riddler

Did that - well all except the get rich an retire by 30 part. It's a myth. You have no better chance retiring early than someone with no college education that just gets lucky with their own business. I graduated 3rd in my high school. Top ten percent of a good engineering school. Made good money (still make pretty good money). Started retirement savings at 24. At 31, I'm really no closer to retirement than I was at 13. Moral of the story. Have fun and live to the max now - don't put off going to the DZ or living life because you think if you work hard instead, you'll be able to do it later. You still won't be rich or even retired after working hard and having no fun. When you are near the end of your life, you will judge your life by your experiences. And after you are dead, your in-box will still be full. Oh yeah - the point of this thread. If I had to do it over again, I would've started skydiving when I was 18, just like I wanted to. And I would have taken a HELL of a lot more risks than I did. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

We have no interest in hearing from the president of the Jeff Sands Fan Club But I agree with you - people have different talents with skydiving. I can't fly for shit, but I've always had good canopy control (I'm talking about getting to the peas - not necessarily standing up

Can't say for sure - I was in pretty bad shape when I cut them away. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I have over an hour of tunnel time. Been to the one in Vegas twice. Vegas is the worst one, but I still learned a LOT. I first went there after failing AFF level 3 twice. After I came back, I zipped through the remaining levels with no trouble at all. It is worth the trip and the money. It's worth going to one of the nicer ones (Orlando). I was back there in April and learned even more. Definately worth it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I love cats! I have this to say about people that take their dogs on tandem jumps - chickens. I intend to be the first person to successfully take a cat on a tandem skydive. Got a little chest harness and everything. Sadly, I cannot show you any pics of the cats because I have had to cut them all away :-( So I attached a pic of myself instead. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh, yeah - I guess I should add my own in here - 1:1. One of my role models is TJ McGinly (spelling? - sorry TJ), who has over 1,000 jumps and is still at 1:1. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just want to say that dropzone is a great site. The effort that is put into the site by the owners, moderators, and fellow skydivers reflects their enthusiasm to our sport. I find myself constantly looking at everyone's profile, and I would love to know wingloadings, but can't seem to find it. If it's not already in there somewhere, and if I'm not rehashing a previous suggestion, how 'bout adding it to the "skydiving profile" as an optional field? The downside is, of course, that with main canopy size, estimating 25 pounds for gear, someone would know how much you weigh. Not a problem for me, but some people might choose to not include that. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Everyone else at the DZ just calls him "the crazy bastard that jumps the 60". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hey guys - let's not get gruff with people that are still learning (I'm still learning) and have the courage to admit their mistakes. No one was hurt, so it becomes an educational experience. Will anyone hear swear that they've never done anything stupid out of ignorance that could have got themselves killed? I didn't think so. On my 13th jump, I did my first hop-n-pop on my first pack job Scott - there are some good points here like not jumping with anyone that doesn't have a LOT of experience until you have more solos and not downsizing too quickly. All good advice. But let me give you just one thing to think about to try to improve on future jumps. Many of the problems you had were caused by the bad deployment, which is 90% of the time due to bad body position on opening. As you are reaching for the pilot chute, look at the horizon and make sure you are pointed the same way. As you open and all through deployment, keep flying your body, so that you maintain your heading. Only when the parachute is fully deployed should you think about not flying your body anymore. It's easy to think "whew, the pilot chute is out, now I can stop flying and let the parachute do it's work", but that won't give you good deployments, since your body might start to spin or wobble, causing a bad deployment. Go out solo for the next several jumps and remind yourself why you worked hard to get through AFF - it's fun to just fall and watch the world from 2 miles high. Go back up to 220 - I went DOWN to 220 after 30 jumps, and I weigh 160 - remember you have thousands of jumps ahead of you - no need to rush anything. Practice your body position on deployment - it will make a big difference in everything - confidence, safety, stress - when you have consistantly good openings. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

0:0:0 Picked up a last minute contract to QA a website over the weekend, so no DZ. Girl's in Cali - does phone sex count? And I live in Denver, where you can't buy beer on Sunday :-( Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've heard of this, but I've not been able to get the details! Can someone please explain, in detail, how you go about kissing a fellow jumper in free-fall without knocking your front teeth out? How exactly do you do a kiss pass? Do you hold on? Is there a "hands-off" version? Is anyone else as paranoid about HSV-1 as I am? There have been one or two jumps where on the ground I've discovered huge gobs of snot hanging on the side of my face, which I KNOW came out in free-fall. I've seen it happen to others as well. This could only make the whole "kiss-pass" thing even more dangerous. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I often do two or three way linked exits. For some reason, I have the habit of maintaining eye contact on exit, and I don't think it's a bad thing. But I do have a few friends that I jump with that stare at the ground during exit, and I find myself with the top of their helmet in my face. I don't know if it's better on a linked exit to look at each other or the ground. I think I'm in that habit from RW. My friends say that they are spotting the runway, and eye contact is not needed, since we're linked. Anyone have an opinion on this? Which is better?

