skypuppy

Name ??? not to poke fun at or make trouble, I just think he did really well in a bad situation... My hat is off to him... 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 believe the first tandem fatality was at CPI in 1985 or 6. The tandem instructor forgot to attach the upper snaps...the lower laterals were done up...and he impacted with no pull after spending the entire skydive trying to fasten the top snaps. The CRW wrap and fatality happened later....after I took the attached picture of my old buddy Mr. Beaker and his wife, Gail, after they docked on me. You might recall this picture was used on the cover of CanPara magazine and created quite an uproar...not because of the tandem crw but because Beakie and Gail weren't wearing helmets. hehehe Ahhhh...the good old days! __________________________________________________ Not sure if this is the one you're talking about but you may remember the fatality where the tandem master HAD done up the snaps, but they were the old kind (similar to the eclipse harness) where you would put a locking pin thru the snap to hold it closed, even though it was spring-closed like the newer snaps on the sigmas. The TI STILL spent the whole dive trying to PUT THE PIN through the closed snap, and went in because there was no aad (not required at the time)... Incidently Murray, do you have any pictures of the downplane you did at 1000' on that CRW dive with Beaker??? Just funnin' 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

QuoteNews story here. Family has now been notified, so name of jumper is public knowledge. I jumped with him in a few random places around the globe. He was one of the good guys, and will be missed. __________________________________________________ So what is the name? 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 think it's as unusual as many of you seem to think... The first one I can remember seeing was probably Jimmy Tyler on his first chuteless jump when he flew over to another jumper and hooked onto his harness with B12 snaps. They both landed under a single round canopy. Not too many years ago this one done on a jump from the New River Gorge Bridge at bridge day... I did a lot of mr. bill's when they first started coming out. The Golden Knights claimed to have successfully done them at terminal velocity (using Unit III's I believe). It's not surprising that many people tried this sort of thing back then. 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

Remember the year we turned down the NPS permit cause the river was at 47,000 cfs and Dragon couldn't operate the boats? 1989? 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

"Will be done" and "has been done" are two very different things. People have survived freefall impacts with no parachute, but I don't see too many people willing to get on a 10 minute call for a no-rig skydive. I don't consider a jump that ends with an ambulance ride or worse very successful. So true. As one of the most successful and experienced wingsuit BASERs Yuri defined the problem during his seminar at bridge day - when you're flying your wingsuit efficiently, you just don't have no landing gear... I don't think too many self-satisfied wingsuit jumpers or basejumpers really want to mess up their pretty faces that much... 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

aircraft high 14,500 low 500 Base freefall 270ish bagging 130ish 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 would not hesitate to go jump this guy's systems as they are - it sounds like a reasonable and safe set-up to me, provided he doesn't jump it in questionable winds... You pick the tools for the site. Landing in water - you don't need mojos or flicks... Lots of people jump rounds into the river... 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 thought we'd been asked not to s/l from the bridge structure? ie not to attach anything to the bridge. 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

You must realize that Don's crime was far worse than ours. Don's actions are going to burn the Perrine quicker than ours. Again, I have respect for Don for all he has done for us with his service and with his interaction with the city. Don is one of the reasons that there is still jumping at the Perrine, and he is a respected local. Even if he was out of line (and I;m not saying that he was) then it's still a good idea for us to try our utmost to keep him happy, not flagrantly disregard his input. We are ambassadors everywhere we go... Like it or not, in an environment where we are trying to drum up more legal objects and corporate support, you even more than us should be following the rules at established sites. If you open your own sites then you can make your own. I guess that's the unfortunate part of being high profile (rather than unknown) basejumpers. 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 wrote a satirical look on the future of skydiving: Fast Forward to the Year 2050 a year or so ago. That is one way to see the future. Another way is to see the FAA make all jumpers and rating holders Airmen. This is an entirely different view - one that has more disadvantages than advantages. If parents of injured or deceased jumpers or jumpers clamor for more teeth in the FARs or state laws - just so there is a LAW on the books, we may see a severe reduction in the participation of skydiving. We may see a geometric expansion of lawsuits. There is a perceived advantage that one could fine or throw someone in jail for a violation, but would that really make the day-to-day operations safer?? I echo what Mike said (not because I'm a 23 year plus Racer jumper, but because what we have in place works). __________________________________________________ Just look at the new law being imposed in Ontario, Canada as a result of a recent inquiry held 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

Did you wear your square reserves? 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

