fred

This is probably too hopeful a question, but are there any opportunities to rent gear at the WFFC? I'm financially irresponsible. Add that to some bad luck with employers over the past few years, and I find myself as a novice A-licensed skydiver with around 90 jumps who doesn't yet have his own rig. I've got some time off available at work, and even an RV I was thinking about taking down, but no rig. Any opportunities to rent gear for a few days? Better to hold off another year and miss all the fun? Other suggestions? There's also the possibility of Richmond "The" Boogie, but likely still won't have gear before then.

My experience is pretty limited, so you could probably throw a [N] before my reponse as well, but I'll share my thoughts. I live about 1 hour away from two different dropzones. One of them is a USPA member dropzone, and the other is not. I've been to both, and I've only jumped at the non-member dropzone. Why? I talked to a bunch of jumpers and instructors at both dropzones, and from both the hard-facts about the places and my personal impressions of each, the non-USPA dropzone was a safer, more responsible place to be. I got the impression from the USPA group member dropzone that he was in it for the publicity, whereas the non-USPA DZO was happy to give me the reasons why he was unwilling to join (mostly monetary). At "safety day" at the USPA member, they proudly showed video of some very unsafe freefly maneuvres (I heard the statement, "Look at how fast he was coming towards me! I'm surprised I was able to get out of his way!"), and we basically sat around and watched other videos while the DZO tried to sell rigging services. At the non-USPA dropzone's safety day, they covered things the S&TA had learned at the PIA conference, reviewed each of the fatalities of the past year and what had gone wrong, reviewed a number of issues that had been discovered with gear, and went over emergency procedures. Basically, the non-USPA dropzone was far more professional and organized. Clearly, this doesn't apply to every situation and my experience is limited, but I certainly wouldn't judge a dropzone based on it's USPA membership.

I, for one, am glad you're evaluating this. I can't commend you enough for stepping up and taking responsibility for your actions, and for doing that, you deserve a lot of support. For making the mistake in the first place, however, you should be chastised, though I doubt anything anybody could say would be worse than what you're doing to yourself. You were lucky, and you know that. Riggers should be checking and double checking their work. I don't know enough about the equipment or what caused this particular instance to know whether there was a fluke mistake, or whether there was neglect. I'm not sure it matters. I trust riggers to go through a process that means they'll catch their mistakes. That said, I'd feel perfectly comfortable if you packed my next reserve. Your courage in admitting your mistake suggests that you have character, will learn from it and be quite a bit more attentive in the future. I'm sure it was a sobering experience, and if you continuing rigging, you'll realize the responsibility and amount of trust the rest of us are placing on your abilities and methods.

Isn't this a little extreme? Maybe more like taking a Saturn SUV two-tracking: Yes, it will work, but you'll be much happier with the right vehicle.

I wonder what the protrack itself does. It doesn't seem to record temperature. Thanks, Terry aka Councilman... That's a great link.

I have a pressure reading on the ground in mbar as well as a series of measurements taken during the skydive (this is actually raw data from a protrack, if that helps). I'd like to convert this into an altitude. I know the software does it, but I don't know the math involved, and I'm hoping somebody here does. Anybody have any idea? I can give some sample values if anybody would like.

I'm also a lowbie jumper, fresh-A license type, but I can throw in my 2 cents on your questions. Keep the groups small. I'm at the point where I'd feel pretty comfortable doing a 2-way with somebody at or below my skill level, but if there are more people, they'd better have a lot more experience. It's one thing to keep track of one other person and chase them around the sky, but add a 3rd unpredictable person, and I'd feel uncomfortable with that risk. I don't know what the standard is here. With my learning jumps, I've frequently found myself approaching break-off altitude with things not quite coming together... These often end with a smile, a wave "good-bye", turn and track... Just some way to communicate the "Don't follow me." When we're actually together, it's pretty much the same thing, or just turn and track...

