quickflight wrote:Jumperdumper I know you're excited about your little job, i built my time chucking meat bombs and was a chief pilot at a drop zone, you above all should know it is not for everybody. I did my 1+ jump, and personally i like the spinny thing on the front of the plane.
My "little job" is only a hobby ...and i'm not gonna sink to your level and put YOU down for your views or hobbies.
BTW, I do more than just fly jumpers.
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Last edited by jumperdumper on Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
When your life flashes before your eyes, will it be interesting?
My ideal day would be get up and have a nice egg mcmuffin for breakfast and a latte, drive my new bmw to the drop zone, do a few jumps then back to my plush pad for a hearty round of tea-bagging finishing with a dirty sanchez or donkey punch. After than a good night sleep in my craftmatic adjustable bed.
Well, the girlfriend has conned me into giving it a try this summer. I'm fairly certain she's not trying to kill me, but if I suddenly disappear from this forum in a month or two you'll know why. I rationalize it this way: knowing how to exit an aircraft properly is probably a useful skill, especially if you rip a wing off for some reason. Now if you don't have a chute, it's sort of a moot point, but if you are contemplating the sort of maneuvers that could fold your spar in half, you probably should have one handy just in case you're not as sharp as you think you are.
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Understanding begets harmony; in seeking the first you will find the last.
I had to look at the calender and i've done 15 skydives in the month of April where i depended on my own pack job... not to metion the professional rigger who pack my resereve gear, who i have trusted with saving my life. he has proven himself by saving countless other who cut away thier shitty pack-jobs & say how they have saved thier own lives by the camp fire...but i know who really saved their ass....( so does the rigger)....
I trust my rigger 100%...can you trust your AME?
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Last edited by jumperdumper on Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
When your life flashes before your eyes, will it be interesting?
Well that is very sweet that you trust your rigger. Do you trust the ame's that take care of your plane? If you (or anyone) don't than I would suggest working somewhere else or perhaps a different industry. Pretty stupid question.
Been there, done that... jumping is something EVERYONE should try...
Trust your AME? well, only as far as the runway, then it's COMPLETELY me. Remember, he's not up there with you... I've had some KICK ASS AME's, but I'm still the one flying the Jalopy around...
Freefalling is the best part,the quite of the parachute part is nice and peaceful,but the freefall will get your heart pumping .
Warning sky diving can be extremely addictive,but it is cheaper and healthier than other addictions.
You will never forget the first time ,even static line is good, but freefall is IT .I used to fly naked skydivers occasionally and that was funny .
Warrant issued for former owner of Skydive Ranch
Last Updated Mar 22 2005 12:05 PM MST
CBC News
CALGARY – An arrest warrant has been issued for the former owner of the Skydive Ranch, after he failed to show up to testify at a fatality inquiry Tuesday.
I can't believe this. I used to drop for Mercier
Back to the topic of the thread, I was supposed to jump once while I was employed with them, it was "part of the training" as they said it.
I never did it. No thanks.
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Last edited by TTail on Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bravery, bungee jumping and risk-taking
We seem to accept without question that there is a direct correlation between taking risks and life success. But are we bigots about risk-taking?
BY KIRK SZMON
I recently read something along that lines that fear holds us back and is often an excuse.
Well, I won't argue the point.
In fact, I embrace the concept that fear keeps me from doing things such as jump¬ing out of a plane with not much more than a tablecloth tied to my back (see skydiving), lowering my position in the food chain (see hiking in bear country) and gambling it all for a momentary rush (see back-country skiing).
Call me a coward if you will, but I will wear the label proudly.
Why? Because fear keeps me alive. I like to believe that we are an intelligent species. I like to believe that we can learn from the mistakes of others. It is certainly not my intention to second-guess the decisions of those less lily-livered than I, but I'm not sure of the wisdom of using a potential human tragedy as a springboard for a new life of adventure.
As a society, we seem to overvalue risk-taking. Even job ads claim to be seeking risk-takers. I'm not sure how many companies really mean what they say. Surely they aren't looking for employees ready to put the entire organization on the line for the mere chance of a big payoff. My suspicion is that mavericks aren't as welcome, in the working world as many suppose. But risk-taking has so much more cachet than measured action. I would suggest that generally speaking, risk-taking is not profitable, unless you're a Las Vegas casino owner. They know there's a lot of money to be made at the expense of the multitude of gamblers playing the odds.
Our perception may be distorted because the media hails as examples those who have risked and won. Extreme sports seem to have a particularly coveted place in the hearts of many. We laud those who take risks for the sheer enjoyment of it, but this admiration doesn't transfer to all risky activities. Who idolizes the smoker risking his or her long-term health when they light up for the pure pleasure it brings them? Let's face it, as a society, we're bigots about risk-taking.
We also seem to accept without question that there is a direct correlation between risk-taking and life success. I still hold that the old standbys of a good education and hard work are probably the real determinants of future success. Not to mention less controllable factors such as one's connections and luck. Let's be honest, isn't it really a solid academic education that predicts success not the fact that one rock-climbed on a field trip?
It is also important to recognize the difference between bravery and risk-taking. How many people's lives and, indeed, the freedom of many nations are owed to men and women who put their own lives at risk for others in acts of-individual and collective heroism? More than can be thanked in the few words of this essay. The difference is that bravery is selfless. Pushing one's personal limits by, say, bungee jumping is an act of personal ambition and often ego.
