JackC1

Has it ever occurred to you that it might just be democracy at work, not a sign of the apocalypse?

Seems like they didn't pray hard enough. Not true. They just didn't understand the mind of God. Well you can see how it could get confusing, Jesus was a hippy haired liberal but OT God was a hard core fascist. Like father like son eh?

The Mk1 eyeball doesn't come calibrated, it deteriorates with age, it's myopic, hyperopic, it has zero depth perception beyond about 50ft, it goes blurry if it gets dirt or wind in it or the thing covering it mists up, it gets tired, it is easily confused if it's looks down at a DZ or an altitude it's never seen before and it gets steadily more inaccurate the higher it gets. I know of one dz where the surrounding fields are much smaller than normal and they have had so many low pull incidents from visitors who rely on the Mk1 eyeball that they now include the advice NOT to eyeball the altitude in their standard safety brief. Don't get me wrong, the eyeball is an essential bit of kit that should be trained and developed, but it is not fool proof.

Hmmm, I don't like to see some of the bashing that goes on around here but neither do I like to see a 20 jump newbie who wants to bypass the life saving RW stuff and head straight for the fast and dangerous FF stuff while hamstringing his performance with inappropriate gear choices.

Booties are not that big a deal, just jump them. You'll be used to them in no time.

Meh, I know people who learned to freefly to a fairly good standard in a RW suit, they're weird that way. It makes it harder for sure, but it isn't impossible.

I'm not so sure. It looks like someone bought 2 AFF courses, each person did ground school and 1 jump (out of the 8) and realised skydiving wasn't for them and is trying to sell off the rest of the tickets. So basically it's just 14 jump tickets for a grand.

I'm saying the hot melt glue that is supposed to stick the chin cover material to the ABS helmet shell failed.

It didn't even last long enough for me to leave the shop. That's not an operator issue it's a manufacturing issue.

The visor is/was known to pop open during faster head down jumps but Cookie have produced some uprated springs which seem to fix the problem. The anti-fog lining tends to come off on older visors (also fixed on new lids), they can fog up a little in cold weather if you're not careful and the chin cup lining falls off. But even with that defect list, I still think they're the best skydiving full face helmets available today.

If I heard voices I'd consider that pretty worrying evidence that I was crazy. Assuming I was sane enough to make the connection.

Being good at tracking can save your life. Tracking into the next group out can kill you. A really good tracker can get somewhere near a 45 degree glide angle. Tracking for 1000ft altitude means a good tracker can be heading towards 1000ft horizontal distance. And a decent minimum exit separation is generally considered to be how much? Yup, 1000ft. I advocate keeping an eye on the others in your group and tracking in a clear direction, not just blindly turning 180 and trusting the afterburners to get you out of one pile of shit and into the next.

The inevitable, obviously. So shut up and get praying, it won't happen by itself.

I occasionally get letters from people questioning science, usually disproving the uncertainty principle or promoting their latest perpetual motion machine. Fuck 'em, I've got better things to do than give some deluded moron remedial physics lessons.

According to my Viso, it's about 600-700ft pitch to saddle but video says it takes about 3-4s. Assuming a 1s hesitation to get to line stretch and then a 3-4s constant deceleration, that works out to about 450-530ft.

a--hole in your canopy's top skin- what would you do? Probably wonder how I managed to end up playing with the CReW dogs.

It's not specifically designed to make you blend into the sky, is it? Oh look, a plane flying in the sky

Camouflage is a fad that needs to fuck off. In a sport where being seen is a necessity for safety, wearing a material specifically designed to make you blend into the background is a really stupid idea.

No worries mate. I discovered early on that accuracy was your friend, especially where I jump as it's often like a swamp outside the main landing area. I got pretty sick of scraping mud of all my kit. One big part of that for me was realising that the quickest way to get yourself in the shit is to make decisions too late. The earlier you make a good decision, the less likely you are to find yourself low, over a crappy landing area and running out of options. I have to say the best money I ever spent in skydiving was on canopy courses. I would thoroughly recommend getting on a couple if you can.

That's the key. Good canopy control and accuracy starts much earlier then people realize. I always have a flight plan before I get on the plane, and as soon as I'm open I'm trying to put that plan into operation, judging where I am, where I need to be at each stage and where everyone else is. With a bit of practice, not only can you be accurate, but you can also figure out what the landing order is going to be and how you can fit into it safely. But only if you start thinking about landing at the earliest opportunity. Spiralling and goofing around is fun and all that, but it means nothing if you don't keep an eye on what's really important.

The best policy is to plan your pattern in advance. Use a standard down wind leg, base leg and final leg left-hand box-pattern. Start by planning where you want to land then work back to exactly where over the ground and at what altitude your final 90 degree turn needs to be in order for you to land where you have decided. Then work back again to where your base leg turn needs to be in order to hit your final turn at the correct altitude and position. Then work back again to where and at what altitude you need to enter your pattern on the down wind leg in order to hit your base leg turn exactly right. Once you've got the plan sorted out, go and jump and fly your pattern and see where you end up at each turn and where you land. On the second jump, you can correct your turn points so that you hit your landing point bang on. Altitudes are king here. If you find you hit your altitude too soon (or too late) correct your distance flown on the next jump so your turns are at the correct altitude in the right spot. Do not get tempted to make your last turn lower in order to hit your turn spot over the ground (unless it is more dangerous not to turn). Always think ahead to where this flight path will lead you and what obstacles will be in your way. The most important turn is the last one onto final. If this one is in the correct position at the correct altitude you will land exactly where you decided. Each previous turn can be used to fine tune your way points so your last turn is in the correct spot. Once you've figured out how much altitude your canopy loses over a given distance, you should be able to judge the required distances and put your turn points in the right place to fly a consistent box pattern every time and land where you want to. If the wind is coming from a different direction, it is easy to rotate your box pattern around so it works from any direction. You do not have to fly around on full drive all the time either. Use your toggle range to regulate your progress. But be careful here, suddenly going into deep brakes in crowded airspace will get you no friends at all. Don't be tempted to rush this process, it can take a few jumps to dial it in especially as the wind conditions change but when you've got it down you should find your accuracy has improved dramatically. Remember, the order of importance at flare time is to have your wing level, flying into a clear and open area, flare evenly and at the correct height, into wind. And get coaching, preferably on a well regarded canopy course from a reputable instructor.

I've seen a few of those videos. The free flying sections are good. It's a shame they also put in a section promoting the 45 degree rule though.

My pet theory about palms up or down is that most of the gain comes from what it does to your shoulders (if you aren't actually trying to control your shoulders). Palms up makes your shoulders roll forward naturally. If you look at ski jumpers (who generally have good tracking skills) you'll see all sorts of hand positions but the shoulders are always rolled forward.

That's a tough one. I couldn't morally justify getting a charity to pay, even once, for something I consider fun.

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