AFFI

This implies that the DZO is independently wealthy and does not intend this business to draw any profit whatsoever. Let’s not kid ourselves; if people are being taken up to jump in return for money, it is a commercial operation, it is a business. DZ’s that have a “club” type atmosphere and are not being managed with the intent to stay open (make profit) are fun to jump at but I miss them. The reason I say I miss them is so far every cool little back woods DZ that was not managed with the intent to make a profit that I have jumped at has either closed or owned by someone else that bought it to see if they could manage it better than the last DZO did. Little club type DZ’s are fantastic places but so are larger DZ’s – both have pro’s and con’s… A large DZ that is managed like a business (with the “Tandem Factory” label attached because they make 100+ tandems in a weekend and prioritize in accordance with making a profit) but also has a large fun jumper community and has multiple planes that range in size (Otters, Caravans, Porters, down to the smaller Cessna’s) are the place to be if one is seeking slot availability. Getting bumped is just a part of skydiving. It is simple, if you desire slot availability then go to a larger DZ with multiple airplane sizes. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Either I do not understand the mechanics involved or I do not understand the explination. The loop was being extracted from the cutting device? - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

This is an interesting testament concerning the relationship between experience levels and adding additional risks into the equation such as flying a camera. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Like the ride at 6 Flags where the barrel spins and the floor drops away. Jeez, I loved that ride when I was a kid! Guess that is why I find the notion of spending my last remaining moments alive stuck to the wall of a spinning out of control airplane amusing - sounds like a fun way to fall off the old perch... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

If an airplane bursts into flames at 500(+) feet no one will be able to get out, hell, you probably wouldn’t even have time to get your seatbelt off and even if you were sitting right by an open door (which should be closed for takeoff) by the time you are able to get the belt off and roll out of the door the plane will be so low to the ground by then you wouldn’t even get line stretch before impact. It will be all over quickly and the pilot could be the only saving grace so the occupants need to give the pilot what is needed to be able to best do their job. The best plan for dealing with airplane emergencies is to remain calm and simply take commands from the pilot. He/She will know better than anyone aboard what needs to be done. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I live between Houston and Dallas - I drive a 5 hour round trip every weekend to go to Skydive Spaceland http://www.skydivespaceland.com/. There are drop zones closer but the reasons I decide to drive that far are simple. The airplanes are very well maintained because the owner does not lease them, he owns the entire fleet (3 Otters, 1 Caravan and 2 Cessna), he is also an avid aviator and has high standards for the pilots he hires. The runway is 3400 feet paved - clean facilities and bunkroom, plenty of indoor air conditioned packing space. Their airpark is also private and was designed exclusively for skydiving on 130 acres of land surrounded by fields to land in when landing off and they are starting a student flying training program there soon as well – all this plus the best student training program around with very good rental/student gear. There are a lot of sport jumpers there eager to skydive with newcomers, loads fly a lot due to the fun jumper presence. National champion freeflyers and belly flyers are there for all levels of coaching and the vibes amongst the jumpers there is quite comfortable. Plan a weekend to come on out, you will find it worth the drive. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Paying for it, and the next 10000 jumps!

There have been a lot of good comments here concerning this topic, I don’t have much to add to the in air decision making process that hasn’t already been covered. Learning when to release has some widespread philosophies and techniques and it is something an AFFI will become more confident in as experience is gained. That being said: There will be a time when a released out of control student will not be able to be gotten to by the Instructor. It is when those occurrences happen that the only thing standing between the student and the ground is the training they received on the ground during the preparation for the skydive. In my limited experience I have found that for me, I will have more confidence at release time with a well trained student and their ability to take care of themselves should the situation arise that I cannot “make the save”. So for me, it all boils down to ground training, the rest will fall into place. In the situation where they have not earned the release, simply don't release them... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Honestly, so did I so I bought my setup when I only had 80 jumps - but I still waited to fly it. Then when I got my jump numbers (experience level) to 200 - I had to fly my camera helmet for 25 jumps without anything on it, then 25 with just the mount attached with no camera then I was finally able to put my camera in it and all along the way I was trained and tested by my mentors. And that was when the SIM was still in a blue cover format and camera flying was not even mentioned. Even though I wanted to progress faster I did what the mentors I chose to listen to told me to do even though at the time it sounded ridiculous. Now I better understand why and believe that a difference of 200 jumps may allow me to handle a line malfunction on my camera better than even just the last 200 jumps with one because I continue to train and listen to my mentors even though I have around 2700 jumps with camera equipment on my head. To the OP, keep on track, hang in there, get your setup and learn how to use the camera on the ground listen to your mentors and be safe. Oh yeah, have fun... _ Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Affirmative Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Great post T...

Good point - but I wouldent sign it. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Count on it happening again - you will be in a situation where the chips are down again if you continue to skydive (just a matter of when) - so continue to train for the unforseen events that may transpire. Overall, my understanding is that you deployed at 10k and landed upwind of your landing target corret? Make certain to make inquiries to your instructors and seek counsel from them while you are on student status. Oh yeah, glad you had fun... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

You may also be able to get away with a slight increase in image size in your timeline. An Increase to 105% might do the trick. I find it still looks pretty good at 110% max... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Yes, but did you have fun? - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

There are fatality statistics that chart this? Must go way back, I cannot recall many student fatalities (SL or AFF) as a direct result of opening from an unstable body position. There was that one adjustable harness that gave a while back but I understand that body position was not the culprit. For all the proclamations about fatalities in this sport there are a surprising few number of them by contrast. If words were actions we would have a hell of a lot more fats to deal with annually. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I have done a few presentations on skydiving and quite a few on other topics before I started skydiving. What I do for a skydiving presentation first and foremost is build a foundation of information centered on safety. So far the presentations I have given were to attract individuals out to make their first tandem skydive so I concentrated on the primary concern of those considering such an endeavor. Safety… The largest concern for non-skydivers, especially those with interest is safety: Will my parachute open? What if my parachute fails? What safety measures and features are taken into consideration with reserves? ADD – RSL/Skyhook can open my reserve for me? Will I land safely? If I only had 5 minutes, I would talk about what it takes to jump out of an airplane and not only live to talk about it but walking away without a scratch. So my short 5 minutes would be primarily centered on the amazingly reliable gear we use and it’s proper utilization. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Great Post! Thank you. After reading this thread it did appear that a thoughtful analysis of the situation has taken place. Concerning the approach utilized in Altitude Management , maybe this subject could have a closer look taken. At any rate, thank you for sharing a most significant post. _ Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Me too... I went a couple years without logging and would use my pay sheets printed from the computer to track my logs and there was a mistake with that system because I had some pages printed twice and some pages not printed at all. It took quite a few hours to figgure it all out and get my log books caught up earlier this year, manifest was kind enough to print my back logged jumps from the last 4.5 years... From now on I am gonna log each jump - and this time I mean it! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Some people will pay for anything. I have this sweet magical rock in my yard, and would be will to let it go for this one time low price of $1000, let me know Dunno, will it get me to 3 grand?

Once again, Lisa is spot on... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I have been involved with a few emergency exit situations. First of all, I am not paying for freefall; I am paying for an airplane ride. At least that is the attitude at every DZ I have jumped at. One reason I skydive because I like excitement and to me there are few situations as thrilling as bailing out of an airplane over unfamiliar terrain at 3k because there was a problem with the airplane bad enough for the pilot to order everyone out. For me, the only thing that compares excitement-wise is maybe a malfunction or a first release dive with a student. All the training for hours on the ground is accentuated by occasional moments of terror in the air – that is why I do it. Last time I was on a video slot with a Tandem from 7K and there was an airplane problem, honestly I do not remember if the paying tandems got another jump or any money back but I do remember that there were no complaints. The excitement level was high with an engine out. Shit, I'd pay an extra $20 for an emergency exit from 2 or 3k from an airplane that was on fire or something - sounds exciting as hell. Last thing I would do is bitch to the DZO about a few bucks. In essence, he is providing my addiction, he is the one that makes it all possible and I appreciate all he has to do to make that possible and provide his customers with airplanes and rental equipment that are well maintained. Being on the DZO’s good side has some benefits every now and then… Maybe my perspective is a little different than a fun jumper after working as a full time skydiver for the last 6 years - It’s not easy being the head honcho of a DZ these days. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Nope, I did AFF in 7. It was another meskin AFFI... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I know a pretty darn good AFF Instructor that had to do 10 tandems before moving on. Mostly because he was chicken but the point is that it get better and no telling how far you may go. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I would not be pissed at all but this does invite room for discussion as to the why's of the situation. AFFI's need to be able to have discussion between one another. Just talk to the other JM, there was probably a reason, at least a reason that was good enough for the other JM to believe that the deployment was necessary. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…