Tonto

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Posts posted by Tonto

  1. Quote

    Some times I think this place would be a lot more manageable for the poor moderators if people who didn't skydive anymore stopped posting.



    Tonto dons flame proof underwear.

    One the one side - I have to agree with you there. I've been jumping for 22 years now, and the only 3 things that have not changed in that time are the order of events on the 1st jump course, how you hook up a Tandem and the ground.

    Everything else changes. Those with a short time in the sport who no longer jump often recall only the way things were done when they jumped, and because they can't see the changes in technique (Equipment is "safe enough" now) or reasoning they often tend to resist change in their own efforts to remain connected to the sport they love. Have a look at one of Heath Richardsons World championship swoops and compare the technique to todays. Go back to 2004 tunnel footage and watch how things were done. Look at a 2003 Wingsuit and compare to today's suits. Do a search for HMA and see when the earliest post was. Look for Atmonuti in 2005 and see how much info you find. Look for info on skysurfing today. Where is it? Does anyone remember Chute Asis? (That spandex pants winged sitfly thing?) Every level is changing all the time.

    I'm not saying they shouldn't post - but when they argue with a current instructor about the way things are done with dated references, it makes little sense. Worse, some uncurent jumpers are just nicer people, or better writers, and so sound more believeable than a current instructor.

    On the flipside there are those who have given a lifetime to this sport.
    A trip through the history forum will show you most of them. We owe where we are now to those people who were jumping 30, 40 and 50 years ago. They were the ones that convinced our teachers that this could even be done, and they were the ones that showed us the really big mistakes that wrote the BSR's in blood. I could listen to them all day, because the knowledge gained is not some trancient technique that will be outdated in a few years. It's a record of why many of us were atracted to this sport, long before video, the internet or cool marketing campaign's for safe gear. Pre AAD, pre Audiable, pre RSL, Pre skyhook. I have boundless respect for my teachers who kept me alive dispite my best efforts, and who continue to inspire me each day I continue this sport even though almost all of them are no longer active and my jump number and skills have exceeded their wildest imaginings. I would not have managed were it not for them.

    Respect.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  8. Are you very drunk? If you are, I may beat you driving... but I doubt it!
    16h30 here in Sunny South Africa, and I'm packing up for the weekend!:)
    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  9. In my uppity 100 jump wonder stage I was told by an old dog.. "10 years. I've seen them come and I've seen them go. You won't make 10 years in this sport."

    Well, 22 years in and the new 100 jump wonders can't tell us apart anymore.

    Lots of people think they'll stay, but don't. I think a lot more people fall in love with telling people they are a skydiver more than they fall in love with skydiving itself.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  11. Quote

    Quote

    Quote

    So she got all the good looking genes... what did you get?



    I got the great personality and the lightening fast reflexes.;)

    t



    Give me your sister's email address and I'll ask her to confirm the personality thing.

    Does she like older, gravitationally challenged, Canadian men? ;)



    Hang on... There seems to be some confusion here.
    Do you think the picture I attached was of MY sister? I never said that, did I?

    Do you think someone with 22 years in the sport would post a pic of their sister on a skydiving website? :D:D

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  14. Good for you.

    I have over 2000 AFF dives and have not yet been spat off a student. I'm pleased you have such confidence in your bullriders grip, but my experience of watching bullriders is that few last 8 seconds. This leads me to believe there is more to it than keeping your hand shut.

    It's always OK until it's not.

    As long as a student is instructed to pull when confronted with the "no instructor" scenario, the likelyhood exists that they may do so and be high enough not to be able to make a safe landing before it is too dark. The correct response to this risk is simply not to expose them to it. We should be mindful of what risk we choose to accept on behalf of our students. They would follow us into the gates of hell. We have a duty not to take them there.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  17. I'm constantly surprised with what people are satisfied with, and why they are satisfied.

    In the mid 1980's, I was satisfied with a 220 sq ft, 7 cell, non ZP with dacron lines. Why? It was reliable, fast, (for it's day) was fine for RW, CRW, ammature accuracy and even did duty "slope soaring" (That's ground launching to the rest of you) and landed me safely. It was all - no - more - than I needed.

    Those canopies have not changed, but my frame of reference, and my requirements and expectations have.

    I suggest you demo as many different canopies from as many different manufacturers as you can around your current wing loading. By all means try the Pilot and the Hurricane. but see if you can demo other recent generation canopies too.

    Only you will know whether you like a canopy or not.

    Edit to add: My experiences with elipticals and semi elipticals is in the 1.85 wing loading range, and without exception all performed the inputs I required, but had slight differences in the way they delivered.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  18. The Hurricane is a full eliptical. (regardless of what PS says.)

    Like the ZP, it flies nose down and has very poor glide on full drive and needs to be ridden in deep brakes to cover any ground at all. The Hurricane 105 uses an identical lineset to the Stilleto 107, down to the millimeter, which makes this behavior most odd, as the Stilleto is one of the flattest flying wings out there.

    I jumped Chris's for a time and found it to be a terrible canopy that opened hard, had heavy toggle pressure and heavy riser pressure by comparison to my Stilleto. He, on the other hand, loved it. It does swoop well in it's class, and I'm sure you will find many South Africans who have not jumped many other canopies tell you how good it is. I can see no point in jumping one if you don't swoop.

    Edit to add: Try and determine why your ZP opens off heading. If it has anything to do with body position during deployment, I would suggest you solve that problem prior to jumping an eliptical canopy.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  20. No. TSO is TSO. The manufacturer has a right to dictate who may do work on their containers and how that work should be carried out.

    Having said that, I doubt that 95% of Javelin jumpers in SA are even aware of the issue.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  21. I'm assuming you've been on something ZPish, and are going to something Pilotish.

    1. Slower openings with more likelyhood of off heading deployment.

    2. Slightly faster and more progressive toggle response. Slight oversteer on toggle input.

    3. More input symetry required for landing.(as a result of the faster toggle response)

    It's a good step. Most of the semi's (Pilot, Sabre 2, Safire, Safire 2) do an excellent job of engineering the "bad" eliptical charecteristics out.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  22. Quote

    Sure, why not. Just follow the BSR's and get them down before official sunset.



    Our AFF program directs the student to pull if they lose both instructors. If that occurs at 14000ft, how would you suggest following the BSR's and getting them down?

    The solution, of course, is not to put AFF students on the sunset load.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  24. Quote

    Hmmm...47 days for a femur break and telling me not to rush back??:S



    It's BECAUSE I rushed back that I'm telling you not to. My leg was non load bearing for 4 months, and I spent over 8 months on crutches. I did 20 dives that year. I should have stopped - I sometimes do 20 dives in a weekend now.

    I was 23, jumping a 220 sq ft canopy loaded to 0.8 and at sea level.
    It was stupid.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.

  25. Quote

    If, on the other hand, not skydiving for thirty days leads you to lose your enthusiasm for life and perceive some sort of unfillable "gap" in your universe, you've just crossed the city limits into Crazy Town.



    That may just be me.:) Although I jump weekends only, the last time I went 30 days without a skydive was feb/mar 1987. At no point since then have I lost my enthusiasm for life.. but if I went 30 days.. it may just happen.

    Of course, back in 1987 the reason I went over 30 days (47 actually) without a skydive was because I broke my femur. It made me very, very sad. I'm happier now.

    Edited to add dives per year spreadsheet.

    t
    It's the year of the Pig.