ZigZagMarquis

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Yes.

Yes, commercial aircraft are pressurized, but some are better then others... as in, they don't all perfectly keep the cabin pressure the same as "sea level"... I think they have to maintain the cabin pressure to at least "like" 8K MSL... as in the cabin pressure cannot get any "higher" then that, but I'd expect varriations in cabin pressure in-between sea level and 8K... ergo, your ears pop.

... either that or he got his legs out of his booties / legs of his jumpsuit. Some jumpsuits have zips that go all the way to your knees, I gues if you undid them you get get your feet / legs out of your booties and out of the "pants legs" of your jumpsuit once under canopy easily... I've never tired it though, never felt the need to... but my guess would be more likely its an un-zipped wingsuit.

I don't SCUBA, so I don't know anything about "dive charts", "dive computers", how long after SCUBA diving before you can go back up and all that... but the "rule of thumb" I remember from FJC and JM training is you can Skydive & then SCUBA, but not the other way around... i.e., you can go up (ride up in a jump plane), skydive and then keep going down, SCUBA, but not the other way around, you CANNOT go down (SCUBA) and then back up (SKYDIVE)... without a sufficient break in between, but, again, I don't know how long that is or how to figure it... so, sounds like you'd be better off Skydiving on the first day and then SCUBA on the next... but why would someone want to jump out of a perfectly good boat??

Good point... what kills me too though is how "polarized" some DZOs & Jumpers can be on this point and other ones like it. I mean, how many threads are there around here regarding "What if we take off and can't get to altitude for what ever Umpty Ump reason... should I get my money back?" Read any of those threads and you'll find the two opinion camps are pretty... widly... divided. Another example... I've seen DZOs that when dealing with a "problem" customer will be quick... very quick... to say, "Here's your money back, in fact, here's an extra $20 bucks for gas in your car... just there's the door and don't let it hit ya where the good Lord split ya on the way out!"... while conversly, I've seen other DZOs that you'd have a better chance getting blood from a stone then money back from them. Anyway... I wonder how much of this specific incident comes down to... "Do you want to be right... or do you want to be Happy?" Lord knows I've anchored down on some argument, point or what not... but sometimes you've just got to take a step back and smile and nod and say "sucks, sorry, I won't do that again"... finsish out your day jumping, leave, and then decided whether or not to come back. Personally, I find it hard to believe there's a DZ out there with a 4K, hard-deck, for pack opening, even for experienced jumpers... heck I've sene DZs with a "no canopy open ABOVE 3.5K" clause in the waiver or SOPs for expeienced jumpers... but stranger things have been known to happen.

Congrats!!! OBTW.... BEER!!!!

GGirl.. Et All - AFFIs, Fair warning, I'm not an AFFI... but, is there supposed to be a "signal" for main side or reserve side, for that matter, to let the other jumpmaster know, "I'm going to dump the student's main!" ????? I realize this would be "nice" and a "good thing", but circumstances may not always (i.e. TIME) may not always allow for that. Anyway, not sure if it applies here. Other then it happened again on the next dive... Seems maybe there's nothing more here then the other jumpmaster made a decission you didn't like? Why don't you go main side next time? choosing my words carefully here... ... but if y'all hadn't had the student "trimmed out" by the bottom of the skydive, was the top part in any way an AFF that was making y'all "work" for your money? I mean, all of us have seen AFF Level 1s that went so well we were all thinking, "Hey! That's easy!!!"... but on the other hand, we've seen ones that look like the student is wrestling with a greased pig in free fall and the AFF JMs are working their asses off and you'd wonder why they just didn't dump the student out and talk about it on the ground... err... so I wonder, what was going on during the top half of the jump that may have made the JM on the main-side in question be a bit more "anxious" to see the student pull or pull them themselves? Could this be a factor?? Sorry, GGirl, thought of another question... did you (or could you) ask the other JM in question under what circumstances they would have let the student pull, or attempt to pull, assist, etc. rather then just dump them??

Like Flyin' said... it all "depends". I'd charge you $50 (US) for a repack and I wouldn't charge you anything to drop a Cypres into a Cypres ready rig during the repack, but I don't rig for a living. Other riggers / lofts may do / charge differently, doesn't mean they're good or bad. Since you're new to this, I too would encourage you to talk to your rigger / loft where you plan on having your repacks done / Cypres installed and be sure you understand what they do and do not charge for and how much. If you can watch a repack sometime... doesn't have to be your rig... that's not a bad idea either; riggers may charge you a bit of extra $ if you want to "help" though...

... did I just hear the F-WORD !!! ??? !!! BEER!!!! Congrats... now do your next hop-n-pop from a real hop-n-pop altitude... like about 2.5 to 3K instead of the "nose bleed seats"... ... seriously, have fun, be safe.

I'm gald I'm not a DZO... dealing with some of the opinions and attitudes of skydivers shown here would be a monster pain in the ass...

The key words there being "at one point"... I guess its neither here nor there to me or anyone of the Judaism religon if I do or do not think that Jewish = race... OBTW, I don't... I suppose God and I will get a chance to chat on that some day. Easy there Bill... one man's "ah, its just a joke"... is another man's "slur"...

