JohnMitchell

Enthusiasm and a sense of adventure.

We've had big church groups come out to make tandems and first jumps. Nice people, but the prayer circle before getting on the plane worries me. It's nice to go to heaven if your chute doesn't work, but I'd rather spend my pre-jump moments reviewing my EP's and checking my gear. I have and have had church leaders as jumping buddies. It's not a big deal but I'm not really that much of a bad-a$$ heathen.

No shit. You might have to fly a good 15-20 ft. to pin 'em up against the wall.

I saw a clip on that one time. Dude said he loved it. Dunno. Life is what you make it.

I'd back you up to say that extra experience of being time constrained by the ground rushing up at you 70 seconds after your flight begins. That's definitely an element missing in the tunnel.

In the old round static line days, my FJC instructor expected a 10% injury rate with every first jump course. Later, when I became an instructor, I tracked my injury rate, sprained ankle or worse. I worked like a dog to get it down to about 4%. Zero injuries always eluded me. Square canopies sharply reduced our injury rate for all but the worst students. AAD's made our student fatality rate drop to almost zero. I definitely don't miss the old days.

Ahhh, very good point. I was very protective of Vskydiver. We did dozens of two ways before doing any larger jumps. I wanted to make sure she could always track away from idiots.

Once again, pay close attention during emergency procedures. When you have line twists, the slider will be "hung up" every time because the line twists block it from coming all the way down. Once you kick out of the line twists, the slider should come down normally, or maybe with a few pumps of the steering toggles. For the type of canopies you jump as a student, line twists are not malfunctions.

Nice idea. I'll start saying "electronically releases".

Good job by your nephew. It takes a lot of hard work to get good at "the Sweet Science."

His flying kicks ass.

Damn, I could do those all day long. That's a nice program.

Just like your instructors are telling you, flare all the way. It's really that simple. Make sure your hands go ALL the way down, like you're looking for change in the bottom of your pockets.

Does your DZ pay the coach's slot? When I say I jump with noobs for free, I mean I'm paying for my own slot. If someone bought my slot, I'd coach 'em all day long for a cold beer at the end of the day. Although I'd probably run out of stuff I could teach them after a jump or two.

Instant asshole, just add alcohol.

Ahhh, that's why he moved to Paris and drank too much.

I had read that Donna did not want the "Queen of Disco" crown that landed upon her head. She really wanted to sing many other types of music. Beautiful woman, beautiful voice. Many musicians get type cast. Jimi Hendrix, at the time of his death, was longing to move away from psychedelic rock, I hear, but his manager didn't want to stray from the formula that had made him successful.

Tell 'em you'll draw them a cartoon. Seriously, there some really good points of view in this thread, practically all valid, depending on where you may be. I've done my share of "free" coach jumps, buying my own slot with a newer jumper, but I squeeze those jumps in between working as an instructor and group jumps with my wife and friends. Also, I often don't even know who's new and looking for help. Possibly start by asking more experienced jumpers for advice and ground coaching on the problems you're having. That's usually how I meet people that could use some help. It's very rewarding working with a jumper that wants to learn, so make sure you have your "dedicated learner" hat on. They may not be able to jump with you right then, but you'll have made the connection. The people at manifest know most of jumpers pretty well. They'll know who might have the time and desire to work with a lower experience jumper. Paid coaches are not my favorite way of getting experience, but they are a part of the sport now; something I occasionally get tapped to do. If I am a paid coach, I will make the jump 100% about the student, trying at all times to maximize their learning. Pre-jump instruction, targeted learning objectives and video debrief are all things you should expect from a good coach.

Quite the shame. Although I wasn't a big fan of disco, she did have some songs I liked.

Nice idea. I think there could be a few others standing around that are fed up with the TSA. I wonder if a move like that would be seen as a threat or harassment by the goon squad.

Tip for traveling - Wrap and tie your chest strap tightly through your D-ring or over your soft handle to keep that from happening again. I've flown dozens of times with my rig. My experience is that trouble starts when some TSA person considers themselves "an expert." In SEA not too long ago, one TSA agent insisted she needed to open Vskydiver's reserve because she could see in the x-ray the pocket where the "parachute knife goes, just like the army chutes" she claimed to know so much about. Man, I had to do some smooth talking with the Vigil card to show her what was what. Oh, and never say "explosive cutter" when discussing your AAD. It's an electronic cutter, got it? That part about pointing to the reserve seal and saying it was put there by an FAA rigger helps too. Makes it sound all official and $hit.

That's the tough one, right there. Some LO's are so busy building to the lowest common denominator they forget the more experienced people. Sometimes I just bust out and go do 4-way.

They're not BACK INS!!!!!!!!!!! Damm Jerry bird! Yes, you're absolutely right. When I teach them, I refer to "turns in place".

I feel that unless they're trained to do flat "braked turns" in a situation like that, they'll burn up their altitude too quickly whether it's 2-90's or one 180. And I really don't want someone that bad at canopy control out there hucking 180's "just to practice".

Cool. I remember that day for me.