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Bienvenido, mi hermano de cielo! (I hope that's right, it sure sounded good). Arrive Safely John

Thanks for stepping up, and welcome!

1) I am not a freeflyer 2) I have seen the program 3) I did not intend to "sell" our DZ's way of doing things, rather my point was that following an established order that creates sensible separation serves having anough airspace to create necessary separation for deployment. I have no energy on either one (ff first or ff last). I have seen it done both ways. To my knowledge, we have had no incidents @ Raeford with the exit order I listed. I will bring it up with our S&TA since you have now piqued my interest!!? Thanks. Arrive Safely John

We use a basic exit order at my DZ: 1) Freeflyers 2) Belly-Flyers, largest formation to smallest 3) High-pulling solo jumpers 4) AFF Students 5) Tandems Groups always allow a 5-thousand count before climbing out after the group in front of them exits. This allows for a good 8 seconds separation. A full Otter load can easily accommodate the above in two passes. I always make sure I know what altitude the people directly in front of me will deploy at. If everyone is conscious of the need for this exit order, teaches it to new jumpers who don't know it, and help the organizer to assemble it correctly, close calls can be prevented. Arrive Safely John

Make sure you get it on video . . . stills too! I regret not having any of my "milestone" jumps on video. The next milestone for me is 3000, which will come late next year or early 2004. I will make sure and have that one filmed! Let us know how yours goes! post the pics! Arrive Safely John

I'll be in Tucson 01 - 15 December, and will be at Eloy during most of my free time. Good to see you back. Arrive Safely John

I am hearing you say that smoking now would only satisfy your mind. You are actually honoring your body by staying smoke free. Every day you go without a cigarette adds a little more to your life span, so you'll be around longer to tell us your elaborate skydiving stories while rocking together on the front porch. I'll bring the Moon Pies, you bring the RC Cola! Hang in there! Keep us posted! Arrive Safely John

Welcome to these halls of infinite knowledge (not!) We're glad to have you! Be safe on the road and in the skies . . . c ya!

I you believe that your choice to not drink alcohol serves you, then I champion you for taking a stand. Choose is a very strong word, and you used it. To me you show up as coming from a place of strong integrity in this decision. There are some great parties at my DZ. I choose to go home after a beer or two, way before the scene gets wild and crazy. I choose this because I have a wonderful family life, and I get to have balance between skydiving and home. Nobody puts any pressure on me for that because they understand who I am. Arrive Safely John

In order, Scottish, English, Irish, and Creek Indian. Arrive Safely John

Welcome Lori! Y'all did a great thing at JFTC. More power to ya! Arrive Safely John

Welcome, and congrats on your inaugural skydive(s)! (Case of beer). Sooo, finish your last couple of AFF jumps before your DZ goes into hibernation, then come down to Raeford and we'll finish you up!

Welcome! I am seeing that you get to have balance in your life; to have your skydiving life and your academic life as well. It will all pay off big in the long run, so stay healthy and hang in there! Arrive Safely John

Welcome, Jaco! We're glad to have you here! Arrive Safely John

I am in Tucson 01 - 15 December. I plan to be at Eloy as much as I can during my free time. See you there! Arrive Safely John

Here is the info WildBlue spoke of. What are you after specifically?? Arrive Safely John

A gentle correction . . . it's 12 years and 3 months from the DOM. CYPRES News - Feb 02 Arrive Safely John

[bold]Long Spot Recovery:[/bold] My personal method is to use a wee bit of rear risers to flatten my glide and cover more ground. I have done this with everything from my Sabre2 190 to a tandem canopy. Depending on how many acres of ground the hazards cover below me, I make my decision by about 1500 feet whether to shoot for the landing area or take an alternate. Another good trick is to use anything that throws off a lot of heat and thermals, roads, taxiways, runways, dark patches of trees, etc., flying over them to catch the thermals and stay at your current altitude longer. Remember not to get over any active runway at or below your DZ's pattern altitude, or any specific altitude your DZ specifies. It's safer to land out than to try and float down and active runway at low altitudes. [bold]Turbulence:[/bold] My home DZ of Raeford, NC is home of the "Raeford Dragon." A screwy wind phenomenon that is not kind to canopies in the air on windy, especially gusty, days. Those of us who respect the Dragon choose to land out near the windsock where the air is much less subject to turbulence. On days like that, those who choose to land near the beer line usually end up washing their jumpsuit when they get home while soaking their sore landing gear in the tub. For me, it's worth the extra walk to stand up softly. Arrive Safely John

