skybytch

<shrug> Neither does Spectra or Vectran, thus the suggested relines at 300 jumps. On a lower performance canopy like a Spectre, I see no reason other than pack volume not to have Dacron and lots of good reasons to have them. Imho of course.

The one thing I would add to what everyone has said is... practice the flare up high. The more times the better. Do some looking out and some looking up at the canopy so she can see what it is doing. Focus on smooth and slow and finishing it all the way to arms length. She will begin to feel what the canopy is doing, which is imho the first step to a good flare. Even though it sounds scary, practice it with eyes closed; she can then feel what the canopy is doing as she flares much better than with eyes open. We taught this in the canopy control course I used to help with and nearly everyone said it was extremely helpful (it was extremely helpful for me too). Of course, she should discuss the eyes closed thing with an instructor prior to doing it, and be done with practicing flares before her decision altitude. For me, my landings went from pretty bad to mostly pretty good after I took a canopy control course. I would recommend it to both of you actually; even if your landings are good, you will learn loads.

Seriously? Damn. Time to sell my volumes 1 and 2 I guess.

No. Too much other stuff to think about. But my first jump was almost 30 years ago; I've had plenty of time to get over the beginning of the addiction phase. No, although took a few years before a dz opened in my area and I was too broke to travel. Since my job paid far less than it was worth, I did a lot of packing and instructing and not paying utilities and eating mac and cheese. Balance. It's all about balance. I am not jumping now but my husband does. So we have found things that we can do together other than jumping. There are 52 weekends in a year. Not all of them need to be spent at the dz. I stopped five years ago for medical reasons after 1200 jumps. Regret? No, pissed off is a better description. I will be back in the air this year. One thing I would suggest before starting AFF is looking into what gear is going to cost you - figure at least $5k new, less but still at least a couple grand for used. Not much worse than spending loads on your student jumps only to find out that you can't afford gear. Most of all, have a blast. Don't forget to smile. .

Copyright is for the author's entire life plus 70 years. Doesn't matter if it's out of print or the publisher is out of business, which in this case makes sense since Dan Poynter was Para Publishing.

I used the old forum "quite a bit". This has taken some getting used to, but overall I have to say well done. it was definitely past time. I have not tried viewing or posting from my phone, but it's easy to view and fairly easy to post on the tablet. Still easiest on the desktop though.

The difference is Vectran (or Spectra - also called microline) versus Dacron. I had one nasty opening on a Spectre with microlines, and nearly all of my jumps on it had a bit of a snap at the end (I am blanking on what that is called). Dacron? Nope. Dacron stretches. Vectran and Spectra do not. The stretch in the dacron is what eliminates the snap at the end. The only downside to Dacron is pack volume.

Firstly, if you are trying to buy cheap used gear with only the interwebs to help, stop. Go find someone, or more than one someone, who knows something and has seen you fly and land the student canopy. Call or email gear stores with your above questions. Not only can they probably give you advice, they may also have some used gear that will fit you. We call the ratio between your exit weight and the canopy square footage your wing loading. It is a ratio, but we just use the first number. For example, you are 81 kg which is around 170 pounds. Add 20 or so pounds for everything you are wearing puts you at about 190 lbs. exit weight. So you on a 190 square ft canopy would put you at 1.0 wing loading. This is considered to be a reasonable loading for a first canopy. Don't buy an F111 main. They are cheap for a reason. Also consider the size of your reserve. Many people suggest that your first reserve be at 1.0-1.1. This means you will want to look for a reserve of 170 to 190 sq. ft. Personally I would recommend a 1.0 wing loading for your reserve as well, but that's just me. And don't forget the container. It has to fit both canopies and the harness has to fit you. But that's a whole different post. Bottom line? Don't buy anything without running it by someone who knows you, and insist that anything you buy pass an inspection by your rigger before the purchase is final.

