btucker

A go around *could* have made this situation more dangerous - seek expert advice. There is the danger that you could have fallen through the previous group(s), worse yet if they where a tandom* or other high openers. Often 4ways open high (easier to see the ground when belly flying) when the spot is shit. While your talking to the CI/DZSO please ask them about exit order re the 4way 2way thing. Last years double tragedy at Nagambie... In Australia we have jumped through cloud all the time (as part of a trial with CASA) we always had a plan, usually dock, grip or just grab! Often beginners wouldn't go up in clound due to the danger of losing each other. You should know what to do when you open in cloud too - I've had the pleasure of a canopy collision with a team mate due to low dense cloud. * I can still remember the CI's "advice" from when we made this mistake. Blue ones, Benno

during a canopy school, we did an exercise, doing harness turns with the brakes set and then again with them unset. The purpose of the exercise was to teach us that the canopy (albeit square) will turn much easier with brakes set. My team mates stilleto just spins in one direction on opening [if you do nothing] - I think one leg strap is slightly different to the other. Once you blow the brakes it almost flys straight. - I should untwist my brake lines too, now that we have been reminded of it! Blues Benno

Congrats! A long journey but with great reward. When I was learning to fly (my body) all my instructors told me to relax and it would all work fine. RELAX -GUEZZ! When I did eventually manage to relax it all came together. It is a great feeling indeed revel in it! Blues Benno

Dude, I'm no guru. I reckon it's better to bail out early and choose an alternate landing site - play it super safe. I've been told it's a good idea to overfly any alternate landing area too, check for hazards like power poles (you won't see lines) fences etc. If you are going to "push it back" always have an out or two up your sleeve. You usually need to more than make it back to, to allow for a turn into wind and setup. The canopy gurus maybe able to give you tips about extending range. I get best on my canopy by: collapse and stow slider, loosen chest strap, blow brakes then push rear risers apart. On hot days thermals can help too. Glad your okay. I got scared just reading that! Blue ones, Benno PS: One of my team mates stopped me flying around with my brakes set. He told me off: If I had to unset them and I was low and there was something wrong then he'd be looking for another team mate!

I think that is a good question. Most, but not all, skydiving helmets are to protect you from minor bumps and scratches during freefall. They provide little or no protection from a real hit. Alot of skydiving accidents result from landing "mishaps", so on average a good helmet would be of some practical value: Reducing or eliminating head injury if a mishap does occur. Pros [ assume good helmet ]: Help you stop getting knocked out in freefall. Help save you brain if you screw up your landing. Help save your brain if someone else screws up your landing by hitting you! Con: Some full face helmet's hinder your vision and they do mist up if your not careful. Harder to see handles, harder to judge for a good landing. They all seem to reduce your hearing too. Cost factor: A good full face helmet is around $AUS500 - about 17 jumps. If your short of ca$h it might be safer (on average) to spend that money on other safety equipment: AAD, newer canopy (i.e. F111 and does not flare), canopy control course... Very much a personal decision in my books. Me; I never jump without a good helmet, brain injury really scares me and I am lucky enough to have the money for the helmet. Good luck with your course - I bet hubby won't play up if your packing! The urban myth is that the rigger wife of a cheating husband installs a sign on the bottom skin of his reserve saying "I thought about it!" Blues Benno Blue Dreams Benno

to err is human to fuck up you need a skydivier. Of course I would! Blues Benno

Howdy All, My team was on my case about getting some notes together for my slot (and washing my jumpsuit!). This seems like a logical spot for all to see. This is our second year of jumping together (last year we did Aust. Inter 8way) and our first at IPC 8way. Most people have from 500 to 1000 jumps, I have just under 900 jumps. I use alot of slang and short hand. PP = piece partner. RR = rear, rear float. RF=rear float. - This is how I think of things, obivously other people in other teams will think differnetly. Similarly we are more a "novice" team when it comes to 8way, so our coached have probably kept it lite and concentrated on the basics.

And what slot do they fly? - From minutes of a team meeting: 7. BT to wash jumpsuit.

PD present this as one method to pack a Sabre1 in the manual {I'm sure someone will correct me if my memory is wrong}. This is the method I use, it works nicely. NOTE:PD *do* warn you not to roll the nose. I've jumped 190,170 and 150 Sabre1's. They where all nice to me except the 150, which I have 500jumps on. I would guess 490openings and 10 arrivals. My advice on S1 openings: 1)Read the packing manual, download it from PD. 2)Be careful with the slider, especially when shoving it into the dbag. 3)Don't dump with ANY forward movement, even walking speed seems to slam. I only discovered this when doing solo sit (no track). Also, changing my pilot chute has introduced neck pain due to Sabernities. Evidently I used to have the habit of pitch THEN kill my track while the crapped out PC was towing. S1's ain't so bad, you can safely pitch at 2000 and still make legal opening height (1800). It's when it gets to under 150ft it starts to hurt and they hear you on the ground thanking it. Blues and softs, Benno

