DrewGPM

If you have the right canopy set up and the skills to do it, you can actually GAIN altitude during a flat turn. I've seen a few guys do it...pretty damn amazing! What YOU can do under YOUR canopy...that's a different question. There are some great canopy drills listed on http://www.bigairsportz.com/art-skilldrills.php. Everyone should try these. Please make sure you try it up high before you think about trying a flat turn near the ground. Get used to the feeling, then you can consider trying them on landing. Once you know how to do a flat turn, you'll know the answer to your question. If you've stuck yourself in a bad spot, and going straight is super dangerous, you are NEVER too low for a properly executed flat turn. But you gott know how to do it first. After reading Billvon's post, I should say that I'm talking about turns less than 90 degrees. The lowest I've done a 180 flat turn was 200 feet.

I know that you can't sign it yourself. You need another licensed skydiver or the jump pilot to sign it. I think therule states that it should be someone who can verify that you amde the jump. Anyone on the load is sufficient.

The only thing few condoms will do if i land in a lake is keep a few fish from getting pregnant. I weigh 250 pound...I don't see how a few blown up condoms are gonna keep me floating. My instructor taught us that the container will float, something to do with all the air trapped in the reserve. He did warn us that main will sink once it fills with water, and we should cut it away if that happens. I suppose we should disconnect the RSL before pulling that handle though.

Did you check out the sample of the book? Specifically, page 10. http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/sample-trans_fear.pdf

Hi Brian, You forgot the fourth response that we learned about the SDC Spring Expo. That teacher told that funny story at dinner friday night. It's "fight, flight, freeze or pee". I'd hate to be in that kids shoes! I see you went with a tag line. "The Path to Freedom"...i like it. I still like "Moving in the General Direction of Up". That just sounds cool! Glad to see you put in the dedication. Either way, i'm buying a copy. Now I just hope I remember how to read! It's been a while since i read a book.

Good point. forgot that the original poster wants to get to A license status. I saw the 35 jumps on the profile, that threw me off a little. At my DZ, there are a lot of fun jumpers who are coach rated. They often do coach jumps at a discounted rate, sometimes all you gotta do is cover the slot. The coach rating requirement can be waived...so you can always check with the DZO on that one. I'm not sure what's on the A card. i'm making it my business to learn it and make sure my DZ has a plan to help get students through it.

I agree with everyone else, get coaching. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. There is a trend toward paid coaching on the DZ. There is still a huge population of fun jumpers who will jump with you for free. If, like most of us, you can't afford to pay for the coach. Go meet the experienced jumpers on the DZ and start doing 2-ways. Someone with 40 jumps might not be your best choice. Make sure an instructor or S&TA approves of your choice. Resist the temptation to get on anything bigger than a 4-way. for a while. On all jumps, use the creeper as part of your dirt dive...it helps a lot! Be geared up on time get a good gear check on the ground. Think about gear safety on the plane, gear checks on the plane, good exit count, stable exit. Once you're in the air, work on eye contact, proximity, heading control and altitude awareness. Those are true on every jump...until the day you stop skydiving! Get into the habit now. These are the jumps I use. With the new ISP, you might have already done some it with your instructors. do them anyway. These are great references, i still do theses drill every once in a while...I'm trying to do them faster and faster. Notice that each works on ONLY one skill. If you feel these are too simple, based on your experience as a student, feel free to skip or combine these drills. I think they came from a guy who learned them from Skydive University. 1. forward and backward movement 2. side movement. left hand open accordian, right hand open accordian. back to left hand. 3. Fall rate control, moving up and down 4. 90 degree center turn, star, side body, star. Do once to left, once to right. 5. 90 degree center turn, half star( you make a half of a 4-way star ), open accordian, half star. fly to other side of partner. half star, open accordian, half star. Fly back to the original point, start over. 6. 180 degree center turn star, side body, side body, star. repeat until break off 7. 360 degree center turn star - 360 - star 8. Outfacing dock. open accordian, stairstep, open acordian 9. Outfacing too. half star, bipole, half star. 10. 180 degree center turn star, cat, star. repeat until break off 11. compressed accordian. star, side slide to open accordian, move forward to compressed accordian, back slide to open accordian side, side slide to star. Repaet in other direction. 12. Compress accordian too. partner turns with you. star, left hand compressed, star, right hand compressed. Those are the basics. Pretty much everything else you do on your belly in this sport will be some combination of those skills. For some real fun, try this. Start with a left hand open accordian. in one big move, slide to the left, turn 180 and present your left for the stairstep grip. Turn 180 to the right hand open accordian. slide right, turn 180 and present the other stairstep.

I heard that on Mancow several years ago. The dude that sings that is mentally retarded. If I remember correctly, he is part of a group that cut a CD called "special Songs by Special People". They wrote and performed all the songs. They raised a lot of money...pretty neat story actually.

