WmLauterbach

first PARACHUTE jump... basic airborne school, Ft Benning GA in March 1987 first FREEFALL jump... August 1994, Military Freefall School... Ft Bragg NC

two jumpers at the Military Freefall School doing tandem terminal with the passenger carrying a pro-track clocked 194... (these guys were big fellas) two OTHER jumpers at the Military Freefall School (these guys were both feather merchants) under a 72 inch drouge failed to bust 100 mph as an avg speed... (the avg from the pro-track was 98) I stayed with the fat... uhm I meant big guys in a sit for a few thousand feet, then had to go on my head to keep up.... The other pair was about as slow as I can fall... if I had taken my cars keys on the jump I would have gone low... We also clocked a solo drougefall with the 72 inch drouge at an avg speed of 88MPH... When the guy set drouge, the video looked almost like he had dumped his main... OK... that was my input on the topic.... thank you, drive thru

I had a camera suit walk off at work recently... I went on leave to go make a few skydives in Mexico... when I came back WHAM... one of my suits was missing. Stealing skydiving gear is just bad karma!

...normal packjob, didnt have the nose rolled, risers and lines were even it was just my turn......

COBALTDAN... stilletto 150/raven /exit wt 200lbs dumped at 3500 after an AFF and instantly started spinning and with line twists and began to dive, had a hard pull on the cutaway pillow (no inserts) lost LOTS of altitude FAST.... eventually pulled on my back, got in the saddle right at 1000 ft.....

I had a violent spinning mal under an elliptical... with the RSL conected.... I just responded to this thread... (which means RSL's and ellipticals are not a deadly combination) If I went up agian, knowing that the same thing would happen, I would still leave the RSL connected. I only see video/crw as reasons for disconnecting... (I have been known to disconnect under canopy on high wind days) but guess what... that only pertains to the canopy I have above MY head... If you dont trust it... dont use it. So to add a twist of perspective--->I work for the military and watch AAD's malfuction frequently... so I have an inherent lack of trust for "gadgets so that begs the question: What happens if your cypress malfunctions on a freefly jump and fires your reserve while you are in a headdown/sit transition? Is that reason enough to start leaving your cypress turned off on a freefly jump? TRUST YOUR EQUIPMENT OR BUY NEW GEAR! No use in fighting over the merits... some people drive chevy's and some people drive fords I agree with Bill... use it until you've had to chop one. Then decide what works best for you. just my two cents, I could be wrong

My unit just purchased a brand new system... Its like I've been driving a Ford Pinto, then all of the sudden I get behind the wheel of a Mazerati... I went from a Panasonic 'AVE-7 and a T-3000 generator to a 1.8GhZ XEON with 1gb of RAM and 80gb of SCSI storage, and a 19" studio monitor ... it is a Canopus system with Sonic / Boris / Acid / Siren etc etc... it is going to take me a while to figure out all the plug ins but right now I am in computer video geek heaven....... just thought I's share.....

...there is such a thing as shooting too close

some odd signals being used out there... but ya know... if you teach a guy that "the birdy finger" means pull, then to him thats what it means.... If he dont respond, you could hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood with "PULL" painted on it and he wont see it...

just about everybody that has ever sat in a photography classroom has used black and white film... I like Kodak pan film. 400 is a good all around speed if you are doing existing light photography. 100 is good if you are going to be outside. Get a few filters, and see the effect that filters have on black and white film. I think you will enjoy the results if you mess around with it. good luck

MAX... I wont see you guys this weekend, I am going to San Diego to do a demo for the school. I will see you guys next weekend for sure. yyou fellas be safe, see ya next week Blue skies......

...so WTF? Was it a good weekend or not? Enquiring minds want to know! Didja spend all your profits at the slots? Blue Skies bro... Billy

...I dont jump strongs, which is why I specified "Vector" in my thread.

Stripping the handles before throwing the drogue is a dangerous practice to get into... to use that as a "plan" means you are mentally practicing an out of sequence main deployment ..... the number one KILLER of tandem jumpers world wide since the birth of tandem skydiving. Also, stripping the handles esentially collapses the drogue, (on a Vector, the drogue will not fully inflate if the release handle is pulled first) so in an emergency situation you are relying on an 'uncocked' pilot chute to open your main... You are better off waiting 1-2 seconds for the drouge to inflate, then releasing it, than waiting 10-15 for an underinflated drogue to pull it out for you... just my 2 cents... I could be wrong

A few things to think about... If you are at 998 feet and the plane is on fire with one wing, do you ride it down or exit and pull the reserve? (some chance of surivival is better than none) If you are at 1999 feet, and the pilot turns white and bails out, do you get out and pull your main or reserve? If your ALTIMETER reads 4000 feet, the pilot turns white and bails out, but you are flying over a 3000ft high mountain range, do you get out on the main or reserve? (and how do you know the ridge is 3000ft high) OK... you are at 9000 feet, at an unknown location, and the pilot says "get out", what do you do? I for one am going to leave, and pull, and heres why... IMHO, pilots inherently DO NOT want people leaving the plane 'until it is time to jump'... (if anyone doubts this, next time you are in the plane, open the door too early and watch how pissed off the pilot gets.) If you are out in 'the meadowlands' and the pilot tells you to "get out" it is safe to assume that something is wrong with the airframe! Since something is wrong, the pilot wants to get on the ground as soon and as safe as possible... If jumpers decide they want to pull at all available altitudes between the plane and the ground, the pilot now has new worries "where in the hell are all the jumpers" Mind you... his plane may not be in a ready state to dodge 10 parachutes spaced out between 10 different altitudes (remember, the plane is broke hence the emergency exit) I can promise that if a parachute and a broke plane battle for the same airspace, the broke plane will win the collision 100% of the time. If you exit and deploy, the non-working plane that is trying to land will be below you, looking for a place to land, you will most likely NOT be in his way... (not to mention that you may have been flying over a 7500ft high ridgeline) Now if you are so far away that the drop zone is an impossibility, you are high enough to have planty of time to find a good landing area. (which may be a significant event depending on what kind of canopy you are under) I guess the bottom line is, know where you are, and what handle you are going to pull if ya' gotta leave early... just my 2 cents, I could be wrong....