AlanS

One thing life has taught me, is that some people are just very unhappy right down to the core of their very being, and the only thing that will make them happy is to make everyone around them as unhappy as they are. Gibbs seems like one of those people. I've learned that you don't compromise or reason with these people. (it is an emotional state that doesn't understand reason), instead if you can, you get them out of your life. If you cannot get them out of your life, you need to act assertively to neutralize them. (Being passive or ignoring them just prolongs the situation and they keep coming after you.) In the case of Ms. Gibbs, I think Mile-High needs to pursue the money that is owned very aggressively and if it makes sense, to counter-sue. Ms. Gibbs won't stop, that much is clear, so they need to go after her to neutralize her. The best case scenario is the judgement against her grows and she eventually needs to sell her house and move away.

At the very end of this video, it looks like he is pulling in he reserve to prevent it from getting tangled with the main. Is that correct. I wish this video went a little longer, to see what he did with the reserve. I'd like to learn what he did with the reserve while steering the main. Does anyone know some facts about that part of the skydive?

I just love the drumming in this. https://youtu.be/APbogD9uwFU https://youtu.be/_7sT8ep0ct8

As I said in a different thread, "yes" like many others I started "static-line" before tandems even existed. Then took 20 years off, and came back via AFF without doing a tandem. Two points to add to this thread. The idea of someone else being in control of my fate wasn't appealing and I think I'd skip the tandem even if it was available. As a way to get into skydiving, I think static-line has some advantages over AFF and should be offered more. I like that static-line start you off by making you learn good canopy skills first and then eases you into the free-fall portion of it. I see this as a of avoiding the "sensory overload" of your first few AFF jumps. I think for some people AFF can be too much all at once.

I got into skydiving twice. First time I was college in 1980s and just turned 18. I said to my friend "Hey I'm 18 today". His response was "Oh, that means it is legal for you to skydive now. Want to go?". I said "sure", then thought "Wait did I just say that?!? Holy Crap". So, next day my friend and I were on a bus to the nearest drop-zone. Everything was different then. (No tandems, no AAD, round reserve, rip-cord was by our chest - not a BOC). Back then, your first jump was static-line. You let go of the plane, and rope pulls your chute and then you watch the plane just fly away. As the plane flew away it got quite and I thought that was the neatest thing ever. I jumped a total of 36 times in college. When it was time to graduate I was loaded with student debt to pay back. (which I did) and my fiancee asked me not to jump. I agree to stop (which in retrospect was a huge mistake, but in my mind a promise is a promise, so I kept it.) During the next decade, I would occasionally look up at a clear blue sky and think how great it would be to be up there. 18 years later with 2 wonderful kids were we divorced, so after a while of being single I realized I was no longer bound by my promise and decided to start doing again what I loved so much while in college. So when it was my second time to "start skydiving" I skipped the tandem jump and went straight to AFF ground school. When I looked at the equipment EVERYTHING was different. They now had AADs, the reserves were square, the pilot chute was deployed from the back, but most importantly the CUTAWAY HANDLE was now where the old rip-cord use to be. I thought, "Crap When it is time to deploy, I might revert to my old muscle memory and pull the cutaway instead of deploying the BOC pilot chute". My first ride up I wasn't so much worried about jumping out of a plane (even though it had been more than 20 years) I was worried that when it came time to pull the rip-cord I'd revert back to my old way and pull the cutaway instead, so I spent then entire ride up practicing the new deployment motion in my mind. The AFF program went smoothly and I was though without any repeat jumps. Got my A and B license soon after that. It is great to be back.

I think we all do this to some extent. A simple trick to get around this, is to say to yourself "I'm going to do X for the next 5 minutes" and then put on a timer and focus on that until the timer goes off. Then take a little break, and do that again. Sometimes if you have a task that isn't completed on the first pass, do it again after a short break and then if you finish early can add that to your break. Some research that I've seen for mental tasks says the best time is between 5 to 20 minutes. Any task that takes more than 20 minutes needs to be divided into several chunks. (My caveat for that time limit, is it talks about mental activities like programming. I'd think a physical activity like cleaning your back yard something longer might work.)

