Groundbound

What is the fastest airspeed, or descent rate ever recorded? Is this a competitive event, or simply too silly? I assume the best posture for this would be the "James Bond Dive" Just wonderin'! Thanks (more dopey questions to follow, Im having a blast watching vids and reading tech stuff) Dave

Hey, I finally found a video that explains what I can expect on my first jump! http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/content/view/122/40/ well its supposed to be a hotlink, not sure why its not clickable.

IGNORE IF ANNOYED: move along - nothing to see here... Is a reserve chute a legal requirement? Do some jump without them? Can you land with both res and main deployed, or is there a 'good' chance? What % of non-student jumpers use an automatic reserve deployment device? If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier? Maybe it depends on what you are looking at. Thanks for discussing these things with me. My book hasn't arrived yet.

I am trying to come up with a short list of things that I can watch for at the skydive place I choose, in order for me to be satisfied their level of safety is adequate for my first jump. Maybe you guys would like to help guide me. I will choose a place then visit a couple of times if they will allow it, and observe; then I will ask to join them for a tandem jump and who knows where it will go from there. 1. Jump equipment visually in good repair. 2. Aircraft in good repair, and legal. Pilot legal for operation, and sober. 3. Tandem instructor appropriately qualified. 4. Appropriate safety briefing conducted by leader (weather, traffic, obstacles....) 5. Some kind of instructions/briefing given to newcomers. 6. No alcohol or weed used during operations by participants. 7. All divers under canopy by 2000'(?) 8. Healthy and professional ttitude of participants especially leaders when it comes to learning and safety. 9. Divers use a standard landing pattern, with minimal low level turns. 10. Participants avoid jumping through clouds. There are some things I am not too sure of, like how do I know they have selected the correct size canopy for our weights? I can add our weights; is there a quick rule for canopy size given a weight? Should I expect to have a Cypress /other AAD? Is an altimeter a legal requirement? I am sure a good place will want to check me out too...so I will double my lithium dose that day and use plenty of breath mints!

I would suggest a new guy forum so that those of us who have done little to nothing in the sport could ask questions of other newbies about their experiences or concerns. The experts would likely be around to answer tech questions but those regulars who might like to avoid the repetitive newbie question would be able to do so by skipping that forum.

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/hangglidefall.html Can anyone walk me through what happened here? Starting with exactly what sport is this? Kind of like ridge soaring with parachutes?

Be advised, I WILL follow my instructor's (whomever that will be) specfic tutelage "to the letter" when the time comes.. until then - can you tell me what you think I can expect will be the rule of the day if, after we exit, we start an unplanned roll, spin, 'head-over-heals motion'? Think I will be asked to freeze in a 'symmetrical' position? Assume a pre-planned posture? Mimic what he is doing? Maybe the response is different for the various oscillations available? Thanks!

Excellent practical info Avion, and thank you others for suggesting the search function (there were 100 pages of posts!) Hey tell me about the tandem jump (PM if you think it will annoy people here) I have a million questions! Here are the stupid ones first, did you feel motion sick when falling? I am afraid of heaving and getting my instructor as we fall, then him cutting me loose in anger! ;) This may sound stupid but I also wonder if first timers are so agitated they loose bladder control jumping out of an airplane. I have no idea. Is this any type of a concern?

What can I expect during the descent? Some say I will get up to 5000fpm in the tandem jump, that is a pretty good rate.... do many of you have problems (block or pain) during the freefall? Thanks

ph-z, thank you very much for the book idea! jbg, I thank you for your friendly reply and for putting both the stats and the high-pull into perspective. And not the least, for encouraging my questions. and DE, the comments helps me understand the issues involved for each, early and late deployments. You guys are the best.

Holy crap, I get it now, I understand why y'all want a little more info before talking openly about this stuff. Let me assure you..... I HAVE NO ULTERIOR MOTIVES!! I am not a reporter nor a producer for one of those stupid expose' TV shows, and I don't know any lawyers on a first name basis even... you can relax!! I am just a full of questions guy who likes to know what he is getting into before he does! We are talking about jumping out of an airplane you know!!!!! Maybe some of you can do that at a flip of a hat but when its your biggest fear and your first time - well surely you understand!! Dave (the non-vindictive, the non-lawyer, the non-reporter)

