your body will be found some distance away from the dent you make in the soil (or crack in the concrete). Make no mistake: you will be motoring. At this point you will think: trees. It's a reasonable thought. The concept of "breaking the fall" is powerful, as is the hopeful message implicit in the nursery song "Rock-a-bye, Baby," which one must assume from the affect of the average singer tells the story not of a baby's death but of its survival. You will want a tall tree with an excurrent growth pattern—a single, undivided trunk with lateral branches, delicate on top and thicker as you cascade downward. A conifer is best. The redwood is attractive for the way it rises to shorten your fall, but a word of caution here: the redwood's lowest branches grow dangerously high from the ground; having gone 35,000 feet, you don't want the last 50 feet to ruin everything. The perfectly tiered Norfolk Island pine is a natural safety net, so if you're near New Zealand, you're in luck, pilgrim. When crunch time comes, elongate your body and hit the tree limbs at a perfectly flat angle as close to the trunk as possible. Think! Snow is good—soft, deep, drifted snow. Snow is lovely. Remember that you are the pilot and your body is the aircraft. By tilting forward and putting your hands at your side, you can modify your pitch and make progress not just vertically but horizontally as well. As you go down 15,000 feet, you can also go sideways two-thirds of that distance—that's two miles! Choose your landing zone. You be the boss. If your search discloses no trees or snow, the parachutist's "five-point landing" is useful to remember even in the absence of a parachute. Meet the ground with your feet together, and fall sideways in such a way that five parts of your body successively absorb the shock, equally and in this order: feet, calf, thigh, buttock, and shoulder. 120 divided by 5 = 24. Not bad! 24 mph is only a bit faster than the speed at which experienced parachutists land. There will be some bruising and breakage but no loss of consciousness to delay your press conference. Just be sure to apportion the 120-mph blow in equal fifths. Concentrate! Much will depend on your attitude. Don't let negative thinking ruin your descent. If you find yourself dwelling morbidly on your discouraging starting point of seven miles up, think of this: Thirty feet is the cutoff for fatality in a fall. That is, most who fall from thirty feet or higher die. Thirty feet! It's nothing! Pity the poor sod who falls from such a "height." What kind of planning time does he have? Think of the pluses in your situation. For example, although you fall faster and faster for the first fifteen seconds or so, you soon reach "terminal velocity"—the point at which atmospheric drag resists gravity's acceleration in a perfect standoff. Not only do you stop speeding up, but because the air is thickening as you fall, you actually begin to slow down. With every foot that you drop, you are going slower and slower. There's more. When parachutists focus on a landing zone, sometimes they become so fascinated with it that they forget to pull the ripcord. Since you probably have no ripcord, "target fixation" poses no danger. Count your blessings. Think of others who have gone before you. Think of Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who in 1972 fell 33,000 feet in the tail of an exploded DC-9 jetliner; she landed in snow and lived. Vesna knew about molecules. Think of Joe Hermann of the Royal Australian Air Force, blown out of his bomber in 1944 without a parachute. He found himself falling through the night sky amid airplane debris and wildly grabbed a piece of it. It turned out to be not debris at all, but rather a fellow flyer in the process of pulling his ripcord. Joe hung on and, as a courtesy, hit the ground first, breaking the fall of his savior and a mere two ribs of his own. Joe was not a quitter. Don't you be. Think of Nick Alkemade, an RAF tailgunner who jumped from his flaming turret without a parachute and fell 18,000 feet. When he came to and saw stars overhead, he lit a cigarette. He would later describe the fall as "a pleasant experience." Nick's trick: fir trees, underbrush, and snow. But in one important regard, Nick is a disappointment. He gave up. As he plummeted to Germany, he concluded he was going to die and felt "a strange peace." This is exactly the wrong kind of thinking. It will get you nowhere but dead fast. You cannot give up and plan aggressively at the same time. To conclude, here are some words that might help you avoid such a collapse of resolve on your way down. * "Keep a-goin'." (Frank L. Stanton) * "Failure is not an option." (Ed Harris, as the guy in Apollo 13 who says, "Failure is not an option") * "'Hope' is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops-at all." (Emily Dickinson) Note: A different version of Unplanned Freefall was originally published in Modern Humorist. ___________ Taken from this link: http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html Mikey Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

On my 4th AFF jump my PC ended up on top of my canopy enducing a right turn. Only to stop the turn was pull done hard on my left toggle. I didn't pull the reseerve cos i thought i had it under control. Never thought about the landing though... Luckily, although it was quite hard i managed to not break anything Got a very big telling off from my instructor for not chopping. Learnt my lesson that day!! hehe Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