Risk-takers will tell the less stouthearted, hearted, like me, that there is risk in just living. True, there are risks in everything we do. I am not advocating locking oneself up in one's home rarely to venture out or never to remove one's training wheels. But there are degrees of risk and degrees of avoidance. Crossing the street contains some degree of risk but it would be difficult to go through life without crossing a street. It is considerably less difficult to go through life without skydiving. Besides, if life is risky already, why tempt fate by piling on even more?
Don't get me wrong. Go parachuting and white-water rafting if you want to. Just don't try to tell me that the risky choices you make somehow mean that you are living a fuller life. A full life can be built on the simple personal pleasures almost too mundane and numerous to list: full moons, laughter, fresh blueberries ... And I should think when most people take the time to reflect seriously on what brings the most meaning to their lives, it would be the ordinary joys and shared moments with family and friends such as waking up next to someone you've shared a life with, not the time you jumped off a bridge with elastic bands tied to your ankles.
Ultimately, we make our own decisions about the risks we want to take in life. I'm game for new experiences, but I'll limit them to trying an exotic dish or getting on a Ferris wheel. It is unimaginable for me to consider risking all life’s simple pleasures for the superficial rush achieved by participating in an extreme sport. Nor do I like to consider the possibility of leaving loved ones behind and persuade themselves that the pursuit of danger made my life more meaningful.
I recall someone on television once saying of a friend who died mountain climbing that he died doing what he loved to do. He loved tumbling down a mountain slope and over a cliff edge? Because that is how he died. How would he respond if he was brought back to be asked if the excitement of the climb was worth the loss of everything else life had to offer, including watching his children grow up? I wouldn't presume to answer because it isn't really any of my business.
I just hope that when people make whatever choices they make in life, that they are clear about the full cost of what is being risked.
And we should be mindful that, within reason, we have a responsibility to our loved ones and ourselves, to stay alive.
For me, the enjoyment of life can be found in the small and everyday things. Let's not discount them. They may not have the flamboyant and obvious thrill of heart-pumping danger but they make for a full life and heart just the same.
I am soooooo looking forward to jumping the King Air and Twin Otter this weeeknend with my girl....OH YA gots to love FREEFALL!!!!..
BTW i have the video to prove that too..... ...time to take the pilot hat off and put the skydiver rig on...oh ya.....I'm just a little excited.
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When your life flashes before your eyes, will it be interesting?
I get the feeling that the author of the above article will live a long, but terribly boring life. Everyone has to die sometime, and personally I'ded rather die in a plane crash, skidiving accident, getting eaten by a bear, or caught in an avalanche, and dying with the knowledge that I went for it and lived life to its fullest than living for a long time followed by wasting away in a bed somewhere needing someone to feed me and change my diaper and thinking about all of the things that I might've done, had I gotten off my ass, taken the risk and done it. No one was ever great, or even good who didn't take risks, I'd rather have one second of greatness than live a lifetime of mediocrity.
But of course thats just me
Planes
P.S. Skydiving looks like a hoot, if I can get some cash together I really want to try it this summer
don't knock it till you've tried it, guys. I did find it fairly fun................and would get back into it in an instant if I had the time, money.........
jumperdumper wrote:There is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane....
Yea...and there's no such thing as a perfectly good parachute.
That's why we carry two.
Did a hopnpop and a sitfly (progression) dive today- downwind landings are fun: you can slide soo far on grass during the swoop. Woohoo- hook it low, flare late, swoop long- good day.
Be careful with the hook turns gents (and ladies) Don't add your name to the list of people who hooked just a little low looking for the good run across the swoop pond or grass. Skydiving was a blast...
I don't really know about being an "adreneline junkie" or anything, I jump too....cuz it's fun. I do it solely for that reason.... cuz it's fun.
I've been jumping longer than I've been flying. I pack my own gear (including my reserve), maintain my own gear etc... only had 3 malfunctions in all my time and all were attributed to the old-fashioned crap we used to jump back in "the good ol' days" (aka late 70's and early 80's). For those of us who used to jump then, those good ol' days weren't all that good.
My idea of having fun is flinging myself out of a perfectly good airplane, someone else's idea of fun is playing checkers. Can't say that would be for me (checkers that is), but I'm not going to speak down to the checker-player for not doing what I'm doing. If you're interested in jumping, definitely do it, but do it for yourself because you want to do it. The world will never be the same after you have seen the world from a skydiver's point of view.
I worked as a skydiver driver for a couple months a few years ago. Never tried it, probably never will. Head down free flying and RW looks like a hell of a lot of fun, but I'd rather do that kinda stuff in an airplane.
For some flying I do wear a parachute, but it's either gotta be burning really bad or broken broken beyond the point of getting it on the ground before I'd consider it.
5,000 people jumped out of my airplane in 3 months, 1 who was a friend splatted. I just don't consider that to be good odds.
Yup, I did a lot of leaps on Para Commanders. Even got a few on Pteradactyls... that was one scary piece of nylon. I was never much of a fan of front-mounted reserves, especially the ones with no pilot chute.
Remember the good ol' 2.2 oz strato star??? (ouch!)
...time to take the pilot hat off and put the skydiver rig on...oh ya.....I'm just a little excited.
