scottjaco

I just got an e-mail today that Mike Mullins King Air will in fact be at Skydive Taft, CA starting Dec. 6th!! Jump tickets are only $14 dollars to 14K. This is great news. Since Air Adventures West got shut down, nobody in Southern California could get to 14K! it was horrible! All the dropzones around LA are only 12.5K (Perris, Elsinore, Cal City and SanDiego) once in while we would get to 13K but very rarely. (The King Air that AAWest used is currently in hybernation at Skydive Cal City) 7 minutes to 14K! I think I have a new favorite dropzone!! Has anybody here ever flown in it? what is it like? I heard there is a stereo system, I wouldn't mind listening to some tunes on the way up to altitude! scott

I own a Swift Plus.... It's 7-cell f111. Manufactured in '93. Looks brand new. All new reserves are still 7-cell f111. Why buy another 7-cell f111 reserve?, unless there is damage/wear to the reserve. maybe if they started making 9 cell zero-P reseves I'd change it out. From what riggers have told me, this will probably never happen. scott

This sounds a lot like 1-800-DENTIST *** Yah it does. It also sounds very tacky! You've decided to jump out of an airplane, and you are too lazy to do any research? Don't people care about where they are jumping? I called almost every dropzone in Southern California before I did my first AFF jump. There was no way I was going to do a Tandem, my concerns were price and altitude. I felt that Air Adventures West had the best deal, unfortunatly they got shut down. scott

If 5 cards came back with your name on them you got a free jump ticket... *** 5 referals and you only get 1 free jump! What a jip! At Cal City, you only need to bring in 1 whuffo and you get a free jump ticket. scott

duh, I'm more interested in why they cut it off... why couldn't they just fix it?? scott

It would have been interesting to see the view from up there. How was the visability? scott

I broke my fibula last summer. I was grounded for 2 1/2 months. After six weeks, the cast came off but the doctor said to wait another month before jumping. I'm glad I did. I spent that month streatching the leg and running on the treadmill. Listen to your doctor PLEASE! you will have the rest of your life to skydive. Trust me...if you jump now, YOU WILL FUCK YOURSELF UP! DON'T DO IT! scott

He had his foot amputated? What on earth happened? scott

You could get the Altitron or the Digitude...... scott

I know my parents were extreamly happy when I forked over the cash for a Cypres2 a few weeks ago. scott

For me...I had no desire to Base Jump until I had around 40 jumps. I was never one of those..."I'm learning this so that I can Base Jump" guys. The more I learned about the sport...the more it interests me. I'll probably wait till I have aound 300 jumps. It's just like swooping! I want to do it badly but I don't have the experience to do it safely! scott

I've done a couple of C-182 jumps! They were interesting to say the least. As long as we get to 12.5K it's cool! The C-182 feels like a Go-Kart with wings! The inside is smaller than a car! When I was on student status, it felt crazy...when the door fliped open! crawling onto the strut! I grew to enjoy it more when I got a smaller rig that made it easier to manuver out of the airplane! scott

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Basic Research only require you to have 150 skydives to take the First Jump Course? scott

I don't think anyone in the US still uses chest-mount ripcords. *** Yes, they were chest mounts. I didn't know about the BOC ripcords until I went to Elsinore for the first time.... It was funny...I was wondering why I saw the BOC pud but no bulge (pilot chute) in the BOC pouch. Someone explained that it was actually a rip cord! Air Adventures West in Taft,CA uses the Chest Mounted ripcords...they are currently operating out of Cal City. I think they are old Javlin Student Containers. If the new ripcord rigs are positioned the same way as the BOC throwouts, then you are right, it wouldn't make that big of a difference as far as staying stable. scott

I certainly don't think I'm better than most skydivers.... I only have 112 jumps. I thought I made that clear in my last post. This whole thread started when I complained about not being able to jump at a smaller drop zone. People seemed to lash out at me and call me a whiner because they thought my attitude was being unresonable. I can say yes or no to that.....but the fact remains.. being at Perris or any other Major DZ gives you a perspective that you can't get at a small DZ. My jaw dropped the first time I visited Perris (after AAWest closed in March). I had never seen a DZ operate at that level. You can learn a lot from the many resident Skygods that jump there. scott

