CanuckInUSA

Hopefully it is not too much smaller. Plus maybe you should consider trying to get some demo jumps in of the same type and size reserve you have (PD offers this, not sure about the other manufactures). You know while they should not be feared, they do fly different than your main and do you want to be in a tight landing area under a canopy you have never flown before under stressfull conditions? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

$0.25/jump? Why so expensive? Plus no whitepapers whatsoever to tell people what technologies you are using? What about moving forward? What 3rd party tools are you using (database, app servers, etc, etc, etc). Are you using things like Oracle and WebLogic which come with their own licensing costs (hence this enormous $0.25/jump fee) which is obviously over kill for the small transactional business a DZ would need or are you using Open Source Tools? Once again no whitepapers? Who gives a damn about screenshots if we don't know what is driving the software. What about latency? No whitepapers on that either. Just talk of how much per hour you will be charging people for tech support when the software fails to work. Good luck. If there is a market for your software, who knows where it will take you. You're obviously out to dominate the DZ manifest business. It's just too bad the dropzones are not being told exactly what they are buying. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Who's this Harry Potter person you all speak of? Did he do a 270 or something in traffic? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Damn ... you beat me to it ... LOL plus to Jason the original poster ... don't make a big deal out it. It's only a number ... there will be more. Are you going to ba asking DZ.COM what you should do everytime you are making a ??00 jump? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Of course tracking is made easier if you are tall and lanky versus short and fat. But if someone wants to become a good tracker, they need to practice tracking. Not belly fly or freefly. Anyone up for a tracking dive? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

We definitely need to get everyone into the mindset of visualizing the patterns before they get on the airplane ... everytime .... not just when they visit a new DZ. Sure the weather changes and optimal landing directions can change from when an airplane was loaded. But when people have a plan before they even jump, they are less likely to be surprised and more people will be on the same page meaning more people are flying the same predictable pattern. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If you're at a small Cessna DZ it is not as critical to be on a hop n' pop load since at worse you only have 5 other canopies in the air (unlike being at an Otter DZ with 21-22 other canopies sharing the sky). The important thing is to have specific canopy control goals to accomplish on each jump to help you progress as a canopy pilot and hopefully you also have access to more experienced people who can help you plan out these canopy control goals as well as observe you in flight and observe your landings. Read "Parachute and it's pilot" but also seek out canopy control coaching. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey we're just trying to be popular. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The rest of the world is completely retarded about the US. Walt Damn skippy. It's only the general feeling about Bush and Cheney that we all seem to agree on. ROFL ... this thread is destine for the SC before the day is out. Just know all you SC people ... I posted in it while it was still in the Bonfire (I'm trying to stay away from SC ... at least for today). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

One only needs to look at the history of England and it's monarchy to know what a##h###s they are. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I really don't know what to make of all of this. I am happy to see that Todd Spillers (who is a competitive swooper and a DZO) was there and while Frank Casares isn't a swooper, Frank has done a lot for the swooping world these last 2 years. But there doesn't seem to be much of anything other than to say "yes we know fast canopies and slow canopies" are not compatible landing together in the same space at the same time. I am a tad concerned to hear that Larry Hill seems to take the stance that swoopers are causing all his canopy related fatalities (which we know is not the case). But if Larry doesn't want us at his DZ, he doesn't want us. What can we do? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I am only going to talk about 2 countries since they are the ones I know the most about and please before you flame me know that I am talking about the masses and not individuals here. 1) Americans are "arrogantly ignorant" about the rest of the world. 2) Canadians are "ignorantly arrogant" for how the feel they are superior to the rest of the world. Carry on ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well to get this thread back on track ... if someone wants to be a better belly flier, they need to dedicate jumps towards falling on their belly. If they want to be a better freeflier, they need to dedicate jumps towards freeflying under the pretence that they first need to know how to proficiently control their bodies on their bellies. And if someone wants to be a better canopy pilot they need to dedicate jumps towards canopy control and take themselves out of the confusion and chaos (sorry kitty) of the regular loads. CReW with the dawgs and/or one-on-one coaching with a knowledgeable canopy control coach are the way to go here. People are only hurting themselves (and possibly others) when they try to learn this sport through trial and error. With all that said, you won't see me turning points with Airspeed (or even instructing as an AFF instructor) or you won't see me being invited on any bad ass freefly jumps cause I just have not been dedicating my jumps to freefall any more. I want to swoop and the only way I seem to have success in swooping on virtually all of my jumps is when I take myself off of regular loads and stick to low passes and/or high pulls. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