Firstly, if you are trying to buy cheap used gear with only the interwebs to help, stop. Go find someone, or more than one someone, who knows something and has seen you fly and land the student canopy. Call or email gear stores with your above questions. Not only can they probably give you advice, they may also have some used gear that will fit you. We call the ratio between your exit weight and the canopy square footage your wing loading. It is a ratio, but we just use the first number. For example, you are 81 kg which is around 170 pounds. Add 20 or so pounds for everything you are wearing puts you at about 190 lbs. exit weight. So you on a 190 square ft canopy would put you at 1.0 wing loading. This is considered to be a reasonable loading for a first canopy. Don't buy an F111 main. They are cheap for a reason. Also consider the size of your reserve. Many people suggest that your first reserve be at 1.0-1.1. This means you will want to look for a reserve of 170 to 190 sq. ft. Personally I would recommend a 1.0 wing loading for your reserve as well, but that's just me. And don't forget the container. It has to fit both canopies and the harness has to fit you. But that's a whole different post. Bottom line? Don't buy anything without running it by someone who knows you, and insist that anything you buy pass an inspection by your rigger before the purchase is final.

Understood. I'll shut up now.

I disagree. I expect my representatives to take the opinions of myself and other voters in this district into account when making decisions. I do not vote for someone because I back their views 100% on everything. I vote for them because they not only take the time to listen to what their constituents are thinking about various issues before voting on them, they inform us when issues come up and ask us what our views are. They then use their experience, insight and judgment, together with the input from constituents, to make decisions. Those 23 members are the 22 BOD members plus Ron Bell? If so, this illustrates one of my points - a lack of communication between the board and the membership. Yes, those 23 members are a good cross section of skydivers, with lots of experience and time in sport and an obvious desire to make skydiving safer; none of them would be there if they didn't give a shit. But there are other members out there with lots of time and experience and who give a shit but cannot fit being a BOD member into their lives. Being elected does not make the opinions of 22 of those members more or less important than the opinions of other members. If the members are not given the opportunity to express their views on an issue prior to any decisions being made, and if those are not taken into account when making decisions, then it would appear that only the opinions of the BOD members matter. Which is something many people bitch about in our country's lawmakers. Communicate with the members so they know what is happening and can contact their RD or other BOD members or make plans to attend a meeting to express their opinion. Ask for their input. If they don't know that something is being considered, how can they let their representatives know what they think about it? Sure, it's on the agenda for the meeting, but how many people know how to find the agendas? I spent a few minutes on the USPA website and could not find them posted anywhere. There has got to be a way to get this information out there and make it easy for members to find if they are so inclined. tbh, 34500+ of the other members probably don't care, but they do deserve to be kept informed and at least given the opportunity to express their views on any particular issue if they have any/would like to. Making it easy for them to find out what is happening would increase the amount of information BOD members have while making decisions. That can only be a good thing. My name is Lisa Wyatt. My membership has been expired for five years as I have not been able to jump, but my husband is a current member and instructor. I am getting current in the near future so my membership will be renewed soon. I may or may not re-up my instructor rating. I have nothing against anyone on the board. I appreciate that they volunteer to do it. I know that I have fewer jumps and less experience than nearly all of them. I appreciate the amount of give a shit it takes to even run. I appreciate that some of them post here as this is a good way to communicate with at least a small percentage of the membership, a percentage that probably gives a shit. My posts are only my opinion on ways I think USPA could do things better. I hope that's enough to make my posts worth the time to reply to. If not, I understand, and I'll shut up until after I've paid the money.

We did? We made a difference? Thanks for the replies. Can't wait to get back up there.

Hypothetical situation: Suzy AFFI and Jimmy AFF student go do a Cat D jump. Freefall portion of jump goes good. Both deploy. Suzy has a violent spinner and chops it low enough that it scares her AAD. She lands safely. Jimmy's canopy control was less than ideal and he ended up landing in power lines and dying. It is required that Suzy file a report about her AAD fire on threat of disciplinary action. It is NOT required that ANYONE file a report on Jimmy's death. On the same load, a wingsuit jumper has an equipment issue while jumping a new suit and can't pull main or reserve. AAD saves another life. Knowing what happened could save someone else's life. But since AAD fires on non-student jumps do not need to be reported, other wingsuit jumpers may never hear about it. Am I incorrect in my interpretation? The information that can be obtained from all three incidents on that load is invaluable. But only one is required to be reported or Suzy could end up... well we don't really know since we don't know what the possible disciplinary actions might be. It's partly the threat of disciplinary action, partly the lack of transparency regarding what potential disciplinary actions might be imposed, partly the requirement that names be included and partly the lack of consistancy in required reporting and the information that is required to be reported that strike me as wrong here. The data can be obtained by classifying all AAD fires as incidents. The majority will be reported, just as the majority of fatalities are reported even though there is no requirement for anyone to do so. If the data is that important, make reporting required for all incidents - fatalities, AAD fires, major injury. As much as I hate the idea of required reporting, at least what is required would be consistent. There IS a lack of communication between USPA and it's rated instructors. This affects all instructors, yet not even I/Es were contacted for input prior to it being enacted. Could it not at least have been mentioned in the USPA Professional emailed newsletter prior to being voted on? I'd submit that it is the responsibility of USPA to keep it's instructors up to date on things that will affect them, not the other way around.

