skybytch

An excellent point. I took Scott's basic class (same as Flight-1's I think) a few years ago; it'd be a good investment for any instructor even if you don't want to run canopy courses yourself. Wish you guys would come out to NorCal for awhile, I'd love to take it again.

Absolutely, that's part of the course. We used two cameras last time, which was handy when some people misjudged their approaches and went a "bit" long.

Using the course outline in section 6-11 of the SIM, my s/o (5k jumps, swooper, crw dog, AFFI) and I (1k jumps, ultra conservative, AFFI) put on a basic canopy skills course at our home dz last month. We had a total of 10 jumpers, ranging from fresh ink on the A license to 500+ jumps and 20+ years in experience. We have another course scheduled for next month. Based on the feedback we got from the people who took it we know we did a good job of getting the basics across, but we also know there is room for improvement. If you've run basic canopy skills courses at your home dz, how do you structure it? We followed the outliine in the SIM (which is essentially Scott Miller's course - 5 hop and pops), but we omitted the stalls jump to save some time (they'd already paid for the jump so we gave them the ground training and left it up to them to go do the drills). What lecture and training aids have you found to be useful? I'm working on putting some video of "good" and "bad" flare technique together, and I'm considering doing a Powerpoint presentation (mostly graphics). We handed out copies of the USPA canopy proficiency card (it's in the back of the SIM) at the end of the day. For the next class I'm going to put together a handout packet that also includes Brian Germain's wingloading chart, billvon's downsizing checklist and possibly some selections from the BPA canopy manual. What other printed material have you found useful in getting the concepts across? And finally, if you're an AFFI and haven't run a basic canopy skills course at your home dz yet, WHY NOT?!?

Get a camera. Take it to the dz. Stand in the landing area and take video or stills. People will love you. They will give you beer. With beer, it's not as bad as you might think it would be to be at the dz and not jumping.

Ten jumps a month is barely staying current if someone wants to explore high performance canopy flight. 20 dedicated canopy flight jumps out of 40 jumps in the past two months is more like it. The problem is that one of the big dangers involved also involves the safety of other people. Smaller canopies fly faster and therefore require that the pilot exhibit a higher level of situational awareness and a firmer grasp on avoidance maneuvers to help avoid the possibility of a collision. Developing situational awareness under canopy requires spending time in the element. Someone with 1000 jumps has spent significantly more time in the element than has someone with 200 jumps. Putting survival avoidance techniques into muscle memory (for example making it automatic that you go to a flat turn when someone cuts you off on final, no thinking needed), likewise requires time spent practicing them; like EP's, the more practice the better. I no longer have an issue with noobs fucking themselves up under canopies that are even just a little bit too fast for their ability. Since most of them didn't listen, they serve as excellent examples. I do have an issue with anybody fucking somebody else up because they are flying something that is even just a little bit too fast for their ability, whether the incident involves a canopy collision or a collision in the landing area or even just a close call. Your right to fly whatever you want stops at my right to walk back to the packing area. Unfortunately, most people who go too small too fast aren't going to hear the above argument either. Which leads to what could be a very effective method for making the point if enough experienced jumpers used it - simply refuse to be in the air with the scary people. "Oh, Bob's on that load? Put me on the next load instead then."

It's an Army joke. Eat enough MRE's, use a little too much Tabasco and the ever popular sand paper that the DoD provides as toilet paper and well.....you get the picture. One of the few times bry comes off as being even partially serious and the reference flies right over the head of the person the comments are aimed at.

You're correct on both accounts. It seems to work real well to quickly determine MLW length for Javelins though. Which is understandable since, AFAIK, the folks at Sunpath are the ones who came up with it. They're who I learned it from anyway.

6'3" = 75". 75" - 35" - 20 = 20. A D19 is going to be approximately 1" too short for you in the MLW. If you prefer a snugger fit, it might work for you, but you won't know until you've tried it on. I'd suggest getting the seller to agree to refund your money less shipping costs if it doesn't fit. You can also have a master rigger or the factory make it bigger.

You expected another sort of response on a forum meant for skydivers?

Practice the correct body position on the ground. Over and over and over. Concentrate on feeling where your arms and legs are and what they are doing. The more time you can put into this on the ground, where you don't have the distractions of freefall, the happier you will be with your performance in the air. A visit to a wind tunnel is another option, but ground practice is free. A longer term option to gaining body awareness would be to take up yoga.

