Expert Skydivers

[SkyDaemon 0]

Ever notice how quickly skydivers are willing to preach their 'expert' advice on jumps they've never attempted?
Thus begins my story: Another skydiver and I set out to do a Mr. Bill jump. We arrived to the DZ early to dirt dive, grab a plane, and get up in the air before the sky was full of other jumpers. Word quickly spread through the notorious gossip lines which are threaded all over the DZ, from the pilot seat in the plane to the manifest desk, to the outhouse, to people just arriving on site. Almost immediately I was overwhelmed with excited skydivers all declaring with solemn wisdom and authority the "proper" way to execute this dive. I found this amusing because none of them had ever even tried a Mr. Bill jump, let alone successfully accomplished one. But that detail didn't stop them from declaring their authorative and expert opinion as to how this jump should be done. The air was immediately swimming with opening lines such as "The right way to...", "The only way to...", "You need to...", among plenty of comment and gossip about our dive plan they didn't watch.
In the end I was able to explain to each of them (to their satisfaction) why their "expert" advice would lead to bridle wraps, unstable exits, dislocated shoulders, loss of a rig, accidental reserve deployments, among other things. Needless to say, these jumpers hadn't thought through the issues.
I bring this topic up, not to berate the intelligence of the average skydiver, but to discuss the important issue of safety. The "smarter jumper than thou" attitude has its place in terms of education. However, beware of the authority with which you speak, and pay attention to the authority with which someone speaks to you. Especially if you're new to the sport. Do not pretend you know more than you do, and always check your facts.
And, as always, beware when providing unsolicited advice, or you may discover its true value to your audience.
Talk Smart, Jump Smart.

find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;

[SudsyFist 0]

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find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;

grep -ns deeznutz > beeyatch



steve

[rmcvey 0]

did you do the mr bill and if so how ?

[smak 0]

Does Kirk know you chopped his logo up like that? ;P I dont think Beastie is covered by the GPL.

But now that you have our attention, how did the jump go? Did you IAD or build some speed?

Any insight for future attempts?

[brits17 0]

so did you pull it off? i've done 2, and they're a blast. there are a couple guys at our dz with loads of mr bill jumps... good stuff. c ya!

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[BMFin 0]

Im sorry.. could someone explain me what is a Mr.Bill jump ?

[smak 0]

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Im sorry.. could someone explain me what is a Mr.Bill jump ?

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=27716;search_string=mr%20bill;#27716

[SkyDaemon 0]

I suppose the results of the jump are worth talking about, although my point in bringing up this entire thread was to point out the folly and dangers in playing "expert" when it's entirely inappropriate. This behavior is disturbing and worth mentioning.

However, the jump worked out fine. We needed to work on the exit, but were able to take a small delay, deploy the base parachute and do a successful climb to the shoulders, and the final exit. The entire process took a few tries, but once we were able to get the base parachute out, everything went fine. And the failed attempts were clean break offs with no injuries whatsoever. Not even a small scratch, cut, or bruise. :-)

find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;

[Zenister 0]

Quote

Quote

find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;

grep -ns deeznutz > beeyatch

snoop -d dz0 |grep free_jumps

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[jraf 0]

base parachute?

jraf

Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui.
Muff #3275

[SkyDaemon 0]

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Does Kirk know you chopped his logo up like that? ;P

Kirk knows about my SkyDaemon logo and gave me permission to use it.

Beastie is not covered by the GPL, it is copyright Marshall Kirk McKusick 1988, and I use it with his permission. ;-)

;-)

find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;

[SkyDaemon 0]

Next attempt will be on a CR Mojo :-) I think it will go more smoothly.

find / -name jumpers -print; cat jumpers $USER > manifest; cd /dev/airplane; more altitude; make jump; cd /pub; more beer;