livenletfly

[quoteI came to find out shortly there after, that at another DZ, he had also recently almost killed himself and an AFF instructor by panic bear hugging him on an AFF level 1 jump and was subsequently politely dismissed from their AFF program. \ holy shit!!! i always wondered if a student has ever done that. that is some scary shit to have happen to any aff instructor. life guards are trained to deal with a panicing victim in the water. they can and will kill you both if not restrained. i heard somewhere that lifeguards are taught to try and knock the victim out if this happens. does anyone know if thats true? also has anyone ever had this happen personaly to them on an aff jump? >

dont worry about your turns dano, you have a velo now! everyone knows its all about the canopy, not the silly pilot. >

i just got my coach rating this spring with over 1000 jumps. i also got my aff rating this month. in my little experience instructing (less than 100 coach/aff jumps) ive been suprised how aggressive you sometimes must fly during coaching jumps, in order to be there to aid the student with handsignals and watching what their body is doing and when to give corrections during the debrief. there is no way in hell i would have been a useful coach at 100 jumps! nor do i feel most 100 jump newbies can do the job to an above average standard, which the student deserves at least that. thjese jumps cost 85 dollars a piece, they deserve alot more than someone with 100 jumps. to me its a loose loose situation. if the 100 jump new coach is like 90% of newbies they're still pegged out with very little awarness or real world knowledge. the other side of the coin is they're 100 jump wonder with not enough apprehension and understanding of how dangerous things can get. thats the 2 catagory's id place 80-90% of coaches with less than 200 jumps. thats my shpeel o.k let me have it. >

i completed billy rhodes coarse last sat. it was an experience for sure! for starters here's my thoughts, not advice nor warning, just my thoughts. billy is one interesting fella. sharp as the day is long, doesnt miss a trick. trust me you are being observed constantly. the safe assunption in billyland is everything happens for a reason. be aware of your actions, attitude, and body language even on breaks or after hours. if your ex military it is exactly like bootcamp. the head game is similar just a lesser degree. i.e. heres the stress tactics im pretty sure were intentional. massive amounts of info thrown at you in rapid succession, the damned if you do damned if you dont confitations. theres a alot of stress the coarse puts on itself with no help from directors or staff. just hold your composure. NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT!!! there just going to lean harder! o shit, i got a ton of advice i could ramble, if you want ti ask me, other wise bro, relax, its gonna suck but you'll get threw it. there were alot of good times too. good luck >

well i guess im in the club now finaly! i finished my aff coarse sat. and got to do some aff sun. it was awsome! taking someone on the first skydive has been the highlight of my skydive carrer. i really liked watching the deployment right out of my hand. it looked different than i thought it would. lines and bridle kind of danced around a little. i feel like a whole new world has opened up within the sport that makes my life so great. im new so it will be awhile before i get to do levels 3 and up, but thats cool with me. this is serious stuff. well i just wanted to tell someone, its not the kind of thing my wuffo friends or family could possibly understand. so happy to be alive right now!!! >

what w/l and stuff? i didnt know you liked cobalts. have you ever jumped one? you've jumped alot of long diving elpt's, does the comp cobalt steeper than the orig cobalt? how was your weekend g. j >

well of coarse you wanna play, but can you play!!!! im guessing its going to be around $1600.00 if we dont drink everynight. >

yup they pretty much kill it. >

great question. 1. safe and heads up 2. doesnt put alot of pressure on the success of the dive 3. always trying to learn more 3. humble non skygod attitude 4. gives good feedback in a non attacking way 5. sticks around after the jump day 6. willing to jump with newbies 7. plans a realistic dive that can actually be pulled off. 8. loves the sport and gives back to it 9. jumps alot!!!!!!!! 10. well rounded in different diciplines 11. doesnt talk shit about other jumpers gear and dicipline choices 12. plays by the rules, respects the dzo and s&ta 13. doesnt determine who you are by how well you skydive >

steve blinco and sean mcormick (sp?) their team was the dustdevils i believe. >

trent had some great advice, definatly follow it. my 2 cents you can use with his tips is arm posistion. rather than stick them straight out bend 90 degrees at the elbow, palms face down and slightly bent at the wrist. this will cup more air and add to stability, especially in a stand. i can actually maintain the same speed standing as in a sit doing this method. i prefer to stand or almost stand rather than a 90 and 90 sit. i tell people learning head up flight to try to mimic the posistion of sitting on a bar stool. like trent said butt above the knees. this is a very active posistion. goodluck and spreading your legs out definatly adds stability. >

what helped me learn to fly my lower body was to take a pullup cord out with you. practice passing it from one hand to the other. meet your hands directly infront of you. try to do it slower and slower each time. it also help's to have your upper arms horizontal with your shoulders. its not much but its alittle bit of wing to fly with and keep ya stable. then progress to elbows pointed down like your blowing a kiss to someone. this will give you total control to free your arms up. keep practicing, head up flying is so rad and not many people explore all the possibilities. let me know how its going. >

