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- - Parachutes!! (http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28616)

Made # 12 since May,that puts me at 998!! Next weekend I'm going to sleep in the Hangar, haven't done that in a while, since the weather has cooled off and be ready for a FULL day on Sunday, if not Saturday!! I may ride down Friday evening!!

Later
Martin!!

Go for the GOLD!

(USPA Gold Wings)

1,000 freefalls gets you the free Gold Wings and a Certificate suitable for framing.

Looks really good hanging on the wall.

(P.S., I'm GW-4445).

Well, after the 999 jump last March leaving me with 11 broken ribs and a severly torn hamstring muscle, I've made 10 more with a new canopy THAT OPENS SOFTER!!!

I made a jump with 6 other FOGS down @ San Marcos, Texas. Here's a link to my FB page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...type=1&theater

Take care & Later!!
Martin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green Light (Post 327527)

Sold all my skydiving stuff in 94 and made my last jump in 95. Had my first spinal fusions in 07. :D

For me, jumping is now a spectator sport.

How did the fusion go?

This thread was reactivated after an 8 year delay.

Question One: How did the fusion go?

Question Two: AmbushMaster, what is your Gold Wings Number?

More importantly:

Parachuting isn't over until YOU say it is over.

RE: Michael Kremar, USPA License D-18 (yes, D-18!):

Quote:

He sustained broken vertebrae after a premature deployment in a Cessna aircraft. (Had to do with three pin main ripcord and jumpmaster position, I’ll tell you about it later). He had Gold Wings (1,000 free fall jumps) and was at 1,994 needing only six more for Diamond Wings (2,000), then an almost mythic achievement. After the surgery to repair his back that required fusing the lower vertebrae into a solid tube, he had the chance to resume skydiving, with this warning: “if you bend it too much, it will break. It may not kill you, but you will lose all body functions below the waist, including some functions you would like to keep.” Mike toyed with the idea of six more water jumps, then said no. He took up the “safe” but then experimental sport of “motorized hang glider” (what we today call ‘ultralight’ and was motoring over the Cumberland River not far from his home when the engine failed. He landed in the river and drowned before he was able to detach himself from his harness.

He was buried without his Diamond Wings.

I'm not smart enough to formulate this, I received it from another source,
but I believe it is true:

"There are only two fears that all human beings are born with, inherent in their DNA:

1-Fear of Falling 2-Fear of Loud Noises.

All other fears are LEARNED (fear of snakes, fear of fire will not develop until
a child is burned by flame, etc.).
But even a newborn human three days old will exhibit FEAR at the prospect of falling or loud noises. No experience needed. It probably dates back to survival of the fittest when our ape-man ancestors feared falling from the safety of a tree to the ground below, and loudness (predators, rockfall, volcanos) = danger of death.

And so it is that if a human being can squarely face up and vanquish those two primal fears, that human being cannot be truly be fearful of anything else that is not a rational or irrational LEARNED fear.

Every parachute jump contains the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises* and that is why Airborne qualification is a good approximation of the resistance to fear sought by military forces."

*Question as I write this. What about British qualification, with balloon drops?
Don't know, never made one. Noise factor?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CSB (Post 652178)

*Question as I write this. What about British qualification, with balloon drops?
Don't know, never made one. Noise factor?

I don't know about British Balloon jump, but static line from Thai balloon in Lop Buri was a bit scary. You can hear the retainer bands being popped as your static line is pulled faster and faster to a 6 second opening. Totally quiet except for wind and retainer band pops along with ground conversation / noises.

Thought I would add this in here....

Quote:

MILITARY PARACHUTES:
Observations on Army and Marine Corps Acquisition Programs
GAO-20-524: Published: Jul 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 16, 2020.

Overall the GAO seems to be positive on the system procurements and programs noting the ability to leverage COTS with minor modification.

It's interesting that they toss in a $150M price tag for replacing "aging" systems. In the grand scheme of military hardware acquisition does that number even make the pie chart?

Link to the full GAO report is HERE