billvon 2,995 #76 March 4, 2005 >If I ever go in, when I am about 6 feet off the ground, I will look over >at someone on the deck and say, "so far, so good". Goes along with Jak Gramley's experiences. Every single person who femured due to a hook turn told him "But I thought I had it!" Everything was going great - until they hit the ground at 40mph. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #77 March 6, 2005 QuoteSwooping is giving Skydiving a bad name. That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard... Swooping attracts more people to skydiving! Get it straight! Swoooooooop on bruthas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gkc1436 3 #78 March 6, 2005 right......sure.....uh huh....... 1st zp.......what a pain to pack.... 1st canopys under 150......what about landing out!!!! 1st elipticals....OMG...you have to chop line twists!!!! i have heard it all..... everthing changes....everthing evolves... we adjust.....and we learn..... to be honest....... what else leaves you with a wet foot....knees shaking...and giggiling like a child...... swooping the pond ...thats what!!!!! watching it evolve from a low ceiling, $20 a head, sunday aft entertainment to what it is today has been incredable. seeing sonic cut the pond in half with a specter 170 in his early days, to J.C.'s 1st full pond carve. this is the only part of the sport that will be brought to the masses because its the only part that is in your face enough for audences also...like aggie....its almost the only reason to make a skydive .....for me that is. to make a statment that swoopers are more dangerous is to say the least uneducated go to any DZ....the best canopy pilots are by far the swoopers, more aware, more precise, and safer by any means PEACE g Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #79 March 7, 2005 I still can't believe this is even a serious question. I mean really, isn't jumping out of an airplane "stupid" ? Ask your friends at work, they'll tell you. It's all beautiful though, and so is swooping. I don't swoop, and won't, but that's just me. But I love to watch it, because it's beautiful. And it is attracting public attention, which we need, ever since skyboarding fizzled out with the X Games. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JakGramley 2 #80 March 10, 2005 Bill, Some years ago I was witness to an accident that had been waiting to happen for some time. A VERY experienced jumper had been "perfecting" his hook turn, sometimes bouncing off his butt and rolling after hitting hard. One day my CRW team was out at the DZ practicing. We were waiting for our aircraft to load when we saw this jumper hook it. Before he even hit the ground all of the team was running to help pick up the pieces. The jumper first impacted the ground hard, shattering his femur, leaving a one inch section of the femur buried in the ground (we didn't find it until later when the doctor called from the hospital asking us to look for it to allow him to try to reconstruct the femur). His second impact, about 30 feet from the first, left a 6 foot long trench in the ground. Some time after the incident I had a chance to ask the jumper what was going through his mind. His reply was that he couldn't figure out why we were all running towards him, since he KNEW he had hooked it perfectly. Of all of those that I loaded into ambulances while at Perris, the vast majority KNEW they had the hook turn timed right, and were SHOCKED when they hit the ground. Now I know that most of the jumpers that this is aimed at (the ones just beginning to perform hook turns) don't want to hear this, but the fact that you KNOW you are capable of doing advanced canopy landings does not mean that you are. By the way, I should add that not all of the jumpers that impacted after misjudging their altitude and skill voiced this message. Some of them could not be revived and therefore we could not find out what their last thought was, but my guess is "DAMN! I got this one nailed!". Jack Gramley Computer Consultant Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ianmdrennan 2 #81 March 10, 2005 Quotebut my guess is "DAMN! I got this one nailed!". I'd bet you were right. It's exactly what was going through my mind when I hit the pond last season. Granted depth perception is different, yadda yadda, but the concept of not seeing that you're too low "up high" is the same. Cold hard lesson that left me aching for some time. Blues, IanPerformance Designs Factory Team Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron 10 #82 March 10, 2005 QuoteOf all of those that I loaded into ambulances while at Perris, the vast majority KNEW they had the hook turn timed right, and were SHOCKED when they hit the ground. Now I know that most of the jumpers that this is aimed at (the ones just beginning to perform hook turns) don't want to hear this, but the fact that you KNOW you are capable of doing advanced canopy landings does not mean that you are. By the way, I should add that not all of the jumpers that impacted after misjudging their altitude and skill voiced this message. Some of them could not be revived and therefore we could not find out what their last thought was, but my guess is "DAMN! I got this one nailed!". I very much doubt any of the folks that died thought they would. I find it funny that those with a bunch of jumps and years in the sport realize the dangers...And then you have those that "claim" to know the dangers."No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrewEckhardt 0 #83 March 10, 2005 Quote Of all of those that I loaded into ambulances while at Perris, the vast majority KNEW they had the hook turn timed right, and were SHOCKED when they hit the ground. When we started skydiving I wasn't aware of any hook turn training beyond a satirical piece about driving pickups at 40MPH and jumping out the back. No one really talked about the mechanics of black death hook turns. Many of us just figured out parts of it on our own. Many of us just cranked on a riser at what looked like the right altitude. When we were wrong we just added extra toggle. "The right altitude" was correct for exactly one parachute, one wing loading, and one altitude. Too little toggle too late following a mistake was bad. Too much popped you up and dumped you. It's amazing more of us didn't get hurt worse. The survivors figured out that an interactive carving approach gave a lot of lattitude in the starting altitude/position AND let you carry more speed. Classes teaching this showed up. Local drop zones flew in the experts. People actually attended those classes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #84 March 11, 2005 QuoteQuotebut my guess is "DAMN! I got this one nailed!". I'd bet you were right. It's exactly what was going through my mind when I hit the pond last season. Granted depth perception is different, yadda yadda, but the concept of not seeing that you're too low "up high" is the same. Cold hard lesson that left me aching for some time. Blues, Ian The important thing is you learned. Some have not seen the ball since kick off and are not even trying to learn. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livenletfly 0 #85 March 12, 2005 luckily these decision will never be up to close minded individuals. Rest of post deleted. Let's leave the chest-thumping for Bonfire and leave this forum for discussion of safety and training issues.> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
