Douggarr

About a year or so (just guessing) before USPA changed the opening altitude minimums Bill Booth did an interview during the PIA Symposium where he said he was raising his own hard deck 500 feet. I don't recall all the details but some of it can be explained by this: we have higher skydives than ever, the parachutes take longer to open (trust me, I jumped rounds) -- the built-in snivel is for comfort and safety. When Bill Booth talks, I listen, and so it wasn't surprising when USPA acted. There are still fatalities for failure to employ EPs in time to get a reserve out. Some of this is due to an aging cohort in the sport.

I'm an old-timer who uses an Altimaster II analog. Thinking of getting a new digital Altitron. Any feedback at all on this particular unit is appreciated. Also would like to get comments on digital vs. analog when you're in free fall at break off.

I was devastated, as were so many others, when we heard you had died at the Hall of Fame event last October. Today, according to your FB page, you would have celebrated a birthday. Not sure how old, but at least you got up there. Wish I could have jumped with you in the old days, but knowing you as one of the "resurrected" skydivers was enough.

I have a Vigil II DOM June 2010 that has been part of a voluntary recall. A couple of my fellow skydivers have this AOD of similar vintage and have already sent them to Fla./Belgium for maintenance. One said they simply updated the software and changed the battery (and made a couple of other fixes, no charge, like a cracked window). He only paid shipping both ways. Another said that they aged out his unit and said he needed to buy a new one. Just curious if anyone else has had similar experiences with the Vigil II.

Lew Sanborn has finally jumped in Hawaii, completing the 50-state marathon (finally). I wrote a short piece about it that should be coming up in the June issue of Parachutist. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Taking off at Pepperell and landing in NH. Been there and done that, back in the early '70s on one of the first Otter weekends. My only jump in that state. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I just spent a month in Hallandale Beach (December) and made some jumps at Skydive Miami (run by Pam Manos) and Clewiston. If the Ft. Lauderdale tunnel is like the one they built in Yonkers, N.Y., it's going to be a dandy. I've now flown in about five tunnels, and by far the iFly in Westchester is the best. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Here's another thought for you -- digest it as you will; it's free advice so it might be worth what you pay for it. When I started in the bad old days there were no digitals and no dyters. My instructor used to cover my altimeter on the way to altitude and say, how hi are we? He was training me to look out the plexiglass door and capture the size of the landscape. Pretty soon you get to be plus or minus a couple of hundred feet. The reason for this is not just altitude awareness but training yourself to never ever rely completely on an instrument. They're just aids. As you're accumulating jumps you'll see what the landscape looks like at pull altitude and your inner clock will tell you that it's getting late -- check your altimeter. Train yourself to trust looking at the ground as well as the dials (digital or otherwise). And if it's coming up fast, you have ground rush and you're probably approach two grand or lower. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Those of you who jumped at the Greene, N.Y. DZ may remember Tom as a great guy, terrific instructor. He passed away last Thursday afternoon. He took me through training on static line, and I was hooked right away. Then when I had a contract to write a piece for Popular Science about the new ram air canopies Tom lent me his Para-Plane to kick off my research. It was my first article for a major magazine. So Tom kicked off my skydiving career and my writing career. I'll miss you big time. Fly free. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Good piece. At every Safety Day I make the following announcement: "If you haven't had a cutaway in the last 12 months, it's a good idea to do the hanging harness." I've had four malfunctions, two streamers under rounds (capewells and a belly reserve) and two in the modern era, a bag lock and a spinner, (where I couldn't beat the RSL), and I still follow my own advice.

It was the only lottery I ever won. I remember the day like yesterday. I was a junior at Syracuse University, and I wandered up to the journalism building to stand by the AP wire machine, like dozens of other J-majors. The word was that if you were 1-120 you were "vulnerable;" 121-240 you were on the bubble (depending on your locale and draft board you may or may not get drafted); 241-366 you were in the clear. It was crazy anticipation. I got 253 and exhaled. And we joked later that all the ROTC kids got numbers in the 300s and the hippies and stoners were all in the double digits. Looking back, the selective service system would have done much better for the Army if they allowed prospective inductees to trade numbers. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I just found out that Pat Rogers of the old Stormville crowd passed away recently. He was a NYC cop when I first met him, and I made a lot of skydives with him. Great guy, a pleasure to be around the DZ. RIP, Pat SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Finally, a wind tunnel only 30 minutes from Manhattan. I've been in only 4 other tunnels (Vegas, Perris, Raeford, and Nashua, NH), and I finally got to fly last week in Yonkers, N.Y. It's a nice tube, 14-feet wide. They coudln't go to 16 feet because of issues with how deep the foundation could be dug. What I liked a lot about this facility was everything was on one level (unlike Perris which is a hike upstairs). No need to go up or down a flight to a team room or the bathroom. Very well run. Waiver on line. Quick, easy check in. Attentive staff. My only issue was that getting reservations for an early evening hour was a hassle. They seem to block off 4-8 p.m. and weekends for the lucrative party trade. I get it, though. This is a big investment and they have to book a lot of revenue. I have a flexible schedule and if I can find enough flyers to share block time with at off-peak hours I'll be back fairly regularly. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