Down. I agree with this. The beams no the wall show the orientation of the stairs and that the cat is going down.

But 'it' I assume you mean "Brian's method" of packing the PC.

The original plan was used, but I've not had much luck getting one, so am now looking at new.

Cons: You have to remember to cock it every time you pack. It's not a big deal until you forget... Until you forget, or... The first 50 canopies you rent/pack yourself don't have a collapsible PC, then one day you rent/borrow a rig that does and a collapsible pilot chute, and you pack it just like you packed the previous 50. This almost happened to me. I've been packing a chute the doesn't have a collapsible pilot chute. Then on the last jump of the day a smaller chute that I haven't jumped yet became available. Only thing was to make the load with my group I had to pack it quick. So, I start packing it quickly just like I had the other canopies with-out a collapsible PC. .... Lucky for me the person that normally rents that rig, walked by and stopped me a said. "Hey, that chute has a collapsible PC. Let's take care of that right now." Conclusion #1: It is good to have friends looking out for each other. Conclusion #2: Living in a world full of collapsible PCs, it is better to be in the habit of packing them than to be in the habit of NOT packing them. So, as a result, I think I get one that has a collapsible PC and get in the habit of packing a chute with a collapsible PC every time right now, early in my jumping career. This one is more of a personal taste thing. ... I also think that soft handles have more of a tendency to tuck under the webbing than metal handles, but have no data to back that up. Proponents of soft handles will cite the increased risk of snagging on a metal handle vs a pud, particularly in complex VRW formations and at exit. I think that can be mitigated by being careful on your exits and not jumping with people who get grabby... A mini-D handle may be the best choice. I like the idea of the mini-D handle. My concern with the pud, is if you break your hand in free-fall and cannot grip it, you cannot pull it. With a D-handle, even if you can only get a thumb or the remaining stump of your arm, you still have a chance of pulling the D handle. Perhaps that isn't likely enough chance to chose one over the other though.

I currently weigh 190 lbs and am following the chart I see for wing loading based on the number of jumps I have, and trying to avoid the temptation to down-size too quickly. My plan is to use this rig to holds a 190 and 170 main for that process, then get another rig that holds something around 150 (high) and 130 (low) range. When the time comes based on that chart, to get a 150 canopy this rig will become my 2nd rig. I would likely to be part of big way jumps in the future, so when I do my first few jumps at a new DZ I might pull out the rig with the larger canopy, until I feel comfortable jumping there, or if in a big way select the canopy size that puts me in the middle range of the wing-loading for all the rigs on that jump. (I'd want to move at the same speed as the traffic, not be too fast or slow for people in a landing pattern.) So, the short answer might be several hundred jumps.

I'm now at the point of wanting to get a rig, but would like to know what options to consider. The things that are decided are: A container that can hold a 190-170 main, and a 190ish reserve. I want to free-fly, since I'm already doing sit fly in the tunnel. So here are my questions about options. #1) Collapsible pilot chute. yes/no. What's the point of it? #2) Quick opening reserve. Any slow openers to avoid? #3) Silver handle vs. Freefly soft handle for reserve. Does having a silver handle make a difference is some emergency cases?

Thanks for the reply. We enjoyed watching the San Jose stadium jump. Best to you and everyone at Team Fastrax.

I use my GoPro for snorkelling and scuba diving, and think it is great. (I've got less than 200 jumps so not using it for skydiving yet.) I'll post a video or two, so you can see what it looks like. If you don't go too deep scuba diving I don't think you need a filter. The divemaster I was with while in Hawaii did a filter on his though. We went down about 40 feet of that dive, but they go deeper on other dives.

