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Meh.....everyone's a critic! And I haven't even read the book yet!

Meh.....everyone's a critic!

I think best is to contact Empuriabrava staff and ask if it's really so and if it is, then why. Unless somebody from EB is on this forum, all you'll get is speculations.

There are only 2 run-in's at Empuriabrava, which is a coastal DZ. One heads inland from the ocean, one heads towards the ocean from inland. I'm assuming that, depending on the run-in and wind strength, normal rules of exit may not apply. Having jumped there (not as a wingsuiter I must add) I've seen tandems, which in the UK at my DZ always exit after fun jumpers, sometimes exit first or even between fun jumpers. When I asked about this the explanation I was given was run in/wind, so perhaps the same applies to WS?

A few comments: 1) Yes, it can be hard to get an advanced license with a small aircraft. I started skydiving at a small DZ with one, then two, then one C182's. We were lucky to get in one "fun" jump (i.e. an actual 4-way) a weekend, and that's only if we showed up at 7am and made sure a pilot was there, too. This is not a bad thing - it means that if you don't get experience you can't get an advanced license. Because you don't have enough experience. Which is how licenses work. Licenses aren't "you've been in the sport for two years and you deserve some recognition" - they are both indications that you've reached a level of experience (based on jump numbers and types of jumps you've done) and that you are ready to learn something new (like getting an AFF rating or learning to do demos.) 2) It sounds like you are saying that it's hard to get experience/freefall time from a C206 that only goes to 10K. Keep in mind that many DZ's only have C182's that go to 8500 - so you have some benefits there. 3) There have been hundreds of thousands of 4-ways launched from 182's and 206's without much increase in risk. If your pilot is uncomfortable with them, then by all means don't do them - but learning to do 4-way is a pretty basic skill. Once you get a new pilot and/or go to different DZ's you'll have that opportunity. 4) There has been no time, ever, when DZ's haven't "been experiencing tough times." And right now we are in the middle of a booming economy. DZ's make money on students, not upjumpers - so losing a few upjumpers to other DZ's doesn't hurt DZ's financially very much. It does hurt them in the long run because those jumpers tend not to stick around. But that's because they have one C206 and a conservative pilot, rather than "USPA makes them leave." As another data point, when I started at that aforementioned one-182 DZ, we'd often go to the Ranch on Mondays (when our DZ was closed) to take advantage of their "$13 to 13,500" deals during the week. We had to, to get enough jumps to get licenses and ratings. And going to a different DZ taught me a whole lot more than just getting some extra high altitude jumps did. It meant I met new people, had new coaches, saw new gear, learned about new aircraft, had to learn new outs - and all of that is critical to someone who wants to be considered an "expert" skydiver (which I believe is what the C license used to be called.) Finally: 5) "Turning even one successful point in a four-way from a Cessna at 10K is a beer-worthy feat!" - Nonsense! Why, one year at Lost Prairie we turned 7 points from 4K! They even wrote a song about it. Although come to think of it that might not be a good feat to try to duplicate . . .

Most mainstream rigs are good, as a first rig I think you should save money on the container as long as it is ff friendly. Rather buy parachutes that are in good condition. Saying that I've flown Volt's, Sabre 2, Pilot and some other canopies. Since you are interested in a Sabre I should mention it is almost the same as the Volt, save the money get the Volt. There is practically no difference. Both fly good and have a responsive strong flare, are a bit steeper and sometimes they just don't open well for no reason. If that does not bother you, you have my answer. I really have no clue why you would pay 1500$ for a 400 jump Sabre 2, when you can get a new Volt for the same price. 7-cells are different in flight they sink faster have a different feel to them which I personally do not like. But they are more predictable during deployment. You mentioned easy landing with Pulse? What does that mean? It is ADVERTISED as that but it comes down to your flying style. The flat glide and low response two-stage flare is very specific and very different. It has less stopping power than it's counterparts. The main thing is you gonna grow out of the first few parachute sizes in a blink of an eye if you jump regularly, so really try to find good value gear at the beginning. You gonna have time to spend big money on CF 3, Valkyrie, whatever later in your skydiving career.

World Meet Z-Hills 1981..... the boogie between competition jumps I got grounded for a low pull (gee seemed normal to me) and Dave noticed that scene. Grinning and on the sly, he pulled off his boogie wristband and gave it to me. "Keep jumping, I'll get another." One of a kind, ol' Dave. Miss him. R.I.P to a good man. In pic, he's on far right in younger days.

Hi Jerry, I think the Mango Mussolini has confused the office of the President with the "country". One can treat the President with disdain while still treating the country with respect. After all, who was it that tried to undermine Obama by claiming that he had a private detective uncover 'shocking evidence' that Obama was not a US citizen? Hmmm.. Who might that have been? And if pretending that the President is not a citizen isn't 'disrespecting' him, what is it?.

To take a stand against the narcissist/sociopath with onset dementia who is doing his damnedest to replace our democracy with a dictatorship, is to stand up for the country.

It's sad. Despite being a veteran you have absolutely no idea what this word really means.

Yes. I have "surrounded myself" with you, Turtle, RonD, RushMC, Rick, Bigun, Coreece and Brenthutch so I only see "like-minded" people. You've figured out the big conspiracy.

War is nearly always a sign of failure. Failure of diplomatic methods, of trade methods, of simply tolerating. It’s a sign that one values human life less than ideology. Saying “it’s the only one we have” speaks volumes about one’s priorities Wendy P.

I don't hate. Not having respect for someone does not equate hate. Maybe draft dodging matters because most of the veterans I know willingly volunteered, showing they had honor. Unlike the current Potus. Having less than zero respect for a lying, cheating, traitor, criminal president is easily understood.

Sad to hear this news. Dave was a great guy. I'll share a story from 2015 when I was getting my senior ticket at Paraloft. There was an attractive young lady in our class who lived in the area and jumped with Dave. He walked up to her one day and said slowly, "I bet you a dollar I can make your tits dance, without touching them." After she indicated some kind of agreement to the bet, Dave grabbed her tits, reached in his pocket and handed her a dollar.

We millennials learned our attitudes from older generations. So anytime you or any boomer/gen-x that raised a millennial, remember, we learned it from you. Anyway, there is no such thing as adding to much context. It is one of the most important aspects of interpersonal communication. Asking "is skydiving dangerous?" is so incredibly vague it is nearly impossible to have a consistent quantifier.

5000... yeah well, I am a student