Snowflake

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Posts posted by Snowflake

  2. wolfriverjoe

    ***Really? We were looking for it and couldn't see any evidence. How does he hang upside down from the container by his feet then?



    It was a well planned, well choreographed, well executed stunt.
    As in Hollywood movie stunt. Greg and Joe (Jennings) have done a lot of stuff over the years. This is (IMHO) one of their better ones.

    Hint: Do you think that segment was all done in one take?

    Or maybe they did a couple of different jumps with different harnesses so that they could show you what they wanted you to see.

    Don't forget the possible money bringing can of Mountain Dew. Oh, they left out the second half of that segment in the video. I love footage from whatever that heli mounted camera is. In fact I almost like it better than the jump footage.

  3. In the six or seven years that I jumped a lot. I was the only first timer that continued at SSM. On average I saw maybe 10 tandems and 1 or 2 AFF's a year during that time. Since then I have seen one continue at SSM, one at SDT, and read of one at Lexington. My first tandem master was African American(Corey you rock). Unfortunately there are self imposed cultural barriers to a lot of sports. I won't even try to have the discussion on this board, but the psychology is interesting to say the least.

  4. SkymonkeyONE

    Quote

    I know (and have jumped with) four African American skydivers. All four of them are white.



    :ph34r::ph34r::ph34r:EXACTLY!!:ph34r::ph34r: You can't swing a dead cat in Florida without hitting an African American skydiver. Hell, the practically run the industry! As this is a site owned and operated by an African who previously lived in America, I think it's preposterous to use the "african american" term at all to refer to black people. Again, ones race, color, or creed has no bearing on whether or not they choose to jump out of planes or if I choose to partake of the activity with them. I am great friends with a lot of black skydivers. I am ALSO great friends with a lot of white African skydivers who happen to live in the USA.

    Chuck


    I always find this interesting. When you ask a "white" person what their ancestry is except for Italians you usually don't even get American appended to it. Why isn't that preposterous? It's the same thing. Using a continent instead of a country is because most "African Americans" don't know which country in Africa they came from so they resorted to using the continent, because can be pretty sure of that fact. The funniest thing about this nonsense is that both sides omit the European in our ancestry. Is it silly? You betcha, but so is the hypocrisy of acting like Americans of European descent behave in a different fashion.

    Edit to add that Humans love to play Star Belly Sneetchs. and this is what you end up with. I'm sure America is not the only place that has to deal with this self created conundrum.

  6. I would be very interested to see how this works for larger sample of students, if you get the chance ask your compatriots and find the people that have been taught in a fashion similar to yours. I really would like to see how this is working with a larger sample.

    I started with a "2 stage" flair not because I was taught that way, but because I wanted to see how much the flare would slow me down in relation to the ground. I was taught that if I flared early to stop and wait till I was lower and finish the flare. I decided that was what I was going to do so I could get a feel. The long and short of it is that I started with a "2 stage" flare and didn't really do a 1 stage flare until the winds picked up in the fall and I was well past student status.

    What I observed during that time is that in no wind landing a one stage flare is much harder than landing a 2 stage flare. People who bitch about landing in no wind usually use a 1 stage flare. On a no wind day go out and watch. Look at how they flare and the resulting landing. Watch long enough you'll see the pattern(Don't use swoopers as references in your observations). I've always felt that it should be a license requirement to demonstrate a "2 stage" flare on a no wind day

    That being said if you can learn a "2 stage" flare as a student your much better off IMHO. It's much easier to go from a "2 stage" flare on a no wind day to a 1 stage flare on a windy day.

    Finally, the right tools for the right situation. 1 stage flares are great for when your coming straight down in wind, but not so good on a no wind day, and vice versa.

    (edit to add) In general with a two stage flare you add a little speed, but you flatten out and the second stage is used to bleed of speed by trading lift for speed. Hopefully someone will come along explain it better than I just did

  7. Quote

    I wish we knew if this was a planned 4 way or if it was a 2 way with solos following. I keep watching that part over and over, and parts of it make it look like a 2 way with the other two guys just following them out, while other aspects make it look like a 4 way jump.

