skybytch

Other than that it's a requirement if you've never held a USPA instructional rating in the past...

This is one of those decisions no one else can make for you. Not only can you die, you can also suffer life-changing injuries. Either the rewards are worth the risks or they are not - it's your choice. Because "everyone seems to love it" doesn't mean it's right for you.

Yeah! What he said! Just be sure to tell your female friends that skydivers are the aviation equivalent of carnies.

Belly, freefly, wingsuit? Skydance has freefly LO's most weekends and occasional belly stuff. Lots of sub-500 jumps folks to play with too. You should be at Skydance this weekend, it's boogie time.

Don't take up ice hockey.

Skydance in Davis. Closed on Monday and Tuesday, but there is lots of other stuff to do in the area. Davis is a university town, so you'll find excellent downtown night life even on weeknights and lots of cuties to hit on. Free tent space available on the dz. Clean showers. Good instructors. Cessna Grand Caravan. Beer fridge.

Ummm... no.

Open accordion - Face off with your buddy. Both do a 45ish degree turn and dock right (or left) hand/arm to right (or left) hand/arm. Closed accordion - Face off with your buddy. Fly forward and to one side so that you are side by side, facing opposite directions. Dock on your buddy's leg gripper as he does the same to you. Ask one of the belly fliers at your home dz if the above makes no sense. Easier to show than to explain in words.

"He said he would enjoy a weekend getaway more." Sounds like your answer to me. If someone doesn't have a strong desire to skydive, strong enough that they are willing to risk their life relying only on some lines, some fabric and some dude they don't know to make it repeatable, I'd suggest not getting them a tandem ride for a present.

I strongly disagree, especially for someone who knows little to nothing about gear. The "extra" couple hundred bucks you might spend buying from a reputable gear dealer will oftentimes get you knowledgeable advice instead of opinion, assistance in filling out order forms, a good chance that they will still be in business when your gear is completed, a good chance that they will refund your money and take used gear back if it won't work for you, and the possibility of using their demo gear to make your gear choices easier (if they have any). Amongst other things. Spending that couple hundred bucks extra with the gear dealer at the dz you jump at just may make the difference between having a gear store on the dz or not. And the folks at the local gear store have a good reason to treat you right - they want your business for as long as you are jumping there. Encouraging a noob to buy gear - new or used - from private parties online when they have no idea what they are doing and nobody that can hold their hand through the process is how new jumpers end up with gear that is not suitable for them or how they want to skydive.

Hog flops. Dock, break, everyone backflip, repeat. Excellent for working on fall rate control and it's a lot of fun too. Spin an accordion on a two way. Try it with an open accordion and a closed accordion. Once you're docked, both jumpers point their toes and put their other arm back to start the spin and then hang on!

No. Darwinism isn't always a bad thing.

I worked with someone who got to jump "near" him on one of his skydives.

Buy a freefly suit?

Sounds like you have two rigs. I'd sell one. At least that way you're only "losing money" on one AAD instead of two. Being a skydiver without a rig is way worse than being a rig owner who can't afford to jump. As long as you don't need the money to survive, hang on to everything you need to make one jump. You won't regret it.

Scott Miller isn't a good enough source for you? Cuz that's where I learned it... John LeBlanc seems to agree: Source. Is he not respected enough for ya?

Rears into a headwind aren't going to get you anywhere. Try it and see. Wrong again. Spiraling down will get you out of the wind flow. You won't make more forward penetration, but you won't get blown back as far aince you are not exposed to the wind for as long.

Tip #1 - Avoid the situation. Before you even get on the airplane, check the winds both on the ground and aloft. Set a personal wind limit - one that will always allow you to make forward penetration. Stick to it. I load my canopy about the same; my wind limit is the same as the dz's student wind limit. Tip #2 - Know your local outs, in every direction. Spend time on the climb to altitude locating them. Preplan how you might fly your pattern if you were landing in one of them. Tip #3 - Take a canopy control course ASAP.

American Graffiti

Adam 12. Dragnet.

Super Ravens have a bridle attachment already on them. Not exactly the same flight characteristics as a Tempo, but they are cheap on the used market.

More importantly, do you stand the collar up or not?

More information is needed. How many jumps have you done? Where do you jump? What size canopies have your instructors recommended? If you haven't jumped yet, stop worrying about buying a rig right now. You won't be allowed to jump it until you have completed your student jumps (student gear is different from sport gear), and you'll be much happier with your gear choice if you can actually jump similar gear before you buy. If you must spend money on skydiving equipment right now, buy a pair of goggles, a logbook and maybe a Protec helmet.

Not a chance. He's taken, and his fiancee wants nothing to do with flying a plane. And she's about 12 months from being a large animal vet, so he's pretty much got it made once they get hitched.

Not in his case. He's an airport bum... he liked the skydive but he likes flying the plane better.