Forgot about this one. Who did the first parachute jump from an airplane?

<shrug> So was my son. Somehow he has managed to lead himself into a great life. I'm a housewife, dude.

I'm not allowed to leave the house without Male supervision.

Nah. It's either this or laundry. This is more entertaining than laundry, although it is hard to keep up with, me being female and all. You don't know how to debate. btw, just curious. Is skydiving masculine or is it gender neutral? Is it okay for women to jump? Or are we better suited to staying on the ground packing, bringing you water and being totally impressed by the fact that you just did a skydive?

See, there you go again. That's not just provocative, it's deeply offensive and misogynistic. It's not something you say to generate a discussion, it's something you say because you're either a small minded bigot, you want to outrage the people you're talking to, or a combination of both. I'm really curious why some guy would think it's a good idea to barge into the women's forum (where this thread started before he barged in) on a skydiving website (where very few women who will put up with attitudes like his hang out), to insult women. I wonder who turned him down for a date. Smart girl. </ad hominen attack>

Hubby probably has one here somewhere but I am not intellectually strong enough to find it.

Nothing like a good belly laugh on a Monday morning! I dare you to say that to your mother. Post video so we have data.

Seriously. This pot is so deep now my spoon isn't long enough.

For old or broken or fragile people like us.... Spectre with Dacron lines. Opens. Like. Butter.

Since no one else has bitten, I'll take a shot. What do you mean by canopy burn? Set fire to your main and chop it? You won't find anything in the SIM because it is a stunt, not the kind of skydiving that 99.5% of jumpers do. If you are serious, start by talking to people who have done it or been involved in doing it. Bryan Burke from SD AZ comes to mind. From what I know, you will need to find a dz to jump at and an aircraft to jump from. Understand that many dz's are not going to want to take the chance of your melting canopy starting a fire on the ground - I believe this is why Troy Hartman did his over a lake. Aircraft might be an issue, as having the canopy sitting in a bucket of jet fuel on the way up to altitude is one way to ensure that it's going to catch (I'm sure there are other ways; this is the one I know about). Aircraft owners tend to get a bit worried about things that might destroy their airplane, like buckets of jet fuel in the cabin. You will need an intentional cutaway rig, or at a minimum have a rig modified to suit your purposes. Regardless, you need to leave the airplane with three parachutes - the one you are going to burn, a main and a reserve. Hope this helps.

Conservatives could provide hunted game to liberals in exchange for nuts and berries and veggies and cannabis - c'mon you know there are conservatives who get high and/or use CBD's.

And your source for that data is? And no, your made up statistic does not factor into the idea that our functional differences have disappeared. Being evolved has nothing to do with it either. And you know that. Wait. Biologically, a gay man has a penis and a lesbian has a vagina right? It is entirely possible for a gay man and a lesbian to have sex. I know several gay men who used to be married, have kids and still love their ex-wife. One of them was in a relationship with a woman who has since come out as a lesbian. And anytime an uncovered penis enters an unprotected vagina there is certainly a chance of it leading in a functional direction. Biologically that is. Why do men have to be one thing and women another? Why can't we all be people and not be judged for what we look like, wear, do? I don't find them offensive. I find them ridiculous and antiquated. So, yeah, I'd say that you have yet to evolve - to become the person you could be, and it is quite possible that your views about many things are holding you back. I assume you'll be providing data to back up your claims in your next post then.