Myrka

yea, i posted this reply on mySpace, and i'll post it here too that's friggen sick... why would anyone want to do this to a poor animal is beyond me i guess that makes me " Animal Cruelty/ I don't eat meat/ I'm a pansy"... But seriously, rubber chickens are not enough fun for some??

Every student I personally know never got injured, but hehe, I did… bounced around on crutches for a few weeks, took little over a month off to heal up, came back, had the most AWESOME dive, and couple of more since! Stupid hurts… Listen to your instructors, don’t overpush, and be ready to make the right decision. Good luck!!

is that good or bad?

Dave: I'm still a n00b and have no idea what i'm doing, but i recorded one of my dives this weekend on AltiTrack, and i did slow down when I tracked. I did 2 tracks separated by 180 turn about 25 seconds in the dive, and speed graph is attached.

You left off the "and generating some lift" part. If you can find a body position that will allow a tracker to generate lift, you'll be a popular guy. Since we dont have engines and can't generate lift, we have to reduce fall rate to a minimum so that we have more time on the way to pull altitude to get maximum horizontal separation. Hey guys: It is in my understanding that during tracking you simply attempt to convert your body to an airfoil shape. When do, it behaves similarly to the wing of the airplane, or even the canopy, but the principle is generally the same, and yes, it generates lift and drag, and creates a glide ratio (distance traveled::horizontal speed over height lost::vertical speed). Factors that shape the human airfoil of course are arms, shoulder position and shape of the rig, etc.. There was a study done in 1969 if you’re interested (http://www.usaarl.army.mil/TechReports/69-9.PDF)

hehe, there are no women on that pic

Hi guys: I’m reading this thread, and there are many points that I agree with and some that I do not… I can only say this from the student’s perspective, but getting into the sport can be very overwhelming. Even things that seem basic and common sense (i.e. approach aircraft from the back) have to be “taught” to you. Skydiving is the whole new culture within itself! In many ways this can be intimidating. So, doing some “research” before hand may not be a bad idea. What kind of research is another issue… I think that the person who’s looking for a “fitting” advice or someone who will tell them what they “want to hear” will eventually find what they’re looking for. Many of us, students I guess are just looking up to experienced jumpers for support more than anything. And I also think it’s important to do your own homework. I’ve had my instructors explain to me how canopies behave like wings of the airplanes, but we certainly weren’t getting into Newton nor Bernoulli’s theories… For those that want to learn about the sport, I don’t think it’s a stretch from other disciplines, and same rules apply: #1 respect and learn from your instructors as a primary source of knowledge (and yes, that requires a great deal of trust). #2 Do research from reputable sources, such as USPA Skydiver's Information Manual and just be patient and willing to learn. #3 Share your knowledge and learn from others. Does anyone agree?

Hi guys: This doesn’t relate to this thread 100%, however, I’ve been down for almost a month now because of my poor piloting/flair skills, so I’ve been researching and reading and reading some more… Attached is a paper titled “The Aerodynamics and Piloting of High Peformance Ram-Air Parachutes” by Jerry Sobieski. It’s not what I call light reading, but it contains some very enlightening insights and helped me to truly comprehend many issues that go into piloting a canopy from “scientific” and practical view (I am embarrassed to admit many aspects of which were taught to me by my instructors, but just didn’t click 100%)… Anyway, maybe someone else could find it useful. It was published in ’94, however, many fundamental concepts are there. EDIT: sorry, pdf was too large to upload, but here's a link to it http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/highperf.pdf

I just had one thing going through my mind... crosswind, PLF.. YIKES!!!

hail to stand up landings!!!

Hi: Try this http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf I think I might have found this link on the boards here or elsewhere, but some very good guidance info there. Hope you'll find this helpful.

i inlcuded myspace links if u want to listen in My personal favorite: Hadley aka Doctor Hadley “touch the sky” http://www.myspace.com/hadleymusic Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “learning to fly” http://www.myspace.com/thestuffnstuff Foo fighters “learn to fly” http://www.myspace.com/foofighters (hehe) Steve Miller “Fly Like an Eagle” http://www.myspace.com/stevemillerfans and for ya *romatics* out there Mary Poppins “Let’s Fly a Kite” http://www.myspace.com/98qeqfad

FYI, they do have a bbb record with all the associated contact #'s http://www.atlanta.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=13003271&language=1

Ai, yikes, I should have made 2 separate entries for 1-6 months, and break ‘em into 1-2 months and 2-6 months… That would have been more fair! Guys, thank you so much for the feedback. By all means I don’t take it as an endorsement that “accidents” are ok, but it’s encouraging to see so many D license holders share their “war stories”. Hmm… Who skydived with the cast on?

haha! yes yes... please, more student stories (going on my 3rd week w/torn ligaments)