Well I'd make damn sure you know what you want and what you are willing to pay for it before messing with the internet...... Does your Home DZ have a Demo program? Most legitamate skydivers can sell their rigs at their home DZ's or by putting an Ad in Parachutist. The whole E-bay thing makes me nervous. It seems like every rig that is being sold claims to only have 10-100 jumps on it. I find that a little hard to swallow. Be careful is all I'm saying! scott

I'm not quite sure I agree with the throw-outs for students. I started on ripcord rigs. I notice that Perris has their students on throwouts. When I was a student, I liked having the handle right there on my chest. I didn't have to balance myself with my left hand as much to stay stable on deployment. When you reach back behind your container, you can't see the handle, and as a student you may go into a barrel roll or spin out! I did a hand deploy transition at jump 14. It involved 2 jumps...1 w/ ripcord rig while doing practice touches while maintaining heading control.....then the 2nd jump with a real hand deploy.....doing practice touches and actually pulling while staying stable. If you couldn't stay stable...you had to go back and do more solos w/ ripcord rigs. I know jumpmasters that will not teach students on hand deploy because they go unstable and pitch out sideways and the pilot chute doesn't catch air. My rig is BOC hand deploy as you might guess.... when I made the switch, I never wanted to go back! Obviosly the openings are quicker (no delay for the pilot chute to catch air) but for a student who is unstable...a spring loaded pilot chute is going to do a better job of catching air even though it's not quite as swift as hand deploy. scott

Thats great to hear about florida, but I was talking about the "Golden State".... As far as what makes a real dropzone? OK lets get this straight so I don't offend anybody anymore! SanDiego, Taft (where I'm from), Santa Barbera ect. are all dropzones. Perris is what I would call a Skydive Facility. It is a world class dropzone. What makes it world class? People come from all over the world just to jump at Perris. They are constantly turning loads on at least 2 otters on weekdays. I know not always but you get the idea..... You get square1, a resturant, pool, wind tunnel, special events all the time, you get to see some of the best skydivers in the world. Now hold on, I didn't mean all the good skydivers go to Perris, I just found that a higher ratio of bad ass swoopers, freeflyers and 100-way groups jump out of there. I like to be around that. However I miss the small dropzone "vibe" sometimes so I like head out to the stix wherever that may be and sip up the culture! Now I'm not a spokesman for Perris...I'm just trying to let you know I love you all!! .......even though people from Perris get called Parasites when they visit other dropzones...It's OK, spread the love! scott

Ya, I hope they re-open Taft. Perris is cool for other reasons. I can't think of one other place (except maybe Elsinore) where you can just walk into a gear shop.... buy a brand new cypres and Protrack off the shelf. Square one is right there. I didn't put down anybody or their dropzone, I said Skydive San Diego rocks! I was just really annoyed yesterday when I drove all the way down there and didn't get to jump......they didn't seem to show me much dedication....maybe I should have just put all my gear in the car and bought a Tandem? scott

Up jumper? anyone that isn't a student. Basically all they are paying for is the plane ride up. I'm suprised people are getting annoyed with me because I'm complaining about outhouses. It's like I just put down the Pope! Didn't I just say "I like Skydive SanDiego"? like three times? What is the problem? scott

All I can say is...."deal with it" I aint going nowhere! scott

Are you serious!!! You've gotta be kidding me! I even went to manifest and asked if they had any real bathrooms. They said that the outhouses were the only ones. In that case...I retract my earlier statment!!! scott

I agree, Skydive SanDiego is a cool facility but the outhouses are unforgivable! I'm sorry but this is one thing that really bugs me! I'm sure people here are getting sick of me bitch but try to understand.... I'm not interested in staring at 30 pounds of dog shit every time I have to take a leak! This isn't Woodstock or Burning Man! I need my running water! At least try to empty them once in a while! Other than that, the place rocks.....it's got a really great views from above! I think I just need to be more careful about when I go up there! scott

Yep, I got screwed, and yes the world does revolve around me! What's your point??????

I've bitched and moaned about that to the DZ owner at Perris. It's because of the Otario Airport and Airforce Base that are close by. Once in a blue moon, we will get 13.5K. I figure 12.5 is the standard but I'm hoping Air Adventures West opens again so we can fly the King Air to 14K! scott