timmyfitz

A little over 1800 tandems and no pukers yet(Knock on wood). I have had a few that puke on the ground but none in the air(Knock on wood again).

Instead of pulling the risers down, try pushing/pulling them off to the side. It seems as though I get the same results with less chance of the risers slipping.

Hey terry, Try this link http://www.freeflightent.com/emergency.htm I just saw Gary about a week ago. He came to the DZ to do a jump to celebrate his 40th year in the sport. I'll check with Mike the rigger here at Elsinore to see if he has the manual. He won't be back to the DZ till Thursday though. How's Michigan Terry? Still freezing your butt off? C-ya Tim

Alcohol....the cause of and the solution to all of lifes' problems- Homer J. Simpson

Just shy of 1100 total jumps in 2005 About 900 tandems. About 100 AFF. The rest were fun jumps. I only work part time for the first 3 months of 2005 and didn't get my AFF-I till June.

85 repacks 5 saves All 5 saves were me

Pulling down on both front riser do both, increase your rate of decent and increase your ground speed. Double fronts are what most people use to increase ground speed on final when begining to learn how to swoop. Pulling down on both front riser will help you penatrate into the wind but at a price of losing altitude more quickly.

§ 91.211 Supplemental oxygen. (a) General. No person may operate a civil aircraft of U.S. registry— (1) At cabin pressure altitudes above 12,500 feet (MSL) up to and including 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen for that part of the flight at those altitudes that is of more than 30 minutes duration; (2) At cabin pressure altitudes above 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen during the entire flight time at those altitudes; and (3) At cabin pressure altitudes above 15,000 feet (MSL) unless each occupant of the aircraft is provided with supplemental oxygen. Basically this says (1)The minimum flight crew (pilot) is required to use oxygen between 12,500 and 14,000 after 30 minutes at that altitude. (2) Above 14,000 feet the pilot is required to use oxygen at all time above this altitude and (3) Oxygen must be made available to all occupant above 15,000 feet but you don't have to use it if you are not part of the minimum flight crew.

If I am not mistaken, each course, the essential skills and the advanced skills course are $185 each. It includes 5 hop and pops, ground training before each jump, very good video of your canopy ride and landing, and video debrief. Well worth the money. When I took the course a few months ago, that was the price I paid, $185. I doubt it has changed but if it has I'm sure Johnathan will chime in to let you know.

Yah, I take a winter break every week. I have one or two days off every week. Last week my day off was Friday and it was great. About 10:30AM I got a phone call from the DZ asking if I could come in to help out. What a nice day off I have tomorrow off so I should only do 2 to 3 jumps

You should make every effort to take the course in Febuary. It is well worth the time and money. I took the course with Johnathan a few months ago here at Elsinore and it was great! I may sit in on the class again just to see if there is something I missed

The Flight-1 course at Skydive Elsinore is $185 for the day which includes the cost of 5 jumps, video, debriefs and coaching. The coaching is done with either Johnathan Tagle or Scott Miller (Sometimes both) I have over 2700 jumps and I am a poor (skydiving doesn't pay much) skydiving instuctor. I learned a lot from the essentials course which I took on a Friday. I also took the advanced couse Saturday. I not only scraped together the money for the course but I took off most of the weekend from skydiving which is when I make most of my income. If it is something you feel is important you will find a way to make it happen. I do agree the canopy flight is one of the most important but most neglected portion of learning to skydive. For those people that can't afford the time or money to take a canopy course, find a qualified canopy pilot or someone who has taken the course and learn as much as you can. I would be happy to pass along all the info I learned at no charge (maybe a beer or two).