I often do two or three way linked exits. For some reason, I have the habit of maintaining eye contact on exit, and I don't think it's a bad thing. But I do have a few friends that I jump with that stare at the ground during exit, and I find myself with the top of their helmet in my face. I don't know if it's better on a linked exit to look at each other or the ground. I think I'm in that habit from RW. My friends say that they are spotting the runway, and eye contact is not needed, since we're linked. Anyone have an opinion on this? Which is better? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I love stories like this! It's kind of like overcoming your own limitations to do the things you really want. There should be a Special Olympics skydiving for people with motion sickness BTW - does anyone out there routinely get sick under canopy? I've never gotten motion sickness at all, and I wonder about it. If so, do you still get sick, or have you adjusted? And has anyone tried dramamine while skydiving?

Don't need an entire sentence - just need one word. Fuck! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh, I see! I was assuming hanger (where I always turn mine on) is at one altitude, while takeoff and landing area (I assumed the same altitude for both) are at a second altitude. So what I was trying to say is turn it on at the takeoff area, and not the hanger. But I see that you are saying the takeoff and landing area can be different altitudes, which is all that really matters from the standpoint of the cypress. It doesn't really care about the hanger (since it doesn't drink beer). In that case, it again makes sense to turn it on near the plane, and not where you land, then adjust for estimated altitude difference. I've seen places where the takeoff/landing area are at one altitude and the hanger at a different altitude, which is why I posted. I've never seen takeoff and landing area at different altitudes, but I certainly believe it's possible - I guess more for demo jumps than regular DZs. But I think we were all trying to say the same thing - in the case of different altitudes, turn it on by the plane, then adjust as necessary. Thanks for helping clarify a fine point. I'm always amazed, given the complexity of the machine, that it only has one button. Must've been designed by Mac users. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Are we reading the same manual? Mine sez this: 4.3 When to switch on or re-set CYPRES measures and locks in the altitude at the site where it is activated. As well as this: When the airfield and dropzone are in different locations and at different elevations, CYPRES must be switched on at the departure airfield and adjusted to the elevation of the dropzone It does sample every thirty seconds for weather changes, but I think it's smart enough to know the difference between pressure changes due to weather and elevation. Something to with delta rate of change perhaps? Those Germans can be pretty smart. Am I missing something here? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think I was doing that at age 8 and up too. Oh, wait! That's a *stick* Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Not a girl, so I can't answer. But I can tell you what DOESN'T get the chicks. I used to be a normal guy - engineering degree, homeowner, six-figure salary, new cars, 401K, stable, yadi/yada. Everything my parents told me I would need in life. Didn't get laid for shit. Don't listen to your parents. Now I'm a punk kid with dyed hair, self-employed at 1/3 my previous salary and spend more money than I earn on skydiving and scuba diving (always live beyond your means - even if you have to borrow money to do so). Fuck the world. I get laid a lot more these days. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My 13th jump was my first hop-n-pop AND my first pack job ;-) Sometimes, I dare fate .... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I do the same thing. I have a little aluminum maglite that I carry in my inner-jumpsuit pocket. After I open, I whip it out and shine it up on the canopy to see if the canopy's OK. Then I hold it in one hand along with the toggle so that it points forward. It can help light up the ground just as I'm landing. One thing that bothers me about this - I would feel terrible if I dropped an aluminum flashlight from 3,500 feet Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Works the same wherever you are. One rare thing that can happen when going to a new DZ - rarely, but it can happen - a landing area might be at a different elevation than the hanger - it might be 500 feet of difference if the landing area's a long way away, so ask the person giving you a briefing if the hanger and landing area are at different elevations. If so, you may want to turn the cypress on in the landing area, and not at the hanger. Don't do it behind the plane, though - the pressure difference with the engine exhaust will throw off a cypress too. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hey Micheal, Yeah - I found that interesting reading after Jeff sent it out, but everyone already knew what a crazy bastard Zweck was. Brush's McNasty doesn't compare. - Phil P.S. - any news on the King Air? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I agree about knowing DZ policy. But something else to think about - don't just jump out when something goes wrong. Wait for the pilot to yell at you to get out. Something may go wrong, but still be a controllable situation for the pilot. If you jump out then, you change CG, which could turn a controllable situation into an uncontrollable one. Try to save the plane and the other jumpers by listening to the captain - it's important for everyone to be quiet here so you can hear the PILOT and not other jumpers that are panicking. Of course, if the cap'n says get out, it's everyone for themselves Screw the whole women/children first thing. Also, keep in mind that if you are below 2000, things are dangerous. There is always a chance that the ground underneath you at any point is higher than where you started. Your altimeter may say 1,500, when the ground is really at 1,000. This is especially true where I jump next to the mountains in Colorado. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Relaxing solves 90% of my problems too. But I also had a Pringles Problem while tracking, and got the best advice from a tandem guy in California City. He said most of the time it's a problem with legs not being extended enough. He said to push both legs down three times - think, one, two, three, as you are extending your legs further each time. I did this and it worked. No more tracking problems. This might work for you. I had problems with legs during AFF (honestly, I still do), so I think it was related. If you've had leg problems, it might be the answer for you. Cheers to Soko in Cal City for the good advice. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD