scottjaco

I've never heard of a Faqtor! I would get the Sabre...

I own a havok. You know that you are suppose to take the pads out of the helmet right? You don't put the whole helmet in the oven! I was told to take a bit of cardboard and set the pads on them so they weren't touching the metal. Then when they are hot enough, take them out and stick them back in the helmet and wear it for 30 minutes to create the mold. I haven't done this. My helmet feels fine the way it is. I have the medium sized pads which are already very comfortable. good luck

I don't mind your comments at all! I feel it's about time for me to learn these manuvers. I feel confident enough with my straight in aproaches now. It took a while because of the fact I downsized quickly. I needed to make plenty of straight ins (on target) to make sure I could handle the basics. The thing about flat turns....I can do them in the air but what happens if I do it 50 feet above the ground? I know I won't hook it in if I'm in half brakes but won't I lose my foward speed by doing this, and have a really weak flare? Maybe I should try the flat turn a bit higher?

Well, now with the gravel pit, and the established "Left hand landing pattern" I would say it's more organized. You have a better idea of where to land and it's a bit more structured. If you are in Bakersfield, it's the closest dropzone anyway!!

It sounds like you were in fact a "paying student" why would he drop you after you forgot your goggles? He had other obligations? What?! A student with more money? Customer Service is important to me...I would consider going elswhere if I was treated like this. I realize DZ's don't make tons of money but it is a two way street. You have a right to post your opinions on this website. I don't understand how other dropzones could be calling around asking for your description? What are they going to do? Blacklist you? you are a licensed jumper, jump where you want! Remember to SPOT! BEFORE YOU JUMP!

At what point do you intend to begin working on Bill's list? *** Very soon! The first thing I want to learn is the rear riser landing. That would really come in handy if I broke a stearing line. Then flat turning. Probably learn front riser landings last. I have done some straight in aproaches with double front risers, I didn't really notice any speed increase. I let go pretty high, around 100 feet. I'm really nervous about the rear riser landings, I don't trust it. Any tips for landing with rear risers would be appreaciated, if it doesn't work, do you have any time to go for your toggles? scott

What was your progression through these canopies? *** LOL! I'm embarassed to admit it! I'm looking at my logbook right now. I was on the Sabre 150 on my 43rd jump. I will say in retrospect it was a bit fast. Most of these demo jumps were spent on the Sabre 190 and 170. The Sabre 170 was a lot like the Sabre190, just a bit more ground hungry and slightly faster. The Sabre150 felt totally different. I really had to work on getting that smooth flare. I knew it was time to stop downsizing! I have 82 jumps on the Sabre 150 now and I feel much more comfortable with it. At my current wingloading 1.25, I really enjoy how responsive the 150 feels. I don't plan on downsizing for a couple hundred jumps.

One thing I would like to add here, Why would a jumpmaster do a refresher jump that involved sit flying? I thought the purpose of the refresh was to demonstrate basic belly to earth skills ect. and being able to pull while stable. Why get fancy? Doing freeflying for a refresher is pointless! Why let a "red flag" student use a rig that had so much exposed bridle? What type of rig was it? Was the Briddle tucked inside properly to minimize this risk? Was the BOC pouch snug enough so it wouldn't just slip out at the slightest pull from the bridle? I don't blame this guy entirely, You are still the jumpmaster and you have a responsibility. 1)Make him do belly to earth first or don't let him jump at all. 2) since this guy was obviously a beginner he probably had no idea about how important it is to minimize bridle exposure for freeflying! Again, it is your job to make sure that your student's rig is up to the task. There was a series of miscommunications that took place, don't let you're students have control of the situation. If they don't listen, they can't jump!

Hornet 190 People are all pushed onto that rig as soon as possible so they have a square reserve. *** Wow, I guess your stuck. When I did my demo program, I had to demostrate that I could land in the pea-gravel or damn close at least 5 times in a row and they ALL HAD TO BE STAND UP LADINGS. I started like this PD 300 PD 280 PD 260 PD 230 PD 210 (This canopy had the hardest landings!) Sabre 190 (Zero-P really helped!!) Sabre 170 Sabre 150 (yah, I know I was pushing it!!) I guess I was lucky that Will Renfoe (AAWest) had so many demo rigs! I thought that this was the norm. I guess not, I would be scared shitless to skip 2 sizes.