I did my packing course last tuesday and all went pretty well. As i cannot afford to jump this weekend i thought i'd have a practice at home. I got to the stage of putting the bag/canopy into the container but i have forgotten a couple of things: 1) Do i stow the lines (the ones fastened into the bungees) towards the bottom of the conatiner? 2) When i put the main/canopy into the container i was taught to put it in at a 45 degree angle but i can't remember which way. Does the part of the bag towards the bottom of the container (where the lines are stowed) need to be raised higher or is it the other end? I've managed to get everything in ok from what i think is correct (i.e. lines stowed at bottom with this same end higher than the other end). Whether it's jumpable or not is a different matter though!! Forgot to mention, the container is a teardrop superfly Practice Practice Practice... Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

Yeah, i only have about 50 jumps but i only weigh 130lbs. I was jumping a 170 silhouette in Spain after my consols so a 170 is ok. I can see where you are coming from though if somebody heavier were to jump it

So... with this in mind, at 550 jumps, would it be safe to say that there will be hardly any flare left in it? Problem is, i cant test jump it as it isnt in a container Blue Skies Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

Hmm good point. Not much point paying for a reline and if its worn out then its pointless anyway. I will give it a miss. Thanks for th advice Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

How difficult/uncommon is it to reline a an old pd 7 cell main? I'm looking at putting a PD 176 main in my container for a few jumps until i downsize to my 150. The canopy has 550 jumps on it so i think it will need a new line set. I spoke to one rigger already that said relining that sort of canopy would be strange and is not normal. i didn't take it any further and so was wondering what other people thought about this. Has anyone got a PD 176 that they've relined recently? If so how much did it cost? Blue Skies Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

On arriving at Ocana, i was greeted by pretty much all of the staff straight away (which DZ in the UK can you say that about?) The friendliness is second to none and i don't believe that there is anywhere so close knit as Ocana. Everybody talks to everybody and there is certainly no snobbery. There are some real top rate instructors there who make you feel wanted and who don't look down on you for being a student. The aircraft, which is a porter, is very nice to jump. When the door opens its like the side of the plane has vanished its so big. Makes for some very nice exits! The swimming pool is glorious, perfect for when you want a break from the heat. Just rock on over to the pool and have a dip! There really is only one downside to the place, and that's the fact that the restaurant will serve you any sandwich you want - as long as it contains ham and cheese! haha Seriously though, if you are looking to do your AFF or are an experienced jumper, maybe wishing to progress your FS skills, FF skills, wingsuit skills or even get into base jumping, Ocana is the place to do it. Flights to Madrid are cheap as now so why train anywhere other than Ocana?

If you are a serious jumper or want to learn, DO NOT go here. All they are interested in is getting as many tandems up as possible, making it pretty impossible to get a jump in. Also, i started m AFF there last year and by level 6 i was made to feel that i wasn't competant enough to be a skydiver, so i gave up. This year however i thought i'd give it one more try. I booked 40 mins in the wind tunnel and went to spain the week after to do AFF. I literally flew through it (no pun intended) and carried on to do another 20 jumps after including FS with one of the best instructors there are, Luci Boella. I now consider myself to be a pretty competant jumper, even thoufh i was told i wasn't good enough by one of the instructors there (I'll mention no names)! If you are looking to become a skydiver, then you would be best to go elsewhere as they really aren't interested. On a positive note though, probably a great place to go and do a tandem (but beware, they have a tendancy to overbook) Please don't think that i am saying all of this just because i have an axe to grind, every other skydiver that knows Chatteris (NLPC), that i have spoken with, agrees totally with everything i say. I now jump at Langar and the attitude there is a million miles apart from Chatteris - VERY VERY freindly and welcoming

I might say that i can only sell it to him if he can give me proper knowledge that he himself is trained. maybe ask him to take a photo with a sign saying "I use rubber strap-ons" do you think he'd be willing if he thought he was gonna make a load of money out of it. Ive seen a couple of scams where people have done this and its worked then! hahaha Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

