skypuppy

Interesting -- I'm probably the slowest FJC instructor at the dz, in fact, I've really cut back on the number of first jump courses I do this year because of that (well, and the fact that the pay went down a bit this year). My courses average 4-5 hours, but if you consider the time when I start having students pay and fill out the paperwork, (usually 9 am) to the time they land from their jump, barring weather holds, usually 8-9 hours. Typically they've probably jumped by 6 o'clock. If it's a smaller course, maybe only 1 load, then by 5 o'clock. With anything under 6 students being a minimum, flat-rate, I don't think I get paid enough to do it. Most of the other instructors do the course in about 3-4 hours, including the paperwork. For them it might make financial sense.... I know one instructor who claims to have taught two different FJC's in a day (each over 20 people). Not for me. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I think you're wrong. In general, as skydiving gets safer, we find ways to make it more dangerous to keep the level of involvement (and the risk) the same. As equipment became safer, we started opening lower. As squares became more reliable, we made them smaller and more flighty. So now we have people killing themselves on a regular basis, while flying an open parachute. As freefall techniques became 'normal' we developed freeflying, where an accidental opening can kill you because of the speeds, or someone else. Or boards, wingsuits, etc. Every time we find a way to make something safer, we find another way to introduce a risk which hadn't existed before. That's human nature. Yin and Yang. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Yeah, but then he took his underage daughter on a tandem demo jump for the hundred year anniversary of flight -- kind of negates most of the positive stuff he says about it! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Do you have a younger sister? It helps sometimes if you show up at a party with your younger sister (twins would be even better) and a case of beer or two to give out to the experienced jumpers. If you don't have a sister then sometimes, in a pinch, your girlfriend might be willing to help out.... (Some BASE jumpers are even attracted to strange small furry creatures) If you have anything else you can give/lend them, that really draws them in a lot.... Or you can just offer to drive them around for a few weeks/months and do errands for them.... Most BASE jumpers are push-overs that way. Best of luck! Skypuppy If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

No sense wasting a lot of time worrying. Coach rating is pretty easy course. Buy the manual, read it, talk to Fuzzy or Tom, do the course.... You'll probably be surprised how well you do. It's at least as much a 'people' skill as a 'flying' skill. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

500 feet into a backyard party. It was supposed to be 900 as we'd just returned from bridge day, but we forgot the party was on a hill about 400 above the dropzone.... Contrary to what Airtwardo said, I found it harder to spot. We were so low that it seemed we were going much faster than normal.... In fact, it looked pretty low, but I figured it was supposed to be 900, that;s gonna look low, isn't it. So I didn't clue in we were really 500' above ground. Fury F-111 crw canopy, missed my damned handle on the first grab, too. Later on, figuring $1.00/1000 feet of altitude, we went up to the dzo and gave him 50 cents each.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

ted strong also did a tandem off the new river gorge bridge at one of the brisge days before the faa allowed tamdems a tso...the pics are out there..somewhere... 1984. Robin Heid was his passenger. They jumped right after me. Nice landing, too, right on the sand bar. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I usually try to put in a bit of perspective by comparing it to a sport like skiing -- while people do die skiing every year, the most likely accidents requiring medical attention are lower leg injuries, and most people will not ever encounter even that. Injuries or fatalities that do occur are USUALLY caused by someone getting in over their head, overconfidence, whatever.... Just like some people go out to the ski hill, do a couple of runs and then hit the bar, skydivers can choose to do only a couple of jumps and then stop. They don't have to keep jumping.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

