Rain-man

Quote I think it is best to start low and see how it goes. Then raise the starting height of your turn if you find that you are too low. Quote What about the other way round where you start off high and adjust downwards first by changing technique (making it dive longer) before deciding to decrease height? Its safer and gives you more time to dive the canopy? Cant be a bad thing can it? (just my own 2 cents)

Ross - stop trying to BIG yourself up. You aint all that and you should not have posted this. Now that you have stirred up crap what are you going to do? Go back to that DZ? I bet they all love you there.Word on the streets is that you like to steal other people's video ideas (or actual footage) anyways...well anyways one of your last ones was stolen footage pawned off as your own...

Quote well i ordered the velo 120 & i love it ! Quote Do you mind if i ask a few questions? 1) Just what specific characteristic did you fall in love with? 2) How many jumps did it take to figure this out? 3) Whats your landing approach on this and from what height? (same question for your katana) Its one thing to test jump..its another thing to order. Just asking.

Good. This isn't the place for that sort of advice. Check in with reality if you get a chance, that would be a good place to start. Oh dear...Just when i thought you had become sensible and responsible..you start saying stuff like this...hijacking forums and saying who should post here and who should not.

I had a good day of jumping today so i am in a good mood. Yesterday was a lost day due to weather..so i was not in the mood to tolerate your fairy tales. Today i will because we prayed for you at church. The reason why my post contained something ambiguous was only to illustrate that there was alot of useless information flying around here. I am neither pro or against OP trying out a velo 120 next year or whatever. I cant comment as i dont know enough information to give a useful answer. I assume you are not an instructor anyways..but ill tell you something and its been noted here on these forums. Dudes tend to ask for advice and then shut up shop if the answer is not in line with what they want to hear. Then they just go and do it anyways. All you are doing is pushing them to not take you seriously or what you are saying.. Guys have been there a long time, seen lots go wrong, seen it all go wrong.. i know. So talk properly and people will listen or if you cant then keep quiet if you are that concerned for a safe outcome. Otherwise you and your disciples are just driving people away from seeking advice here. Rain-man

By opening your mouth to give advise you are implying you are better at something. Its up to you to ask what you need to ask to give the answer that doesnt make you look foolish. A wise man can learn more from a "foolish" questions than a fool can learn from a "wise" answer but and the end of the day ....There is no such thing as a stupid question.

Quote The only way that bullshit is OK is if you actually are the Rain Man (as in autistic). Otherwise, you need to put the pipe down for a minute or two. Quote You know in an intelligent rational world what would be nice to see? something like this.... "Ok so you are saying you are bored on a Katana 135..and you looking into a Velo 120? right....given the info about yourself (600 jumps + wingloading) you havent given enough info for us to understand your position... How about telling us more about yourself first 1) How long you have jumped 2) Where you normally jump 3) DZ elavation 4) pressure/temp generally 5) How current and often you jump 6)Canopy progression 7) Any canopy coaching 8)What sort of skydives you normally do (bird suit + freefly + tracking+ camera...they all have implictions on canopy selection) 9) What sort of skydives you want to do going forward 10) How tight DZ is... 11) Whats the traffic like on a normal jump 12) What sort of landing approach is practised normally 13) Whats your summation of all these things in your own mind? Most importantly..can you film several of your landing and post them here for us to have a look at" I dont see how all you jokers can just see a jump number or a wing loading and then get an immediate erection for someone...I mean god damn, without asking the questions i suggested ..how can you honestly have an opinion on how he is going to fly in the future...when you do dont know shit about anything..let alone how they are flying now. Note ... most self respecting world renowned canopy pilots would not answer a question like "do you think i can fly this canopy" with a yes or no..otherwise they end being like some clowns who have answered here...and you know one thing for sure...if you get too many clowns in one place..you end up with a circus. Rain-man

A good canopy pilot does not become tense but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming, ready for whatever may come. A canopy pilot has to take responsibility for himself and face the consequences of his own doing. To have no technique, to have no opponent, because the word "I" does not exist. When the opponent expands I contract and when he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, "I" do not swoop, "It" swoops all by itself. Rain-man

Quote Wow... I hope your joking.Quote Obviously he is. He is just being a clown. The problem with clowns though is that if you have too many in one place.....you end up with a circus.

Quote -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rain-man, Your profile says you have 253 jumps with 33 of them base and only 1 year in the sport. Your flying a Vx at 2.4 WL?????? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He's from the UK, thats metric. He really has 1771 jumps on a Triathalon at 1.3 WL. Quote Justice may be blind...but it can see in the dark RW guys dont even shake your hand before your exit. They just sit there with their full face helmets looking at you like little McNasties. Its the same face most of us pull at work....because work sucks.