Unfortunately, it's difficult to quantify. You can measure the times when having an RSL contributed somebody's death (e.g. broken riser), and you can measure the times when not having one contributed to somebody's death (e.g. low cutaway). But it's much harder to measure when a life was saved. The best we can do is logically think through the options and possibilities, both good and bad, and make a decision. Lacking quantitative evidence does not make such a choice irrational. Two out? I've always been taught to disconnect my RSL if time and altitude permit in a two-out situation. I'm sure somebody can explain why (and I'd appreciate it if they would).

Standard disclaimer: I don't have many jumps, I'm not an instructor or coach, and I'm not very good, so take this for what it's worth--not much. But when I was training, I kept hearing the same thing. Relax! When I did finally manage to "relax" on a freefall, I came to realize that all the advice about relaxing is not "relax your muscles and let the wind shape them", but instead, "relax your mind." Take a deep breath. If you start spinning or chipping or going unstable, relax, take your time, and then fix it. The majority of my problems with stability (and ooh doggy did I have a lot of them) were because when I was unstable, I would try to fix it, realize I'm still unstable, try to fix it, and repeat, about 80 times in a second. I believe in the skydiving world this is called "flailing." I never gave my corrections a chance to work, and all of my "corrections" were making things much worse. It's a lot easier now that I'm trying to learn to sit fly, and the advice is now, "Relax! But push those legs down hard!" When I inevitably end up spinning around, I just lay down on my back, take a moment, and try again.

Isn't this also called the DZ? Are Jumpmasters, TM's, etc. employees of the dropzone? If so, then isn't this talk of incorporating actually already accomplished? I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds like you're trying to add protection of a corporation when there's already one involved. Now, if you're taking payment directly from customers, such as an independent camera person or private coach, then you'd better get yourself into an LLC, and yesterday.

Why not... 1. Whats your name? Fred 2. How old are you? 27 (and, strangely, that makes me feel old at most dropzones) 3. Why did you decide to start jumping out of airplanes? Always wanted to. Then, one summer, a friend/coworker of mine had a terrible, messy break-up. He decided he wanted an adrenaline rush and signed up for a class. When I found out, I invited myself along. After we landed from the first jump, somebody said, "You know, if you want to go again, you can sign up now." I talked him into the second jump. I found out later that he wasn't very excited about doing a second jump, but he's glad he did. It's now 3 years later, and we're both still jumping. 4. Are you single or taken? Married? If it's better to have loved and lost, then I'm one of the best. 5. Do you have kids? I'm content with a nephew. 6. What do you drive? 1999 Saturn. 7. Have you ever done a kisspass? No 8. Where do you live? Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. 9. Do you have any pets? I'm not allowed. 10. How many jumps do you have? 90 11. What color eyes do you have? Brown 12. What is your nationality? 1/2 dutch... The other half is mutt. 13. Have you ever dated someone you met off the internet? Hard to answer. Technically met off the internet, but really got to know each other on the internet... 14. Favorite Movie? The Princess Bride 15. What do you do when you arent skydiving? Wish I was skydiving. 16. Have you ever BASE jumped? No 17. If not... do you want to? Yes 18. Do you have siblings? 1 older brother 19. Where do you want to travel to the most? I don't really care for traveling. I'm perfectly happy taking a vacation at a local hotel and living it up without hte travel expenses. 20. What's your favorite color? Purple 21. Where was the last place you flew to ( not skydiving )? Phoenix

Fantastic job, skr... As somebody who knows a lot more about math than about skydiving, I really appreciated this explanation.

