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People are still wondering why the wall didn't stop this.

It's all under control. In a few days it will just go away as if by magic.

Similar situation as you as I came out of retirement after leaving in ‘00. I have several thousand jumps and worked full-time as Tandem and AFF-I. The last canopy I owned was a PISA 97. Coming back I thought of at least one death and two more who smashed themselves up with low turns. All three were people coming back after a long layoff who made a dozen or so jumps and felt like they had their old swooping skills. They didn’t. Before coming back, I focused on the fact that most skydiving injuries and deaths occur under a perfectly functioning/flying canopy and that minimizing risk is my top priority. I decided to advise myself as if I’m someone with 50 jumps. How high would I advise them to pull? What canopy would I advise them to jump? What type of skydives would I recommend they do. Like you, I took a refresher course and made a couple coach jumps with an AFF-I. Everything came back under canopy and landing w/ student gear was on target and uneventful. After a half dozen jumps, I moved to a Spectre 170 that puts me at a 1.25 WL. All approaches are student pattern with no more than 90* turns below 1000’. So far so good. For the near future, I plan to just look at the canopy as a life saving device. Good luck and welcome back!

I came back at a similar experience level. Not the same canopy issues, as I'd quit jumping when they were bigger. It took very little time for freefall skills to come back to very close (except that jumpsuit had changed so much). It's taken longer for canopies, partly for personal reasons (not-great depth perception), and partly because canopies also changed so much. I'd start by renting (I'd kept my old gear, so it wasn't an issue), and consider staying at 1:1 to 1.2:1 or in that range for 30-50 jumps; you'll feel good before then, but it's better to feel good all the time, than not feel good once right after downsizing. Then you'll have a pretty good idea of where you want to be, and can go there faster rather than super incrementally. It might mean buying a not-freefly-friendly or not-cool-colors rig to re-current on, and then passing it on as a deal to a student, if you can't get a loaner. Consider the cost of renting gear for a similar period, and deduct it from the cost of transition gear, that way it won't feel like nearly as much money. Wendy P.

. . . then democracy dies. When a despot can ignore votes he doesn't like, then we no longer have a constitutional government. We have North Korea. (Hey, 99% of the people in North Korea who they counted voted for Kim Jong Un!) And to think you once pledged to uphold the US Constitution.

I agree. Which is one reason I think the comparison between them just doesn't work. I think some gun rights advocates use it because they look around and see lots of cars, and almost everyone has one - so they think "guns should be like that."

Naw, just a view of debate as a means of scoring points, rather than exchanging actual information. Wendy P.

All the sincerity of a Christian.

Sad

I came back from a 25-year break. The moment I first jumped from the aeroplane my freefall skills were back, like riding a bike. However I was like a beginner when landing the canopy. It has taken me a long time to sort out the landings. Eventually discovered it was because I had spent the last 30 years sitting behind a desk. Sorted it by going running regularly with sprints and then practising jumping off a 2 to 3 foot wall and land running.

Given that your freefall skills came back pretty quickly in the tunnel, I'd guess that your canopy skills might do the same. But given that you're 20 years older, you might want to consider staying on something a bit 'more age appropriate' (bigger). However, that's really not something you need to worry a whole lot about. They're going to start you on something pretty big. Depending on the rental/student gear selection, you may be able to go down to a 150 if it seems appropriate (some places have 150s for qualified visitors or really small students). Otherwise, you might be able to borrow a smaller canopy to see if it's where you want to be. As far as logs & numbers go, I'd just be as honest as you can. You say 'about 1100'. How confident are you in that number? If it's 'fairly' then start your new log at 1101. If not, maybe 1051 or 1001.

Having Congress throw out any of the certified votes would require a majority vote in the House. Which is still controlled by the Democratic Party majority. So even if your treasonous friend make such an attempt, you still lose. The REAL patriots are now in control.

Why are white people always so frightened of the colour black?

Actually people do scream about car deaths. (Have you ever been to a MADD meeting or a community meeting over a new highway in town?) But to your point - death tolls are indeed similar, and dead is dead. So let's treat them similarly. You make an excellent argument there. All gun owners have to register their guns if they take them off their property. Just like cars. They must have a license to use them, just as with cars. They must carry insurance if they carry them into any public areas, just as with cars. The insurance company can decide how much to charge you based on your past history, training classes, mental health eval and the like. Special discounts for people who submit their mental health assessment! Cars have several mandatory features to reduce deaths. Let's add them to guns, just as we add them to cars. A biometric sensor to ensure that only the owner can use the gun. A remotely readable RFID so police can quickly determine where they are. Most gun owners claim that their guns aren't used for killing. So give them vision systems that will not allow them to be used against people. Unless you override that, of course - as long as you have the right license for that. Different licenses for different weapons, just as we have different licenses for different vehicles. And of course we have strict limitations on where cars can go. No cars inside airports, schools, courtrooms, stores or the like! Have storage areas for guns outside those places, just as we have parking lots outside of those places for cars. As you have said, people screamed about car deaths. One of the reasons they are screaming less is because of the regulation around vehicles, regulation that has greatly decreased automobile deaths. As you say the two are very similar - so it will work with guns, too. I support your efforts to treat them similarly.

This one hurt. Mark was great jumper, fantastic pilot and an even better person. He is missed. More cowbell Mark.

I haven't hit the boogie circuit in a few years, but I will remember Mark from many of the awesome trips I made when I was a newer jumper. He was welcoming, fun, an all around great guy. He was also one hell of a pilot, and he did a great job getting us to altitude. Blue skies.

I'm surprised they let your friend jump at all. At one dropzone there were two young women who were treating the entire class (with other students) like it was just a wild hoot. The instructor (also a woman) came over and told them to go back to the office and get their refund, she was kicking them out of the class. End of story. Considering that this is a sport that can actually kill someone, I think instructors have a duty to not allow a student to jump if they just don't get it or act like they just don't care.