wildblue

Sadly enough, I have heard this line, almost word for word. They couldn't find the PC, and instead of pulling silver, they waited for aad to fire. Should this person go take up bowling? Absolutely. While I agree with you that the majority of jumpers out there are smart enough to do things for themselves, and only count on an aad to save them in case they are unable to save themselves, there are people who don't have that attitude. I also believe some people do things they wouldn't do if they didn't have an aad. That's what I mean by "fly like you don't have it" and why I think "I don't rely on it to replace my emergency procedures" isn't a good enough statement. As far as changing your emergency procedures when using an aad, if I found myself blowing past 1500 ft, I'd go right for the reserve, aad or not. I completely agree that people do need to remember that it is there, and all that goes with that (turning it on, when to turn it off, etc) but they should plan their jumps and make their jumps like it isn't there.

Ok folks, this is what it comes down to: You. You are responsible for your own actions, you have to do something to save your life everytime you leave the aircraft. If it is your choice to equip your rig with an AAD "just in case" - then that is your choice. As far as which AAD do you choose? Again, it's your choice. Talk to jumpers, do some research, make an informed decision. Every AAD has it's pros and cons. Yes, there are a number of fatalities where an AAD may have saved the person, BUT, in the majority of those cases, if the person would have followed proper emergency procedures, they would have lived also. There is no replacement for the human brain. Do not depend on these devices you equip yourself with, they can and do fail. Fly like you don't have them.

Nevermind the bollocks! What I want explained is the boot. And fag.. that I don't understand either, but I'll save that for another time. I'll accept "lift" as an alternate term for elevator. If someone has to "get something out of the boot" how do you know if they're talking about their car or rocks in their footwear? Enlighten those of us across the pond. ;)

That is just an awesome story. So tell us why you quit or almost quit.

I'll pick up where wingnut left off about Xenia... Little less than an hour west of Columbus, about an hour north of Cinci... right outside Dayton. Private strip, Beech-18, Westwind, and usually a Casa and/or Otter. Nice friendly place http://www.skydiveohio.com/ any questions, feel free to ask

Are you serious?!?

We had planned to jump into a nearby airport to have lunch one day (DZ is a private strip). Get in the plane, fly up, jump out, have lunch, get back in plane, fly home, jump out. Well, the weather turned bad, so nobody showed up. A tandem came along, and we thought "Ya, we can get that in before the weather really hits" So, up we go. Me and a couple guys went out together and goofed off. Opened about 3K.. looked around, and thought "errr... where am I?" I know the area pretyy well, but I was lost.. couldn't even see the DZ. Evidently, while we were climbing, the front came in, the winds increased AND changed by 180 degrees. I kept backing up under canopy. Landed in a field by one guy (has a good video of it... don't flare too much when you're already going backwards) Walked up to the road, and saw the other guy we were with and the vidiot from the tandem. Between the four of us, we guessed which was to head for the DZ. Luckily, someone else had shown up at the DZ to make the lunch trip and came out to get us. On the way back, we're all sitting in the bed of his truck, and it starts to rain. that sucked. We had to be close to 5 miles out. The other "Way out time" - I open, see canopies coming at me. "Oh, I must be heading the wrong way" Turn around - canopies coming at me. "Ok, everyone's lost. Most of us landed together in this guy's yard. Again, we were a good ways out. Probably 4 or 5 miles. There's still some speculation as to why the entire load was that far off.

Stop trying to figure it out, it's a free jump! Enjoy it! I had a spinning mal the other night. One time, my arm wouldn't work to reach the hackey... that was scary. I think it might have been because I was sleeping on my side - the bed was in the way! A friend of mine had a funny one - he was jumping out of strange.. uhh... vehicles. A flying mini-van (Skyvan?) then there was a flying log cabin (Casa?) then a school bus on a big piston (haven't figured that one out yet)

I heard PD is coming out with a 'new' Sabre. True? What's new with it? When's it going to be out?

One interview I went for, I had to fill out this little personality thing. One of the questions was "What's your greatest accomplishment" - I put "Becoming an "A" licensed skydiver. It made an impression, and I explained it was a goal I had, I had to overcome fears, I had to learn something new, I had to deal with high stress, etc etc. I got a second interview, and was almost hired... until the comapny decided they needed to lay-off 10% of their people. :-(

Nice. I'm very jealous - that looks like an awesome ride! I like the picture with the 5 feet of snow on the side of the road, that's nutty! Very cool sunset shot too... ok.. I need to stop looking... self torture is wrong. Those BMWs? Nice looking bikes (and from what I hear, very nice riding bikes)

If I read this right, that means if I'm cruising down the highway on my motorcycle, and get run over by a car.. I could be denied my coverages? Same if I was scuba diving, ATVing, or having wild and crazy sex? .... better get that trapeez out of my bedroom....

Well, I've found the 110 for about $150 more than the 100. I'd probably drop $80 on the USB memory reader anyway.... hmmm.... I'll have to think about this one some more

Anyone seen these yet? Pretty new. Thinking of getting the PC-100 or the 110. I think the sizes are about the same. Anyone here know something about the 110? ... now I just have to decide if I want to spend that much $$!!

Ride safe. Remember, you're invisible.

Wow.. is there another "You know you're a skydiver when..." you use the DZ.com forums to keep track of important dates. :-)

Ya, look close, there was some Photoshopping going on. Look where you'd expect to see rig, straps, etc. You'll notice blur lines. They didn't do a bad job, but I could do better. ;)

I usually ask someone I trust to check my pins for me. By someone I trust, I mean someone I believe will pay attention and take the gear check seriously. Some people get mad if you just start handling their gear, so please, if you want to give someone a gear check, ask them first. And move your eyes around the plane, just look for stuff. This past season I pointed out to a couple people their cutaway handle tucked under the harness. Not a big deal, unless they have to cut away. I also caught a misrouted chest strap just by looking around the plane, and we all know the bad stuff that happened last year because of those.

Depends on a lot of things I guess. I didn't have any trouble finding it. My roommate did though. I don't know why, I guess he just has really REALLY bad night vision. Everyone else on the load (10 I think) made it back just fine. The DZ is far enough away from lights, and we had a few illuminated landmarks to work with. That with 4 strobes around the "X" and the car headlights on it was pretty easy. Be warned though, your depth perception is usually off. Flare high slow and easy.

Really? Do you have anything to back this up? Or is this just from personal observations and beliefs? Just curious if someone had actually documented "RSL Saves"

Did you see the one where he "Ejected" from a trainer jet? That was cool! I'd love to do that!! You can tell he was having a blast, 'cause when he got to the ground and was trying to explain how cool it was, they had to bleep out a word or two. I liked the knee-boarding behind a helicopter then getting pulled up to 3k.. that was cool too. My all time favorites has to be the train landing, or where he jumped from one plane and entered another.

Way off topic I know... but night jumps are awesome! You should try one. Remember those "First Jump Jitters"? You'll get those again on your first night jump. Awesome feeling, cool view, calm skies, and scary as hell. :)

And, from personal experience: Every place you take up space is now called a "slot". Example: "You got an open slot in your car? Or should I drive too?"

Well, enjoy that rig.. I damn near bought it for ya (that's right, I owe close to $2300 in taxes) ... I hate taxes ...

I've had people say "That's a cool rune on your necklace; what's it stand for?" So I tell them - "Closure"