fallfast69

Yep...the dust off thing...too weird

Thanks, I like that. I'm going to steal that for my FJC.

Well, it's all your fault then ...starting me thinking and all! I just hope my little "sage advice" can help to keep people out of the trees

I can't tell you what made this saying pop into my head or when I first heard it. I know I was thinking about a post by someone that said "I managed to land in the only tree within a hundred miles"...or something to that effect. Made me chuckle It is so easy for the less experienced to find themselves in a situation like this because of the amount of training they are trying to absorb during the FJC. This subtle reminder, at the end of the canopy control portion can help ease anxiety and prevent potential landing issues. "You may not, necessarily, be able to land where you want to on every jump, but even with little or no experience all, you can almost always avoid landing in an area that you do not want to land in." I dunno...I just like how simple it sounds and it seems to work. Jon

Hey...so that's how ya do that! Thanks, JohnRich! Jon

I couldn't agree more...I had decided to go back to the static line if I couldn't get my stability problems fixed on this jump. I got real tired of seeing lines and fabric deploying all over my body before opening Oh, I almost forgot the part about how it was scaring the shit out of me, too! Jon

I'll try to explain how I used to put S/L students out of our 206 with a cargo door. Keep in mind, you must be aggressive as you maneuver yourself to the door. There is a lot of wind pushing against you, but it really isn't as much as your mind tells you it is and you must over come the mental portion for this technique to work properly. ***You MUST have your instructor buy off on this technique*** Once the command is given to move to the door, you need to position yourself in such a manner that your left butt cheek is about all that is sitting in the plane. This starts to face you into the relative wind. Your hands should be at your side holding the floor at the edge. Your eyes need to look at the area where the strut attaches to wing. Once the command to go is given, use you right hand for a little push as you "butt hop" out the door while rotating the rest of your upper body into the relative wind. As you are falling away from the plane, your left hand and arm are automatically being brought into an arch position because you do not take your hand off the edge of the floor until it is pulled from there. You are effectively using your left arm as a pivot away from the plane. At the same time your right hand and arm should start moving to its arch position. It is best if the right arm is a little late than early because it will spin you to the right. One thing that bares repeating is to keep looking at the strut/wing area of the plane as you make your exit.

I was kinda wondering the same thing! There was a reason he jumped that ballon suit

I'm all about em...post away I don't think think we ever did anything to be ashamed of, did we???

Well, I was kinda hoping to see my smiling face in some of those pictures

I'm glad I could help! Jon

That shit there was funny

First off, there should be NO REASON to remove the reserve ripcord handle from the pocket during the check. That being said, as a separate check, I believe you should remove the ripcord from the pocket occasionally so you get the general feel of the process (and to make sure your hateful ex hasn't sewn the pocket shut with some really strong nylon thread). Removing the ripcord from the pocket too often will wear out the velcro prematurely and you don't want that. I like to remove and pull the reserve ripcord at the end of the repack cycle with my rigger watching. Most riggers like to see the pilot chute launch, but I believe most riggers do not want the rig dropped off with the reserve already deployed (unless it was used as a save). Now for the check. Stand the rig up on the pilot chute pouch (BOC) and open the reserve flap. Check to ensure the pin is seated properly - I repeat - check to ensure the pin is seated properly. Next, with just your thumb and index finger (pointer) grasp the cable at a point above the pin near the area where it goes into the housing. With your other hand grasp the other end of the cable just above where the ball is attached. At this point, you can pull on the cable with the hand that is at the pin end of the cable - pulling TOWARDS the pin. The other hand will move up accordingly. Now use the hand at the ball end of the cable to pull the slack out of the cable that you just created. I do this two or three times. The cable should travel freely in the housing. If it doesn't, you need to ask a rigger to check it out before you jump it. Jon http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1448166#1448166 Edited to add link

OK...tomorrow I'll post it...k?

Thats funny...after I posted I started thinking the same thing - shoulda added "Kids, please don't try this at home as these gear checks are being performed by highly qualified professionals" to the post. If there is enough interest in the proper process for doing this check, I will do my best to explain it over the internet...

That is a great post! One little extra thing I'll do - at least once a day I check the travel of the cable through the housing. A small piece of gravel wedged in the housing can completely lock the cable against the housing and prevent the extraction of the pin. Jon

I saw him there last weekend...sure, he's got a purdie mouth and all but... Jon

I spent last weekend at this DZ and had an amazing time. Outstanding aircraft, people, facilities and location. The vibe at this place is simply wonderful...everyone here is personable and just downright friendly. Skydive Temple is a skydivers dropzone. The tandems that went up this weekend had the time of their life (as usual) but it just seemed they were really ecstatic. Thank you Sam, Mark, Mark, Wendy and everyone else that are working so hard to make this DZ something very special. Jon

Naw, it wasn't Bill that came up with the idea. I believe he provided the finance and guidance for the development. The concept came from that big indian AFF instructor from Wyoming, but his name escapes me...something "Bird" maybe - during the Loveland days? He was the guy on the AFF whos student went terminally unstable at pull time...Ken Bird? Jon Wonder where Bill, and Ken for that matter, are at these days...

"We should, at least, do a bandit jump in there some day. ........ Cars waiting to whisk us away, etc..." ...or...we could just jump directly into the police station parking lot and save them from having to chase after us. After all, we will have our "legal representaton" right there with us

Wow...that's pretty cool seeing the old packing area and manifest. We did night jumps there in, maybe '84. I remember we wound take off from Seagoville and fly to Fourney and jump into their DZ. If I remember right, we did a plane to plane moon job on them one afternoon, but those times are a little fuzzy and I could be making it up! Russell, am I making shit up, or does that sound familiar?

I much as I wish I could agree with Hook on this, I simply can't. If this person had 10 or 20 jumps...maybe. This jumper has 100 jumps. Unless they have been walking around the DZ without the benefit of eyes and ears for the past 100 jumps, there isn't a reason in the world that this should have happened the way it's been told it happened. I really like the phrase "you don't know what you don't know". But in IMHO, there seems to be alot of people who don't know the second part of this is "what you don't know can KILL you". I'm sorry, but at 100 jumps there is no excuse for not knowing some of the most fundamental things about skydiving. Or, maybe we just get them a cup of coffee, or a beer, and tell them how badly we feel for them...it's skydiving for cryin' out loud.

yea, yea, whatever...really sucks to have to renew your USPA and get a reserve repack before you can go jumpin...seems like that's what happened for the past few years[:| ]If you can ever make it down here, I'll get everything in up to date so we can make a few jumps and get that tracking issue worked out with ya...k?

Mary, Mary, Mary...I toll ya bout needin' a little work on that track... Jon

I swear...I can smell musty fabric when I open those pictures...damnest thing... Jon