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HUUUUGE congrats, your Pixieness! Woohoo! Arrive Safely John

The station closest to my house has regular unleaded at $3.31 and has signs posted that they are out of that grade of gasoline. Arrive Safely John

Welcome to the forums, John! There are lots of Michiganders here. Explore and find a few! Arrive Safely John

$3.09/gallon in Aberdeen, NC today. A friend reported that two stations in Raeford are already closed due to lack of gas. Arrive Safely John

Forum Search results Arrive Safely John

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1763440; http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1798517;search_string=aerodyne%20mamba;#1798517 Arrive Safely John

You have one year in the sport. You weren't wrong entering "1" when that was your only choice - it was correct (first year = year one). I have a similar dilemma. My first jump from an airplane was 3 August 1984, a military static line jump at Ft. Benning, GA. I didn't make a sport jump until March of 1985. Compared to the rest of my peers here in the forums, who doubtless consider their first jump from a plane as their start date, I choose the August 1984 date. I don't count my military static line jumps as sport skydives, but I use the date. It's a tangled web . . . Arrive Safely John

I just topped off tonight for $2.99/gallon - more than I have ever paid in my life anywhere in the world. Rumor has it that they are already running out of gas in the NC mountains, and that we may run out later this week. Prices in Fayetteville and Durham are $3.09/gallon. Arrive Safely John

It's usually over the long weekend in November, which this year would be 11-14. I just confirmed those dates from the schedule on their website. I will be at my Mom's house for a visit, so skydive hard for me as well. Arrive Safely John

We love ya girl . . . please let me know if I can do anything at all for you while you're gone. I have PMd you my phone number. Keep us posted. Arrive Safely John

If you have to apologize for it, then it stands to reason you really shouldn't do it to begin with. From the forum rules: I detached it so it will become its own conversation without stepping on the original author's thread. Arrive Safely John

Hi and welcome! To add your avatar, try this: How do I add an icon or avatar to my posts? Arrive Safely John

I visited the Parafun website and received a message that Parafun does not exist any more. A forum search revealed this thread which refers to Basik Air Concept as the company who is building the Advance container now. I hope this helps. Arrive Safely John

Stadium jumps are difficult, but can be done safely if you adhere to a few basic rules. In a true bowl type stadium, the winds on the ground are most often opposite what they are outside the stadium, because of the effect of the shape of the structure. Also, once you have committed yourself, there are no outs. On top of all that, you have all of the spectators you are responsible for. Land in the seats, and you not only hurt yourself, but someone else as well. The PRO requirements are there for a good reason. If you want to make a stadium jump someday, I have this advice for you: -finish your student progression and earn your A License, getting very good at the tasks on the A License proficiency card. -after you have become proficient in the basic skydiving survival skills, work on the rest of this list . . . -learn to spot for yourself and others. This is becoming a lost art, but you can find someone at the DZ who is good at it who is willing to teach you. -get very good at interpreting the weather conditions and using them to your advantage to land accurately on an intended target. When you board the plane, and (especially) again after you open, ask yourself three questions: Wind direction? Wind Velocity? Wind temperature? Know how each of those elements makes your canopy perform and how to overcome extremes of each. -go to school on turbulence. Learn what causes it and what effect it ha on your canopy. Learn what obstacles are the worst for causing turbulence and how to gauge where you can place yourself to be out of any trash coming off buildings, trees, etc. -always choose a target. Land accurately as a matter of course. -don't be in a hurry - master the skills that will keep you and the crowd safe before you tackle a stadium Arrive Safely John

If you had taken the time to answer the question, this person might have seen that it requires a great deal of skill, and may have learned the requisite list of basic skills he should work on if he wants to make jumping in to stadiums a future goal of his. Of course, at 39 jumps, you don't have the experience to answer his question either. Instead you choose to bash him for asking a reasonable question. Nice tactics. Arrive Safely John

