gimpboogie

thank you To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

nice! glad to know your getting back up soon... and the place you feel alive, is still the same place. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

****likewise

GREAT!!!! very good to read this post today! Like Lonnie said, you will figure out what works best for him. Various paraplegics land in different ways. Dale, myself and Peter all use straps to pull up legs, while Lonnie (and maybe also Jarrett? )do not. Read the forums, check out the things other para's here are doing and talk it over with your AFF instructor, who may wish to contact the instructors who taught Dale and myself, as Peter's coach is in eternal FF (BSBD Tonto Oct 28 2007) THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY! To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

corrected I am. My apologies for the misleading semantics of saying "with" a vent, instead of saying a guy "on" a vent. My intentions were merely to try to agree with what was previously stated, "anything is possible" (although perhaps it's not the case, that anything is possible). While encouraging this fellow who wanted to know if it was possible for his paralyzed friend to jump. Having said that, since were on the topic of whether its possible for paralyzed people to go for a jump -I am speaking most specifically here about tandems, as its already shown quite well here on the forums that several paralyzed people are now jumping solo, (Dale, Peter, Jarrett, Lonnie and myself included) Here is a the YouTube video of my friend John (a C4/5 quad) doing his 1st tandem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm0TsCVkxV8&feature=player_embedded Subsequently this Dz has agreed to promote John's adrenalin thirst, by giving him sponsorship for severely discounted tandems for the rest of his life! I won't disclose the value of this discount merely because it is an agreement between the DZ & John, & I would not want to see a ton of paraplegics and quads going up to every DZ in USA asking the same discount just because this DZ has chosen to do so. His general site http://www.extremechairing.com/sports.html is a site he has created which is specifically dedicated to a variety of paralyzed people doing what he calls "extreme" sports. (I would personally say some of them are sports that are not "typical" for many paralyzed people to be involved in) The purpose for showing the link to the John's "general" site to the athletes he has posted -although clearly only 1 of them being skydiving, the others closely related -through being involved with parachutes in some way: the para-gliding and BASE jumping, is because some of the sports show (such as motocross specifically) are ones that are typically not associated with paralyzed individuals. My only hope is that by having shown that link, others with similar injuries, who have come to this forum because they want to try skydiving and either can not find a DZ they can access, may find something else to try, while they continue to seek a DZ to be able to sky dive. As John's YouTube video description states, ' Over the past 5 years he has wanted to go sky diving, but each year's plans to go would fall threw for various reasons" Knowing him, I can say that most of these reasons were: 1- he did not know where & how to start looking for a DZ until him and I became friends and I directed him to THIS SITE to come seeking a DZ who can accommodate him. Thus, DZ dot COM is the site which helped him to find a DZ that was able to provide him with the tandem he has been looking to do, for 5 yrs. 2-It still took him the other 2 yrs to find the DZ which was able to accommodate his needs. So that only proves that PERSISTENCE does pay off, and giving up hope for a sky dive does not need to end with the 1st DZ that tells someone that they are not able to accommodate a similar request. So I merely hope to provide the same for others, a place to see some activities they can do (just as john went and did many of those activities while continuing to seek the DZ which he can finally go skydiving), while they look for the DZ that will be able to accommodate their needs. As we all know, not every DZ has TM's that can help in paraplegic or quadriplegic sky dives, while many d & many more are becoming more interested and able to do these sky dives as the years go on. I would hope that some day, every DZ with TM's would be able to accommodate such a sky dive, but realistically this will take much time, education, and most importantly the comfort level of the TM's. As ultimately it is their lives that are at stake in every tandem, regardless of who they are jumping with, which is why each TM should never be chastized for refusing someone from a tandem. As skydiving is not a 'walk in the park' (despite some BASE jumper's describing it as so for them) To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

here is the video of the guy jumping with a vent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8mx_K2sMDQ&feature=player_embedded To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