It's very likely that I'll be in Casa Grande, AZ visiting my retired parents ("snowbirds") from April 4-April 11. Sadly, that's only 10 minutes outside of Eloy, so I may have to visit Skydive Arizona. But I'm a very nervous, shy, and introverted person. I graduated AFF there a little over 2 years ago. I've since qualified for my A (though I haven't filed the paperwork to make it official... I'm darned close to my B)... In 3 years, I've only accumulated a total of about 140 jumps, so I know I have lots to learn. I don't know, my high-stress nature leaves me with so many issues, perhaps I should just enumerate them (in no particular order). (1) I won't be current. I know what to expect from a currency jump at my home DZ where they know me. I believe I can fly and keep safe, but I'm going to be out about 6 months since my last jump when I head there. (2) I don't officially have my A... I think there's only one option here, which is to go see my S&TA and get the paperwork finished, but even so, will I get my number in time? (3) I don't have gear. I have a helmet, altimeter, and audible. And a really nice freefly jumpsuit (thanks Kris!), but I don't have a rig or a good RW suit. At this point, I can't order an RW suit and have it get here in time, ... can I buy off the shelf at Square2? What's the best option for a person on a limited budget as far as renting gear? Can you rent by the jump? Should I rent for the day? I haven't packed a rig since I learned for my A, and I'm certainly not confident doing it. Gear's clearly a big issue for me. (4) I fall like a rock. When I go solo, my protrack tends to tell me my average speed was around 130. When I try and slow myself down to "as slow as I can", I can get an average of about 124, and when I do that I feel like I can't turn or maneuvre at all. (5) I won't know anybody. I'll probably try and find the AFFI who instructed me, thank him and tip him a bit more than I could afford last time, but other than that, I won't know a soul there. I'm not afraid to do solo jumps, but in a "new" place, I'd much rather jump with people who know what's going on. I don't know... here are my insecurities. I'll definately be sending an email to SDA to work out some of the technical details, but I could use some advice. I'm far to nervous about going to a new dropzone than I should be.

Isn't this a whuffo question: "What happens if your parachute doesn't open?" "You always have a reserve, and your reserve is packed very carefully by somebody certified by the FAA!" "What happens if your reserve doesn't open?" A) "I hope it doesn't, because I've already got this canopy over my head." B) "Well, then you don't need to buy your rigger that bottle of cuervo."

I don't want to start any shit, either, but your post is problematic. Anybody who's read the stories on DZ.com for awhile knows that skydivers always think they pulled higher than they did. And, because of the reasons you mentioned later in your post, I don't trust this number, either. Actual pull altitude is hard to tell for a jumper, and hard to determine algorithmically. And this is what really hurt me. You wrote: "I refuse to BS anyone." And I hope you mean it, but this is terrible. Your numbers are all wrong, and steadily decreasing in the most obviously misleading way. The only reason I don't think it was intentional is because it's so obviously misleading. Rigger said 2000 ft. Jumper said 1600. Vigil said 1300. Your calculation for margin of error said, "1150 ft" for a low-pull misfire is perfectly normal, since both Vigil and CyPress may misfire at 1000ft. They're set to activate at 800ft. Amazing how quickly you can move us from 1600 ft to 1000 ft and tell us that's within margin of error. But 800+250 = 1050 ft, not 1150. And certainly not 1600 ft. At the best, you're just bad at math. What I expect is that you just want to help your company by posting an explanation for an accident that is outside of tolerance, and is probably very unlikely to happen again. At worst, you're intentionally trying to mislead the skydiving community into believing your product is safer than it is.

The simplest explanation I can give is that, in order for there to be a 45 degree angle, the plane must have traveled as far from the jumper horizontally as the jumper has fallen vertically.

For a second, I thought we were going to get through a separation thread without seeing this falsehood. The 45 degree rule doesn't/can't work.

I think I had a total of 8 10-second delays. I definately had the same issues as you're describing... The exits were a blur, I was nervous (definately not relaxed), and I would spin or chip or just generally be unstable. Then I went to Eloy and did AFF. While I think the SL is a great program, I really needed AFF to get me over that hurdle. My first AFF jump was sloppy, much like my 10 second delays, but my second AFF jump was far better, and I never had a problem after that. So, my advice: 1) Do at least two AFF jumps if you can. And do them on the same day. 2) Try to make as many attempts at your delays on the same day as you can. 2 jumps/day is not the way to learn in this sport. It's tiring and expensive, but aim for 4 jumps in a day.