QuoteRW and sex are the same. They may be good but they cant beat the real thing.Quote ..as in sex is for wankers...if you wanna do something right..then do it yourself

RW and sex are the same. They may be good but they cant beat the real thing.

Here is something a bit cheaper. http://www.rddusa.com/product_info.php?cPath=3_9&products_id=114

I totally agree. Its defintely a beast. I think I will get one for my birdman canopy. Rain Man

Does that have anything to do with what Spatula asked?

Dude..or dudette..whatever. Good looking out. What i am saying is leave my profile be. Its funny how people behave sometimes. Take care. its wild out there. PM sent

Quote He is just a wanker with an ego the size of Texas and an "assholish"Quote And your momma sucks cocks in hell. Whats with all the name calling? You think you are funny? All i ever do really is offer sound advice..sometimes strongly worded..but i dont talk crap on the forums..when the discussions are serious. Prove me wrong. I bet you cant reasonably...and most of the time its to people who know or should know better. All i do is state my opinion. Aint nobody gotta open their goddam mouths and lynch me. If you dont like my profile...well..then piss on it. In fact Marks is right. I dont exist. Im not human. Im a situation..like a tsunami (ok now thats crap) but your post deserves less. I know nothing about anything skydiving related. Im just a 5 year old kid with too much time on their hands. People in UK dont know how to fly canopies. They are all wankers. In fact im still smarting at why iv just been called a wanker. Ay caramba. I was tempted to say something positive to you..but ...id rather catch ebola and die...in Kinshasa.

I respect that

Quoteyeah, yeah, may the force be with you or whatever... i already said that i appreciated your comments and i answered your questions the best i could, like anyone else´s. your inability to respond without provoking bad feelings is somehow ... disturbing for me. i got hurt badly doing my "rambo"-jumps (which, in fact, are not more "rambo" than yours in the civilian branch... just another discipline. that´s how i see it), i progressed and i have a certain level now. that´s the way í´m going for swooping now. where´s the problem? i pulled too low, i ate dirt. hey, at least now i know what TOO low means. i don´t just have an idea, i KNOW it. if you feel personally attecked by whatever i wrote ( and i think you do, just read your answer...), maybe you should ask yourself why. whatever, have a good time jumping on weekends, paying lots of money. i´ll think of you, as soon as i´ll start "working" again, getting paid for my jumps...no matter how crappy i land Quote I dont care about the attacks. Im only on this forum to deal with your post. To which i asked stuff and you answered (then questioned my profile ...like it has anything to do with you or anyone else). No worries. I was just trying to understand why you did what you did...coz you just proved what we all should at least know before we start swooping. Next time you are in the position to do so..dont wear a flak jacket into conflict. When asked why you are doing so...give the "i just knew nature would be there sooner or later to tell me im not good enough (to take a bullet and not get damaged). I like it that way" speel. Man ..each to their own. May the forces be with us both. Like i said...its only winter you are missing. Long may you last. Ariba

Quote Hey look Mary, the guy made a mistake, he owned up to it, and spread the word to keep others out of trouble. You really could cjill with the CAPS, BECAUSE THER'S NO REASON TO SHOUT. But as far as your profile goes, if you're going to post, and have that info in your profile, and be critical of thers actions, people are going to look, and people are going to question. That shit about 'I'm jumping and you're not', thats just wrong. If your profile is correct, you may not be jumping soon as well, so watch yourself. Not to mention whats the deal with the $2000 canopy in the outdated $200 container? Is there anyone on the other side of the pond who can verify this guys story? Are his jump numbers or his equipment choices bogus? It's got to be one of the two, or god help him when he makes a mistake. Quote He said "Mary". Why not John? Never mind my typing before it was just some keys being hit at the wrong time and me not fixing it. Its all meant to be small and non bold. I dont mind people asking me stuff or questioning my critical analysis of others. I dont really care. My profile is not the topic of discussion on this thread so why dont you just pipe down and keep on topic? I may not be jumping soon afterwards but as of this moment...i am. Thats a worse attitude to have than the "i can beat a hook turn wipe out" attitude? Like Burger King.."Fine have it your way". I dont care. Iv said what iv got to say. You dont have to listen to me.

