NotASalmon

Hey guys, sorry for hijacking this thread. I'm out of the business, just butting in. Blue skies folks, carry on, no offense intended. I hope the day never comes that I can't see my brothers and sisters popping canopies somewhere. Again, Bue Skies from the heart.

That jump just proved that it doesn't matter how many fucking tandems you've done. If you get complacent even once, like this guy did, shit will get fucked up. He had 3000 tandems and still fucked up. Still inexcusable, but it doesn't make him a junior TI. Hell, I've never heard of anybody being called a junior TI. New, or inexperienced, yeah. Complacent? What the hell is that? 3000 tandems and he's become complacent? 3000 lives saved, and he's become "complacent". Bullshit. As long as I live, they live. Complacency doesn't factor. Professionalism does. He's a junior TI. What's his name? Give us his USPA number. I don't believe for a minute that he had anywhere near 3000 tandems. Complacent...that's funny...Don't want to smirch his good record...In all my 100's of tandem videos I've shot, I've never witnessed that kind of...complacency. This TI wasn't complacent. He was either poorly trained, or chose to ignore said training. That's it. If this was the first time he fucked up...I'll eat my drogue.

Static line (old days), AFF, AFP. Sorry, I guess I didn't word that correctly. First time jumps are exciting enough, no need for the somersaults and delayed drogue toss.

Name me one discipline in skydiving where an unstable exit is acceptable for a first time jumper, and I'll be done here. My name is Scott Jennings...D-21412

If he tumbles out in a fetal...Yup. Go ahead and explain it away...Ever read the manual?...Seems like we used to have rules to LIVE by...

Wow...what a grand lady...I'd be proud to take her on her 85th birthday...What'd she weigh, 90lbs?...easy exit, quick drogue release...too bad a junior TI was chosen' to do a mans job..

Sure, same as a 206 cargo door exit. Student would sit on my lap, all legs outside the door, roll out into hard arch, drogue out quick. It's the fetal roll I don't get. If Houdini were to escape from a tandem harness, five'll get you ten he'd do it in a fetal position. Never had a problem launching out of King Air's. Student squats or sits, my left foot in the door jam, roll out slow and once clear, launch with the left foot, big arch, drogue out.

Am I the only one who sees tandem exit flips as reckless? What ever happened to a stable exit and quick drogue deployment? Of the 5 or 600 tandems I did back in the day, I never exited in a fetal position. If memory serves, such exits are highly frowned upon by the manufacturers. Sure would like to see a replay of this jump with a stable exit, drogue side up...you know...the way we were all trained...2 cents...

I can still hear him playing that yuke, and singing great songs...Blue skies 007...that valley fever will haunt you no more...

Ok guys, I usually just lurk here from time to time to check up on old friends, (haven't jumped in a while), but I have to share this story. It was back in '98 or '99 at Monterey. I'd just started doing tandems, in fact, it was my 2nd. My first went beautifully, and ended with a kiss on the cheek by a very grateful, and very pretty female passenger. I was on top of the world....after all....what could possibly go wrong.... I met my next student. He was a very polite and eager young college student from India. At that time we were jumping one of Roger Nelson's otters, and getting great altitude. (15k min) I believe DiverDriver was the pilot. The jump went perfectly. Sitting nicely in the saddle at 5k, I adjusted his leg straps for comfort, and made some rotations to show off the amazing view, when he got quiet. I asked him "are you feeling ok?", he responded, "yes, fine, thank you", but I though he seemed a little queezy. I followed my training, and put the canopy in a very slow turn, and instructed him to lean into the turn if he was going to be sick. He assured me that he was fine. I handed him the student toggles, but he gripped them kinda loosely, and didn't seem to be entirely there, so I instructed him to hold onto his harness and that I would perform the landing. After completing our downwind, and making our turn for final, all was well. The sunset was beautiful, the winds were perfect, and I was just beginning my flare when it happened. He jerked his head up and proceeded to projectile vomit directly into the headwind, completely covering my head with his lunch. I was blinded, and had no choice but to continue my flare and hope for the best, all the while trying desperately not to puke on the back of his head. We landed on our feet, and without incident, and were met by several fellow tandem masters as well as the ground crew who had all witnessed the incident.(I was new, and dumping high, so last man down) I took little comfort when everone patted me on the back and said "that's the worst I've ever seen!" I just found an old bottle of curry powder in my pantry yesterday, and tossed it promptly into the trash. To this day I can't even drive by an Indian restaurant! Scott Jennings

Paul needs your help. Please visit: http://www.solutionsforchange.org/paul.htm Thank you S. Jennings

Hey peter, Just found this sight, and just heard about Paul. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with news. Hope your gimping around alright. I'm heading for surgery again from that airshow thing. Yippie! Scott "Die Trying" (Johnny Love)