Your blunt response makes it sound like a student is totally out of line for asking. The only way students learn is by asking. Students should always feel welcome to ASK an instructor to jump with them. If they never offered to jump for slot, then it is up to the instructor to say: 1. "Sure, I'll jump with you, just cover my slot" 2. "Sure, but as a certified instructor, it's gonna cost you slot plus $X" 3. "I do this for a living. I charge $x for a coach jump. You can save some money if you start jumping with..." then go introduce them to load organizer or someone with a coach rating. Help them make the transition from being a student who only jumps with staff instructors to someone who jumps with the DZ regulars. There still a lot of fun jumpers who enjoy teaching and working with recent graduates...and we do it at our own expense. It can save the student some money and the instructor can get back your full price paying students. Someone once told me that there is a very high drop out rate for people who complete the student program. I think a lot of that is because, in general, there is a no formal transition from student to fun jumper. I felt abandoned when i graduated. The instructor move on to the next guy, and the student doesn't know anyone of the fun jumpers. So please, to all the instructors, find a way to introduce your graduates to the fun jumpers. Ask for volunteers, they're out there. And to the non-instructors, go talk to the instructors...let them know you want to meet the graduates. To the graduates...ask around. Someone will point you in the direction of a fun jumper who likes to work with grads. If that doesn't work, go buy a case of Corona. Sit next to that case with some sliced limes and a bottle opener...you'll meet plenty of people!

When you graduate, you will be jumping with the fun jumpers...you might want to get to know them pretty soon. The fun jumpers will jump you for free...once you have your A license. Some of them even have coach ratings, so they can jump with BEFORE you get your license. Most will do it for slot, slot plus pack at the most. Don't be shocked if they want a little something extra...they did pay money to get that rating. I've seen too many people fall into the trap of spending time around the instructors. Once you graduate, go meet the load organizers and the rest of the fun jumpers. There are some great teachers over there, and they aren't doing for a living...so it won't cost you as much. The instructor need to work with the new class of AFF students.

Nope. I disagree. The instructor offered to jump for slot. That makes it totally appropriate to ask her/him to jump with you for slot. If the instructor wasn't being sincere, tough! She/he should have thought of that before making the offer to the student. The student needs to realize that the instructor is helping you out....so be appreciative. Also understand he/she is gonna blow you off if she/he is busy with full-price paying students. The instructor can back out the offer altogether, but should apologize to the student for making an offer he/she never intended to be taken seriously.

bump...it's a good cause

Another option is crab cakes. I've made some AMAZING salmon cakes too, in case you something a little different. Same recipe, just change the seafood. They are light, easy to make and extra delicious. There about a billion sauces to go with them. You can choose that sauce that spices things up a bit, or make a velvet smooth sauce that makes your knees buckle when you taste it. So easy and tasty, I think i'm gonna go make some for lunch!

I've been getting rave reviews on my stir fry. It's quick, easy, and it makes whole place smell fantastic! If I was out to impress a woman, I'd pick up some crab rangoon and egg rolls. They are both great, but a pain to make from scratch. They both heat up nice in the oven. For dessert, something light. A lime sherbet goes perfect with stir fry. For my stir fry I use red peppers, snow peas, onions and yellow squash as my veggies. They are each to cut up, and they cook fast. For the meat I prefer steak, but chicken, shrimp and salmon have all turned out great. I like to spice things up, so i use crushed red pepper. Garlic is great, but not on date night!! Some things i find that help: 1. Use Mongolian fire oil to fry everything. It adds a great flavor, and it's not too spicy. If you can't find it, use a light oil, like safflower. 2. Fry each ingredient separately. If you put too much in the pan at one time, it steams instead of frying. Everything gets mushy. Have a bowl you can put cooked ingredients. Pile all the cooked stuff in the same bowl. When everything is cooked, toss on some soy sauce, stir it up a little and serve. 3. I like serving over rice, it's more filling and the colors of the stir fry look really cool on the white rice.

I suppose it's possible. I find it hard to believe, since the body needs vitamin C to survive. Do you have same reaction when you eat an orange or an apple? Just wondering if you are reacting to something the juice makers are putting in that stuff. There is vitamin C in a lot of stuff, like green peppers. Do you have issues when eat them?

here are two of my favorites: MEATBALLS 1 (12 oz.) bottle Heinz chili sauce 1 (10 oz.) jar grape jelly 1 tsp. lemon juice 2 tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. soy sauce Put them all in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Add in 1 pound bag of pre-made meatballs, you can get them most grocery stores now. They usually come frozen...can't get much easier than that! Simmer it for 30-45 minutes. They are great to eat with a fork or toothpick. TORTILLA PINWHEELS 3 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chile (drained) 3 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened 1 tsp. Mexican seasoning salt 2 tsp. garlic powder OPTIONAL 2 tsp onion salt OPTIONAL 12 flour tortillas Mix everything, except the tortillas. Spread the paste over a tortilla. Roll the tortilla up. cut it into bite size pieces. if you like spicy food, use diced jalapenos instead of the green chiles.

