skycat

Did you go to the right DZ? there are 2 on that airport. One is a "bandit" DZ and definately has a well lets just say interesting plane. The other one, Skydive the Rockies, you need call ahead during the week to make sure they are out there. I can honestly say they actually do their maintenance on both their planes, and both 206s are in very nice condition. The one with the cargo door is even getting this huge step so you can launch 4-way chunks like out of an otter or caravan. So far I have seen that everyone out there has been extremely helpful and nice. Let's see Mile-Hi (North of Denver) Tandem factory, you won't have any problem getting on loads as a student, but you are pretty much screwed once you are off student status. It's also hard to get people to jump with you, ofcourse the fact that it is hard to get on a load kind of makes the problem worse. Denver Skydivers (NorthEast of Denver) Very laid back DZ, I've only been out there once and it was on an off weekend. It caters more to fun jumpers than students or from what I've heard that is how it used to be. I don't think they have a lot of students out there since there weren't any on either of the loads I was on. Front Range Skydivers (Calhan) - Hate the landing area, there is only one flat spot where the pea pit is. Lots of cactuses and brush, also the DZ with the highest elevation in the country if I'm correct. The weekend I was out there I didn't see any students. I have to advise though that if you just moved here to wait a few weeks before skydiving, to allow yourself to aclimate. NONE of the DZ have O2 that is easy to get to on the plane, they have it, but it is hard to get to. I moved here from Houston a few months ago and could at most do 1 jump a day for a few weeks cause I was getting hypoxic. Those were just fun jumps, AFF jumps are much more stressful. Fly it like you stole it!

After Derek and I doing a jump together where I was on my X-fire 104 @1.2:1 and Derek was jumping a samauri 95 @ 2:1 I think the x-fire is a faster/more agressive canopy. Both of us were flying side by side doing nothing with our canopies, meaning Derek was not holding in brakes and at no point was he moving past me or loosing more altitude than me. We very easily could have docked on one another. Now I'm sure he was a little faster than me under the 104, but at that WL difference it should have been much faster. Needless to say both of us were very surprised. Fly it like you stole it!

Dan, Yes flat turns and flare turns are something everyone needs to know how to do. I have had to do them several times in the last few weeks due to someone having to bail out of a hookturn early. Yes I know how my front risers work and how to do front riser turns. That does not mean that I will be pulling down on a front riser 50 ft off the ground if I do I deserve the ass spanking the earth gives me. What you posted still does not tell me why I have to do hookturns to get better landings by the way, just that people should know how to fly thier canopies and how thier canopies react in every situation. Fly it like you stole it!

I've also noticed different types of betteries last different amounts of time, Newtons 3 months, Panisonic 6 months. Fly it like you stole it!

*hugs* I know how hard it is, but don't worry it does get easier. I even worked at the same company as my X and had to see him almost everyday, so trust me when I say the pain does go away. btw...Give yourself a year to have fun and heal before you start looking around again.

SWEET!!!! Just tell me when *psst* Saturday nights are better for me btw...Derek and I will be down at skydive the rockies this weekend, well he will be there all weekend I'll be down sunday. You should come out and visit us. Fly it like you stole it!

Umm....you can do a horny gorilla exit when belly flying.....just don't practice the exit in the otter door when it is on the ground......Right Paula Fly it like you stole it!

So does anyone go to the pub anymore? I know I don't get online much anymore due to "Mr. Computer Hog", but it was cool being able to pop in and say "Hey" to people. Fly it like you stole it!

I actually had the opposite problem with my riser covers on my reflex, they worked so well I'd have to give my risers a tug to pop open the covers when my canopy was open. Made for some fun openings with my crossfire. FF Tip: To keep the main pin flap from coming untucked in a sit (I've seen it on several reflexes mine included) only put the shark fin tab under the 2 side flaps, not all 3 flaps (sides & top). 200+ jumps like this and it never came out. Fly it like you stole it!

Hey look up Derek (hooknswoop) he is one of the instructors out at mile-hi. He is the one with the micron that is smaller than most backpacks, and flies the 60. Fly it like you stole it!

Here is a good example of why line twists spin this is from the video. If you look you can see that the right soft link is slightly lower than the left one which is causing the left handed spin. I know Derek (hook) has explained this several times on how to stop spinning line twists and how to get out of them. I'm just being to lazy at the moment to go and look for the post. Fly it like you stole it!

You know, when I read it I read it the opposite way. The first thing I thought of was that ESPN was the reason they couldn't make the jump. I was like, figures that the people who were going to make the money were being stingy. Now I'm even more disapointed in ESPNs conduct knowing how much Skydive Perris went out of their way to accomidate them and they didn't have to pay for one little thing. Fly it like you stole it!