    The guy he collided with was not one of the first two jumpers, but the guy that went out at the same time as him.

    I don't have much experience, but I have yet to see people jumping after me, or getting ready to jump and been as set up in the door as they were.

    Would there ever be a situation where you jump that soon after another group? It was almost instantaneous.

    I could maybe have seen it as 2 2ways, although that still doesn't explain his plan during freefall.



    High probability it's a four way. Here is what I think happened. Two people leave as the base the other free fly the exit. Guy number 3 decides he's just going to pretend he's on a solo jump. Guy #4 fixates on #3 for a few seconds and then realizes what's going on and chases after the base. You see him go hauling ass past #3. #4 at least gets in sight of the base and when they break off he has to track back towards #3. No matter what if #3 had tracked perpendicular to the jump run the whole situation could have been avoided.

    If it's not a four way there are a few issues that probably need to be addressed at that DZ.

  8. What I truly find amusing about all this is that go pro was only mentioned twice on the first page and that had nothing to do with the discussion at hand. All other comments referenced a camera in the context of the jumpers skydiving skill set. Then somewhere on the second page someone who probably didn't read the whole thread calls it a "go pro hunt" and everyone is off to the races, too funny!!!!!

  9. Quote

    Hang on, is there any evidence that the camera had anything to do with it, that he was distracted by it?

    If not, then the stupidity could have occurred in the same way any time over the last 30+ years. The only difference would be that we get to see a lot more of it on youtube now.



    I didn't say the camera had anything to do with it did I? Did I say or imply that he shouldn't be jumping with a camera when he doesn't have the basic survival skills to jump with a group? You betcha!!!!

  10. Quote

    This video pisses me off. Assholes like this are ruining MY sport. Everybody has a goddamn camera but they don't have the skill to keep a fucking 4way together?! Who gave these douches a license!?!

    Sick of it!

    >:(



    Agreed, Jackwagons turning me into a crusty old jealous of mad skillz even though I haven't jumped in a year h8r. He fuckin watched the "base" and I use the term loosely go away and he turns perpendicular and acts like they never existed. Then he watches the fourth person go by him and he acts like he doesn't exist either. I'm talking about basic survival skills here. Someone needs to take the camera from him until he learns how to skydive. I knew better after AFF. What the fuck are people being taught today, and I really resent having to come off sounding like I'm some old pro when I'm not

  12. Quote

    I find it interesting that someone who wants to learn how to drive learns on a home car as a rule; even when you go to racing school, you learn on something besides an F1 car.

    By the time someone starts driving fast cars, they generally have hundreds of hours of driving the family station wagon (or whatever).

    How many hours of flying canopies should you have before downsizing to something that doesn't give you any forgiveness?

    Even fast learners generally went through most of the grades in school, too.

    Wendy P.



    I've always thought that demonstration of canopy skills should be a part of the licensing process. I haven't thought about it beyond that. For example I've seen people with D licenses on no wind days try to land with a one "stage flare". You can see them tighten up and start to swing their legs forward for a slide or put their feet together for a PLF. My opinion is that if you have a D license you should be able to at least have the ability to judge the wind good enough to choose the proper flare for the conditions your landing in.

    Force people to demonstrate their mad skillz to get a B,C, or D then tie license requirements to allowable wing loading. that's my 10 cents.

  13. On AFF jump 7. That's when I started noting beginning and ending altitude for various inputs up high. I added the following moving forward to jump 100



    reading as much as I could about canopy control
    spotting
    accuracy
    pattern
    crosswind
    downwind
    brake turns

    If you wanna swoop you should master the basics first. That means you should have a clear idea of what the basics are and how your going to go about learning them!!

  14. Quote

    I re watched it. He clearly said, " 40,000 feet solo " clear as day. He was just confused. here is a clip of the Mahr show. skip to 4:00 to see the part about skydiving.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3pKltsiVMQ


    here is a video of him reading from his book, as well as footage from the skydive, he is talking about about it and this time he said 14,000 feet. He said solo but you can see his 2 AFF instructors there. although 1 seems to get lost towards the end as he is kind of out of control.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EX1Aewod2k&feature=share

    In conclusion, he mixed up 40 and 14 on Bill Maher's show and called AFF level 1 a solo jump.