So you have control of the delays the people exiting after you take? What super-human skydiving powers do you have that I am not aware of? I totally understand what you are saying but for some reason I seem to have found myself back in SC even though I was trying to avoid that place today (where all we can agree on is disagreeing with each other). I guess my point of trying to communicate with the other groups before the airplane even takes off was lost again. I should quit my freaking job and get a new one where I am not near a computer. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

ROFL ... she will get my attention any day of the week. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I sure hope any people exiting after you know this, cause if they don't you are just asking for trouble if there is any sort of freefall drift by you ... or them. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What ChaosKitty was saying makes perfect sense. Let me dumb it down for you. Jumping, period will make you a better skydiver. Now it's unfortunate that the message I was trying to protray was lost within the first few replies. That's okay folks. I've got this really gnarly 22/23-way hybrid we should all try. This way the belly fliers and the freefliers can all play together (we'll get the hangers to drop off at 3k and the base can suck it down to 2k). Of course there is no need to plan what we should all do under canopy and who should be trying to land first setting a direction, who should chill in brakes and who should sequence themselves into the middle of the pattern. Cause the only thing that matters in this sport is that we have fun in freefall right. Edited to add: I am glad Chaos did mention something about canopy control in her last response. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I agree 100% ... now if only we could convert some of the freefall specialists into becoming better canopy pilots. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Trying to be popular of course ... LOL ... and not doing a very good job of it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I disagree. There ... see you would fit in well in the Speakers Corner. Now as far as this forum is concerned ... just scream out "Look at me" ... "look how freaking popular I want to be". Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

"The Bonfire" is like a freaking high school popularity contest while "The Speakers Corner" is nothing more than a place where the only thing people can agree on, is that they disagree with each other. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I agree flaring with one's rears is a leap of faith if you never use your rears. But part of learning your canopy up high is to get used to the feeling of the imminent stall. If people continue to ignore their canopy control responsibilities, we will continue to have these sort of threads and these sort of incidents where people are not comfortable flying their canopies in all scenarios. Two summers ago at the bridge in Twin Falls I had a brake fire on opening (stupid packing mistake on my part) on a sub terminal slider off BASE jump. I did not hesitate one second and I threw the other control line away and proceeded to fly my canopy on rears and stood up the landing on the beach (sort of like a mini-swoop under a BASE canopy). But I fly my rears on virtually every jump I make be it a small pocket rocket or a large BASE canopy. It's all about knowing the performance and stall characteristics of the canopies you fly. We just need to know that the canopy will stall at a high airspeed when flaring with the rear risers. People need to start dedicating jumps towards canopy control. This attitude of let's just wing it under canopy needs to stop. I would not hesitate to land with my rears if a control line broke on my JVX. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Chase your dreams … and don’t let the nay’sayers get in your way. However try and keep those dreams realistic and take baby steps towards seeing them become a reality. To not do this sets yourself up for disappointment or something worse in the less than safe sport of skydiving and more than dangerous sport of BASE jumping. There are two types of skydivers out there. The ones who have money to jump, and then there are the poor ones. Now I am envious of my full-time skydiving brothers and sisters who jump everyday while I sit in an office waiting for the next day I get to jump. But for many of these full-time jumpers, they live a life of … well I don’t want to say it but here goes … poverty. Plus many of them do not have things like health insurance and if they get hurt or sick and can not jump, they lose their ability to make money to eat and pay their expenses. It’s a personal choice that works for some and not for others. Also, there is nothing wrong with wanting to make skydiving and BASE jumping videos. But know that the market is very small (the whuffos of this world don’t really care about our work) and there is no shortage of extremely experienced jumpers who have access to the bad ass footage people want to see that you won’t have access to for thousands and thousands of jumps from now. Finally … do not … I repeat … do not rush into BASE jumping. Make sure you have your shit in order in knowing how to fly a large accuracy style canopy and know about gear and rigging before you get into BASE. BASE jumping is an order of magnitude more dangerous than skydiving. Good luck … chase your dreams … but keep them real and have a back up. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

ROFL ... WTF did you post this in the swooping forum? Yeah it's the swoopers who cause all the problems out there huh? Go ahead and say it ... ban swooping and all the problems in skydiving will be solved ... except that there are still far too many people out there who are clueless as to how to fly their damn canopies. Don't worry dude ... I've got this gnarly 23 way hybrid eveyone is just dying to try. Let's just wing it. It's all about the freefall isn't it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

okay ma'am whatever you say. Nice pics by the way. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over