fonz

Cool. Way to go! And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

What upsets me is: 1. A fellow jumper bounced because her rig has been sabotaged. That's bad enough already. 2. A national TV station lets somebody who doesn't know a goddamn thing about skydiving tell the most ridiculous things and thus cause a lot of bad publicity to our sport without either checking the validity of that person's story or showing even the slightest shred of respect for the loved ones the deceased jumper left behind. What I didn't mention yet is that the TV station did other things as well, such as grabbing a photo of the deceased that was put on a Belgian forum as a memorial and use it in their show without even asking anyone. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

You did miss something. A 2000+ jumper went in (was set up to go in) and some know-nothing one-jump screwup comments about it on national TV in a way that upset a large part of the skydiving community in Belgium and Holland (same language). The one-jump screwup was the one on radio, not the 2000+ jumper. Alphons [edit: typo corrected, that seems to happen a lot lately] And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

A statement that has been proven damn right countless times before already! This woman has absolutely no idea what she is talking about but abuses a very tragic and highly sensitive event (a jumper went in because some idiot seems to have turned a parachute rig into a murder weapon) just to get attention. Throwing yourself out of a plane without thinking? Falling at 550 mph after a cutaway? Having your brain explode? Thinking of holding on to a lamp post? Hitting the ground at 40 mph with a perfectly good student reserve? I mean... sheesh! If you don't know what you're talking about, just STFU. Put a camera in front of an idiot and idiotic things will come out. Alphons And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Recently a sad fatality occured in Belgium. A 2000+ jumps female was faced with malfunctioning main and reserve. It turned out that her rig has most likely been tampered with. In the aftermath of the incident, Belgian TV channel VTM interviewed a surfer (yep: that riding the water waves stuff) who did one AFF jump in 2005. According to DZ tales, after an uneventful freefall, this lady was hanging under a perfectly good main canopy (after having briefly experienced slight line twists) but heading in the wrong direction. The instructor told her over the radio to turn right. She made a minor right turn. The instructor told her to turn more. She then cut away, had her reserve opened high and perfectly by the RSL, landed out, didn't flare at all and severely injured her back. She never jumped again. Below is a rough translation of what this young lady told the Belgian TV after the recent fatal accident. Without asking myself questions, I threw myself out the door. The freefall felt good, but then I had to open my parachute. It opened, but was in a twist. Normally, experienced jumpers can easily remedy this. But I had never done that before. Instead of horizontally, I now plunged vertically down. The instructors told me over the radio to pull right. They meant I should turn right to untwist the canopy, but in the panic I pulled my right handle and disconnected my parachute. Afterwards, people told me that without my parachute I had reached an approximate speed of 900 km/h (a good 550 mph). My brain exploded and I felt my body weaken. People who have had a near-dead experience talk about light at the end of a tunnel. But I suddenly felt a feeling of tranquility come over me. For a moment, I accepted my fate until my energy to survive kicked in. The pressure knocked open my reserve canopy. Normally, inexperienced jumpers have a large, steerable reserve. But my luck gave me a small one. That reserve slowed my fall, but had opened too late. I saw the ground coming at me very fast. First, I wanted to grab a lamp post but then I saw a lawn between two houses. I did what I could to smash into the ground there and it worked. I smashed into the grass at 60 or 70 km/h (about 40 mph). Had I hit concrete, I would have been stone dead. This is NOT a joke about dumb Belgians, this lady REALLY said this on Belgian TV after the recent fatality happened! And I've only picked out the highlights, she said more stupid things. First, I wanted to comment on her story here, but on second thought, it's too stupid to even bother. This Sofie Avonds girl must really be the most stupid skydiver ever. Alphons [edit: typo corrected] And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hey, I'm a fast faller too and asked the same question at my home DZ. The advice I got from a very experienced formation jumper (I mean World Team level) was to get a nylon front and cotton-like material (e.g. polycotton) on the extremities (arms/legs). My suit has been ordered, can't wait to try it out! And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Aaaaaaaaaa!!! We are so NOT "Duitsers". That means Germans. And Dutch are NOT Germans. Not in my lifetime, anyway. And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Actually, no I didn't hear... but of course I have read all about it in the newsletter Man, I so need to get my ass back there as soon as I can afford it! Anyway, say hi to Farney for me next time you see him, will ya? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Apparently not... Are we Dutch really such a boring bunch of tosspots??? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I see there are international forums here these days. Are there any Dutchies out there who feel like getting a Dutch forum off the ground? Just a thought, And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