From those who do demo jumps, I'm interested in hearing the inside story of how they are organized and executed. My questions are: If you are jumping into a venue, do you get a chance to practice the jump first with an empty stadium or just look at the stadium and then go? If you are jumping in with a flag, are the first few people down testing the conditions to get into a venue (assuming it is difficult), and then a "go/no-go" decision is made from the ground? If you are in a restricted airspace near an airport, are you in touch with ATC? If you are "across the street" from the airport, do they shut down flights during the jump, and what restrictions are placed on the pattern? Is the demo jump with a flag done from just a normal hop-n-pop altitude or 4,000 to 5,000 feet or is it done lower? -- I'm interested specifically in hearing about the demo jump into Avaya Stadium for the San Jose Earthquakes game on March 23, 2015. I was in the stadium watching with interested. This was for the first game in the new stadium. The stadium is across the street from the San Jose airport. The stadium also has a "U" design, but the roof structure looks rather imposing. In the case of that jump, what was the inside story? Did they shut down landing into San Jose airport? What was the jump altitude? Was the roof and wind conditions at the time a concern?

When I was on Kauai about three years ago the answer was NO. Tandem is the only option on Kuaui. The only place you can fun jump (that I know about is) on Oahu, but only if you have a B-license. I'm sure people that have jump there will be able to answer your questions on this thread. I'm very interested in skydiving in Hawaii, so hope more people join in this discussion.

Wow, 50?! Any pictures? Does this happen on a particular day at LP?

I get it and appreciate it. Was even thinking about buys one or two of Brian's books.

Thanks. I'll keep all this in mind.

That reminds me ... About how long does it take to descend under canopy from 10-12 k? With a single plane, it seems like the time between jumps is about 30 minutes. Would that be enough time to get back on the ground before the next load? I was at Eloy for the first time last week and on that day they had two planes going at once. I'm not going to ask about cross country until I've got some more experience. But I one of my jumps I was impressed with how nice the mountains looked from altitude. How many people do the cross-country jump at Lost Prairie? Are there any other places that do large groups of cross country? I'll need to look at this more. If you can travel along the coast there does seem to be some fields that look like potential outs depending on what is growing in them. (Hopefully not vineyards with stakes in the ground )

Doing a "cross country" jump is on my skydiving bucket list, and I'd appreciate any advice or stories anyone has on planning one. Some questions below. If the DZ owner is OK with it does someone need to inform air traffic control? If many people go, do they need to similar wing load? Any recommended license/experience level? What is the largest group to do this? This is a "someday maybe" idea, I don't plan on doing anything soon. My home DZ is Byron, but I'd also like to try this in Hawaii or Eloy. BTW. I did a search and found a thread about this from a decade ago, so thought it was OK to repost this topic rather than bring back that thread.

Well here in California we are suffering too. I actually had to put the top up on my convertible because it rained last week.

I want to second this. If you are thinking about a digital altimeter you don't want to use polarized sunglasses.

I'm looking for some advice on rental cars and ways to get to Eloy from the PHX airport. I'll be going to Arizona on Thursday morning arriving at 9 AM to jump at Eloy (Thursday and Friday) and for my daughter's swim meet in Chandler (Sat.,Sun.,Mon) during the weekend. I'm thinking about renting a car at the PHX airport and then keeping it until I leave on Monday. But, it seems car rental rates are about 50% more on the airport than off, so I'm considering alternatives. Is it possible, for example, to find a taxi service that gets you down to Eloy and then to rent a car there (hopefully cheaper) that you can return to the airport? Would the cost of a trip down and renting a car a day later day save any money compared to just getting the rental at the airport? Advice from those that have done this appreciated.

I don't think aspiringwriter ever said skydiving was on their bucket list, so I don't think we hassle them for not wanting to do a tandem. No excuse is required. I'm impressed with the amount of research the original poster is putting into this project. If aspiringwrite happen to be near Los Anglese in mid-March it might be worth stopping by Perris on March 14 for the Sisters in Skydiving event. The type of woman that would wingsuit across Niagara Falls would also be at an event like this.