Para-gear doesn't seem to have the best prices. It seems everything is list. But they do have most everything, and a very thorough on-line catalog, so if you're trying to find something specific, they're a good way to go. I like Square 1, since they've given me good service when I was buying some little things. I haven't done all that much gear shopping, though, so ymmv.

... and the guy who resized the image, right? Seriously, nice rig. It looks like it will sleep well in its cozy...

My dad's tandem in Arizona started with a backflip out of the tailgate... I'm not sure this exit was so unusual. Most tandem instructor I've talked to like to do a few flips out of the plane if they think their student is up for it. I really liked the 'swimming toward the camera' moves, though... Couple things I noticed as a lowtimer... Was the tandem master flying mantis at the beginning? Second, did he deploy the main from the left? Are tandem rigs set up this way? Maybe I've never noticed this before.

I like all the above suggestions and insight into the possible psyche of this student... I'm wondering, if it is a self-confidence issue (and yes, there are self-conscious skydivers), could you "help" him to make him feel more confident? I don't know what sort of jumps you're doing with him, but maybe he needs to feel like he can before he is able? If he's trying to dock, move slowly toward him at the same time. If he's trying to match fall rate, maybe you can see him arch hard and dearch just slightly to make it seem more effective? Don't let him think he's an expert at it, but you can help him out a little to give him the confidence to think, "Man, this was so easy last jump, I know I can do this!" Just some thoughts from an inexperienced, low-self-confidence jumper. Also, make sure you follow the basic instructors guidelines: Comment on what he's doing well, and downplay what he's doing poorly. Of course, in training I responded to the opposite reinforcement. I had an instructor who told me, "Wow, you really went to shit there! You need to relax, and never let that happen again." Perhaps the student is looking for actual instruction rather than 'good effort'? My instructor had me on the ground, practicing my arch, and saying, "Turn left. Okay. Good that's great." Then, a couple seconds later, I'd relax (it's hard to arch on a solid floor), at which point he'd say, "Did I tell you to relax? Arch!" It worked well for me... but my instructor had some subtlety to it that I'll never have.

Yep. There's a 1-way infrared light on the back of the protrack that transmits information when you initiate the procedure on the protrack. There is a receiver on the cradle that receives this information and transmits it across the serial cable (at 9600,n,8,1, iirc) in ASCII. Decoding the information has proven troublesome, since numbers don't seem to match up, but it's readable in notepad. As far as engineering something that would let you download information from the protrack without taking it out of your helmet, a couple things would need to be done. First, the buttons (and probably the screen) of the protrack would need to be visible while the protrack is still mounted. There is no way to initiate transfer from remotely; it has to be done from the interface. Second, you'd need to mount an IR receiver (could probably cut it out from the cradle) and make sure it lined up with the protrack's transmitter while not covering up the speaker. This could be done. Last, you'd need to make a plug on the external side of the helmet... I don't know how many pins the interface uses, but likely this would be pretty simple to make. But in the end, it's probably much easier to just take it out of the helmet.

I love my Robnyk Sapphire with the hand mount. I find it far more comfortable than most other altimeters with the ring going around my fingers. This one just feels like I'm wearing a glove. I am curious about how I'll feel when I start freeflying, however, since I notice a lot of FF'ers wearing their altimeter more on the meat of their hand, rather than centered like the ro-sapphire requires.

Hmm... Let me summarize my argument. I agree that "A canopy flies EXACTLY the same in wind, as it does in no wind," given one criterion. That wind has to be constant. I don't believe (and I have no knowledge of meteorology), that the real world wind meets this, and I think that the frequent changes in windspeed will have some affect. I do understand your submarine example 100%, but I think you're missing my point.