Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > Kit Tips > Professional Gear

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-17-2010, 20:20   #46
CSB
Quiet Professional
 
CSB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 1,159
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).

Last edited by CSB; 06-28-2019 at 15:50.
CSB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2011, 20:16   #47
Ambush Master
Quiet Professional
 
Ambush Master's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DFW Texas Area
Posts: 4,741
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
__________________
Martin sends.
Ambush Master is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2019, 23:34   #48
Little Fish
Asset
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Beach on the east coast of NSW
Posts: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Light View Post
Sold all my skydiving stuff in 94 and made my last jump in 95. Had my first spinal fusions in 07.

For me, jumping is now a spectator sport.
How did the fusion go?
__________________
"Be extremely subtle even to the point of formlessness

Looking for Richard L Vanderzwalm
Little Fish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-28-2019, 16:09   #49
CSB
Quiet Professional
 
CSB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Clarksville, TN
Posts: 1,159
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?
CSB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-29-2019, 09:49   #50
mcarey
Quiet Professional
 
mcarey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen, NC
Posts: 397
Quote:
Originally Posted by CSB View Post
*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.
mcarey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2020, 07:14   #51
Ret10Echo
Quiet Professional
 
Ret10Echo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Occupied America....
Posts: 4,740
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
__________________
"There are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations"

James Madison
Ret10Echo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 13:19.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies