Skydiving

[Guest KoolKat]

At Corpus, you have to sign the high-risk activities form to go home and sit on your ass for a weekend.

If you can't focus for 1 year, without doing potentially stupid things, don't skydive...Just survive slackademics and on your dollar ride get to the MOA and punch out, good riddance.

[Guest sleepy]

I second the punching out statement. You jumper types sure do have fun. Please jump away from airports, though. It's bad enough with all the morons in their skyscooters blabbing on the radio while not looking out the window. For the ladies, feel free to play naked dodgeball between the T-hangars all you want, though.

[HerkDerka]

Originally posted by FallingOsh:

but getting hurt after UPT or anytime in your carreer isn't any different. You wouldn't be dropped out of the Air Force, but you would still be forced to sit on your ass for several weeks not flying.

Wow. 100% incorrect.

The Air Force doesn't give a crap about you until you have your wings. If you were to have a bad injury, at a minimum you'll go DNIF for a long ass time. But there's also a real good chance you could be pulled from training. Why do you think you have to do so much medical screening prior to training? It's because the AF wants to find any little problem you have and exploit it before you waste a cool million from Uncle Sam's pocket.

"Attrition is not our goal" may be what the flightline tells you, but it sure isn't the same for the med group. Medical DQ is the number one reason for guys washing out of UPT.

Just think about it this way. A huge break in training is not good. At best, you'll sit for a long time working a crappy job and losing training. On the other hand, you could be removed from training. Do you want to risk that with the RIF going on? I sure as hell wouldn't.

A huge part of UPT is sacrifice. If you want to be pilot so bad, you need to be ready to give up your pre-AF life and study your ass off for a year. Friday night and Saturday are for fun, but the rest of the week you study. I'm not saying don't go skydiving, etc. I'm just saying that it is VERY low SA and you're juggling with your career.

HD

[ 08. September 2005, 14:37: Message edited by: HerkDriver24 ]

[DC]

As far as free time in UPT.. I'm at Whiting. We have so much damn free time here we jokingly talk about getting part-time jobs to bring in some more beer and gas money.

[M2]

HD is correct, except it is not a RIF, it is "shaping"...

Seriously, a RIF has different connotations, it is when people are forced out. Right now we haven’t hit that point (yet)...get the full gouge from this AFPC web site or the CSAF's Sight Picture on said subject.

Cheers! M2

[pcola]

Hey, if you're gonna give up skydiving to keep from getting injured, you may as well give up playing basketball, football, racquetball...pretty much anything physical. I'm pretty sure that I was briefed sometime that the AF loses more production to sports injuries than any other problem. Yeah, nobody wants to get injured and risk getting washed, but don't hide in your house and get fat. If skydiving is allowed, more power to you, just dont try to cheat the system to do it.

One more thing, didn't an Ensign die at Corpus last year trying to rig up some kind of parasailing device on the lake? Maybe that's why they are so uptight about the skydiving. Of course, the Navy always has gone overboard on the ORM stuff, could be totally unrelated.

[Login Name]

a buddy of mine is now in nav training b/c he was on the sq's flag football team and broke his collar bone. he went for the play winning, diving catch and next thing he knew his collarbone was busted. after several weeks of going back and forth b/w being dnif and getting in the cockpit he washed out...they were threatening to give him the boot completely from the AF...he was lucky to pull a nav slot. the reason was everybody liked him.

so if everybody likes you, then go for it and do something stupid and maybe you'll stay in if you get injured. if not...atleast you can say you were medically retired.

[FallingOsh]

HerkDriver - I think my post was a little confusing. I meant it to say if you've already got your wings, you would be forced to sit around and wait to heal... If still in UPT, you would likely be washed out and forced to repay scholarship money. My point was that getting hurt anytime in your career as a pilot is bad, but getting hurt during UPT would likely be the end of flying in the military.

Obviously I hurt someone's feelings with this thread cause I've been rated as a 1.

I wonder who it could've been...

[ 08. September 2005, 17:25: Message edited by: FallingOsh ]

[BFM this]

Originally posted by sleepy:

...Please jump away from airports, though. It's bad enough with all the morons in their skyscooters blabbing on the radio while not looking out the window...

During my stint as a skydiver-driver, I became convinced that the little parachute symbol on sectionals meant that you got bonus points for using the marked airport as a VFR checkpoint. The best one was a twin commander that started berrating me on the radio after he flew right through the middle of 5 tandem chutes.

HHmmm, Darwin...

[Guest KoolKat]

"so if everybody likes you, then go for it and do something stupid..."

Not all of us have to go out of the way to make a intentinoal decision to do something stuipd...

Use your "Butter Bar" powers wisely, little grasshopers!

[brabus]

Some jackass in a citation almost caused a midair with our otter a couple days ago. Flew right over the DZ, missed by maybe 300 ft or so...which for me is WAY to close to another plane in that type of situation. I hate incompetent pilots. But after reading this thread, I think I'm definitely holding jumping off until after UPT. No swooping for me :( .

[Champ Kind]

Originally posted by FallingOsh:

My point was that getting hurt anytime in your career as a pilot is bad, but getting hurt during UPT would likely be the end of flying in the military.

Wow, he's a sharp one...

[FallingOsh]

I was clearing up one of my previous posts to HerkDriver. I wanted him to understand I agree with him. You would really do yourself some good by paying attention to the conversation. Plenty of people in this thread (ptwob, ENJJPT IP, BONE Co-Driver) have contributed very helpful information. Even after I wrongfully snapped at TacAirCoug (sorry about that. tired and cranky at the time) he still made good points. You're way too worried about making fun of me and have yet to offer any helpful knowledge you may have.

Flyin - Where were you a jump pilot? Luckily my DZ is small enough that we don't really have to worry about kamikaze pilots. I read about a guy in Florida not too long ago that got his legs cut off at the knee when an Otter hit him with the left wing. He was conscious long enough to land the chute but died on the way to the hospital. Talk about situational awareness. How do you hit someone under canopy less than 1000' off the ground?

[ 09. September 2005, 01:55: Message edited by: FallingOsh ]

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Originally posted by FallingOsh:

How do you hit someone under canopy less than 1000' off the ground?

Easy. Lead him by about 6 mils at 3K SR.

[M2]

If you are going to skydive, then do it will style. Here are some ideas...

Cheers! M2

[Flare]

If you wanna skydive safely, do this!

https://www.flyawayindoorskydiving.com/lv.html

[Guest sleepy]

Just last evening at the local airport/DZ, the jump plane--King Air 90--zoomed down over the canopies directly over the airport then pulled up into the pattern with a half-assed immelman. While doing his antics, someone apparently had problems and landed near the runway, causing a mass exodus from the hangar. The plane had to land short, turning off at the end of the displaced threshold just to avoid whatever was going on.

We never heard if anyone was injured, because the jumpers keep to themselves, for both obvious and less than obvious reasons. Never saw an ambulance, so that is probably good. Point is, though, regardless of how cautious and experienced one might be, it's hard to avoid idiot-induced mishappenings.

[FallingOsh]

Major- Excellent video. The guys out in Arizona are nuts jumping with cars and flying back into a diving airplane.

ENJJPT IP - i really want to try that. it's supposed to be some of the best training available... since you don't have to worry about dying and all.

Sleepy - that's absolutely true. the more jumps people get, the more qualified they think they are to push the limits. 40-50% of injuries and deaths every year come from people doing high speed landing stuff that they aren't qualified to do. Those guys come screaming in through the pattern and F everybody up. You only get one shot at a good approach, obviously, and those idiots put everyone at risk.