I see from your profile you jump a Sabre 150, what wing loading are you putting on it? *** My exit weight w/rig is 190. So my wing loading is 1.26 on average. I will say that after thanksgiving, it was more like 1.3

If you didn't feel right, go with you're instincts. Don't risk passing out. I do however think you would have been fine as soon as you got out of the airplane, as the ride to altitude is the most stressful part for most skydivers. Once you jump, you're committed! All that stress is gone! To be honest I kinda miss that rush I got on those first 40 or so jumps. I will say, the sport gets way more fun as become more relaxed and in control! Good Luck!

beer and food which can be found within walking distance*** yah, I saw a couple of pizza's from dominos getting delivered. As far as beer, just bring a 12 pack and share. Eventually you'll bum more beer from people than what you are paying for!

Bill's checklist is entirely reasonable and a tangible measure of ability. The experienced jumpers on this site realize that, that's why people are backing him up. Don't you think that Bill, who has significantly more experience than you do, might just know what he's talking about? If you survive in this sport long enough to have 500, or even 1,000 jumps I suspect that you'll look back on this post and wonder what you were thinking. *** I agree with the list. I wish I could do all these manuvers under my current canopy. I have no plans on downsizing in the near future until I feel confident. My point was, most people don't want to learn to do all these manuvers before downsizing! Just yesterday, I saw a guy downsize from a 280sq ft to a 210 sq foot PD f-111 canopy! What happened? Thats right! no 260 or 230 he skipped 2 sizes to the 210 canopy. This demonstrates the problem! We all took the van out to the landing area to watch him land, we were all expecting him the bite it really bad. Sure enough, he flared and butt-slid in pretty hard. Not as bad as we expected but probably enough to scare him a little. The biggest problem is we see these guys with 3000 jumps doing high performance landings. It's peer pressure to downsize. Also, it really sucks to be the last one down, being at 2000AGL watching the plane land and see everyone packing their chutes just as your landing. I don't think there are any easy ways to solve this problem.

Hello again! I just wanted to add some new life to this thread.... I visited skydive Taft, CA this weekend. It was the best! It was partially cloudy on the drive in but the clouds were very high. Let this be a lesson! Don't believe the weather report!!!!!! We got 14.5K on all the loads I was on!!! Mike Mullins King Air was amazing! I love the 3 second zero Gravity just before jump run. Skydive Taft itself has gotten a huge facelift! They have installed a pea-gravel pit, new grass everywhere so people can camp out easier and they are getting rid of the jump tickets and switching to the computerized manifest like what they have at Perris. I must say, if you can drive to Taft,CA it is well worth the drive! 14 bucks to 14.5K in 7 minutes.....works for me!

-flat turn 90 degrees at 50 feet (sure that won't stall my canopy!) -flare turn at least 45 degrees (while landing?) -initiate a high performance landing with double front risers and front riser (yah, that won't kill anybody) -land with rear risers (no way!) *** Do you really expect someone to try all of these things when they are just off student status and are involved in a demo program? At 121 jumps I do "straight in" landings. At my skill level, I would never try any of these things. Doing these manuvers requires a lot a training. Not everyone who is trying to get off that shitty 300 sq foot F-111 canopy is going to want to shell out $1,200 bucks for a canapy course that most DZ's don't even offer. People downsize because they want a more agressive canopy that is more fun to fly in the air. I'm not going to try any of these manuvers that you listed for a long long time! I do agree that the flat turning is a good thing to practice but not 50 feet above the ground! I don't think you are going to get a lot of people to demonstrate these manuvers, and yet they will still downsize..... I know you are trying to help but most people can gauge their own skill level, and are grown adults who are going to do their own thing......

It sounds like they have the same problem as Performance Designs (with regard to the new Katana canopy) Promote the hell out of it way too early and piss everyone off in the process because there is no information about the new product and nobody seems to know when you will be able to buy the damn thing! I like cypres2, they made the announcement and released the product within 3 months. Thats service!

I imagined what my Havok would look like if you took the faceshield off. It would look almost exactly like the mindwarp! I freefly with my Havok, why do you want to take the face shield off? What a waste!

First off, with "250ish" jumps, why don't you have your own gear? Ever hear of the "don't borrow gear" rule in skydiving? If you do borrow gear, ask yourself, "do I trust my life with this thing?" Did you pack the rig yourself?and make sure the container & pin flap closed properly, was the BOC pouch snug enough? Secondly, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SPOT. If the spot sucks FOR ANY REASON!, hit the switch and do another pass. It's your money, you shouldn't have to pull at 6K to get back to the DZ. You were open at 13K!!? and you didn't have enough altitude to get back to the DZ under a 280 SQ ft canopy?!! What happened?

I just ordered some freefly pants from firefly. I just want the pants. In southern california it gets hot in the summer and I definatly would not want to be stuck with a full body suit. With the pants, you can wear whatever top you want, and in my humble opinon, I think it looks cooler to just have the pants cause you can wear whatever top you want, depending on the temp.! scott

You've tossed out a roll of toilet paper? How long does it get before it breaks off? Is there any risk of malfunction by flying your canopy through the strands of toilet paper? scott

Could anyone tell me what happened? is this the guy who hooked in his Velocity at Skydive San Diego? Do they think he is paralyzed? scott

1. Piss poor. Just forget it. We're talking the tail end of forty days and forty nights. *** thanks for the info! I grew up in seattle.....moved to LA about 5 years ago. I just couldn't take the weather/high suicide rate anymore!! I do love skiing up there, I'll be going to Whistler/Blackcomb for most of my trip. scott

I hope so, the one bad thing about the sport of skydiving is that there just aren't that many people doing it. As a result, Firefly is running a very small operation, or in a garage! I wish they hadn't moved to Iowa! I live in LA, I could have just driven down to Venice to pick my Pants up! I wonder why they moved from a big city to bumfuck Iowa? does anyone know the answer to this?

I used to wear these Ryder goggles, they would give me tunnel vison. I decided to get a full face helmet because I wanted unrestriced vision. I demoed some oxygen helmets from square 1 but I didn't like them because there is no chin strap and the velco headband slips off in freefall making the helmet very unsecure! I almost lost it doing a sitfly! The oxygen visor flip-up mechanism is cheap, you have to bend the lens to get it to pop up!. The Havok is a much better design!(and the same price as an oxygen). It has a chinstrap and the entire face shield flips up, not just the lens! This makes it easier to talk to people on the plane without removing the helmet. The face shield is secured by a ski boot style binding so you actually have about 100 teeth securing the helmet in the down position. As a result the helmet is a slightly larger profile than the oxygen but is still perfectly good for freeflying. I haven't noticed any problems. In fact it's a huge improvment for freeflying because of the high speeds, you don't have the wind sandblasting into your face! Bonehead is right across the street from Skydive Perris,CA so it isn't hard to get service! The helmet has 2 very secure external audible ports. I like having them on the outside because I get a more acurate reading, matching my wrist altimeter. The carbon fiber finish is awesome, I might add that the face shield also has the carbon fiber finish. The picture of the helmet that you see (on this review) has some kind of older finish on the faceshield, the new ones aren't like that. Mine is all carbon fiber/black. It even gives you the option of "baking" the padding in your oven, which then molds to the shape of your head. The "Havoc" is much better looking than the "Boomerang" fullface that Bonehead also sells.

Everyone at Perris asks me about my altimeter. It has an operating range of 20K feet, is very easy to read in freefall and has protrack features like exit/deployment altitudes. Not much more expensive than an analog altimeter and more reliable because it's self calibrating with no moving parts! One thing I don't recommend is using this altimeter on a night jump, the display is not "high contrast" enough to be visible in the dark, even with a mini glow stick taped to the side. Use an audible if you are jumping at night, I didn't have one at the time so I got to count and pull, it was a very interesting experience! All in all, it is very reliable!