And taking drugs probably makes you feel better -- considering all the politics etc. that goes on at the dz. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I wanted to split this off the Handcams in the UK thread and see what people had to say. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, only yesterday I refused to jump with a passenger who I felt (and saw) to be too big and too stiff and too nervous. (my business terms and conditions say I can do that without being obliged to give an explanation. If you as a tandeminstructor jump at a DZ where that is not the case I would suggest to seek employment elsewhere - I'm pretty sure there's work to be found for a rated tandeminstructor who insists that he will have final saying and is under no obligation to discuss it with the rejected passenger...) __________________________________________________ I would like to see this split into a different thread. So what happens to the tandem student? Does (did) some other tandem instructor take him? If not, who breaks the news to him, and what do they say about why? If they do, do they know that one instructor refused to take him? What if you're the senior instructor around, and a junior instructor said no? Do you feel obligated to take him? (I am assuming here that total weight is NOT over the tandem rigs limits, even if the student is heavy, it was stated that he was big, but also stiff and nervous. If weight is over the limit then it's a no-brainer) Just wondering what policies are in place? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Hey, only yesterday I refused to jump with a passenger who I felt (and saw) to be too big and too stiff and too nervous. (my business terms and conditions say I can do that without being obliged to give an explanation. If you as a tandeminstructor jump at a DZ where that is not the case I would suggest to seek employment elsewhere - I'm pretty sure there's work to be found for a rated tandeminstructor who insists that he will have final saying and is under no obligation to discuss it with the rejected passenger...) __________________________________________________ I would like to see this split into a different thread. So what happens to the tandem student? Does (did) some other tandem instructor take him? If not, who breaks the news to him, and what do they say about why? If they do, do they know that one instructor refused to take him? What if you're the senior instructor around, and a junior instructor said no? Do you feel obligated to take him? Just wondering what policies are in place? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I don't know what the skygods will think of this, since, contrary to Airtwardo's philosophy we didn't, 'make a jump, get a cheque', but we had a lot of fun yesterday. Buttonville is one of Canada's busiest airports in terms of take-offs and landings, and yesterday was their open house, in support of the local United Way charity. Previously they have done it in support of children's aid. This year they supplied us with a 172 (door off) from their flight school and told us to go have fun. 4 of us did 4 loads, taking turns to sit one out as ground crew. Nothing real exciting. We had hoped to do some crew since 3 of us have been doing a lot of it this year, but the winds were pretty strong so we decided not to risk it, opting instead for some rw (from about 5000) and some low jumps to deploy United way flags while I spent some time with a hand camera trying to take some pictures from above. All jumps resulted in safe landings. The landing area was pretty tight, a grass strip between the runway and apron with a hundred or more a/c parked on it, and with the winds at the upper limit, there was some turbulence coming across the hangars. The kids liked it, and I heard we made the local news. Actually we've been doing this event off and on for about 10 years now. Anyone else do jumps for charity? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Rob Can you post a picture of your handi-cam when you're wearing it so we can see the size, shape, etc. What cameras are best for hand-cam? I hope I may be able to drop by Skydive Niagara when you are there. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Hear! Hear! I didn't do a lot of round jumps, maybe 50 - 100, but I sure as hell ain't scared of them! Strangely enough I find a lot of jumpers nowadays are scared to even jump an old F-111 7-cell in order to do crw with. They look at them the same way older guys look at rounds.... I guess if it ain't zero-pee and zippy they don't want it. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

When I first met the Bird I think he was driving an old Porsche Boxster? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Could put a whole new meaning to the thread "Do you teach your students to pull?" If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Just my own rambling thoughts on old round belly-warts. On most BASE jumps where a reserve would be used, your still going fairly slowly. A round reserve actually takes LONGER to inflate than a square, at least a square (sans slider) will get bottom skin inflation quicker because of (a) shorter lines, (b) smaller surface area. Because of that, a tersh type deployment where the canopy is manually thrown out to the end of the lines would be much more effective than pulling the r/c on a chest mount and hoping the spring mounted pc will take the canopy out. Also, a small square canopy would be much less bulky than an old round.... That said, with square reserves you always have the possibility of a downplane situation, so maybe a specially constructed, low surface area round with shorter lines might be an idea to develop. Maybe it should have a ballistic type launch system? Seems like it would take a lot of work. I'd probably go with a second square and just cut the main away after reserve deployment.... As to Utah's, (or Will Forshay's) film, there have only been a handful of unlandable mals in the 20+ years at Bridge day, most are just premature brake releases. I've seen one cutaway in response to a mal (maybe two) the rest were usually line-overs that spiralled into the water. At least one pc hesitation caused a death (87?), but that was an undersized pc. Big thing is, if you're in freefall with limited time, do you spend it trying to get the main to come out (not knowing what stage it's at) or do you put out the back-up and risk entanglement, running out of time.... Six of one, half dozen of the other.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