After having my canopy for sale on the classified section, and succesfully selling it, i forgot to remove the listing. A few days ago i received an email from somebody who said his name was 'Mark Cole'. Strange really as his 'brand new' username on here is John01. After reading previous scam notices, it was plain to see that it was a scam. Not that it mattered as i had already sold my canopy. But i thought it would be fun to have a little play around with him and see how far i can take it. I have included the whole of the email thread so far below Maybe best to read from bottom to top Hi Mark, My full name and address is Patrick Charles Plod 69 Butlover Avenue Twatmansland Cockworth CW87 3TH mikey harris is a name i use on the internet as somebody once tried to rip me off. I now only give my real name to peoplewho i trust I do not have a telephone but you can contact me at work on 0116 222 2222 and just ask for PC Plod If you have any further questions, just give me a call or drop me an email Regards Patrick Plod ----- Original Message ----- From: mark cole To: Mikey Harris Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 5:53 PM Subject: Re: payment details Hi Thanks you very much for your Question, my client is well train so i will like you to mail me your full name and address with your phone number so that the payment can be lodge in to you as soon as possible. Thanks Mikey Harris wrote: Hi Mark, Here is a picture of the canopy. As you can see, it is in very good condition. I really need to know though, has your client been trained in the rubber strapon technique? As i said before, it can be very painful if you are not fully up to date with rubber strapons. I know somebody that used a rubber strapon before without the proper training and he was in hospital for 6 months recovering from some very serious injuries. Please tell me if your client is fully trained in this or i cannot sell you the canopy. Also, does your client use butplugs when he is packing? Using butplugs when packing one of these is critical, it can be very messy without them! please tell me if he does use them or not. If he doesnt then i will not be able to sell you the canopy. If you have any other questions, just drop me a mail Regards Mikey ----- Original Message ----- From: mark cole To: Mikey Harris Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 10:54 AM Subject: payment details Hello Thanks you very much for your urgent response, i will like you to send the pics, and i have relay it to my client and is very interested in buying it, and i have already explained everything to him about the canopy. And he wants to pay the amount you charged on it.he now requested for your Full Name and Address with your Phone Number so that he can make the check for you.because he is paying with a Money Order OR cashier's check which will easy to cash at your Bank. And i will also arrange for the shipping agent who will come for the picking up at your house.when the check clears. thanks for your co-operation. Mikey Harris wrote: Hi there, The canopy is still for sale and is £300. The photo is on the advert. The canopy has 370 jumps and is in excellent condition. As it is a stilleto though, i must insist that you are fully trained in the rubber strapon insertion technique, as without this training, entry can be quite painful. if you have this though, i will sell the canopy to you Please mail me back if you have any further questions Regards Mikey ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 8:13 PM Subject: Dropzone.com Classifieds - Response to your Ad Hi Mike Harris, On 30-Jun-2006 someone submitted their contact information in response to your ad in the Dropzone.com Classifieds. Please reply to this email to contact the person directly. Username => john01 URL => http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=36659&d=1 Name => mark FromEmail => [email protected] City => Country => Comments => Hi i am interested in buying your your main canopies and i will like you to send the pics and also mail me the general condition of it with the final asking price of it. pls mail me back so that we can discuss more about it. Thanks _________________________________________________ Youll have to read it form bottom to top to get the full picture For those who dont know, PC Plod is a very English thing and was a character in noddy (cartoon). the number i have provided is actually my local police force number! What better way to scam a scammer than to give your number as the local police units and to get him to ask for PC Plod! I'm running out of ideas now though. If anyone can think stuff to say to him, let me know and ill see how far i can go with this Mikey aka PC Plod Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

cessna54tango, thanks for the post firstly though, I dont believe i have ever said that, i just believe that, like mjosparky, people have seen lots of bad shit happen. (which i understand now and respect) Secondly, You mentioned previously about people telling me i'll kill myself, what you just said there, in my opinion, probably will kill me anyway. I really don't think that you thought about what you've just said there. As if jumping a 150 rectangular canopy won't be shit scary enough as it is, you're telling me to jump an eliptical, high performance canopy before i even have 20 jumps? Where do you jump? Remind me never to jump there if thats what they allow!! Don't get me wrong, you are probably a very good jumper with lots of experience but i think you must forget that i really am still very new to jumping. I notice you jump an 83 main with wingloading of 2.23?? shit thats high. maybe jumping a 150 stilleto might be like flying a brick to you but the thought scares the shit out of me!! Anyway, thanks for the post anyway, it gave me something to reply to Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

The CCI/owner at my DZ said a 150 should be fine for me but after the advice on here (especially Bonnie), i'd rather not risk it. I think maybe i do need a thicker skin :-) But i really didnt come on here hoping to get the answer that i wanted. I just wanted advice. I had no idea that the line set of a 150 main is shorter than a 170. Obviously, a very responsive canopy is not what i need right now. I don't mean to sound like i'm being over confident about my ability, i just wanted to know, why is a 150 main not suitable for someone of my (in)ability, even though the wingloading is ok. I knew there must be something else, other than wingloading, that i didnt know about. But now i do and it's all good :-) I have learnt something new so i'm happy I'll now only be looking for a rig with a 170 main and roughly the same reserve. just out of interest, is it best to go slightly larger on the reserve or slightly smaller. I've seen a few of each so i was just wondering what is best Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body

Just read the article, its exactly the sort of thing i wanted. I now have the answer i needed. i won't be jumping a 150 main yet!! (see mjosparky, thats all it took to answer my question, being aggresive is so not helpful!) Thanks

Thanks for the info skybatch, i appreciate it Mikey ------------------------------------------ Fear Is Weakness Leaving Your Body