    One final note, not all black skydivers are that out of control. take it from me. ;)



    Holy Shit!!!! his description of going from freefall to canopy is almost verbatim what I said 10 years ago. It's also how I got my skydiving nickname.

  16. One point that wasn't given enough emphasis is what type of 190 are you talking about? If it was a sabre 2 I would lean towards no. If it was a Spectre I would lean towards yes. Of course I've never seen you fly a canopy which makes anything I have to say on the matter invalid.

  17. First, at most DZ's they give students walkie talkies to aid in landing. Second if you pay attention to your instructors and your good at picking up spacial variables you don't really even need a walkie talkie. For example my second AFF jump we had a long spot and I knew I wouldn't make it back to the landing area(my instructors kicked ass!!), so I did what I was told in first jump course. I found an open area next to a road and started circling it before my instructors landed. I cracked up when my instructor said I wouldn't make it back and to find an open area. No shit Sherlock. It's good to be concerned, but don't sweat it too much.

  18. Quote

    We are being distracted from the real issue here, which is not canopy collisions at opening altitudes but CCs in the pattern. If there really is a big WL difference and they are opening at around the same altitude then there is plenty of time to CREATE separation before landing IF people think about it.

    i.e hotshots get down first and leave the old farts to land later while grumbling how things were not like this in their day.



    "Distracted".....really? The two groups would not open in the same area. That's the whole point.

  19. I just want to throw out something that I haven't heard mentioned and may or may not be applicable to the issue. Mixed discipline loads.

    Let me use an extreme example to illustrate what I mean. Take a load that has two ten ways. One group is Belly and the other is freeflying. The belly group is flying canopies in the range of 150-210 with lighter wing loadings(.8-1.4). The freefly group is flying canopies in the range of 90-120 with heavier wing loadings (1.6-2.0). The freefly group gives plenty of separation, but they open just a tad after the belly jumpers and at the same altitude. It's highly likely that the freeflyiers will overtake the belly fliers and if the timing is bad it will be near the landing area.

    This may or may not be valid to the issue, but I thought I would throw it out there.

  20. Quote

    Quote

    Nice video but I gotta say I was quite disappointed when it turned out to not actually be an 8 point hybrid I was expecting to have my socks blown off



    ???

    there were 8 points turned.



    Not to be mean, but please explain how you counted 8 points on that skydive

  23. Nope, but riggers are good for more than just repacks. Any gear I've ever bought or sold that was not local(face to face) has been through my rigger. My rigger calls your rigger information is exchanged. My rigger can check out your rigger and vice versa. Then I have him ship or receive the gear at which point in time it can be inspected. After rigger approval of gear cash is exchanged and the gear is released. It's not foolproof, but most riggers are not willing to give up their reputation and/or their ticket for the $$$ involved in most transactions

  25. Quote

    While a student your DZ should provide you with all of the gear that you need including an altimeter. After you graduate you'll need your own and most instructors will suggest that you buy an analog one like the one posted above because it is what you are used to using and you will still be developing your sight picture (knowing your altitude by what the ground looks like).

    The digital altimeters have batteries in them so they can fail at any time. Yes any altimeter can fail but the analogs are more dependable.

    Once you get 100 jumps or so under your belt then you can consider going to a digital altimeter. The main reason many people use them is because they usually also contain a logging function that allows you to record your jumps. This funcationality is also built into several of the audiables.

    Also don't introduce more than one new thing at a time.



    I don't believe it's that black and white. It depends on how the person is wired. I can't stand analog altimeters because I had to look at it too long to get hundreds of feet. One look at my digitude and I knew the altitude as presented to me.

    My DZO/AFFI let me try his after I complained about analog altimeters and how my brain didn't process the information they provided me fast enough. One jump with a digital was all it took. To me it was like night and day.

    Like I said I think it's all in how an individual is wired. What works for some may not work for others. I am leaving considerations like failure rate out of the equation and focusing on how fast your brain can process the visual information an altimeter provides. Your mileage may vary.....everybody is different.

    (edit to add I started jumping a digital right off of student status and an audible around jump 200.)
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