A friend of mine (

One of my team mates told me about a severe injury at her old DZ in the US: Two jumpers doing head down had a hard dock, one jumper's reserve handle was snagged, thus deploying his reserve while headdown {yikes}. I think a personal decision - depending on your discipline and experience. Blues

1.3 & 1.25WL Both ZP squares 580jumps Blues edit: Get's more interesting further down this thread! In Australia we had a system where; If you had a WL over [i can't remember exactly but it was low] 1.1 you needed to get a card signed by the CI. It was discontinued for a number of reasons, I don't think many people/DZ's bothered. I think the Dutch have just introduced a system of regulation in the last quarter on WL, although it only applies if you change canopy – I assume it applies to the reserve canopy as well. To get my B license I had to do some canopy exercises with a tutor, which I did at a “school” which was sponsored by the APF State Council. This education approach has worked best with me; I've been very lucky in that there are a few excellent canopy tutors in my neck of the woods that care enough about other jumper's safety to give up their time and run school. It's quite regular to see a canopy tutor on my DZ help out by watching us land and offering advice. Formally; The DZSO and CI's should and do this as well. But on a busy DZ they will probably only be able to pull people up about silly and/or dangerous behavior rather than assisting with technique. There have been a few incidents reported of late where DZOs have “declined” a jumpers business due to the ratio of canopy size vs experience. What about other factors a canopy besides WL? Elipital, Forgiveness? Flare? Material? These can be your few more ph. i.e.For this pilot a clapped out F111 canopy the same size as my Sabre: It would probably be dangerous to me as it wouldn't land as “nice”. I would suggest regulation to make you attend a canopy school and pass practical exercieses, say as a pre-req for each license level. {Like some display ratings?} The governing body would need to do a heck of a lot more than wave a pen, funds for support of schools, regs and ratings for “canopy tutor” “canopy tutor examiner” etc...

spot on! Blues Benno

me too. Did a nice loop of the Dlines and the right brake line. Felt like shit so I used the other canopy! Blues Benno

thanks for asking my question! Tail is my slot this year too. Some good answers. - for aussie inter league we used to switch exits for [some] blocks so the centres would end up in the centre.

wizzz that third buddy rocked dude. The stardian on the hill; Very nice indeed. Couple of moves done in a "oh no second" too hehehehe - The bill for the download is in the mail Blues Benno

Slow fall was something I struggled with until recently, and yes I used to look up as well! What finally got through to me was be aggressive – you really have to tense up and work hard to resist the relative air to decelerate. Three techniques have be taught to me: 1)arms. One coach said to me “like catching money”. 2)Legs. Extend legs and turn boosters in. 3)Torso. You need to dearch. One coach made me practice this on the floor, when you have a good dearch your tummy does not touch the ground - perhaps use to build muscle memory. Blues Benno

Is that a dope plant in the background

Every time I put on a new suit, I want to burn it! It does take a few jumps to get the hang of it. I would stress that eye contact is probably more important than body position. Its when your not looking where you should; That is where levels start to build up. [ now if only I could do just that... ] The tip about anticpitation is a very good one. Some points, especially on 8way, really start to slow up. If you know this is going to happen it can help. Unless the suit [ btw cool name ] is a rocket the change you will make will be very subtle indeed. I bend my feet in (I hope that makes sense) thus exposing more surface area of the inside of my legs; to twick my fall rate. Blues Benno.

Had my first cutaway on the weekend and the beer tasted mighty fine. Fairly normal track off, except the loaned helmet started to come off. So after I let go of the PC, I had both hands on my head. After a rather firm opening, I removed the helmet which had nicely ridden up my face to obscure my vision. The harness was telling me everything was okay, but a look up showed otherwise. The D bag was in the D lines with the pilot chute wrapping the whole lot up rubbing against the right brake line. “That's a chop I thought” and put the helmet back on. I popped the brakes and did a token flare, it felt crap. I dropped the toggles and went to planB. I [peeled] and pulled the cutaway pad. I was surprised how fast I was facing earth, always thought I'd fall straight down. The air sound slowly increased, it was great! I enjoyed the ground rush for stolen couple of seconds then dumped the reserve. Open by 1600. Saved handles and had a nice landing on the DZ. Interesting to note, the glide slope on the Airforce160 reserve felt very steep. But it flew nice and flared well. Team mate landed next to all my bits and brought it all back. And I got to borrow her Stiletto . I nearly gave her a nasty surprise after I packed it with the brakes unset, but I did remember! What would I do better? 1)Equipment serviceability *may* be an issue. I did have everything checked out last year, but that was a couple of hundred jumps ago. My lines, D bag and pilot chute are abit tired, they have nearly 600 jumps on them. 2)Activated the reserve sooner. Reserve should be activated as soon as "practical." What I did well. 1)Practice emergency procedures in the aircraft. I'd stopped doing this some time ago 'cause it didn't look cool. I recently started again after I saw a student practicing. 2)Flown canopy on rear risers. I had previous made the decision not to land my Sabre on rear risers, it stalls abruptly and sharply. Maybe better pilots can... 3)My helmet had started to get [dangerously] loose in freefall so I borrowed another one, which got even looser! Atleast I tried to be safe. Blues Benno

yeah baby. When is stage2?