When I did my AFF there, in the summer of 2001, I hung out with Farney, Claude, Mick and John a lot. I read about what happened to Claude and I'm terribly sorry about that, but what's the word on the other guys, are they still at the DZ and doing well? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This will solve all your problems: Get a Linux or FreeBSD floppy, boot from it and follow the instructions And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I sort of bumped into this thread after a long absence from this forum, but to answer the original question: Although I have a DZ within a few miles from my house I have never jumped there because I'm still on rental gear but the gear they have there is ripcord-operated while I've never pulled any ripcord in my life ever - I've jumped with throwout from AFF jump 1 (no, I've never had a reserve although I got close once). Skydive Texel (I'm from Holland...) is pretty much the only DZ I jump at and it's approximately a 3-hour's journey, including the boat ride (Texel is an island). But I think the view, atmosphere and facilities are well worth the trip every time I go there. And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Maybe I'm being overcautious, but personally I don't jump when I have a head cold. I know what that can lead to (ruptured eardrums and sinuses, to name something) and I don't think any jump is worth that. Then again, my right eardrum has already been ruptured due to an ear infection I suffered as an infant (because my GP f***ed up, but let's not go there), so maybe I'm a special (read: basket) case in this. Anyway, take care and remember that no jump is so important that it cannot be done another day in better health. And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

High wings have another advantage for jump planes in particular: downward vision Anyway, if low-wing aircraft are not intrinsically more difficult to control (which btw would still make sense to me), then what's with the argument mr. Kallend mentioned of a parachute flying inverted (if that were possible of course) being so much more difficult to control because the center of gravity is above the controlling surface? I fail to see why that statement would hold for a parachute but not for an airplane. edit: nevernind this question; rereading the thread I found the answer And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

No offense, but I've seen, ridden, jumped or in some cases even flown the following aircraft: Cessna 208 Caravan Cessna 206 Cessna 182 Twin Otter Skyvan Turbo Let Dornier ASK 21 (a sailplane) Boeing 767 Of these (and others I failed to mention), only the latter has low wings unless I accidentally stepped through a rift in the universe so that I now find myself in a parallel space-time continuum where the definitions of high/low and top/bottom differ from where I came from And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Okay, then let's say "manufactured specifically for skydiving". Wow, that's pretty bad! Which altimeters did that??? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Did you know that wings (including ram-air parachutes) fly as a result of Bernouilli's Law and the principle of equal transit times? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In general, I recommend sticking to altimeters that have been certified for skydiving. Just a thought, And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Good point you raised here. In fact, I hadn't even considered that. This is what makes a canopy different from an airplane wing: it has openings in order to inflate, that's where it gets its rigidity from in the first place. Indeed. That's why airplanes with wings at the bottom (or below) of the fuselage are very rare. They're just hell to fly. Elaborate. Consider this: m * dv/dt = (c * A * ( rho0 + drho * x ) / 2 ) * v^2 - m * g Here m, c, A, rho0, drho and g are constant, so it comes down to dv/dt = alpha * v^2 + beta * x * v^2 + gamma with alpha, beta and gamma constants. Obviously, v = dx/dt and we need both x(t) and v(t). This is the physical description, to a mathematician it might look more familiar if we take x(t) -> f(x) v(t) -> f'(x) so we get df''/dx = alpha * (f')^2 + beta * f * (f')^2 + gamma and need f(x) and f'(x). To me, it's the dependence on x that makes it such a bitch. But taking the air density constant during an entire skydive is something you simply don't get away with. The first one to solve this sucker gets a case of beer and gets credited on the site I'm building about skydiving physics And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

So apparently it is possible. But then I wonder how you would prevent falling into your canopy. Would it just be airspeed, or is there more to it? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

As a former physics student, I've been thinking lately about the physics that lie behind our beautiful sport. Is there by any chance a mathematician here who is adept at solving non-linear second-order differential equations? Further, I've been philosophising about whether or not you should theoretically be able to fly upside down under canopy. And here I mean sustained inverted flight, not performing rolls and loops. Personally, I think that the canopy itself, being a wing, should be able to do this, but since the lines are not rigid, could one prevent falling into the canopy provided that you have enough airspeed? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I had Eric as JM on a couple of AFF dives. Say hi to him for me, ok? And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Well, then at a mere 10 bucks, I guess there's no reason why I shouldn't get them. Thank you guys.

You lost me there. Sorry, maybe I'm just stupid And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes. -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy