D_22359

Shit after 3+ year brake Dave in all his infinate wisdome told me to go ahead and do a H-n-P from 2500' I passed did a 12 way on my second jump back and was back to a 135 within 5 jumps.... but that 80 somthing ft pillow case ya were jumping well you may want to rethink that, not that you could fly it befor and BJ is back in Tri-Shity's he'd probaly re-pack for ya too... think he did the last 1 fer ya somthing like 4 years ago. And what dum-ass went and made Dave a SNTA any way ... Glad yer comming back out we needed to lower the IQ round here Bill

Hey Roy I know how you can make an extra 5$ and get a free jump.... you would have to upsize to like a 99 for a couple jumps u uncurrent basterd! get your ass out to the DZ. Well done John ... and Jeff ... well I guess ya got a little skill as well Blue's Bill

Typicaly we go over how to turn and fly your body , then a lot more detail on canopy controll and flying the parachute. As for EP's I wont tell a student anything abought that till they are in a first jump course. I think the canopy work is the one place a Tandem instructor can help a new jumper the most. But like I said all skydivers are full of shit I'm no different. Take every thing on this site with a grain of salt, it's your ass. Bill

Look we as Tandem Instructors only get a few min. to prep our students so no were not going to give them a full fledged first jump course it's just not practical. Any first Tandem is an introduction to the sport aka "carnival ride" sensory overload is the norm not the excption, almost half my students dont even remember leaving the plane, screaming their heads off for most of the freefall or the camera person who was 2-3' away from them. I personaly let my students fly the canopy around quite often all on their own till we get down to 2000' then we do some practice landings at that time I choose if they will assist with the landing based soley on their reaction and preformance. But I never stop telling them whats going on or why we're doing it. Doing 6-10 tandems a day with a 330-400 sqft canopy and 200lbs or more on your chest will wear you out! Conserve your strength was one of the things I learned way back when... Landing is when you'll need it the most, you only get one shot at it do it right. As for this Incident from what I've read to this point, winds did not apear to be an issue 6-10 sounds like a good day to me. The Instructor's experience level still realy hasnt ben answered but some one said he had a couple hundred tandems at their DZ and he did not hook his landings. I would like to know if he made a habit of leaving the laterals un hooked? I do know an Instructor who had a cuff get cought on the lateral durring a turn... At least he had the time to deal with the problem that COULD HAVE HAPPENED HERE. Was this a low 90 or was the turn over 90... could his hand or toggel have ben hung up? A comment was made that TI's that dont hook (basicaly) didnt have the skill ... BULLSHIT... The Instructors I know dont Hook beacuse it's an extra risk they can eliminate and My job is to reduce the chance of injury to my student. If an Instructor is willing to hook their student's in to landing then thats their choice but they will sooner or later end up right here in the same forum and the fact is ... EVERY ONE FUCK'S UP SOMETIME's Your the one that's going to have to live with the results (if your lucky). But hell every skydiver is full of shit anyway so you choose what risk your willing to take with some one elses life and I'll play it as safe as I can. Bill

Dammit Cindy were not closed... we just dont have a turbine Rex will fly anytime we have good weather! Have fun down in Cal. Bill

Congrat's, welcome, GOOD JOB and ... BEER!!! I was hooked on the first jump and was screaming my head off at 2k that it didnt last long enough and I wanted to go again. This started out as faceing a fear now it's all abought being totaly focused on the moment it puts things in prespective for me. We had a jumper/pilot a long time back that took his dog on 2 jumps. The first time that litle mut was bouncing off the ground 3-4' & running in circles to beat the band. The 2nd jump the dog pissed all over him! So go back and do #2 and see what you think. You'll find in time that the risk/reward thing will either even out for you, or you'll stop jumping. I've got my money on it equaling out for you based on your reaction to the first jump! Just stay aware of whats happening around you, practice your emergency procedures, jump as often as possible and never think you know it all. Find other ways of saying "first" or buy stock in the local favorite beer. By my count you owe the world 3 cases for this post and usage of the word "first", 1 for jumping, 1 for saveing your own life, 1 for pulling high... ya get it or should I keep counting Good job... dont die Bill

Personaly I'd rather give my money to Booth than the USPA. Every gear manufacturer is different. The EP's are not exactly the same unlike sport gear. I'm Vector rated that dosnt make it safe for me to go jump a Strong rig or vice versa. So a manufacturer's rating is needed. Just my take on it. Bill

I tend to agree with John. Chop and pull... QUICKLY I think you still have time for a good reserve but not much. I dont have an RSL and havn't used one in a long time so I only have one EP with a bad canopy out above 1000'... chop & PULL. Everything changes depending on the canopy in question big slow square's= more time to evaluate and make a choice. HP elipticals mean less time but should also mean more experiance. You need to know your gear. The rules I was taught were this: 1) PULL 2) PULL with stability 3) PULL @ your assigned altitude It's you ass make a choice you can live with. Bill Sorry for the crappy spelling

Most of the time it's best to listen to your gut. You made a choice and it worked out just fine dont seconed guess your self now! If anything had ben different you WOULD have made a different choice. You trust your pilot and he said it's ok, your not fully hooked up you did the right thing. GOOD JOB Bill

I personaly tend to agree with the education side here. I think we should be helping new Instructors to undrestand how to choose the right wing for the day/student. If you want to do flips on exit it's your choice, I dont have to agree with you but I dont have the right to stop you either. If you want to hook your student in... well your the one that has to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror. Personaly I take the safty of the my passenger to heart. At our DZ were lucky to have several choices in canopy sizes 1-400, 3-365's and 2-330's. Every jump I look at the passenger the wind & temp then pick the main thats going to get me back with the best chance of NOT going to the ER. It dosn't take too many jumps on a rig to understand how it's going to behave. Their is a place for 330's just the same as a 400 being the right choice. As Instructors it's up to us to pick the right gear or sit the hell down. More rules and reg's is not going to stop stupid! Banning a canopy can put people at risk, under loading in the wind and backing a student into a landing can be worse than sliding another hole into your jump suit. So in short you jump what ever gives you that warm fuzzy fealing and let me choose what I want to jump... then again I could be wrong. Bill

I'm just guessin here but turning to your freinds falls under the other catogory...right? Blue's Bill

This just plane sucks! To all of Byron my heart is with you... If this shit keeps up I'm buying stock in Patrone. To every single one of my freinds... you have made a verry big impact on my life and for that " I THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU " Yes I was screaming that at the top of my lungs so they all could hear me! Things like this make me want to enjoy every moment with the people closest to my heart and to let them all know how important they are, cause you never know how long they or you will be here. Love to all with a heavy heart Bill

3.47 on the East side of Seattle

Hey Scott congrat's on the up comming wedding... ben their done that....better you than me ;} I missed BJ and Roxie by a week when they were home Larry said they did stop by the DZ but didn't stay long. Roxie tried to get hold of Putnam and couldnt. I tried calling and again no awnser. This was a long shot at gettin in touch with him but worth a try. Tie the knot take her some place nice and unless you want ta get your ass kicked you better not go to Paris Ca for the honeymoon. Then grab you rig and come on up to Davenport Roy is looking at a crw canopy and we have a couple suckers um I mean young jumpers that want to see the world upside down!! It's ben way to long since i've done a drag plane myself. Good luck and maby I'll see ya sometime soon. Glad ya made it back from Iraq in one peice. Bill Yea the spelling sucks I know

Bob ware the F*&k are you??? Any one knowing the ware-aboughts of one Robert Putnam of Tuchee Wa. Please pass this info along as I (one gratefull prodigey) would truley enjoy grabin fabric with him...or other N.W. DOG's that have time to get to Eastern washington. And if you hapen to see this B.J Alexander say "Hi" to Roxi for Roy and myself we both miss your re-pacs. Blue's Bill