I had dropped out of college, was working two jobs and walking everywhere (no car). SFC Ed Dunham, our local Army recruiter, called me and offered me a visit to his office. He showed me several recruiting films, including one about the US Army Airborne School in Ft. Benning, GA. I was in love at first sight. I enlisted shortly afterwards and I'm still jumping 21 years later. Arrive Safely John

Keep the thread on topic please . . . use PMs for messages like that. Arrive Safely John

This article by John LeBlanc of PD on wing loading is a great place for you to start getting your questions answered. There are some other on this page that would benefit you as well. Of course, you can only learn so much about skydiving from reading, so I strongly urge you to share what you have learned from your reading with your Instructors so they can help you apply what you have learned to your own canopy flight and landing performance. When I was a very young jumper, I got some very sound advice - "Don't be in a hurry. Get very good at the basics before moving on to more complex and difficult tasks." Both of those men, Carl Sanchez and Eddy Lopez, kept me from making some very poor decision based on my own ego and cool factor. You have started a very good progression for yourself - asking good questions so that you can decide for yourself. I have said this numerous times before in other conversations - skydivers have to gather information from many different sources, then process it and make an informed decision. For you, your Instructors are critical in this decision making process, because they know how well you fly and land your current parachute, and how quickly you learn new skills. When you have finished your student training, I highly recommend you take a Basic Canopy Piloting Course such as this one taught by Scott Miller at different DZs around the country. Arrive Safely John

I use winter Neumanns for cold days, and I add a pair of OR PL-100 Liners When it gets really cold. The feel is still quite good with the winter Neumanns alone, and slightly reduced with the liners inside (but still not bad). Doing HAHOs in the winter, I wear a pair of Gates ski gloves I've had for 17 years, with liners if the temp at altitude is really cold. Feel is reduced quite a bit, but the gloves have a tacky leather palm and fingers, so am still able to pull any handle I need to. In cases of extremely cold temperatures, you gotta do what you gotta do to stay warm. Arrive Safely John

At Raeford, most people land into the wind. In addition, most people use a left-hand pattern. On occasion some of the swoopers land downwind, but they are usually the first ones to the ground. On days when the winds are nil or extremely light and wildly variable, we will determine the landing direction at the mockup or just after boarding the airplane, to reduce the risk of a canopy landing incursion. Tandems and students always land into the wind. Some dropzones have preset patterns and landing directions. Skydive Arizona @ Eloy, for example, uses a left-hand pattern and an East-West or West-East landing direction for the main landing area, and a North-South or South-North landing direction for the alternate landing area. There are also specific rules about overflying the buildings and the wind tunnel. Tandems and students always land into the wind. This is determined based on obstacles and the predominant winds at that dropzone. I agree that taking note of the wind direction and velocity is a good habit to get into - I have done it for a long time. I would submit to you however that (unless one of the above situations exists) deciding which direction you are going to land before you board the aircraft is not necessarily a good idea. If you already have your mind made up when you board, and the winds change 180 degrees and significantly increase in velocity (happens often at Raeford), you will likely land well long of your intended target with a lot of speed. Food for thought (or for the worms). Arrive Safely John

Congratulations and welcome to the fray. Baggy jump suits: I wear one on 99% of my tandems, despite my large stature and suitable surface area. On other occasions I wear pants and a baggy long sleeved t-shirt. Tandem terminals: I have about 15, with one or two from the student position. Most of those were a part of military training. I won't do one with a first time student. They are a bit hard on the gear, so says Mr. Booth. Arrive Safely John

What kind of tandem system are you jumping? Arrive Safely John

She is married (to the boyfriend she had before me) with two beautiful daughters and still lives in my home state. She still keeps in touch with my Mom. I saw her Mom at my Dad's funeral last year - she now lives in the same NC town as my Mom does. Arrive Safely John

I got it too - about 2:45 this afternoon (EDT). Arrive Safely John

Assuming that it is one of the models built by Alti-2. Arrive Safely John