Novice Jumper
kas
...speaking of low-bird hot-dog stunts, that reminds me of an incident
I witnessed at last summer's USPA Boogie. I probably told this story, but
it's worth reiterating for it's educational value:
A "hot-dogger" decided to land right next to one of his buddies, who was
about 20 feet lower. Just as the buddy was flaring for touchdown, the hot-dog
cranked a 180 degree turn right into his buddy's wake. When his canopy hit
that turbulent air, it went completely limp, and he and it hit the ground with
a thud from about 15-20 feet up. Needless to say, he did not get up and walk
away. I don't know the extent of his injuries, but I know they carted him off
in an ambulance.
The bottom line is, if you don't try to fight the laws of aerodynamics
(or common sense), you don't need to worry... just have fun, but do it high!
I too endorse Danes' recommendation to do the pee-pee-in-the-pants trick.
You'll be numb with fear the first time you try it, but it will give you an
appreciation of just how fast that canopy can reinflate and get flying again.
It all happens very fast. Just do it high!
*
/ \
|---/---\---| Ken Scofield C-9355
| Gone | Hewlett-Packard PCD
| Jumpin' | Corvallis, OR
|-----------|
{ucbvax!hplabs, harpo, ogcvax}!hp-pcd!kas
Eli Liang
>
>(or common sense), you don't need to worry... just have fun, but do it high!
>
> I too endorse Danes' recommendation to do the pee-pee-in-the-pants trick.
>You'll be numb with fear the first time you try it, but it will give you an
>appreciation of just how fast that canopy can reinflate and get flying again.
>It all happens very fast. Just do it high!
>
> *
> / \
> |---/---\---| Ken Scofield C-9355
> | Gone | Hewlett-Packard PCD
> | Jumpin' | Corvallis, OR
> |-----------|
> {ucbvax!hplabs, harpo, ogcvax}!hp-pcd!kas
...at least until I stalled mine at about 1500' (in a big way) and suddenly
discovered things can sometimes go wrong. A couple cells on one side refused
to re-inflate again sending me into a spin (a mae west i guess) until steady
tugging finally did the trick. I think I almost did pee-pee-in-the-pants
that time...
-eli
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eli Liang ---
University of Maryland Computer Vision Lab, (301) 454-4526
ARPA: eli@cvl, eli@lemuria, eli@asgard, eli@mit-mc, eli@mit-prep
CSNET: eli@cvl UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!cvl!eli