jimjumper

My first logbook. Even after 23 years I'd give a lot to have it back!!

Wow! I must be really lucky to have barely survived my first 1200 jumps without a Cypress. I do currently jump with an AAD but I wouldn't stop jumping if I didn't.

At our school we just did 3 in one load as a benefit for the American Council For the Blind. They all had a great time!

He was jumping at Cal City at least as late as '89. He was doing a lot of tandems by then. I don't know where he went after that. He's a good guy. I have some video of him from around that timeframe. We tried to do a 20 way sunset formation with him and our office girl (as tandem passenger) as base. Between the funnel and the fact that it's basically a night jump the video is downright scary.

I took my wife on my 5 required experienced jumper jumps for my rating all in one day. She hasn't let me forget it!! She had to stop jumping regularly after back surgery but I still take her tandem 2-3 times a year just to keep her in the air.

I actually paid for it! I was having a problem with trying to treat an AFF evaluator as a real student, so I actually paid one to be play a total a--hole for 3 jumps just to get used to it. I did it just before the AFF cert course and it sure helped!

I did an ashes dive about a year ago and the bag I used (borrowed) worked excellent. It looks like a small freefly tube with a ring and handle at one end. It was about 5 ft long and about 6 in. around. I folded the ring over a couple times to close one end then poured the ashes in and folded it to the top to make a tight package. Then I put a couple rubber bands around it with pull-up cords tied to them. In freefall you pull off the rubber bands and hold onto the handle. It opnes just like a freefly tube and all the ashes go out the top. It looked spectacular from the ground and since everything goes out the top it keeps you from getting a faceful of ashes. Best ahses bag I've ever seen or used!

Never underestimate a tandem pasenger!! i took a guy that was deliberately trying to grab his toes!! He said (after I grabbed him, got stable, and opened at a normal alttitude) that he wanted to "go head down real fast", because he saw it in a James Bond movie the week before!! Doing tandems is like getting a present from your Grandma. You don't know what your going to get but your probably not going to like it!

I just checked the new SIM and I see that to get Wings or Freefall badges you still need to have a "D". I thought they were changing that requirement?

I've noticed a few people posting that you only need a "D" for Pro and instructional ratings. If you check the SIM's you also need it to recieve Gold Wings (and above) and also Freefall Badges. I was told that this requirement came about to force people to send USPA the license fee. I was also told that if a person was not capable of the night jumps (I.E. Night Blind, etc.) they could request a "Restricted "D" license" from the BOD. I personally have never seen one granted although there was a request for one on the agenda of the last board meeting. I would bet it wasn't granted since I haven't seen anything about it since. You might be surprised when you go to your S&TA to get your wings application signed off.

My wife had 1200+ jumps when I got my tandem rating and to speed up the process she was my passenger for the required first 5 tandem jumps I did. We did them in 1 day and she still hasn't let me forget it!!

I bought my first rig with about 12 jumps. The student gear was 35 ft. T-10's and at 230 pounds I was loosening my fillings on the landings. The DZ rules were that you couldn't jump a square till you had 50 jumps so I bought a 27 ft Russian Paracommander with a 24 ft belly wart. Cost me $300 but I sold it (for $200) as soon as I had enough jumps and money to buy a heavyweight Cloud. Sure glad I never had to land that reserve!

I rarely leg lock, but I had a student who was deliberately trying to get into a pike position. I leg locked him and grabbed his wrists to stop him. I asked him, after we opened, (not very politely I must say) what he had been doing and he told me "that he wanted to go head down real fast" because he saw it in a James Bond movie the week before. Sometimes you just don't know what a passenger will do!

I just talked to my gear dealer and PD and they both told me that the color purple (of all things) has been discontinued for canopy material. I thought I should post for anybody that is designing their canopy right now. They do still have a dark purple called blackberry though.

I work for Jim so you just might see me right behind you. Jim or any of his staff will take good care of you in any case.

I just did one for a friend about 3 months ago. I used an ashes bag built by a rigger that was designed similar to a small freefly tube. The end of the tube had a ring with a handle to attach to your wrist. That was folded halfway up then the ashes were poured into the open end and the whole thing rolled closed. The bag was then held closed with a couple rubber bands. I tied pull-up cords on them to make them easier to get off in freefall. I exited with to 2 other friends in an AFF type jump and they helped keep stability in freefall. To release the ashes I pulled off the rubber bands and let the bag go while holding on to the ring end. The tube went up and the air goes thru the bag blowing all the ashes out the top. It looked spectacular from the ground and on video. As far as the legal stuff, I didn't ask and I didn't hear any complaints. The best part of using the bag was that you don't get ashes all over yourself and your gear. If you want any further details let me know via private e-mail at [email protected].

Approx. 800 ft. Opened facing into the wind. Unstowed the brakes and flared in the same toggle stroke. I watched (some years later) a friend cutaway at about the same altitude or lower from a pilot chute CRW entanglment and he took the time to roll over before pulling. He got line stretch but the slider wasn't down all the way when he landed in about 4 ft of water in a local canal. The canal is usually dry but he stood up and walked away. He quit jumping about 6 months later.

I know a guy who has his gear set up this way due to a prosthetic right hand. But he has an SOS set-up so that he can cut away and pull the reserve one-handed.

C-180, C-182, C-206, C-210RG Lodestar Cherokee-6 Beech-18 Islander Aeromacchi Arava DC-3 Twin Otter Glider Balloons CH-46 CH-53 Bell 412 Caravan Skyvan Casa-212 The Jet KingAir I think thats it!

Just for info. the phrase "In God We Trust" on our currency and coinage was first used on the 2 cent piece in 1864 and has been used since on all currency and coins.

Watched a Navy test jumper land an 18 foot diameter ZP round during testing of some emergency canopies at China Lake CA a long time ago. It wasn't pretty but he didn't actually break anything!