Since before Christ was born being Jewish has meant matrilineal descent from the twelve tribes of Israel. Understand that's the argument towards being Jewish also being a race... ... but does that then mean if one converts from being Lutheran to being Jewish, they've changed their race? ... so one can become part of the Jewish "race" by converting to the Jewish belief? ... but, say, one couldn't convert from being of the Caucasian race to the Negro race, that would be un-doable? ... so how is it that a religon no matter how strongly based in tracing in one's lineage to the tribes of Isreal a race? Actually, we're all part of the HUMAN RACE, period.

???? Did "they" ever develop a version of the C-119 with an in-flight clam-shell or ramp style tail-gate... as in a door in the back that could be opened/closed in-flight? I had thought that was one of the limitations of the C-119 design? That if one wanted to drop stuff out that back, one had to remove the fairing, made of plywood, off the back before take off and fly the aircraft that way? ... made for a noisy, cold and draggy ride, I'm sure. Anyway, here's a pic of a C-119... it is an AC119K version, circa Vietnam.

While I agree that the term "Jewed" is a slur... since when has it been a "racial" slur?? ... as in, since when is the Jewish Religon a "race"? ... or since when have those of the Jewish Religon consider themselves to be of a seperate race? Okay, I know... I'm going to get thumped for dragging this off-topic, so I'll move it to the Speakers Corner or Bonfire... unless Bill kicks this there first...

Finish college. Get a hair cut & Get a real job. ... but seriously, like some have said up post, there is potential to earn extra income around the DZ or you could get a part-time job... not sure if you work & go to school or not, but anyway, remember, you can go to school and have fun, but don't screw up your grades or drop out cause of too much F.U.N., I hate to sound like a stick in the mud, but school should come first, with that, many many more opportunities open up in the future. Good luck.

I too have a lot of trust and faith in PD... I'd better... I'm jumping their mains and have one of their reserves in my Jav... and I've got one hit on it... worked...

I can see your point, but I hope your exhagerating a bit? Can you say, "Pilot Chute in Tow" [sarcasm] ... y'all know what... we could go back to cones, and spring loaded main pilot chutes and rip cords... now that would be more "free fly friendly"... wouldn't it... ??? [/sarcasm]

Its interesting to read this thread and the other ones like it dealing with weather, clouds, etc. and having to get out lower then 12.5 and see the difference in attitute & opinions of the folks that have been around the block a few times as opposed to those who have just toddled to the sidewalk...

Ditto. In a car accident you should be thankful that you are not dead, and not worry about fixing the car or getting insurance information. Just be thankful you are not dead, dont worry about anything else! Wether the plane had problems because of neglect or whatever, just thankful u are not dead! Geeze... skydivers... we're a twisted lott aren't we? We'll go spend thousands on a rig, hundreds on what is basically a glorified pair of coveralls... yet some of us will turn back around and bitch at the DZO or pilot when convinced we only got 12,000ft on that last load vice 12,500ft per someone's Alti-2... or... bitch about the price of AAD batteries that need replaceing every 2 or 4 years on the device we want to be impervious to error and there to save our lives if we're unable or forget to... Anyway, this thread and arguements here are a lot like the ones that come up about, "what should happen if we get on the plane expecting to get to 12.5 and the clouds roll in and we only get 9"... or something like that. Ya know what, maybe its just me, but if any DZO wants to not charge me because we had to get out low because of weather or had to get out because #1 shelled out, I'll let them... at the same time... if they want to keep my ticket, so the fuck what, if that 20 to 25 bucks to me is the make or break margin of my personal finances, I probably shouldn't be jumping anyways and it will all just go into the "experience" data base to guide my decissions in similar or like situations in the future. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Ditto.

Rover... IMO... there's nothing wrong with Sunpath's main pin flap set-up on the Javelin. Some up-thread have commented about problems which can happen with the stiffiner in it, especially if the canopy choice doesn't fit well with the size Jav in question, but again, IMO, there's nothing systemically wrong with Sunpath's main pin flap set-up on the Jav... and... "no", I don't work for Sunpath. Anyway, also, its good to ask questions and gather information like you're doing and I encourage you to continue to do so with regards to gear if you're going to continue skydiving... but at the same time, IMO, don't be "sucked in" to thinking that just because some other system or product has the cool new, hip, in-style, "new and improved" bling-bling "feature" that is "better". While this could be true, its not necessisarily true.

I'm a weekend jumper too w/ a real, full-time, work job during the week. Now-a-day's, I'm more in the 200 jumps a year range... ... but once upon a time when work was less involved for me... I was doing between 375 & 425 jumps a year just jumping on the weekends & holidays. I had a run where I jumped every weekend for a little over 3 years... and I do mean every weekend... so it can be done... ... but you do have to abandon all activities whuffos normally do on the weekends.

No offense to skypuppy... but unless you can afford the luxury of marking out your own target away from where everyone else lands, do not use spray paint! We had some ya-hoo's spray paint out a big logo on the dirt right in the middle of where the experienced folks landed for some photo op or what-not. The stuff was vile!. It got all over your canopy, gear, jumsuit, etc and wouldn't come off if you landed on it or even near it....*think, like jumping with smoke*. We avoided it like the plauge for months until it finally wore off and blew away... all the while cursing the folks that did it... DZO couldn't be bothered to drag the target or let us do it. Anyway... sorry for the tangent... pet peave.