I was told by her the same things. She had 200 jumps, When I asked her, weight, height, where she jumped and why did she not fill in any information about herself (as she had logged on as mem ber the same day my gear went on sale) HER REPLY WAS: "Westminster am 5ft10 tall weigh 155lbs have about 200 jumps,sorry i didn't put all these on my profile cause i really dont know how to do it and am new on there." (on March 14th) I wondered why I 155 lb woman with 200 jumps wanted a 285 canopy (giving her a wing loading of .4-.5 or so?) Then o March 21st she said: "The funds has being sent and you should be receiving it any time soon,it was sent via regular mail. Jen" but by April 4th her story was "Hello sorry i haven't gotten back to you all these while with the payment i was out of town for a burial and just came back am still very much interested in the gear ,kindly let me know if its still available so i can process the funds and get it mailed out to you tomorrow. Jen" so the check sent out on March 21st suddenly wasnt sent due to a burial, but would be sent the next day. When I told her of these inconsistencies, and said I will be posting on here about this situation finally adding that if she really wanted the gear, she could send me a wire transfer of funds, within the next 12 hrs, (along with a scanned copy of her receipt for doing so) She was very apologetic with this response: "Am sorry if i have let you down in anyway but the funds will be delivered to you before the week runs out please bare with me and be patient. Thanks" Merely telling her that time for patience was over, time to pay up is NOW, or let the time expire and I will post the info here. Interesting how large a range of gear this woman is looking for. From a velocity 75 to a square 285 main! Her name jennifer Charles"

thought I'd let you know, I saw several yrs ago a paralyzed fellow on a ventilator doing a tandem. It's on youtube somewhere, I just don't recall exactly how they did it, but if I do remember correctly, he was a fellow who had ALS and by then was allready on a ventilator- thus he had basically no bodily functions (including holding his head upright- in the wheelchair this man had a neck brace to keep his head from falling forward -chin to chest- so I'd say he had quite a bit of 'special needs' for that tandem jump. But as others have said- finding the RIGHT DZ is the key. Many will say they can't do it. as that IS the case @ several places (rightfully so-if the tandem masters are not prepared, used to, capable of, this type of tandem, they must say so... which is only right thing to do. yet some tandem masters are able to deal with a whole lot of different situations that several others are not, so keep asking around- you will find a drop zone where even that man was able to go for a sky dive. it truly does boil down to "never give up"

I have just received a letter from Bonehead offering me a sponsorship opportunity with a FREE ALL-SPORT helmet. I did tell them that I had one which was recently stolen. Despite the loss of the helmet having nothing to do with the company, and certainly Bonehead has no obligation to send anyone free helmets. I'd just like to say that first of all the ALL-SPORT truly IS a helmet like they explain on their website: http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/m8/213--the-all-sport-helmet.html The neoprene padded leather FASTEX chin-strap closure certainly was the most comfortable one I've had to date. Once heated to fit my melon, the helmet felt like it belonged to my head! I was more then happy with the results. I really like the sleek design with the possibility to add 2 camera's later when/if I ever wanted to. Like they say on their website, the ALL-SPORT truly fits their claim: "We took all the best attributes of the Guner and Mindwarp and combined them to make the ALL-SPORT" (having tried on the Mindwarp in the past-never owned one -just wore if for a few jumps) Thank you to great customer service. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

I just wrote my review of Zhills here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4070395;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread I TOTALLY agree- regardless of how far it is, its a "don't miss it " DZ To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

