JohnMitchell

I think that's a great question. My answer is "because the FAA won't LET us." And that's the truth.

What kind of plane are you jumping from? The physics of it are this. When you leave the plane, you're just beginning to fall downwards, so on a vertical vector you're weightless. However, because you hopped from an aircraft flying across the sky, the wind drag, as it slows you down, gives you an acceleration along your horizontal vector which feels like gravity. Not only is the wind relative when you first jump out, so is the "gravity". "Straight down" is somewhere towards the front of the plane first few seconds out the door. The faster the plane, the more you feel this horizontal acceleration. This quick shift of your gravity vector may be a little disorienting at first. BTW, this is why skydivers pay extra $$ to jump from hovering helos and hot air ballons, to get that funny-stomach weightless feeling for a few seconds. We don't get that when we jump from airplanes. It's also a lot of your perception. You say 10 seconds? Even jumping from a stationary balloon you'll be at 90% of terminal in 7 seconds or so. Relax, breathe, smile, enjoy. Make some more jumps and you'll soon be quite used to it all.

After opening, I have the passenger grab the steering toggles and let them, with my assistance, fly the canopy. Being in control of the turns seems to help most people. I'll also ask them before doing any big spiral turns and gauge their reaction. This gives me info on their state of mind and comfort level. Some love it, some hate it; the customer is always right.

I've seen an owner or two jumping museum pieces. . .

If this is for a lawsuit, find one and weigh it. Scientific method at its best.

Ack! Not metal clips!

We've got that one. Funny as hell.

Precious metals have had a big run up but are returning to mean. Buy it now and I think you'll lose money. http://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html If I were you, I'd give it a year or two. I'm expecting gold back down to $600 an ounce or less. Then I'll pick up some more.

No way could I do that. I can't sit still on a regular day. Takes a great book to keep me occupied for an hour.

Thanks for the chuckles.

Great article, Bryan. Having experienced close calls in the past, group separation is a big concern of mine. I'd like to make a safety point. If you're one of the first groups to exit and open short of the DZ, wait to observe the NEXT group opening before turning your canopy up the jump run line towards the landing area. It just makes sense not to intentionally fly your canopy into the next group's airspace until they have finished their freefall.

Perky, aren't they? Thanks, madame.

Still don't have one of those. I figure 60 seconds for a belly jump, 50 seconds for a tandem jump, 45 for sit fly.

I've seen Bolas in costume. That AIN'T him. . . Now that you've dredged up that memory for me, where's my bleach?

Same here. . .

Either look is good for you.

Haha, you don't think that'd go over well? Unfortunately I've flown commercially with large groups of drunken skydivers and a lot of that kind of stuff was going on. The trouble started at the ticket counter. They were being idiots.

Naw, baby, leave the boots ON!

Don't yell "DOOR!". There's a lot of info hear on traveling with gear. Get a discrete gear bag, be low key and have all the little security documents, like the AAD x-ray card. Allow a few extra minutes to have them examine your stuff. If you have a hook knife, leave it at home or check it. If you have any lead weights, take them out and run them thru the x-ray separately (they make a mysterious blank area that worries the TSA.)

You can get a bigger, baggier jump suit too.

This exactly! I've been teaching that for years. It's how we used to put ROUND parachutes into bags, once S-fold at a time.

I think tunnel time is one of the best training tools around for easy AFF progression. I wish every student could get 10-20 minutes in a tunnel before the first jump.

We were both jumpers before becoming parents. We were also lucky enough to jump at a kid friendly DZ on a residential airpark with other kids to play with and lots of diversions. The kids still got tired of it. So you have to make some time off for other things. Out of 4 kids, 3 did tandems, one made 15 jumps before going off to college and another is a current A licensed jumper.

You know, Squeak, there are actually two ropes attached to the ceiling of the cockpit, coiled up behind small panels. They are for the flight crew to make emergency ground egresses out those very windows.

You lucky little boy.