Racers are death traps! I thought everyone knew that. So, whatcha gonna do now? - SST = Struggle, Struggle, Thump! (I used to have one. It was a fine rig.) 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

Hmmmm. 120 jumps in 6 years... That tells me a lot. 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

Try http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1029206;search_string=Gareth%20Rodgers;#1029206 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

Barrie Ontario Local Paper Published Friday June 4th 2004. Check Bill 87 before jumping.... MPP introduces new rules to make parachuting safer.... BY AMY LAZAR Gareth Rodgers had skydived before, but he never expected his jump on that sunny August day would be his last. On August 25, 2002, the 38-year-old was skydiving out of a small plane above Baldwin, about an hour north of Toronto, when his parachute did not open. It was his sixth jump that year and his parachute had a double malfunction. This was brought forward during an inquest into his death that concluded in April. "He loved extreme sports and adventure," said his sister, Melanie Tetlock, an Innisfil resident organizing a rally for the introduction of the Gareth Rodgers Act for Sport Parachuting (GRASP bill). "Gareth took the ultimate leap of faith and we must honour his memory by ensuring that this faith and trust will never again be unwarranted." Bill 87 is an act to regulate those participating in free falling in Ontario and it was introduced at Queen's Park by local MPP Joe Tascona. Currently, there are no government regulations for skydiving in Canada, including the instructor qualifications or the packing of parachutes and no one could be held accountable when Rodgers died. "This act will ensure that persons involved in, or experiencing, the sport of parachuting can rely on the fact that they are protected," Tascona said in a press release, noting the act will require free fallers to hold a permit, which will be issued after an examination. The Canadian military parachute riggers are in support of the act and were consulted throughout the drafting of the bill. Tascona will be attending the event on Saturday at Heritage Park at Barrie's waterfront to raise awareness and initiate a petition to call on the Ontario government. Also expected to attend is regional supervising coroner Dr. William Lucas, who was involved in Rodger's inquest. The inquest concluded: "The positioning of a competent regulatory body... must become a paramount consideration for both the skydive schools and the federal government." 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

QuoteSo your shootin' video and your buddy decides to start undressing himself from his parachute... ....what do you do? Do you think they got the story wrong perhaps?[_________________________________________________/reply] Probably not! 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 would rarely pay much attention to someone with less than at least 300 jumps, more likely 500. Of course it depends on the situation. If it's a jump pilot who's been flying jumpers for 30 years I listen to him. If it's the dzo, I listen to him. If its some new guy trying to convince me he knows it all and he's more current than me, I let him talk and think to myself 'We'll see what you think 5 years from now if you're still around.' In these days when people can put in a pile of jumps in a short time, I think there's something to be said for range of experience or longevity as well. On the other hand, someone like myself with 2000+ jumps but not a lot of jumps in the last 5-8 years has to admit there's a lot of things that I'm not too knowledgeable about now. I just seek out the people I know can answer my questions. I'm still amazed by people with 1000+ jumps who can't spot, or spot for their 90 square foot canopy and leave the old guys under their 230+ canopies walking and think nothing of 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

Look at the fatality reports over the last 3 years. 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

Like Yuri said last year at the wingsuit BASE seminar at Bridge Day - he likes to open high enuf that he can actually tell what tree he's going to be landing in before he hits 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

__________________________________________________ Didn't Yuri and Robibird both get over two minutes off a rock somewhere? 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 Skratch! You don't know me but I just wanted to say Hi! I felt some of what you're talking about down in Zhills in '80, '81... (I wonder if it had anything to do with some of the salad going around at the time.) Since then it's appeared once or twice (copious amounts of alcohol may have helped), but you don't necessarily realize it till it's gone. How's the song go 'Call someplace Paradise, kiss it goodbye'... And as for you youngsters feeling alone and left out, it happens to lots of the older guys after a while too... It might have something to do with your mind not letting you forget that you have other things to do than skydive, and you just don't have the same passion (or opportunity) to do it as much as you would like to anymore... 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"ve also found that an interest in WOMEN is CHEAPER than an interest in SKYDIVING (at least the women I went out with)... 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 went several months a couple of years ago without a jumping, and so as not to scare myself I just did a hop and pop from 485 ft. Then I had to wait a few more months due to an injury, so when I came back it was for a couple of demos before my rating expired. 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

__________________________________________________ Come on, tell the truth, Rob. You took dance because of all the girls in the course, right? (come on, people look up to you as a role model, you know, don't let 'em down). Anyways, that's just another kind of fitness. 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