are you saying you didn't get a case for you 1s jump To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Yes, Zhills is absolutely most accommodating DZ I've been to, Exceptionally friendly and helpful staff- not once did I hear anything negative said by or about the staff. The visitors were great- many wanting to jump with me saying "are you gimpboogie?" or extremewheelchairs (my YouTube screen name) and asking to do a jump with me. To all whom I didn't get to jump with my sincere apologies but I actually blew my sinus' out in one jump and ruptured my ear drum so I needed to stop jumping towards the end of my stay- despite a deep desire to keep on jumping I knew my ear would not heal had I ignored it.. Each morning TK, upon seeing me, took the time to say hello and stop to chat for a few moments despite his extremely busy life. As well as having me on his 14 way birthday jump- was a real treat- considering how many people he could have included who are much better skdyivers. When I could not reach the shower at the accessible showers TK went out to purchase a handheld shower and left it hanging down so I can reach it. Pete was up each morning before anyone else, doing his work, always with a friendly smile and a nod when we crossed paths (not to forget that he taught me something about coffee grinders I never knew- and how to understand the difference between a good cigar and others :) ) while the packing tent was filed with friendly guys who were happy to pack my rig exactly the way I had asked for- (and to think I only needed to explain it once and they all seemed to know/remember how it was to be done- extremely professional in m opinion considering how many various rigs they pack daily) Pip & Judy were very kind and decent folks to deal with regarding trailers, Jeannine ran a great cafe awith a bunch of decent helpful staff who took the time to deliver people food at the pick nick tables while they waited rather then standing around waiting for their meals. The muff brothers were always friendly and a fun bunch of guys... The rigging loft took care of my needs efficiently and for a decent price. Giving good advice about my near neck snapping 2 second openings before she installed a pocket on my slider. Manifest was very professionally run by a couple of ladies who efficiently filled loads most days with 2 turbines going out within minutes of each other. Yet they were always on top of their game- without messing up the loads. Taking care of the mail coming in and out b visiting jumpers -Talk about multi-tasking!! Who ever I may have left out, my apologies, its not because out didn't do a good job but rather my brain age recently went form 44 to 77! eek ! If anyone asks for my honest opinion there you have it. a 10+ for Zhills (but a 10- for the state of FL for not having any opportunities for recycling which in fact my friend's Sky and Slade, went driving around in town asking everywhere if there was a place to recycle glass and plastics- nothing!_) ps. glad you enjoyed the videos To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

"beer rules" are a valid part of skydiving culture. to what degree you want to take it, is up to you, and also will reflect on your future involvement in the social life, but more importantly in the learning process you have begun.. as when you pass out the beer- many will 1) offer congratulation you on your accomplishment-which will in the future remind them that you take all aspects of the sport seriously-even 'beer rules' which are not officially written in the CSPA BSR's (to my knowledge ) and 2) if they don't know what you did to give out the beer- they will ask you, and often share stories of their accomplishment of the same nature. this will only solidify for you who are they sky divers that merely want to drink your beer, vs those who are interested in you as a person and want to help you progress forward. I myself am not much of a drinker and certainly never drank as much as I did while buying beer for what seemed like every weekend at the beginning. (which still was not much). Finally, once you progress to things such as having your 1st reserve ride (hope that wont happen for a long time) or your 100th jump etc not only will you get feedback and the congrats from those you allready have learned are the guys/gals who do care about you as a person rather then the guy who brough them a free bottle(s) of beer.... you will learn something new. if it s your 1st reserve ride, those who care about your skydiving progressin will ask you lots of questions about what happaned and will offer you information that may help you in the future to either solve the problem and not have to cut away, or perhaps not end up in that situation. I had a video flyer who now is a coach2 tell me: 'TRY pulling one toggle down until you are in a fast spin, and quickly let it up and pull the opposite one down. its a great feeling, and very exciting as your body will swing forward and you will feel like you almost flipped over your canopy" instead of just listening to his advice, and going ahead to do it, I asked my DZO what would happen if I did that. his quickrespnse while looking at me with that 'are you stupid?" expression was "DO YOU WANT A RESERVE RIDE?" that was all I needed to know- although at that time I did not know what would happen While only 3 weeks later I watched a student with only 30+ jumps follow the same information from her boyfriend- a very experienced skydiver (who should have known better0. as she did this her main turned into a fairly quickly spinning malfunction. Which she cut away, but without doing it completely, leaving one riser still attached to her container. once she deployed her reerve, it became entangled with tha main hanging on her one riser. now she was in a bit of an ooh shit" position with 2 out both entangled together. which of course luckily for her slowed her fall rate enough that she survived with a broke back and a broke leg. ( luck again was on her side and her broke back did not leave her paralyzed). point being: buying beer is a good way to show your appreciation, a good way to start making new friends a good way to figure out who is just after your beer and who is wanting to help you along in your progression (valuable thing to know- considering the above examples) I for myself, still to this day, annually on thanksgiving (after skydiving coming up on 4 yrs soon) buy a bottle of my 1st video guy a mickey of his favorite booze, the DZO a botle of wine (its what he likes to bring home for his wife and himself) and a small 6 pack of my 1st AFF instructors favorite beer. (along occasionally with a few 6 packs or even just a couple of more 'expensive' beer for individuals who have helped me along immensely- other skydivers and NO I don't have a money tree in my backyard, i live on disability pension, BUT i make it a point to save year long for this thanksgiving gifts' which may seem minimal to some people but for me I save annually for it. because withut those people i would not today be enjoying this sport as much as I DO NOW. While those days when it felt like I was buying beer almost weekly for things like my 1st landing off the DZ, my 1st license, passing my AFF and on and on it went... but lately its been a long time since I've bough beer except for those thanksgiving days which are purely out of my own choice and not beer rules. (recently I went to a new DZ for the 1st time and brought the DZO some Canadian Ice wine, and a bottle of Patron to share with the locals for all their help in packing, picking me up where ever I landed (being paralyzed it would be a daunting task to roll myself around on the ground till i got to my wheelchair- as my accuracy is not sufficient to land directly into it) Those were done purely out of my own choice to show to the people there that I APPRECIATE the things they do for me.... i DO HOPE that made some sense. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Here's a couple of videos as a collection of some of my sky dives while at Skydivecity, 'Zhills" FL. It was exceptional opportunity to come visit, meet all the AWESOME staff, new friends, and the opportunity to learn many new skills. I specially wish to thank TK for inviting me, and including me in his 14 way birthday dive (along with Slades 1000th). Thanks to all the staff, packers, manifest- you all have been great help- in all you did while I was there. Deepest gratitude to those who taught me how to finally sky dive head down, starting with my 1st linked exit on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y4Z8cNLQ3g Thanks to ALL my asshole brothers for your support, good times and to Jerry Bird for not getting me with your heat seeking missiles This one's for you all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJcQEar-qcY till next time, muff muff all you assholes To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

