JohnMitchell 16 #1 May 31, 2015 Riding up in the Twin Otter today doing a Level 1 AFF and one of the other instructors shakes several tic-tacs into my palm. I go to toss them in my mouth but duh! my Cookie G3 blocks my hand. One tic-tac goes in my mouth, the other two . . . somewhere. We're on jump run, so I ignore it, get my guy ready and we jump out and do a nice little first jump. Soon as the pilot chute leaves his hand and inflates, I'm out there, tracking flat and fast. Suddenly a pair of tic-tacs appear right in front of my nose, bouncing around inside the visor, bobbling in the breeze. I don't know if it was my tongue or just luck, but I managed to snap one in my mouth and start chewing before I had to wave and pull. Great little game to play while you're tracking off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFKING 4 #2 May 31, 2015 Quote Great little game to play while you're tracking off. CoolLaugh Like I need more distractions in freefall. I once swallowed a bug right when I started my flare.....completely threw off my landing attempt, PLF-ed all over the place, got up in a cloud of dust spitting and hacking. Still gagging when I walked into the packing tent, was asked why, explained what happened, everybody had a good laugh. I said "Jeez, imagine what it would have done to me in freefall?" My instructor IMMEDIATELY stopped laughing, got this very serious look on his face, and said "If you EVER swallow a bug in freefall, you PULL. IMMEDIATELY. You don't THINK, you don't worry about BODY POSITION, you don't CLEAR YOUR AIRSPACE, you go STRAIGHT TO SILVER." His look and passion scared me a little, and I asked why. He said "Because bugs don't fly higher than 200 feet." Don"When in doubt I whip it out, I got me a rock-and-roll band. It's a free-for-all." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suslique 0 #4 May 31, 2015 Bugs...or birds :/ https://youtu.be/9n2ZCRZQr4k 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,298 #5 May 31, 2015 QuoteHe said "Because bugs don't fly higher than 200 feet." He is mistaken.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfriverjoe 1,523 #6 May 31, 2015 BIGUN Quote He said "Because bugs don't fly higher than 200 feet." He is mistaken. It's a great story, and a very funny. But BIGUN is right. I fell past a monarch butterfly as I was pitching once. Tracked away from the group, pulled up out of the track, reached back and... ZOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! This orange speck grows into a blob and goes right past my head (missed by maybe two or three feet). Grabbed my hackey and pitched, going "WTF was THAT!?!?!?" Thought about it under canopy and concluded it was a butterfly. I was a bit above 3k when it happened. I don't know if they can actually reach that altitude on their own, or if the little guy* got caught in an updraft or something. But there was almost certainly a "bug" at 3000 feet. * Calling it a "guy" is an assumption on my part. But if insect behavior is anything like human, the females would be smart enough to not go that high up. Males... Not so much."There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFKING 4 #7 May 31, 2015 Quote He is mistaken. Well, label me a rube, because I believed him. The greater lesson internalized that day was that, if I'm still in freefall at 200 feet, it doesn't really matter if I swallow an insect or a rhinoceros. Don"When in doubt I whip it out, I got me a rock-and-roll band. It's a free-for-all." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AfghanVet 0 #8 June 1, 2015 JohnMitchell: That was some funny shit! wolfriverjoeI fell past a monarch butterfly as I was pitching once. In south Florida after the sugar cane is harvested, they burn the stubble and debris in the fields to clear it for the planting of the next crop. Some of those dried leaves float up into the air, like little hot air balloons, rising aloft under the lift of their own fire, drifting with the wind. And then you open your canopy over the drop zone and see red-hot glowing embers floating all around you... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