The annual fundraiser and skydiving Hall of Fame weekend will be held Oct. 1-4 at Connecticut Parachutists, Inc. and the Marriott Hartford hotel. If you have any interest at all in the history of our sport, and you want to meet some of the pioneers and legendary jumpers, try to get up there for one or two days. It's not just older jumpers telling stories (though there is plenty of that). It's a fun-filled weekend with a pro-am six-way event, plenty of fun jumping, a couple of big aircraft, and a lot of hanging out. It's a charitable event, and any money you spend goes toward the building of the National Skydiving Museum, which we're hoping will be built and open in the next couple of years down in Florida. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Seat belt compliance has been mostly good in my view, since my return to the sport in 2009-9. What bothers me, however, is too often I see a videographer with a heavy-duty rig on his helmet sitting by the door of an Otter not wearing it or securing it to his chest strap on takeoff. This gives me the willies, and I hate to be the one who points this out, but I do because takeoff and initial climb out is one of the most dangerous parts of any skydive and I'm always thinking about the worst case scenario. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

I'll miss you Max. And I'll never forget our first 8-man team at Stormville -- you, me, Hadden Wood, Earl Wilson, Paul Heubeck, Frank Bender, Fred Stadler, Mario Borg. I still have the photo, hanging in my office. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Agree with JimJumper. Forget about your handles. In the old days, holding a main ripcord handle could fuse or tangle with the reserve suspension lines (mostly with belly warts). And yes, they did cause fatalities. This, of course, is no longer an issue. But when you cut away, you're not thinking about the 65 bucks for the reserve repack, so why think about how much it's going to cost to replace a cutaway handle or a reserve ripcord handle.

I'm hoping anyone who is a relatively new skydiver and chomping at the bit to strap on a Go-Pro will read this: Go check out Norman Kent's terrific video on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn2BCmnDUUM The Dangers of Being a Hero. He knows what he's talking about. Also, though it's not a requirement, I'd recommend you get a good briefing from an S&TA or your DZ's experienced camera flyers. The snag issue is just one thing to worry about. Be safe, have fun, and try to look good on video, people. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Mike Sergio, Owen Quinn, Bill "You Pull Lower Than Me and You're Dead" Smith, and Scotty Carbone. I think that about covers the notorious. If you've never heard of all of these skydivers than you haven't been around very long. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

As an old timer who was away from the sport for 25 years and was resurrected, I have a good perspective about safety in our sport. Of course, any sane jumper knows that no matter how much experience you have, or how long you've been in the sport, there is always something more to learn about how to skydive safely. In the old days, there were several authorities on gear and safety, but I relied on Dan Poynter, who was the guru on equipment at the time. I was also lucky to know him personally and jump with him fairly regularly. (He wrote "Parachuting Poynters" for the USPA magazine, a gear column on a monthly basis.) There are now at least three people I never fail to read today -- Dan Brodsky-Chenfield, Bryan Burke, and Bill Booth. Collectively, they know more than I'll ever know, and they're constantly updating their colleagues on how to stay safe in the air. If you haven't heard of these three of these guys, then I suggest you check them out. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Who said they were anal about gear checks and pin checks? Whoa. You can't be too anal about safety in this sport. check, check, check, check, check until you're convinced everything is okay. Three times at least. On a recent jump at Raeford, I was settled on the floor in front of the bench when space opened up and I got a seat. As I backed in my pack scraped hard against the forward door mechanism (that juts out quite a lot on this particular PAC-750, a sardine of a plane if there ever was one). I was about to ask the young lady skydiver behind me to check my reserve pin....when she said, whoa, let me check that pin for you. It's gratifying to see that jumpers are looking out for one another. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Two things have to happen: First, what skycat says about engaging the tandems. Only rarely at a couple of DZs in the NY metro area, where I jump regularly, do I ever see instructors and experienced skydivers talk to the waiting tandem throngs. I try to do this, mostly to show them that skydiving has a brotherly (and sisterly) vibe you can't find in most sports. You hope they think a little about this when they come down from the adrenaline high. Second, DZs need to reward fun jumpers (not just comp teams) with frequent jumper rewards. Loyalty should be encouraged. Not just on cheapo $21 Wednesdays and Fridays when things slow a bit during season. But...how's this... Make 10 jumps in two weeks and we give you a freebie? We have to get out of this mentality of discounting at the beginning stages (tandem). It's like the freakin' phone companies paying you to switch, and not giving you anything for being a long-time customer.

Brad was a proud member of the Skydiver Resurrection Award Group. Our membership sadly notes his passing. BSBD. Fly free, buddy. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

Mike, a much saner and fairer approach would have been to use a modified version of my late father's yacht club. After 40 years of continuous membership, a member was awarded a lifetime membership which meant annual dues were gratis. They still had to pay for launching and hauling their boats, and the bar and restaurant minimums, etc. What USPA could have and perhaps should have done was this: After 20 years, award a lifetime membership for say $750 (an option), after 30 years $500 and after 40 years $250. Something like this would pick up costs and reward younger skydivers (i.e. younger than us!) for continuous membership and also be an incentive to reap the lower costs as time went on. Anyway, just a random thought. I was almost ready to shell out the thousand (I'll be 65 next month), even knowing that it wasn't "cost effective" over time. I think the organization represents us well, and it would be sort of a donation. $2,500 immediately was an ill-thought-out idea. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

The gift certificates are just a way that manufacturers get free publicity by giving them to various organizations who raffle them off. Nobody in his or her right mind pays full price for any substantial piece of skydiving gear. Do not buy a certificate, period. It's all but a scam. I won a certificate in a raffle for new gear -- 30 percent off. And when I went to use it, I called a bunch of dealers who all were very close in quotes, and they didn't even hear the words "I have a gift certificate." Nobody even asked for the "number" on it. The net price after haggling a bit would have been the same with or without it. SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353