very interesting. good to see people around the world are trying to work out the details to learn how to fly. Mind you that landing can get costly on the gear over long term.... but if he's wanting to continue with this progression,, then this is the right place to come to and see how other paraplegics around the world are doing this and have accomplished the ability to sky dive solo. congrats on the special AFF jump in Brazil To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Awesome! Thanks Jarrett, I wondered what would happen with the legs on the step (if they'd just swing off from the winds_never having jumped the 182). Your input is priceless. As I understand you jump at Skydive Hawaii, so if Splat has any further inquiries I'm hoping he can contact them. As per his prior comments, about not wanting to be a part of anything "experimental" (assuming he's meaning trying out something that he has no verification it's been done before), I was trying very hard to be as cautious as possible (looking at this from his side of the coin rather then mine- as I'd be willing to try it any day I can find a 182). Hoping this will satisfactorily answer his inquiries, as I'll be visiting Victoria very soon & would like to go check out his DZ, and if this issue wasn't resolved to his satisfaction prior to my trip I'd be going to Pitt Meadows to jump. Thanks again To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Thanks for the response. Yes that is exactly how I exit when I do a "poised exit" out the 206, or the Caravan or the Otter. The thing is that despite how much a 'walking person' thinks they are purely pushing off with their arms- they truly are using their leg muscles as well (anyone who wants to try it- go out and focus on what parts of your body you are feeling the muscle tension in, when you do such a poised exit- Im certain you will realize that some of the 'push off' comes from our legs as well. Furthermore, there is the issue of the wind speeds affecting these 'flopping around limp legs'. That creates quite a bit of instability for which I must compensate with my arms (meaning I need to hold on with even a firmer grip with my arms - one on the floor and one on the door frame). Also the winds want to pull the legs back away from the relative wind, and under the fuselage of the plane- further adding to the tension needed to 'hold on' until it is time to push off. Then there is the issue of needing to push off even harder with my arms because my legs are sort of trying to go back towards the back of the plane and under it at the same time. This sort of a 'juggling act' between balancing the power of my arms to keeping myself stead at he door way and being able to push off far enough that I do not end up hitting the plane on exit. Two summers ago, I was either in a bit of a hurry to do this, or perhaps more tired after having done 4 jumps prior that day, as my push off into the arch was not far enough and I hit m head on the camera step of the Caravan. This of course did not cause the Caravan to experience any effects, but my helmet still holds a 'scar' the length of the section that hit the step and i was seeing stars until i landed- thus using an alternate landing method. Instead of trying to fly the pattern, I set myself up against the wind from the beginning of our runway and flew straight along it until I was to land This was to ensure safety considering I had just hit my head and I did not want to have that experience affect my ability judge my landing pattern as our drop zone is a fairly tight area to land in (actually the smallest clearing I've yet jumped into. With barb wire fences to the West of the airstrip, road and hydro lines to the South and dense forest to the North and forest, with a trailer park to the East. The airport buildings and several dozen ultra lights scattered along the roadway leading to the hangars with perhaps a football field size landing area. Yet thank you for the interest, and may I ask what your level of participation in the sport is? are you a former or a current jumper? a coach? a DZO? or? As Splat is looking for information from those who have first hand experience with this type of jump (and I agree with him- although I may end up getting that 1st hand experience this summer- depending on how things go here at home and which DZ's I will end up visiting. This of course would be good- considering the nature of our sport and the already inherent vast differences in paraplegic jumping versus the 'walkers'. For example, to give you one small example. Because I can not walk I end up dragging myself along in the plane to the place I will sit. This already causes potential issues with my PC as well as my main pin cover. (I actually had a unintentional deployment in head down due to one of these issues- and the person who did my pin check either did not catch the problem, or my container changed between the time the pin check was done and i moved to the doorway- which I sit as close as possible to already as it is. So I do not have far to go- merely a few feet in the Skyvan and even less in the Caravan, Otter and the 206. So these things all combined do add factors to the equation that walking people do not need to contend with. While I appreciate your discourse, and look forward to learning more about your experience in the sport- and currency (seeing that you spoke of the days of wart gear. mind you, I NEVER sit at the end of the 206 with my back to the dash= specifically for the reasons just explained- scooting myself along the floor to the doorway is too much of a risk factor to have my PC coming out partially. From what I understand with others in my condition, this is fairly standard practice- to keep us as close to the door as we can be. And we fly a 206 without a door, so I'm sitting as close to it as I can (but on the opposite wall away from the door way so the rest of the people can get out if they are freeflyers when I am jumping on my belly or if they are doing a low hop and pop and I'm going to top floor. Thanks again for your interest. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