Thank you so much for that info Wendy, it really helps me to understand. Only comment I will make is that several people have posted to the effect that skydiving has some risk and I need to live with it or something like that. I am in full agreement and have no problem with that. I am not asking questions to get someone to admit its a risky sport, or to tell me how to avoid any chance of being killed in this sport. I know how it works. You sit at home at the TV, you will never have a chance of being killed by such things. Life may have no meaning but that is how some people like it! I am just here to ask and learn, to find out what its all about, to find out how to minimize and manage my accepted risk level. Dave

bmcd and mr2, Thank you for these astute observations and I appreciate your attempts to bring me up to speed with the state of the sport. If you have read my posts you will see I am the type who does a lot of research, tries to learn about things before I try them out. No way do I expect to avoid all risk. But I do try to learn what the risks are, and how to minimize them while still gaining what I want from an activity. I am a general aviation pilot so I understand about risks. We have about 600 fatalities in the US each year. I have learned why most of these fatalities occur and I have taken steps to hopefully stay out of those categories. I don't fly into thunderstorms or icing or very low weather. , I have procedures and systems in place to avoid running out of gas, I do not buzz people, etc. I want to do a lot of fun flying in my lifetime. This has worked well for me for 25 years of flying, and I hope to do the same with skydiving!

"High" number of tandem fatalities!!? You posted my quote, and then replied to something else, something imagined. I did not ever say "High number of tandem fatalities". That is your statement. I think you added the two thoughts, one being the higher percentage (30% or 24/79 fatals according to http://dropzone.com/fatalities/) of malfunction fatalities to my other comment about my preference for my own first tandem jump, to come up with your sentence "High number of tandem fatalities" which I did not way nor meant to imply. JonBonGraham. has taken your misquote and run with it now, this is how rumors start! Anyway, now that the air has cleared, back to the topic at hand.... do you folks think it adds any safety to have a canopy open as soon as possible after jumping? Maybe there are risks with having it open for too long? Thanks for helping a newbie to the sport. I remind all that I am in search of a website for completely inexperienced but interested people to become acquainted with skydiving... if this is not it, tell me where to go (or to just go away!)

Nope the software does not recognize newbies! I have faithfully entered zeros and it will not take them... it says I made no entry. Well if anyone wants to help me but is afraid of being public about it, feel free to PM me, I am told I am a 'nice guy' (but one who is always asking questions)! :)

There, I have filled out the profile as best as I can. I did have the default "zero" jump selected but for some reason it did not appear. Let's see how "000" shows instead. Well I did a search using the function available for 'total annual jumps' and it did not hit on anything like what I wanted, I just figured there would be a number out there that would be commonly known and that it would be easier to ask you knowlegable folks rather than go hunting, Thanks anyway.

I don't see where a lot of people are entering their names, is this really desired and necessary? I kinda thought my self describing signature below explained why I have no answers for these questions. Absolute newcomer means I have no DZ, no equipment, and I have no idea what an AAD is! Maybe there is another forum for not-yet-jumpers to go to, in order to ask these questions? Thanks Dave

looking at the high number of fatals from malfunctions, and those that were not corrected in time, or not cut away in time, I am going to ask my instructor on my first tandem to pull as soon as possible. "Time can be a lifesaver"(?) When I ski, I like to take the hill slowly, prolong the ride. I can zoom to the bottom and spend all my time on the lift but.... what fun is that??!

just trying to sort out the data on fatal accidents from the db above.. What would be a wild guess for the number of jumps in North America per year. I will take any reasonable guesstimate, I know we have no hard data for the denominator. 23 accidents in N.A. per yr... about one every 2 weeks. I wonder how many non-fatal accidents there are, do these have to be reported, and is there a database for them? Thanks

if you hate newbie posts, ignore this one. What makes divers decide how to distribute their available time? Is it simply that some like the rush of freefall, so they leave it packed until late in the descent? And others prefer the ride/view/time aloft that a canopy ride provides? Safey considerations aside, it seems like there is a choice here for fairly high altitude drops. Surely if there is a big wind aloft, you can't pop it out right away either. Thanks

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/parachutefalls.html What is the consensus of this type of landing - well there are several. These are boring? typical? kind of radical? unsafe? Thanks, just trying to get a feel for the action.

Have you tried the AOPA site? If you are a member, they have 'medical savvy' personnel who could give you a reference. I have often heard and use; "Twice the dosing interval" So if a drug says give every 4 hours, wait 8hrs after the last dose. Not gospel but has proven to be safe for me. A. Pilot

I really needed to read that, thanks for taking the time. Perfect for us newbs. Is there a place where newbie newts can gather and discuss these trials and tribulations without seeming to harass the old hats?

Morgan I hope to do a tandem first, based on time available (birthday jump)... and my personality. Of course this may not happen because the info is based on 'internet sources'!! ;)

Me again. Sorry. Well my self-desciption should steer those hating such posts well clear. I want to get a rough idea of how much time from plane to ground.... This would help me: TFF, I am 190#. Assume we are at 2000'msl and climb to 12000' if needed. average descent rate, free fall for the first minute? My wild guess 5000fpm, I know there is an acceleration - when is terminal velocity reached? average descent rate under canopy? Thanks for indulging a nooobie!