Joellercoaster

Much rejoicing. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think it might be worth the wait if you already own a rig and can hang onto it for another season while you queue. (It wasn't for me, but I guess for some people.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Just because Greg can't let it go for all these years, doesn't mean we can't either. Attention is oxygen. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfLNjDSfkcY -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Seriously, this is a brilliant idea. Should we restrict it to Skyhooks, or should it also include some branches of the AAD discussion tree? I would vote for "but what price is your life worth?" -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yup. Me three. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

My instructor made me PLF all the way around the grass area at Lillo (in Spain). Even now on landing, I can hear her on the radio saying, "feet and knees together" at about 30ft. Watch any groundschool at a BPA (UK) dropzone, and see students lining up to jump off a step and PLF. I think the PLF taken a bit more seriously on this side of the pond, for whatever reason. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

It's funny; that's how I have been teaching teams to do it because it seems to generally work better. But when I am OC, I prefer to take high grip on Point and just have my right hand on the bar. Point doesn't have a terribly hard job on H exits anyway, but it's definitely a little easier (IMO, I am no kind of great Point flyer) to present without taking that grip. Maybe my preference comes from jumping with very inexperienced people, which is the most often I find myself doing that exit. On the gripping hand, almost all my 4-way is as Tail, so this advice about how to fly the front piece is worth what you paid for it -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Today's UK plane pedantry: G92 is not, in fact, a kind of Dornier. Those 4 awesome planes are Dornier 28s with a bigass engine upgrade :-) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

What else do you know? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

That girl will go far. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

*ahem* including, now, me. I love mine. In general flight not quite as graceful as a Crossfire, but it opens better (to my taste anyway) and just glides forever. It's simply a great canopy. FWIW, I hated the same-sized Katana. Certainly a more 'modern' design but unless you really want to swoop big, it flies like a dump truck. PS you were still right about the Batwing though. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Our camera flyer was alternately jumping a same-sized Safire2 and Sabre2 in the last week. His comment was that the (much newer) Sabre2 reminded him that his Safire was definitely in need of a reline, but he still preferred the openings and landings of the Safire. I suspect what this comes down to though is personal taste - hopefully you can find a demo somewhere? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

It's good that you are asking these questions. The answers might be a little surprising - I'm not suggesting you are foolish (the fact that you ask is a good sign) but you should understand you are already in risky territory. This is the standard get-out clause used by every person who ever jumped a canopy that is too small for their experience, ever. The good news is that the most common formal chart you will see on the net actually has a section (marked 'smallest allowed') for the top end of the talented kids, who are getting coaching and jumping very regularly. Assuming for the moment that you are one of those people, then the very smallest canopy you should be on right now is somewhere above 180 square feet in size. If you are not one of these blessed talents (and I sure ain't), then the answer is more like 210. Back to the 150 question, since that's what you asked: the very earliest point for someone with an exit weight of 198* is 240 jumps (340 for most people though). Bummer that your canopy is so hard to pack, but hang in there. You will master it. [edit: * = weigh yourself in full gear. You will be surprised at what your real exit weight is (I know I was), I suspect your estimate is a bit on the low side.] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'm not a USPA member, so this is maybe worth what you paid for it. But: An important part of democracy is public discussion. How else will we make the call about how to vote? We are not just unconnected individuals making perfectly-informed decisions for ourselves in isolation. We are a society. In the same way that a free press is a critical plank of a real democracy, this kind of public discussion about elected officials is vital. Your vote is one thing, but if you really want change you often need to convince other people to vote the same way. You do not vote in isolation. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I had one for about 150 jumps, and I think this is a terrible idea. Would you be asking this about a Stiletto? Because they're pretty similar. (Also, even not on a fully elliptical canopy which the Vision is, a wingloading of 1.2 at 50 jumps is... um... really something. Level-headed and very current is one thing, but we are talking about a total beginner here. Look after them properly!) [edit: Apparently not all of them are like this. But my Vision was very challenging on opening, got up to all kinds of tricks and put me in real trouble a couple of times. I have not had this with any other canopy (Crossfire2s and a Katana included). I would not want to put an inexperienced person in that situation.] [edit 2: Or, for that matter, me. I eventually swapped it for a Pilot ] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'm the same weight as the OP, give or take, and my first main was also a Pilot. It's a brilliant first canopy (and second, and now also fifth). I second NWFlyer's recommendation to go bigger. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

It's OK, emoticons not necessary - we knew it was a windup as soon as you said someone touched your cock. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Please excuse the selective quoting, I hope it can be forgiven in the name of making a point about people's thinking. Slowly. A hundred jumps on one canopy is not even a tiny bit "slowly". The question most of the guys (and it is always young men) need to ask themselves is this: Do I want to get good? Or do I just want to be able to say "I rock a Katana 120, what's your wing?" Honest answers on a postcard. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I realise Greg is genuinely mentally ill and powerless in the face of his compulsion to post, but still. You gotta see the funny side, otherwise you'd cry. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Until this year (when I tore a thigh adductor muscle on landing), the only injuries I had sustained in my first thousand jumps were a result of problems getting out of the plane. I broke a finger on a tube that slid out the door unexpectedly and whacked my hand on the fuselage, and then later I fractured another one in a harness grip on an 8-way exit. I've lost some skin from my leg diving out for a bigway, and once got stuck to the plane by my head when my helmet got wedged in the doorframe. That hurt a bit. I wonder, is the exit a common source of dings and hurts? I can think of a few friends who might agree... whatcha got, dropzone.com? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Depending on exactly how far you are intending to travel, Target Skysports (Hibaldstow) in the UK and Skydive Spain (Seville) in, uh, Spain both go to 15k on most lifts. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Who is lecturing? It's nice of you to defend the guy, but I don't think he needs it and I'm not sure what you're defending him from. It was his own assessment that his downsizing was (and I quote) too aggressive. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

No kidding! So what are you jumping now that you have decided that? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Too aggressively. Looking back, I was lucky I didn't get hurt, and on at least one time I was lucky I didn't hurt someone else. The sad part is, at the time I thought I was actually being careful -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?