To everything its place. At the right site, I still maintain you can use regular skydiving gear with perhaps a big pilot chute, slider up or down depending on altitude. People did this for the first 10-15 years of BASE jumping. And that's with a main canopy, not a reserve.... That said, it is not suitable for a lot of BASE sites, either. As the doc says, the people attempting these stunts are experts (and perhaps not very bright!) DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Unfortunately several teams (some of which had trained hard for a few years) were unable to participate at the Canadian Nationals this year because of the fact that the dropzone required AAD's for all participants. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No, you could not participate at the Nationals because you made the decision not to jump with an AAD. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So all of a sudden I need 3 aad's? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How long before the Nationals did you know that the meet would be held and that DZ? Actually, the rumor for several months before the nationals was that you would be able to get a waiver to jump without one in style and accuracy (and, I inferred, crw), it was only about a month before the competition that we found out no waivers would be issued.... I stress, this was not just me. Several individuals and teams did not attend because of this, several of which could have medalled. I'm not arguing that a dz doesn't have rights to require things, I'm saying CSPA never should have awarded a competition to a dz where all its members are not welcome.... AADs are not a CSPA policy (yet). If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

It might depend on whether the injured party had to specifically get new gear/an aad to comply with said policy, as in perhaps, they borrowed gear from somewhere there (or the dz) so they could make a jump, and THEN it went wrong. If the jumper already used an aad anyways, well, then, it's all good. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Unfortunately several teams (some of which had trained hard for a few years) were unable to participate at the Canadian Nationals this year because of the fact that the dropzone required AAD's for all participants. It is at this point when I have to wonder why CSPA as an organization would accept a bid from a dz that requires aad's when it is not a CSPA requirement and only the Quebec dz's have made it a dz requirement..... What if USPA accepted a bid for the nationals from a aad-required dz? Sure, the really top teams can still go, they're also the teams that get sponsorship money available, and national association assistance with travel and competition, but it's the intermediate teams that get shafted. And, as I pointed out, like many of my friends I have different rigs for different disciplines. A CRW rig, an accuracy rig, a freefall rig (Style, maybe, or FS). So all of a sudden I need 3 aad's? Not to mention they swooping over a pond. And should swoopers wear aad's anyways, since Adrian's death points out relative dangers there? AAd's are a tool. They may be something someone wants to have, but they shouldn't be forced on anyone. Many CSPA members did indeed have to vote with their feet this year. Unfortunately, it cost them their right to participate at a high level competition, and any chance to attend next year's world meet. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I found that book in a flea market last year. Funny thing was it seems to have been presented to someone by the members of the ST Thomas Parachute Club in 1964, it's got all the signatures on the back page. And strangely enough, the president of the club in 64 signed, BERNIE LARKIN. Stranger still, I'm supposed to be doing some demos with him this Saturday, think I;ll take it out and show it off.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Death seems all around.... Lost Friends I’m almost at the top, Looking at the lights, Thinking of times past. The stars are out, And I remember you all. The cliffs of Switzerland and Norway. Steel towers in Oregon, Florida. Colorado bridges, And Asian buildings Have charged a high price. In the fog below Tears formed on the tower, And dripped down on me. But – we are all dust, And we fall where the wind blows us. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I feel real dumb asking this question, but it's bugged me for awhile. Looking at Tom's website, ozcrw I see that he is recommending the pilot start sliding back up the lines before rotating, my question is, during your stacks are you no longer taking your feet out and putting them below the slider of the people below you? You mean you're just sliding down the lines till you hit the top of the slider and staying there till the poeople above have rotated, then sliding back up yourself? Do you not have problems with your backpack catching on the canopy when you slide up again before leaving? Rob If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

This may seem like a stupid question, but 135 at 1.5 wloading would mean a 200lb total load, so they weigh in at about 175-180 plus gear, using weights if they're lighter than that??? Is that about right? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone