Joellercoaster

Actually, the people doing the check-in are very often employees of the airline. But in any case, a lot of hassle can come from airport security or TSA (or local equivalent) staff on the day, no matter what the airline (or even policy documents) say. Why risk some random power-tripper ruining your day, as I have watched happen in front of me more than once now? Check your rig in

Potentially many, but I can think of 3 [edit: particularly] useful ones -- "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 you've got it here. You say 'physics' when you mean 'my intuition'. It's all right for your intuition to be wrong, it happens to everyone - it's happened to me plenty, especially about skydving, and I fully expect it to happen again. Bigway is instructive, not because it has some magical technique, but because it gives you an opportunity to see a lot of trackers at once, and compare how they go. The very, very furthest trackers at deploy time, all other things (technique) being equal, are the lankiest and skinniest (I'm looking at you Spider Monkey Girl, scarer of camera flyers at breakoff). That's simply because they can get their fall rate down quicker, and keep it down. [edit: on the other hand, I can safely say I have never seen someone be lower than me early in the track, then further away at deploy time. Never 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?

IMO? Hip rings. I love the spacer foam backpad in mine, but I wouldn't say 'must have'. The hip rings, though... definitely get. -- "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?

wow - there's 4 people causing this. Right on. And I'd say Point sometimes has the least influence over it, beyond staying mostly out of the way! Be patient and relaxed. You still want to get out the door and presented in good time, so be positive and don't get dragged out of the plane. But if you think about H (Bow) as a fairly long sheet on the relative wind (to start with this is coming from the nose of the plane), with Tail quite a way down the hill from you and you up at the top, looking over your shoulder down at Tail, you can see that you are in no hurry to launch - give time and space to OC and IC - and that you don't need to push off too hard at all to be in that position. IC can cause H to get dragged around if they're hesitant or impeded, OC needs to present well and make the right space, and Tail has a lot of influence in keeping it on heading. 4-way is definitely about all 4 of you -- "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. I disagree strongly that nothing is being done, or that nothing that is being done, is working. Change is afoot. We can't fix everything straight away, we have cultural issues, but we might well look back on this as a kind of high-water mark one day. -- "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?

You have a point, in that more planes make for crowded airspace at boogies and big dropzones, and it can get congested. It's not a place to let your guard down too much. But every canopy collision I can think of (and I've only been skydiving a limited time so this is admittedly only a fraction, but there have been a few now and it's still a strong feeling) has been between people who both got out of the same plane. Whatever it is that needs fixing, it doesn't just apply to boogies. -- "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?

You are absolutely correct. Looking at the video again (not fun), it's not a swooping fuckup or a poor canopy choice, it's just a decision-making mistake with a really bad result One for me to take away: if you're coming in mostly downwind and you think you're going to hit something, turn to the leeward side (that is, further downwind). If you try and turn to the windward side, you're still going to get pushed sideways, closer to the obstacle. -- "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?

Glad to hear you're finally getting to do it - it's been a while coming, no? Fret less, remember there are no stupid questions, and hope the weather plays ball for you. You are in good hands. -- "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?

Is there some way we can sticky this? There's a lot of good advice on this site, and a lot of it is aimed at the would-be hot-shots, but it's not often someone puts it this way, [edit: Is there any info on his gear? Could be a trick of the camera angle, but he seems to be going pretty damn fast even in straight flight.] -- "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?

(Not to counter any of the good advice you've already received upthread - some very wise words in here.) Marketing description and practical flight reality are often different things. The Fusion is generally put in the same performance bucket as the Sabre2 and Safire2-type canopies, rather than the more elliptical, aggro wings like the Stiletto and Crossfire. If (if!) your instructors think you'd be OK on a Sabre2 of that size, thre's no reason to fear a Fusion either. -- "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?

Indeed. The most brutal slammer of my life so far, hopefully ever, was on a Pilot - which are almost a byword for soft, reliable openings. Then again, almost all my jumps are on Pilots, so that's not so surprising. Gonna happen at some point -- "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 depends on what you mean by 'better', and 'paid' I guess. There are full-time instructors whose only want from a job is that it keep them fed and housed and able to skydive. They manage that, and although there are drawbacks for sure, they are satisfied. I know a few people with thousands of tandems, who haven't jumped solo in years, and they seem pretty happy with their lot. Not everybody ends up hating their job, and not all jobs make you hate them. -- "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?

You are right. -- "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?

Same way most people do, if I was getting them and packing carefully wasn't helping. Start by looking at a slider mod. As it happens though, my 40 or 50 Sabre 1 jumps (135 and 150) were all fine. Go figure, maybe the canopy isn't a total deathtrap. How did you deal with yours? -- "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?

He already bought himself a decent canopy. -- "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?

B license (so at least 50), but your point definitely stands

You may think it's not worth much, but: that's really good advice! -- "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?

In the UK, we keep track. -- "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 am totally stealing this. -- "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 have owned both, and they are both good at the things they do - but they do different things. The Viso2 is an expensive but excellent digital visual alti. I still own one and use it on every jump. The N3 is much more than that... if you don't care about all that other stuff, get a Viso. Otherwise, the Neptune wins. (I'd consider getting one just to double as a spare audible, but that could just be me and my bad luck with audibles ) -- "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?

Alternatively - Crouch or sit in the door, facing the tail. Step straight out sideways (like people have said, don't jump, the tail is a harsh mistress), and extend your legs but keep your arms by your sides. Arch. The air will catch your legs, flipping you gracefully over as you look back up at the plane, and you'll end up on your belly. Easy as cake, and looks very cool from the plane :) -- "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?

Don't get wings. 6'7 and 215 is not extreme - you're big, you'll fall quick if you want to, but jumpsuits with special measures for fall rate are for people with fairly unusual characteristics. Without having met you or seen you fly, I suspect this doesn't include you. When you get used to flying you will, as people have said, have a lot of range. You'll be able to keep up with the tanks, and (given a reasonably draggy material) stay with the slower folks without resorting to trickery.. 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?

These are not statistical opinions, rather qualitative, from someone who's done a bit of all of these things: Driving? More dangerous than that. The 'more likely to get hurt driving to the DZ' thing is total bollocks (though I have a funny story). Rock climbing? Similar. You can climb as safely as possible and still get hurt or even killed, but it's relatively rare - likewise skydiving. You can also climb embracing great risk, and the same is true of this sport. People get hurt and killed pushing their luck in both activities. As for your parents, it can be pretty hard to bring the opinion round without physically dragging them to the DZ and letting them absorb the safety vibe. -- "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?

If all you want is the adrenaline rush, then skydiving quickly loses its shine as you brain adapts to the idea. Fortunately, after that comes the realisation that there is a never-ending mountain to climb, going from the thrill of falling to the deep satisfaction of flying. You can fill a lifetime getting good at skydiving. There are enough disciplines to keep anyone occupied, day in, day out. I have no quarrel with people who only want to jump occasionally, everybody skydives for different reasons and all are valid - but the "rush" is just the tip of the iceberg. -- "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?