Actual Water Training... (i.e. jumps into water)

[fcajump 164]

Seems like it used to be common...

Does anyone actually still do water training by parachuting into large bodies of water??

I missed doing one by 1 year at my old DZ, and it doesn't seem like anyone (around here) does them anymore...

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[thrillstalker 0]

i asked the same question to someone once upon a time.

their answer was that with aad's and how expensive rigs are, people dont want to take a chance on messing one up for practice.

i know if i take my rig into water, i fucked up somewhere real bad.

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[lekstrom10k 0]

I bought a square reserve from a guy that landed in the water at the Bridge in WV. The colors ran and it was now various shades of pink canopy. It was still airworthy but it affected his feminine side too much. The USPA training never brings up the depth perception problem. Kind of like the POPE giving lectures in labor pains. Kind of haved to be there done that to explain it better

[Southern_Man 0]

Jim,

Seems to me you could do your own live training just about any weekend you wanted at West Point? Just wait a few seconds on the spot...

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[fcajump 164]

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Jim,

Seems to me you could do your own live training just about any weekend you wanted at West Point? Just wait a few seconds on the spot...

Yea... but a planned recovery would be nice.
Of course it does emphasis the WHY of water training...

JW

PS - just might have to talk with Steve about Lake Orange...

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[phoenixlpr 0]

I did some fun water jump some year back.

Than I managed to end up in the water on 2 beach jumps.

[NWFlyer 2]

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i know if i take my rig into water, i fucked up somewhere real bad.

Or you're at the Blue Hole doing one of the most memorable jumps ever. Or at Lost Prairie doing a lake jump (still not good for the electronics, but the fresh water is easier on the rest of your gear than salt water).

I've done two water landings; one unintentional, one intentional (Blue Hole). The intentional one was done with older borrowed gear, no AAD, no alti, nothing that could get "fried."

In both cases (especially the first) I was very happy that I'd had water training - it greatly increased my comfort level in being able to deal with the situation of being in the water in a calm manner.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[councilman24 37]

Jumping into water isn't 'water training', it's water jumping!

You need the training BEFORE you do the jumping.

I've got gear I'd take into the water, and it isn't even round!

Little opportunity these days. In the good old days we used to plan a water jump into a party. Some folks jumped their normal rig, some jumped gutter gear (and had to use the T10 reserve) and a lot didn't wear shoes. And, about half the load missed the lake one time! ALWAYS wear shoes!.

Also the trees in the back yard were covered in drying canopies.

Water jumps are fun, and any training I ever gave as a USPA instructor included depth perception issues, and death by cutting away and being too high.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[airtwardo 7]

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SStewart 13]

MSPC does live water jumps every year up in Maytown PA into the susquhanna river not to far north of you. They use old f-111 gear with round reserves and no gadgets. I used to have my own water rig with a swift main and a swift reserve (see my avatar) In the old days we would jump rounds, t-10s or what not.

I still think a real live water jump should be mandatory for the license like it used to be.

Onward and Upward!

[Scrumpot 1]

Right. What Scott Says. Give the good folks at Maytown a call. They'll get you all set-up!

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[Southern_Man 0]

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PS - just might have to talk with Steve about Lake Orange...

Nah, you just have to call out your corrections to the pilot....30 left, now another 30 left...

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[chuckakers 425]

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i asked the same question to someone once upon a time.

their answer was that with aad's and how expensive rigs are, people dont want to take a chance on messing one up for practice.

i know if i take my rig into water, i fucked up somewhere real bad.

No one wanted to get good gear wet back in the day either, but when I made one it was required to get a Jumpmaster rating.

We solved the problem by rigging up some old student rigs with PC mains and old-yet-airworthy reserves. We jumped into a local lake with a small outboard boat as our pick-up crew.

It was actually kinda fun.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[hcsvader 1]

Go jump at almost any DZ in australia right now and you'll get a water landing

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[Amazon 7]

Quote

Seems like it used to be common...

Does anyone actually still do water training by parachuting into large bodies of water??

I missed doing one by 1 year at my old DZ, and it doesn't seem like anyone (around here) does them anymore...

JW

Just invest in some old but servicible gear ... and maybe a main that is not so servicible to go play under in the water... for the training.. then go jump the gutter gear into the water.

NEVER NEVER cut away from your canopy over the water.. invest in good flotation and have some fun. I have a LOT of water jumps

My first two canopy rides ended in the water ( on purpose)

And I was at the local DZ the following Saturday taking my FJC so I could use some of that PLF training I had been doing (1972)


I have a bunch of old gear that I use for water jumps... Para Commanders.. Papillion.. Strato Star/Cloud all in appropriate rigs. Heck.. it cleans the dust off of them in Lake MacGregor at LP.. crystal clear water so you just need to hang in the shade and dry them and pack them away till the next year

[wildfan75 1]

A little over a mile from my dz, we have a 6000 acre "blue field". I'm told "back in the day" they used to land in the lake all the time. I asked someone whose been around quite awhile why we don't do it anymore. They said that one time someone had an unintentional water landing (an emergency). All the boaters were used to those crazy skydivers landing in the lake and so no one responded and no one helped the guy. Eventually people realized that the guy was in trouble, helped him and he got to laugh about it with his buddies around the bonfire with a case of beer that night.

My dz stopped doing intensional water landings shortly after that. What's the phrase? Complacency kills? Doesn't go for just skydivers.

We did do intentional water landings two years ago in a coordinated training drill with our local fire and rescue department. We both learned a boat load, not pun intended, about things that can go wrong.

If your dz is by water, I highly suggest regular drills with your local fire, police and rescue folks.

[airtwardo 7]

We both learned a boat load, not pun intended, about things that can go wrong.

[Squeak 17]

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Go jump at almost any DZ in australia right now and you'll get a water landing

Not in any West OZ DZ Friggin drought

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[hcsvader 1]

Bridgy was flooded out this weekend and the roads to nagambie were passible but flooded. Lol looks like were getting some new packing mats a Bridgy, the old ones are a bit soggy.

Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

[lauraliscious 0]

I think Skydive Alabama does lake jumps once a year or so....

Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091

[skyh2omedic 0]

Lot's of water jumps when i was at Bragg. A lot of the ole timers got their pay jumps this way. Much easier on the lower extremities. Most of them helo. Always a blast.

"You can't teach what you don't know and you can't lead where you won't go"