If your asking me (assuming here that you are)... absolutely. I had to do the ride-the-slide exit for my Aff/PFF progression, and have done all sorts of exits (including having people just pick me up and toss me out- that's always fun), head down exits, front flips, as well as wagon wheel exits. But the Skyvan is a totally different 'beast; then a narrow body 182..... it would be comparable to slightly modifying a canopy- that would initially seem like it would be 'no big deal' but turns out to make a huge difference. An example: Taking a Raven3 modifying the line lines slightly- and suddenly there is a steeper glide angle giving it a faster descent rate (yet more powerful glide on the bottom end once you find the right 'window' for the flare- but the toggle pressure increased from the original 3-5 lbs to now about 7-8 lbs.... you need to be aware of these things before starting to experiment (thus kiting the canopy often prior to jumping it- these are all things I've played with, with my BASE canopies prior to purchasing a BlackJack to just get myself the most responsive BASE canopy I could find and stop using non-BASE specific canopies for the sport. Yet with a plane/exits there is no opportunity to do anything similar- it would be akin to going ahead and jumping that modified canopy before knowing what will happen... not the best choice unless one is very experienced canopy pilot (which no one with 200-300 jumps is!) Seriously I've thought about it quite a bit and there IS NO easy answer to this... I mean I had thought about looking out the doorway, putting my hands on the step and doing a front flip out- but that still requires a push off with the legs on exit. Then I thought about the front flip option, by placing my feet on the step- but that's not going to work because it will be very difficult to keep feet you have no control over, to stay on a step (sure the leg braces which are under my jump pants keep the knees at a certain angle but it still leaves the feet unstable- totally opposite of what would make that option work... it would require someone hanging off the strut- holding the feet- and another inside the plane to help 'push off' ((as all the other planes I jump, I only need to use my arms to push off but with a 182 it is not that simple at all.. the step, side body of the plane and in worst case the tail all must be cleared relo... which is not an acceptable solution either. then add to it the narrow body- giving more possibilities to catch my pin cover, or PC on the exit causing either a premature deployment soon after exit,, or worse- upon exit- which could take the plane down if my canopy was to deploy on exit due to PC coming out, bridle catching on something, and possibly the canopy on the tail.... all very serious and potentially fatal (to everyone in the plane! ). There needs to be a solid/decent previously 'tried' solution to this... as this DZ does not want to become an experimental center (and with good reason!) for this activity. Sure my DZ and where I did my 1st AFF/PFF jump have been 'experimental' in having me learn to skydive- for which I am grateful for without that I would still be wheeling on the ground looking at the skies instead of freeflying, doing RW etc. as I am now. But at the same time my coaches (with 30 yrs skydiving experience, world records etc. and 2nd instructor with world championships and 30 yrs experience as well) took many precautions before I ever jumped the 2st time. From lots of hanging in the harness, travelling to a tunnel to see what will happen when I am in freefall before jumping. Exiting out of a plane that is very different then anything that I've jumped from previously is nothing even dirty diving could give a correct assessment as to what would happen when that plane is flying at jump run speeds. Really the only option for me is to 'experiment' here at home if at all possible and have that on video, as well as the feedback of the instructors involved in this. Because as far as I know, none of the 2 para's who jump with knee braves have not jumped out of an 182 (the 3rd one who flies solo -Packing Jarett- does not use leg braces). To my understanding, and seeing the videos, both of the jump predominantly out of 206's, Ottters or Skyvans. Seeing your profile shows 2 jumps to date, I hope you have some idea of what I was trying to say with the Raven and line trim example... if not, sorry then this thread is a bit complicated for you9=-understandably so. hope that sheds some light on the issues faced with this situation. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Thanks Splat for tossing the question out to the larger community, because I'm the one your talking about and also would really like to hear the feedback from others on this issue. I know we occasionally rent out the 182 from our neighbour DZ (I've never jumped out of it although I did a few tandem progression dives out of it (which can be seen in one of my videos I sent you links to) But NEVER solo ( I will speak with my DZO about this when we get a chance to get that 182 here again and will see if we can try to figure it out before I come out there [or get our own 182 back together again- ] ) Dale, or Peter how about it? Have you guys ever jumped out of a 182 ? (they are the only para's in the world that we know of who jump with leg braces) thanks_ this info would be absolutely critical- because I'd really like to jump at this particular DZ. Although there is the one with the King Air which I've been invited to come jump from- and will certainly visit but this particular DZ that Splat is speaking of is what I'm really looking to see if this is going to work out for me. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