The AFF/I's position during the entire skydive for EVERY AFF jump is within arm's reach. Of course, on later levels, when major maneuvers are going on (backloops, tracking, etc). The student needs a little room. Otherwise, it's within arm's reach - especially at pull time. The Main Side AFF/I leaves when the pilot chute launches, turning toward the head and tracking off at 90 degrees. The Reserve Side AFF/I remains in place and rides through the deployment, basically letting the student pull out of his hand. He then turns toward the head as well, and moves out at a 90 degree angle. All of us are taught to rotate slightly toward the feet as the ripcord/pilot chute is being pulled, to avoid getting punched in the face as the right hand comes out, and from getting kicked in the face as the student's feet come up and forward during deployment. This is also why the AFF/Is leave turning toward the head. Ditto on chasing them below 2000 feet. I make it clear to all my students that it is their responsibility to pull the ripcord. The AFF/Is are there to ASSIST. The AAD is there as a mechanical backup only. Great question! Arrive Safely John

I think you left off a zero there, mate! (2000 feet) Arrive Safely John

6*:3:0 *Numbers of times I had "Happy Birthday" sung to me.

The first was my wife, 12 years ago. All I got was "yeah, maybe sometime." Then I went off to an Army leadership school for 8 weeks and she learned AFF while I was gone. I found out she had started after she had already made three jumps: "Guess what I did this weekend!?!?" After our first child was born she stopped jumping (52 jumps) but made a tandem with me this year. I'm gonna talk her into a recurrency Level IV next, and when she shows up for it she'll have her own gear, which I will have already bought her used. The next was my friend (like a sister) Jo. She always said: "no way." I didn't push her, just kept sharing my joy of skydiving with her and became closer friends. She made two tandems with me this Summer and will start AFF in the Spring. Arrive Safely John

Years ago, and not so much now, harness/container popularity was quite regional. I went to The Blue Sky Ranch in Gardiner, NY in 1991, and there were a TON of Racers. I went to DeLand in 1993 and saw a lot of Vector IIs, at Z-Hills, I saw a lot of Javelins, and at Perris I saw a lot of Talons. I'm sure a lot of this had to do with the manufacturere of the rig being close by in some instances. My advice to you is, look around and see what the majority is. What rigs do you see in pictures in Parachutist and Skydiving Magazine? What rig dominates your DZ? Here at Raeford it is Javelins & Odysseys, followed closely by Mirage G3/s and G4's. What rigs up for sale on the internet classifieds and eBay are selling for top dollar and holding their value? What will you want to be doing with the rig? Some rigs are better suited for some disciplines. Do some research and find the "National Gurus" in your particular discipline and email them for their opinion. Now on opinions . . . everybody will have a strong one on their favorite rig. Some may have strong opinions against rigs too. My personal choice was a Javelin Odyssey. To start with, I have been jumping a Javelin as a work rig for 7 years. I also know the folks at Sun Path personally, and they are not only incredible folks, but their customer service and flexibility to negotiation on features is great. The Javelin and Odyssey is TSOd to C23d, which means they have been tested to 360 lbs and 200 knots (placarded at 300 lbs and 170 knots). It does take some particular nuances to pack the reserve correctly (stowing the pilot chute fabric), but many rigs are this way. Javelins have had some issues with tuck tabs not staying closed, mostly from packing, but the new design tabs seem to tolerate a more flexible range of packing styles. Price? For me it's simple . . . you get what you pay for in this sport. Hope this helped?!?!?

Pssst . . . it's my birthday too! 38 and counting! I'm in the Army though . . . I heard the food was better Arrive Safely John

Most people that have had that reaction with me have issues of their own that are relfected in those comments. First, they know very little about skydiving; Second, they watch Real TV and the other "no shit, there I was, I almost died" stories, which only reflect a microscopic piece of our sport. Third, because of their own issues (fears??) they box themselves in, believing that they could never do anything like jumping out of an airplane, and seal it in concrete by judging you as crazy or dangerous. I have had the privilege of taking a couple of friends that were just exactly as I described up on tandem jumps and feeling them next to me as they broke through their own fears and shifted to thrill and exhilaration. That was a gift to be able to act as a catalyst for them to stretch. Skydiving is inherently dangerous. I don;t like using statistics, because they can easily be manipulated to the user's favor. BUT, I will say that skydiving, while dangerous to a degree, has an element of safety that many other mundane daily activities do not. Arrive Safely John