Do you mean the photo of all 3 pilots leaning forward while also giving input on the rear risers or toggles?. Using rear risers or toggle input will change the angle of attack but I don't see leaning forward alone as doing much. As was stated earlier in this post..."Your weight is balanced on the confluence wrap on your risers. Leaning forward or back will not alter the center of gravity of the parachute at all."

http://www.terminalimagery.com/rigging/belts.htm

Try this link. http://www.terminalimagery.com/rigging/belts.htm

_________________________________ I just took the advanced canopy course a few weeks ago with Scott Miller and Jonathan Tagle and this question came up. The answer was that it just feels better/more comfortable and kinda looks cool but doesn't add any discernable effect to the swoop.

I have recently started jumping the XAOS-27 and I'm not to impressed with the openings. Nothing like my XAOS-21. On opening the nose is folded back and the end cells are inflated. It usually does a hard turn to the right or left before fully opening. Sometimes it does many turns. I have already been given a few tips such as "do not stuff the nose in" and "pack the slider away from the nose". I have tried these tips plus experimented with other packing techniques with little or no improvement. I have called Precision 4 times over the past 4 weeks. They take my name and number and tell me someone will call back to answer my questions. Haven't received a call yet. For anyone out there jumping a 27 cell cross brace.....Any tips on how to improve the openings or is this just a characteristic of the canopy I will have to live with?

Kiting a canopy in 10 mph winds is a lot different than opening at 120mph in free fall. I know of a reserve that had been packed for nearly two years and when it came time to use it, it opened beautifully. Not mine of course because that's against regs I believe it's more a function of where you stored it than how long. Being in a hot trunk all summer would be bad. ZP gets sticky in the heat. All that being said, it's against the regs for a reserve or a MAIN to be packed more than 120 days without a repack. Wrinkles are not bad. All new and some older canopys will have wrinkles. Like everyone has said, jump it!

I'm not familiar with rules in UK but I personally have never heard anyone use the term flight level below 18,000 in the US so FL105 in the UK is probably correct. The altimeter setting(barometric pressure) below 18,000 (in the US) is usually set to the local setting of the airport of your departure. Along the route of your flight you then reset the altimeter according to whichever reporting station you are near, usually an airport close by that has an automated station such as ASOS or AWOS or from ATC. The final setting will be set to the airport of your destination long before you land. All the while, if ATC ask, you report your altitude as indicated, not as a flight level. 10,500 feet = one zero thousand five hundred feet. Lets not even get started on all the speed limits in the different airspace below 10,000 feet. Above 18,000 feet in the US all flights are IFR and everyone sets the altimeter to 29.92. I've only been flying for about 1 1/2 years and never flown above 18,000 feet. If I am mistaken, someone with more knowledge please add your 2 cents.

"Other reason is about ATC: 10000ft is call FL100." -------------------------- Flight levels do not start until 18,000 feet msl (i.e. FL180). Anything under 18,000 is stated as that altitude, not as a flight level. 10,000 feet would not be stated as a Flight level, but as "One, Zero, thousand feet" A little off the topic but just thought I'd clarify.

We have a group of Brits here(Elsinore) now. About 8 are students and 4-5 are British instructors. They may be able to help you but I'm not sure how much longer they plan to be here. Call the office and see if they can put you in touch with one of the British instructors. Or better yet, just come by today. They are staying here in the bunk house.

Skydive Elsinore. May be a little closer than Perris depending on where you are coming from and there is a master rigger and a few senior riggers.

Here are a few checklist I have acquired. Hope they help.

I have used a Sunnto Vector many times in freefall but it doesn't seem to be accurate. It doesn't update quick enough. Close enough though for me. I usually wear it as a secondary alti to approximate height for swooping.

I had something similar this summer on an Icarus tandem canopy. It twisted up shortly after relasing the drogue almost 3/4 of the way up the lines but the canopy was square and flying straight. The twist didn't seem to want to come out at first even with me kicking and trying to spread the risers. I had the student look up, explained what was going on and then instructed him to assist me in kicking out of the line twist. It took a little effort and time but we finally got out. There was a brief period of time were I had considered cutting away cause the twist didn't seem to want to come out. Glad I didn't.