I spent several months discussing this type of project with an engineering student in UK who sent me these as his design projects. Needless to say, I did share my thoughts about the snag hazards (and those wheels on the feet- as we don't typically land on our feet).... I haven't heard back from him since December, but am curious to see what he did with the whole concept/project. It is good to see folks interested in this type of a project, and essential that a lot of feedback is being requested from the general population worldwide from skydivers, manufacturers, etc. I thought to toss up the two designs he was working on (and hopefully modified them drastically) but one thing he had going for him is the idea that he'd use 3DO in sections of a suit for protection- that certainly was a concept worth considering (although 3DO seems to be quite costly). I had initially mixed up these two inventors- thinking that this thread was started by that engineering student. My apologies for the confusion. enjoy the pics of his ideas To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

Hey good to see you reaching out to the general forum's here. I had wondered how your project was going along- as after the last drawings before Christmas I had not read anything new from you. Are you still pursuing the wheels concept? If you read through the links in the PM's I sent you back in Nov Dale's links are in there- to his threads.... through them just click on his name and send a PM. Or, like you found me through youtube, Dale Elliott is under his own name on youtube- and that's another way to not only see videos of what he's been up to, but contacting him as well. Wishing you continued success on the project, and looking forward to learning how it all works out. You had some very interesting concepts going a couple of months ago. To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

yes my whole body below the waist is a big GoPro mount -I'm going to try it on my knee next- (would of been good to have one on each foot- giving us a view of what the rest of the formation was doing). Yes it was windy, even TK pulled out of a load soon after watching a few canopies collapse in their base leg or final. It was great fun to slide along, despite thinking that canopy was going to drag me to the cement -came close- but what the heck i was allready on the ground nothing more then road rash would have come from that. (which I got anyways for some bizarre reason) same with my muff dive final but at least that time i was sliding on my *ss today I'm going to test jump a different pair of gimpFF pants... the old ones must retire some day... and today is that day

lol dude I've bought more intoxicants then I can consume, & more in the last few weeks then I've had to in a long time To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

For a friends 1000th and TK's BD we had a 14 way, and I was fortunate enough to join in the fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnbv6tf5VYg To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works