let us know how it went next time you jump. im interested in knowing if this was a head thing. >

heres my plan; im looking to visit sd az in late fall for 8 days. id like to hook up with a jumper male or female with similar jump experience to commit to 50 2 ways to increase freeflying and hp landing skills. tunnel time would be great as well. i have 1000 plus freefly jumps mainly focusing in advanced head up stuff. i want to start getting my head down skills to the same level as my head up.it would be great if you were the opposite being more profficient at h/d because we could share our knowledge with eachother. so the requirments would be similar flying skills, motivated positive attitude, we both will fly video, enough money to make the skydives possibly using packers so we can focus on jumping with full energy. the results of this week of jumping will be awsome. training jumps are the best way to improves kills rapidly. pm me if this appeals to you, and you could afford this venture. please no pipe dream's, serious inquiry's only. i really want this to happen so be realistic with your travel and money situation. we have alot of time to make sure we are compatible. dates of the venture are flexible. thanks jeff >

id say you have some damn good canopy pilots! is kevin love still out there? he came up to my dz last year for the pst and blew everyone away! he's a really great person, i was stoked to get to know him a little. tell him hello. and enjoy your new toy. i also just bought a brand new crossfire2 99 for my camera jumps. hooked her up today but didnt get to jump. >

a few weeks ago there was discussion in the forums about velocity's brake settings being moved 2 inches to speed up openings. this info was given to me by a master rigger that stated pd is now changing all brake settings when the canopy's are sent back to be relined, and all new velos have the new brake setting. the reasons i was told was to speed up the opening to reduce the searching that can cause line twists. well this all sounded logical to me exept a freind and i called pd to verify this information and were suprised at their response. there has been NO changes in the brake settings ever! nor do they recomend changing the brake settings. i dont know why this master rigger stated this as fact that pd has made these changes, but i am gladd i checked it out for myself. according to pd it is untrue and NOT RECOMENDED to change the brake settings on the velocity. besides i love the opening of my velocity and wouldnt change a thing now that ive gotten to jump one. >

welcome to the world of high performance canopy's. please be careful and take it slow. are you learning to swoop? jeff >

cool 5pom wed. if i can get out of work by then can i come play. pm me your cell#. snomish is a no go for me. thats way too far of a drive. i dont do car trips well. my car is really hard to drive. power stearing went out. no radio (stolen), and its so loud cuz of the rough roads and leather interior. anything more than 3 hours wipes me out. besides i wanted to video you fuckers, but thats too far for me. good luck with your new velo. they're fucking awsome huh? i love mine sooo much i tried to have sex with it but she got all fraked out cuz i wouldnt use a condom. so were just gonna be good friends. peace jeff >

thanks bro i appreciate the compliment. it was an amazing boogie. >

thanks, i hope i do well. affi is no joke ive seen how stressed the instructee's are threw the coarse. dude i cant wait to for my next gl battle royale! i got mad respect for you. that shit is intimidating as hell! what time are yall going wed. i have to work but if your going after work i may be able to leave early. im in with the boss. i wanna hit freds hill. that one doesnt scare the shit out of me as much as horseshoe. i did some kiting today at the dz. the winds werent that good but i definatly got better at it. the key seems to be min input. peace dawg j >

honestly i dont understand what you mean. are you saying the right front riser is harder to pull down than the left? id day start doing some pull ups cuz the stiletto has the lightest front riser pressure than all other hp canopys. you shouldnt have any problems unless you have very very little strengh. make sure your in full straight flite. if you are coming out of a toggle turn and the canopy hasnt fully recovered to level flight then the risers will be hard to pull down cuz they're fully loaded. >

sorry no can do this season. i gots me prioritys. aff class in aug is gonna kick my ass. i need to focus and get preped for that. so its work work work this season but ill be going to az or cali for a month in winter to focus on freeflying and swoop. thanks ffor taking me ground launching today. did you get the dirt out of your teeth yet? lol jeff >

heres mine from puerto rico. >

whats the advantages and disadvantages of these 2 line options? heres what i can think of. straight lines= more consistant trim but more parasitic drag. cascaded lines= less drag, more affected by line shrinkage due to the fact one line controls multiple attacments. what are your thoughts? >

why would going from a 1.8 xrssfire to a 2.0 velo be bad, but jumping from a katana to a vx be good? the katana only came out last year. and the canopy tranfer your saying wouldnt be good is a very common one. if anything in the days befor the katana the crossfire was the closest thing to the velo as far as dive and recovery. so id have to say its not a good move, its a great one. care to explain? jeff >