Yup. Cuz with the attitude he's displayed about women here already, the likelihood of him snagging a skydiving female is fairly slim.

+1. From a woman with the kinda legs that he can only wish could be wrapped around his neck and a piece of paper that says I could teach him to skydive... not that either of those things would ever happen, for you see, I used to be FAT too.

Bravo! My mom had a wooden spoon and my dad had a belt. Both were applied to me and my brother on an as needed basis. I still ended up pregnant at 18 and my brother dropped out of high school and was kicked out of the Navy for drug use before he was 21. I stopped smacking my kid when he was 2. He's now 25. Graduated from high school with his class, currently taking a couple college classes each year, doesn't drink much, doesn't do drugs, doesn't get into fights and never has, has held the same job for the past 4 years. Only my experience, but the results that I got not using physical discipline seem preferable to the results my parents got using it.

I've kinda been ignoring my progress toward AA degrees lately. I figured out what I needed to take to transfer several semesters ago so I've just been plugging along, taking what's on my list and watching it grow steadily shorter. At this point, it's down to three classes - 7 more units - and I can transfer to Sac State's government program. Got curious tonight and checked out the graduation requirements for both general ed and subject specific classes. As of today, I've completed everything I need to complete to receive two AA degrees, one in history and the other in social sciences. The three classes I have left to take are needed for transfer, not for graduation. Holy crap. Technically anyway, I may already be a college graduate. Those of you who've known me for a while - do I seem any smarter now?

I don't really care if or how they hurt themselves anymore. Nowadays I'm far more concerned about them hurting me or one of my friends.

Wasn't for me. I've heard that the sound of a crying baby is supposed to drive humans mental; it's a survival of the species thing. I was soooo happy once my son could finally tell me what was wrong instead of screaming no matter what I tried. But then again, the sound of happy screaming children (i.e. at a playground) will also drive me up a wall, so my input here probably doesn't represent any sort of "norm".

Check out the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails in the US. Each is over 2000 miles long, and lots of people take 4-6 months off of life to thru-hike them. It's backpacking in the more extreme American way - carrying everything you need on your back and sleeping in sleeping bags instead of beds. Trail life and culture are awesome; some very interesting people choose to do very long distance hikes. You can read journals/blogs from some of them on trailjournals.com As for the stuff - why not hire a property management firm and rent the house out furnished, with the rest of your stuff packed away in a locked closet? Yes, you risk having your stuff damaged but you'd be getting paid.

Dacron lines. The increased drag and pack volume and decreased coolness factors are far outweighed by the butter soft openings. Anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. I prefer Aleve and MonaVie's acai berry juices. Acceptance of the fact that I'm not 22 anymore and adjusting my activity levels accordingly - ie no jumping after a big party night, no big party nights if I really want to jump the next day.

This is only a problem if the extra weight puts the jumper at a wingloading they aren't yet skilled enough to handle in all conditions. The argument that light wingloadings hurt people because they don't penetrate into winds is, imho, bullshit. When people get hurt landing in high winds, usually their mistake was not in flying "too big" a canopy, it was getting on the load in the first place. All jumpers should be advised to develop their own personal wind limits based on their wingloading and comfort level, and no one should NEVER be encouraged to bust their limits. Yes, I do live in a Pollyanna world.

I already know that I can end up being paralyzed because I choose to skydive. I don't see any difference between knowing for sure and knowing that it could happen - wouldn't change what I do or how I do it.

700+:0:0 Drove over 700 miles this weekend. No jumping; I spent the weekend enjoying old friends at a wedding in Morro Bay, Ca. Talked with a guy from high school that I tossed out of a plane static line back in 1991. He's done a few more in the Army but no freefall yet. He'll be coming to visit me on a future leave to do some AFF.

It's all good. Brother and his family will be back in a few hours. I'm gonna enjoy the quiet before the craziness of some old friend's wedding/mini high school reunion tomorrow.

Me too. That way I have to lift something to use it and put something down when I'm done. And so do the male occupants of the household. Seems incredibly fair to me. And it keeps pets, children and drunken friends from drowning in or drinking from the bowl.

We want you to put the fucking seat down.

Vodka and orange soda at the moment. All alone, 300 miles from home, in someone else's house. Good thing there's a liquor store within easy stumbling distance.