I don't think it's a jump number thing. It's a skills thing. Once you have knowledge and the skills, then go ahead and start swooping. first, before anybody swoops on landing they should practice the techniques at a high altitude first. At least you'll get a feel for the speed and the response of the inputs you give the canopy. Second, A basic canopy course, like the one Brian Germain just did at Skydive chicago, should be attended by everyone. Too many non-swoopers are killing themselves on low turns. This course will help keep you becoming the subject of post in th Incident Forum. I think a course like that should be a REQUIRED step for anyone who wants to start swooping. As Andyman stated, after 700 jumps, he learned a ton in this course. He's been swooping for a while! So any 150 jump wonders who think they are ready to swoop, give Brian Germain a call before you do it. There will be number of people who attend a course like that realize they are not ready to swoop. It will give them a list of skills to master BEFORE they consider swooping. After that, i'd be OK with someone starting to swoop, under the direction of a coach. It would be better if he/she attending a high performance landing course. Not sure how available those are, so i'm reluctant to make them a requirement. As long you've been trained and educated, I say go ahead. But have someone tape your first few landings. Watch them, learn from them...and DO NOT SEND YOUR CRASH LANDINGS VIDEOS TO "REAL-TV" OR ANY OTHER "YOU GOTTA SEE THIS" TYPE SHOW! We don't need that kind of exposure!

Almond Joy Mounds are my two favorites...can't get enough coconut

The Brian Germain course is pretty amazing too. That guy is SO much more than just a canopy expert. I know people who have done both...tough to pick one as better than the other.

I made my comment based on the fact that one person has 75 jumps and the first comp is next month. If the team plans to compete at Nationals, they will need to work quickly. Get through the randoms ASAP. Then move on to the A class blocks, then the AA blocks. That would prepare them for Nationals this season. I'd be very impressed if they did that. It will require a lot of training jumps to get there...but god bless them if they can do it.

Those are some great dive suggestions...but...Since you a new team, I would not suggest doing that many points. Start with 3 randoms, then working your way up to 4 and 5 points. http://www.ivanpeters.com/ is a great dive generator. Choose the NSL Rookie setting. It defaults to 4 skydives of 3 randoms. There is a link at the bottom for you to print them. One thing I wish Ivan eould change is the exit for that class. I suggest limiting your exit point to Stairstep Diamond or Meeker. They are pretty solid exits, so you waste time recovering from a botched launch. They will help your team get used to the count and leaving together. Try those dives once with no contact, then again with grips. Also, spend plenty of time on the creepers before you jump each one. Focus on the angles and maintaining eye contact.

I see that just fine. The answer to "what can we do?" may be "nothing". Feel free to post that. If you think we should do X, then go ahead and say it. But the debating about trolls is just silly. If there is nothing new, maybe this thread will die

so talking about who is and isn't a troll is your idea of getting the thread back on track? The thread is about what we can do about Skyride. Can we PLEASE get back to that? Anybody have an update or input on this topic?

On the contrary, I'd say he was enforcing the idea of separation of church and state. This bill would have forced a religeous facility to hand out information on a pill that they oppose on religeous grounds. By forcing them to hand it out, the government would have forced a religeous institution to ignore one of it's beliefs. THAT is a direct violation of the principle of separation. The constitution does not say that there must be separation of Chuch and State. It does say: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." someone emailed me this, but did not reference the source, I apologize for not having that handy. "The point of the amendment is twofold. First, it ensures that religious beliefs - private or organized - are removed from attempted government control. This is the reason why the government cannot tell either you or your church what to believe or to teach. Second, it ensures that the government does not get involved with enforcing, mandating, or promoting particular religious doctrines. This is what happens when the government "establishes" a church - and because doing so created so many problems in Europe, the authors of the Constitution wanted to try and prevent the same from happening here." A rape victim needs to be informed of all of her options. I don't see how she is denied that simply because the hospital didn't tell her about it. Someone else can tell her. Planned Parenthood seems to be an advocate of the pill. That said, I'm all for the Morning After Pill. I think it's a wise choice in the case of rape. But I don't think there should be a law requiring ME to tell you about it.

Do that hand out Darwin Awards to kids? It is a tragedy, and I feel bad for parents and the kid that pulled the trigger. But I admit I giggled when I read that he was wearing a Body Armour shirt.