Granimal

Thought it would be a good idea to run down the runway almost naked there once (had socks and shoes on). Going great until someone stole my clothes and the police came...

While most people like to talk about jump numbers, most also neglect to mention that the rating also requires a skill demonstration to get the rating. It looks like I am in the minority here, but I don't think that the jump number should be increased. If you can meet the skill requirement, then you should get the rating. If the general consensus is that people are getting a coach rating who are not ready, the solution is to increase the air skill and teaching requirements. The skill demonstration should be hard, but within reason. I give very little weight to jump numbers. Most of us have stories about the skydiver with thousands of jumps that is just plain dangerous and the new skydiver who is quite good. Last week I saw an 18 year old jumper with around 300 jumps attempt a two point 222 way. When someone I don't know tells me they have 200 jumps, I basically think "well, they managed to not kill themselves 200 times, so lets see how they do in the air."

I think this is a good topic for discussion. Based on my personal experience, I actually like the tracking team thing on large skydives. I believe it assists in achieving maximum separation. I also like staggered deployments within the tracking team. On a big way formation, if everyone attempted to turn directly from the center, it would not necessarily provide adequate separation. Additionally, jumpers may be in a line on a wacker with 4 other skydivers with people directly in front or behind them who are also on the same breakoff group. The reality is that most breakoffs in big way happen with people not in their slot in the formation, and people have the tendency to choose a bigger angle than necessary in attempting to get away from the people in their immediate proximity at breakoff. This causes overlapping with people from other sectors that may be doing the same thing. By remaining in a tracking team, you ensure your group is away from every other group. You keep visual contact with the group you are in and are able to get enough separation from your tracking team when it fans out while not getting in the airspace of people you don't see. As an exercise, look at the first point in the recent 222 way at SDAZ. Here is a link to the plan http://theworldteamblog.com/dive-designs/safetrax-break-off-plan/ There were 4 breakoff altitudes which required lines in front of each other to track off together. If they all fanned out from each other upon beginning their track, there would be overlap. It is perhaps possible to assign everyone an exact individual radial that would ensure separation. However, the problem is that such a plan assumes the best case scenario where the breakoff occurs after the formation builds as intended with everyone in the correct slot and everyone being able to identify and maintain a track on a specific radial within a degree or so of the completed formation. This is not realistic. Alternatively, each line could be assigned their own breakoff, but that would require 6 breakoffs. Considering that we were already beginning at 7,300 ft on the 222 way, additional breakoffs would eat up more altitude and precious time. If you jump in a big way formation, you are going to have to deal with opening and landing in closer proximity to other jumpers than most people (including me) are comfortable with. Big ways are simply more dangerous than regular skydiving. Skydiving and safety are constantly evolving. Procedures are modified based on experience. Just because tracking teams were not used 20 years ago does not mean that the old way was a better or equally good approach. However, these discussions are good because the one thing I am certain of is that these procedures will continue to evolve over time.

Great memories jumping with Muppet at Jumptown. He was a great guy and will be missed.

You should really talk to your instructors about it. Unfortunately, the best anyone can do on this forum without witnessing the skydive is guess. Your awareness of your body position in freefall is probably what we would expect a student to have. Also, your instructors will be able to see things that you cannot. Perhaps you can get a video and use it as a debriefing tool with your instructors.

Certainly not a swooping expert. However, I have a Vengeance 120 that I used as my primary canopy for about 8 years. I have about 1,500 jumps on it and loaded it at about 1.7 (started at about 1.5 when I got it). No need to downsize if you just get fatter I guess. I got it after having a Jedi 136 and got sold on the airlocks. I guess I'm a little biased. It was the first canopy I used to learn high performance landings on. I found it to be a very nice canopy for this purpose. It has a very long dive if you want it to and light front riser pressure. In fact, when I started jumping a Velo, I was very surprised that its dive was comparable to the Vengeance. Despite its ability to dive, I found it to very capable of performing flat turns when necessary. This was very useful when I found myself in a situation where I needed to make a turn lower than I was comfortable with for whatever reason. The ridgid structure is nice for turbulence. It also shuts down pretty nice, even on downwind or crosswind landings or when flown straight in. Unfortunately, the openings have much to be desired. Not hard really, but it opens off heading very regularly and line twists occur from time to time. Fortunately, I never had to chop it. It is also a pain in the ass to collapse on a windy day (and carry back to the packing area) no matter what technique I tried to use. People loved to give me a hard time about my air mattress.

Ian and Ricardo, Sorry to hear. Get well soon.

I am seriously skeptical about that statement. I would also like to see the reference.

I gave up trying to talk people into skydiving years ago. I understand your excitement for the sport and desire to share the activity that you love. I knew my whole life that I would learn to skydive. When I finally was old enough to do it I spent months trying to convince friends to go with me. Many said how much they wanted to but always had some sort of excuse at the last minute. I realized a while ago that people who are destined to skydive are going to do it. Another reason I will no longer try to convince someone to skydive is that I would hate to feel like I pressured someone into skydiving if they wound up getting seriously hurt or killed.

Thanks for the post. I also had a three ring malfunction on a Dual Hawk that I should have caught during a gear check several years ago. The continuous loop was through the middle and small ring. It created an impossible pull force. I actually broke the plastic clip that the ripcord clips to by pulling so hard. I am lucky that the reserve cleared the drogue. I sent the video and a report to Strong. As for being sued, you really have nothing to worry about. No one was hurt so there are no damages which is a required element to recover on a theory of negligence. I guess she could claim emotional distress but I don't see how she could possibly win. I cant imagine any attorney taking that case on a contingency basis.

Awesome! Congrats.

During my FJC, I actually asked my instructor to show me his license. I have also done the same every time I have needed to fly with a CFI. In 10 years, I have never once been asked to produce it by a student. It's a good thing those pesky DZO's ask to see it . Has anyone else ever been asked to show their ratings by a student or personally asked themselves when they were a student? I know I am a little weird, but there has got to be someone else that asked.

I put them in before I get on the plane and take them out after landing. I first noticed hearing loss when the annual physicals I needed to get in the Army showed a downward trend in my performance during the hearing tests. The tests picked it up before I even noticed it personally. I now notice some hearing loss, especially when there is ambient noise in my environment, and it is very frustrating. I firmly believe that years of not protecting my hearing while skydiving contributed to some of this hearing loss.

Had them once and couldn't clear them. I cut away and deployed my reserve. Ironically, I joked with a skydiver about how it was the last day my reserve was in date and that I might just cut away for the heck of it before the jump. Unfortunately, I had a real problem but still get asked about it over 10 years later... sigh.

It is always tough to witness a fatality in the sport, especially when it is someone close to you. Unfortunately, if you spend enough time in the sport, sooner or later you will be forced to deal with it. One of the toughest things for me to deal with in the sport is that a skydiver can do everything right and be one of the most safety conscious people in the sport and still be killed by the actions of another individual. Whether the risks outweigh the rewards one gets from jumping out of airplanes is a decision that we must all make individually. Witnessing a major accident or losing someone close forces you to evaluate this risk/reward decision. It seems like every time I have witnessed a fatality or lost someone close at least one person decided to leave the sport in the wake of the incident.