Definately tell Jeff, he won't allow it. Well that is if he sells it to him, he can't stop the guy from buying it from someplace like para-gear though. Jeff and I might not agree on what the 1st canopy for someone my size (exit weight 120-125) as a student should be, he thinks 290 I think 190, but he does care about his jumpers safety, I mean he actually told me I had better not convince any of the girls to downsize or to switch to ellipticals. Which I wouldn't canopies are all about personal choices. Fly it like you stole it!

No, the reason he said that was because, if they collapse in turbulance (remember he builds airlocked canopies) they take longer to re-inflate, due to the same reason they take longer to open. higher wingloadings = faster openings (ie. my xfire 116 took ~800 ft to opening, my xfire 104 ~600) Fly it like you stole it!

Hypoxia definately differs from person to person. I personally feel like pukeing on the person sitting next to me and instead of feeling good I feel very stressed out and uptight. Colors tend to be duller, and tunnel vision can occure. The cool thing is when you start sucking on O2 watching it get suddenly bright again and the tunnel opening up.

Don't forget it's made out of paper or cloth or something like that. Just be very careful getting out, hold onto only metal and make sure you only step on the step. It is very easy to get out of though, I had no problems at all, then again I am small and have a small rig so that did make it easier. Fly it like you stole it!

hehehe...the one good thing about LP compared to rantoul....Other than billVon there wasn't a computer to be seen Kind of nice if you ask me. Fly it like you stole it!

Derek is currently loading it at 3.1:1, he is about 180 out the door. Now if he would let me jump it I would only be loading it at 2:1......come on pookie bear what do you say, can I jump it. FYI.....we live in Colorado and jump at 5000MSL or higher depending on the DZ. Fly it like you stole it!

*psst* Ann it's Moffit not muffin....only Susan can call him muffin. Fly it like you stole it!

Be sure to say hi to AggieDave and Pablo from Kelli and Derek. Fly it like you stole it!

Hey Michele hun, don't worry you will get it, there is no rush, it's just one jump at a time. You've had to take some huge breaks between jumps and currency is a huge thing. Plus every jump you learn something new about your body in the harness, the canopy, the flare, it's always something new. So take a deep breath, relax and give it a full flare. btw...one short armed chick to another, do like bill von said, grabbing the toggles at the top having the line between your fingers, it works really well without affecting your canopy in full flight. I had to do that for 10 or so jumps cause my stearing lines were to long. Kelli (350 landings, and just learned how to go for style points) Fly it like you stole it!

You know you really hit on my biggest pet peeves. I don't know how many times I've been told "you need to be hooking that canopy", yet none of them can tell me why I should be hooking it other than it is an elliptical canopy and ellipticals need to be hooked. Which is bull shit, if you can't land a canopy strait in you have no business jumping it. I watched Derek land his VX60 strait in last week with out any problems, and if he can do it with a 60 @ 3.1 you can do it with any canopy. So basically, No I don't need to hook my canopy, I have no desire to hook my canopy and I know alot of other women who fly ellipticals who feel exactly the same way, several even post on this board such as TequilaGirl and JumperPaula. Yes I do know the difference between landing a square and landing an elliptical, and you know what, I won't go back to jumping a square. I jump an elliptical for it's flight characteristics and the landings, for me the glide/plane out created by the flare makes landings extremely easy on my knees. Now it will bite you in the ass if you don't know how to flare it/fly it on landings, miss time the flare and you are either on your ass or sliding across the ground on your face. (not including hook turns in that statement cause they are a different animal.) Personally I have had canopy coaching and played around at CREW with Derek, if I wanted to learn how to hook turn I have a great canopy coach, but I have no desire to learn, I know what my canopy can do and I respect it, I enjoy flying it and landing it, but it is a tool to get me to the ground in one piece without messing up my knee. BTW....You can also fly an elliptical at light wingloadings, I was on my 116 crossfire @ 1.1:1, TG was on her stiletto 120 @ 1.2:1, the S&TA at the DZ I learned at was on a stiletto 120 @ 1.1:1, one of the girls I was with this weekend at LP demoed and bought a samari 105 from Big Air Sportz and is loading it @ 1.2:1. I hurt my knee (see I have a bad knee) hiking Longs Peak 2 weeks ago and talked to Brian Germain about demoing a samari 120 which I would load at about 1:1 for a few jumps to test my knee out, he said there is no problem jumping elliptical at light loadings, just to avoid the ones with closed off noses like X-brased and crossfires cause they could have trouble opening and with preasurization. Fly it like you stole it!

No you can't cook the boomerang like the mindwarp. I ended up sending mine back because it was way to large for my small head even with an inch of foam in it. Fly it like you stole it!

Correction it was my 4th jump on my crossfire 104 loaded at 1.2 Fly it like you stole it!

Hey where is tater?? How could you take a pic of the CO tent without Tater in it. Fly it like you stole it!