CAPS is just me failing to type properly. Sorry

Quote Quote -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- nope thats right there was a huge discussion about all that a while ago.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Must have missed that one. Was it this thread, about a guy on a small HP canopy loaded above 2:1 with only 200 odd jumps who managed to put himself in a wheel chair for the rest of his life? http://www.dropzone.com/...post=1125536#1125536 Or this thread, about a guy on a small HP canopy loaded above 2:1 with only 200 odd jumps who managed to put himself in a wheel chair for the rest of his life? http://www.dropzone.com/...;;page=unread#unread Quote No it was this one http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1705559#1705559

Quote200+ jumps and loading at 2.4... rain_man: don´t suggest i might be doing something i should not when i´m swooping my 160 at 1.5. i know pretty well what i´m doing when i´m in the air... just ask your british sas buddies (really great guys, i like the brits!), what they think about jumping in the alps... Quote Ok Rambo. The reason why i posted was because i didnt believe that the lesson you claim you were learning was worth learning like that. I had doubts...gave you the benfit of the doubt and asked questions to back you up..but your answers well...i rest my case. 1) When i mentioned outs ...i meant when you are unable to perform that 180 degree manoevre to face back into wind...did you have a plan on what you were going to do and where you were going to go to land safely? Eg finish off the turn with toggles or something..or just land crosswind after a 90degree turn? 2) You you were below your initiation point but still went for it. In other words...you decided to deliberately hook in just because you've jumped over the alps in the dark or whatever and reckoned it was time to descipline the ground with your rib cage? No matter how much you pride yourself on all your military endeavours..maybe this should tell you not to disrepsect civilian activities. Based on your illustration...military jumping must be easier than fun jumping. 3) All in all...i think there is nothing to learn from this for most normal people). Most hook turns wipe outs are mistakes based in errors in judgement. Yours was a result of taking the obvious then doing something and getting an obvious result. By that i mean a "known low altitude + inappropriate hook turn = HURT" You didnt know that by now? If you say its made you a better jumper then i'll take your word for it. Good for you. Its a lesson you shouldnt be having to learn though. Lack of 1000 jumps is not an excuse. 4)My profile. Well i said you might be doing something that you shouldnt be doing...well Captain. Not wanting to get into a fruitless argument...Dont question my profile because at the end of the day...this weekend I AM SKYDIVING and you are not. Peace brother

Quote my lesson learned is, that when i´m swooping i have to be focused at least a 100% on my final approach. i should have waited for all the other canopies to land, and than start my swoop. the impact was harder than anything i´ve ever experienced. next week ´ll find out, if someone has taped it by accident... Quote Firstly good job on not dying or getting too seriously hurt although this is more a matter of luck as opposed to any concious effort by you. Maybe your missing the (or a) point here. Your problem is that you blew your safe initiation altitude and either werent aware of it or didnt care enought to change your plan. Question 1) Dont you check altitude before you start your hook? If not do so. Obviously when you have decided it time to swoop, then get distracted, then initiate ...you arent going to be at the same height anymore. Time for plan B. (you had one of course didnt you?) Question 2) (maybe i shouldnt ask this as a question but just suggest it). Do you have any outs? Question3) Did you see the other canopy before you were to start your swoop or as you were thinking of starting it? Question 4) I take it you were not used to any of the sight pictures associated with being lower than the required initiation altitude? Nothing set off alarm bells in your mind when you started the turn? Maybe during your time away from the sport take some time to increase your knowledge because the things i have questioned above arent advanced swooping protocol but i would term basics. Things you should have in check before you start doing HP landings. That and other ietms i havent considered here. For sure not every landing has to be a swoop, and not every swoop has to be the best swoop...but very importantly...every landing has to be a safe one. Oh last question. The reason you didnt flare was because....this happened fast or what? How fast is the 180 happening for you on your 160 that you hit the ground without flaring? You ever practice dive recovery exercises? Maybe you are trying something that you shouldnt be trying? Food for thought. Anyways heal fast (and its only some of the winter you will miss) Get Brian Germaine's book. It will make some cool bed time reading. Adios Amigos.

Quote I've fell pregnant and have decided to keep the baby, I believe that after the baby is born I will carry on skydiving. I am still skydiving at the moment. But my now Ex-Partner thinks that this will be impossible and that it wont be right taking a young child to a DZ, and that it would interfear that much that it would stop us skydiving altogether. Quote Listen china. Skydiving aint going to go nowhere. Lots of single parents or whatever skydive. There is no need to rush into getting back out there. Kids need to grow first so take your time. You might not be jumping for the first year or so...but thats not to say you have given up skydiving. It will still be happening when you come back. But your ex-partner is a wanker though...