From the APF Opregs; The main parachute must be open at a minimum height of 1800 ft AGL. 1500ft seems reasonable to me. Glad the Aggie lived to swoop another day... Blues Benno

Hey Luke, I would say: 1.Less forgiving of sub-optimal body position on opening. 2.Hideous altitude loss if line twisted and spinning. 3.Quicker turn rate and higher descent rate while turning. 4.Smaller control range. 5.Tendency to keep turning when put into a turn. 6.Greater sensitivity to harness movement. 7.[Deep] Stalls may not be recoverable. To the skygod these things are assets or can be neglected, whereas to a novice they are gear fear. OTOH: Perhaps the perception is because: 1)Stiletto's on average are loaded higher than a Sabre. So not many jumpers would have personal experience on same area canopies. 2)Maybe, in the “right hands” a Stiletto would be more forgiving. The loaded Stiletto could be recovered out of the corner better than a Sabre of the same area. The Stiletto could be manovered around that [unseen] landing hazard. The Stiletto would flair better when landing down wind. ... 3) Sabres are no longer sexy, where Stiletto's still can pull. "My first canopy was a Sabre so they must be for novices regardless of size and loading." Blues Benno

Otter chaos 101. Last season, I was in a Intermediate 8way team. It took us a little while to get the exit. There appear to be two main techniques [ forgetting about spoon! ] or ways about think about 8way exit “peel” and "drag” both use five out and three in. nb: There are other 8way exits, such as the "spoon." “peel” seems to be a newer technique and produces more robust exits but seems harder to learn. The main difference seems to be what the floaters do. This is what my My team did: Stack up is: outside rear rear, rear float, center, center, front front inside inside rear, center inside, inside front The outside people must “pancake”, stand sideways. Otherwise they won't fit. This is a constant source of “discussion” during 8way debriefs. Always have the floaters take the inside bar if on an aircraft with an outside bar. Rear rear: Depends on Aircraft configuration. Most likely sharing camera step. Have ½ the arm grip of rear float. Get very low on exit then come back up the hill. Be prepared to let go if things get funky. 8Way produces “waves of joy” that will produce “floods of tears” in comp! Rear: You have legstrap or legrip of the center infront of you. Inside rear and rear rear have you arm grip. If the exit goes funky they might not let go as quick as you would like. Get low. Outside Center: Gives count, usually climbs out last. Right arm holding on to the inside bar. You have leg strap or legrip of center in front of you, you can assist them up on exit. Outside center: This is often seen as the hardest slot. Think about what you need to do so the piece is presented to the relative wind. You will need to help the point up – often a very physical move. Front front: “Jump higher” - I still hear. “Set a new world record for staying on an otter the longest.” What a shit position! Leave as late as you dare and jump as high as you can while you present. Often you will be a victim of less than perfect exit. Inside Front: If anyone buys it, it is you. Our inside front got thrown over the formation so many times she became known as the “vertical queen”. Left hand on leg strap of center inside, right hand on chest strap of front front. You will leave on the “GO” but it is critical you are not early. Often the other two in the plane won't leave you enough room. Go out and UP and help that front-front out as much as you can. Center Inside You have leg strap of inside center with left hand and arm grip of outside center. Get low on exit Inside Rear (center) left hand on lower portion of rear floats (rear rear will have top) arm grip, or chest strap (arm grip better). Right hand on arm of center (take before exit) which is outside aircraft. You can be on one knee if you like. Exit straight down, be [very] low on the formation. Some like to think “leave early”. Although some coaches will have a fit, we choose to stagger the exit. From inside the aircraft you can see each floater let go the bar in turn. If it isn't serious team stuff, often a 6way stairstep is used as it seems much easier and more robust. It took us about 40 attempts to get a real nice 8way exit. Also, I'm told that for big ways; A linked base will come off at a different angle and hose the divers. It will be quicker to free build a base. ??? I do 4 and 8way. Enjoy your Otter, you lucky dog! Blues Benno

Almost everyone in my 8way team got a RMW suit last season. Very nice suits, I particulary like the grippers. How loose is "little loose?" There isn't much surface area in the upper arms - so I doubt it will slow you down. Having abit of space for a weight vest/belt or extra clothing for winter can be a good thing. Blues, Benno