Joellercoaster

It's a significant difference. Also, 150 is a kind of inflection point, where canopy size and wing loading and performance stop having quite such a linear relationship. I am not your instructor and this advice is worth what you paid for it, but: 170 is as small as you should go, and you should stay on it for quite a while. J -- "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?

Yes. This is my opinion though, and worth precisely 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?

That's a bit more informative! Sounds like it fits in where the Vision used to in the product line - much more gas than the Pilot, not as mental as the Mamba (which seemed like a hoot to me, but, er, a bit... twitchy). I hear there have been some demo Zulus doing the rounds in the States, has anyone on dz.com had a go? I'd definitely like to try it, hopefully Herman or someone like him will be here in the Summer. -- "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've seen it at single cessna drop zones as well as the huge boogies. Yarp. Maybe no stabbings, but all the rest, and I haven't even been skydiving that long. For every wine-drenched sunset barbecue with beautiful people licking each other's nipples around the campfire, there has been a drunk Welshman kicking down doors and a mad whuffo running amok in the campground with a rubber mallet and a Stanley knife. I don't think it's skydivers that make the difference, but skydiving itself certainly has something to do with it. Skydivers and non-jumpers are the same people, make no mistake. We are not special. But our environment tends to concentrate emotion - good, and bad. The good is worth 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?

That is not what you asked. And the answer is "almost none of them", if you mean negligence by instructors that leads to an accident for a student. I think you are looking for the wrong kind of information in choosing a place to skydive - it is understandable! But, the questions you should really be asking are: which centre near me has friendly staff, a well maintained plane, and instructors who will teach me the things I should know? Because the vast majority of skydiving incidents do not involve negligence on the part of the company - rather, mistakes on the part of individual jumpers. We discuss incidents not to blame, but to try, as best we can, not to repeat those mistakes ourselves. We do not always do as well as we should. -- "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 find skydiving relaxing in the same way I used to find smoking relaxing - if I don't do it, I get tense. In addition, I find being in small planes a source of tension, so getting out of them is instantly relaxing also. -- "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 can't believe nobody has made a ChrisD joke yet. -- "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?

We need some kind of badge or shorthand, whose meaning is: "Assuming you are in the sport for a few years, and you might be, you are going to look back at your posts in this thread and cringe." -- "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?

Why do you think that might happen? -- "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?

All those accuracy jumpers also get out on dedicated jump runs they spot themselves. They don't have to get back from being strung out along a whole Otter load full of exit groups. I mostly take issue with Huskers' use of the word "significant". I have plenty of jumps on Sabre2s and many more on Pilots, and I can report that there is precisely zero difference in how accurate I was on them. This so-called difference is entirely in your mind. The Sabre2 *does* glide a little steeper, but you are over-thinking this - possibly just to support your own canopy choice, whatever. I don't care, but this does not qualify as useful advice to a beginner. -- "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?

The answers are all good (and in the UK, the answer would be "190lbs including full kit, for a first jump"), but the question itself is interesting. What's behind 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?

Why not? Some of us are not even slightly interested in swooping but are very interested in canopies. Sorry, "wings". Did I say that right? The grown up words are hard for me sometimes. This advertising campaign - sorry, "conversation"! - is just as much for us as it is for anyone else, since nobody can buy the thing yet anyway, and for all we know nobody ever will -- "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?

This person has two posts, both containing a link to their Motocross Suits website and one of which (this one) is extreme thread necromancy. Mods... can we have a report button? -- "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?

But the ages for all of those things vary across the world. Who is right? The Americans, where you are old enough to die in a foreign war three years before you are old enough to drink alcohol? It's not a real consistent starting point. In the UK, often derided by US jumpers as a "nanny state", our limit is 16. It seems to work OK. -- "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?

Oh, awesome! You answer direct questions. Does this mean you will answer the (many) direct questions you have received in threads where you have offered questionable advice, about your skydiving experience and instructional ratings? This one will do fine. -- "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?

Yeah - I think most people were just worried that you were missing the point (it's more involved than it looks, get a coach), when you were not. Two ways with a good flyer are a really good way to learn to track, flat or angled. The only thing I would add is that at least over here, 'tracing' and 'tracking' are closely related and overlapping, but not the same thing. The latter implies a lot of speed and power, and radical changes of direction - as DeeBeeGee says upthread, at various points in the dive it will be more of a form of head down, as the turns carve right through the vertical. Way cool. -- "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?

Well... yeah. That. (Like most people) skydivers are a lot nicer in person. The Internet is an easy place to be rude. Don't be put off by our online behaviour, come visit - in my experience dropzones are amazingly welcoming, accepting places. (Although it's also true that camera wearing is a recurring hot button issue, and some of the snippiness directed at you here is really directed at people with 100 jumps - I don't think there is any excuse for speaking harshly to beginners with questions, ever!) -- "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?

Price does not come into it in this case, I'm afraid. A few extra quid vs the TI losing their rating when the video hit YouTube? You'd have to have really amazing boobs, for a start. Hand cam is not presently legal in the UK. This may change in the future, but for now it is what it is. To the original poster, as people have pointed out with varying degrees of politeness: there is a lot going on in a tandem skydive that is not immediately obvious, and the rules have not been arrived at without careful thinking. Even some relatively experienced skydivers find them surprising, but the reasons for them turn out to be sound. You are going to have an amazing time. First-person video or the lack of it is not going to change that

On a related note... I gave someone a good deal on a canopy a little while ago, because I got a discount from the manufacturer when it was new, they didn't have much money at the time and I was happy to see it go somewhere in my local jumping community. Discovering they sold it on for more than I charged them when they in turn downsized, was not a happy moment. -- "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. -- "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?

Have a trawl through the incidents forum... there have been two or three at least in the last year. Not disagreeing with your overall impression - I think fuckups are by far the greater cause as well (and I have no idea why people are so ready to assume they won't fuck up, it's always "in case someone else takes me out") - but the other kind also exist. -- "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?

Last year, this jumper landed unconscious under a PDR 113 loaded at 1.7:1. He sustained additional injuries on landing and the consensus seems to be that he was very lucky (landed in a field). According to his post, he is upsizing his reserve. -- "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'd say over half my jumps have been on various Pilots. They are extremely forgiving of flare timing in larger sizes... I can think of a couple of screwups in my first few hundred jumps where I was glad of 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?

Right now, the "ordinary" 10. But my local poison merchant has another one (though not that one) that he gave me a taste of the other day and it was wonderful. Tonight's poison is Maker's Mark and it's going down well. Normally I'm not a Bourbon kind of guy but every now and again I want something I can put ice in -- "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?

Sorry to pick up on just one sentence, but other people are well covering the psychology side. But, these two things are almost entirely unrelated. 1. Standing up your landings is just a matter of flare technique and timing - it's a motor skill and it will come to you. 2. Doing a low turn and hitting a wind blade are about planning your pattern, setting up in the right places, and then following your plan. That is to say, about thinking ahead and knowing where you are, well before you are in that kind of position. Canopy coaches, even when they're coaching swooping, talk a lot about planning and pattern setting! Bringing it back into the main topic, having your skydive all laid out in advance, in detail, before you get in the plane, will help a lot. This includes the gear and door sequence, the freefall part, canopy ride, all the way back to the hangar. Having it all sorted out will help you feel much more in control, and will make you a lot safer. (Don't sweat the hop and pop exit too much. Your mistake was a small one and your instructor will easily be able to point it out from the video ) -- "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?