jfields

I'm in that middle range where I'm off student status, but I wouldn't call myself an "experienced" jumper. I feel like I'm in a 12-step program... "My name is Justin. I have 44 jumps and I use an RSL." Intellectually, I know to pull red, then silver, regardless of whether I have an RSL. But I'm sure some of the no-pull fatalities "knew" what to do also. They just didn't do it. I'll probably leave it on for now, until I do something (CRW, big-ways, camera, etc.) that requires me to disconnect it. Or if I have a cutaway myself and end up with a pulled silver handle, then I'd know I was okay to disconnect. I'm sure there are scenarios where having it is a risk, but for now I think the benefits outweigh. Does anyone see any gaping flaws in my logic? Justin My Homepage

Zennie, if you have crowding problems on a 1-way, seek help.

Anne, I'd have tried to land it, but like everyone else has said, it wasn't me up there. From what you said, you made a fine decision, for you. You took the time to experiment flying the canopy as you'd have to land it, but didn't like that option. At a safe altitude, you made your decision to chop. Later in your post you state that one of your goals is to get good enough on your canopy to land it a similar situation. Perfect. It sounds to me like a successful lesson learned, with the only downfall being that you had an expensive jump. Don't let the critics get you down. Justin My Homepage

One point to Slappie. Justin My Homepage

Okay, enough serious replies. It is time for.... Fun in the Darkroom Offer to show her your "enlarger". Teach her the real meaning of "burn and dodge". Fun uses for photographic tongs! Naked people look cool in red darkroom lights. "Trust me, Ansel Adams did this all the time." Redefine "contact prints". I hope this gives you some ideas, Viking. Justin My Homepage

Okay... I tried on the Oxygn when I was up at Cross Keys the other week. I didn't really like the way it fit/felt on my head. So scratch that brand. That was the only one they had in the right size to fit my melon head. How secure are Z-1s and Factory Divers on your head? Are they okay for more than RW? For example, if I get a crazy notion to learn sitflying or freeflying someday, would they do okay? On the Factory Divers, what is the deal with ones that are flip-up vs. single-position? Is one new and one old, or are both options currently available? Chuck, if you see this, take a look at the attached picture. Are those the goggles you use? They would work over top of my ProTec, rather than under like I've been wearing my Kroops? If so, I'll probably get a pair to try, because I could just pull them over my helmet at the last minute. Thanks, folks! Justin My Homepage

To me, none. It is a big turn-off. It sends a negative message about the woman's self-image and self confidence. Justin My Homepage

I agree. Boys that are bottle-fed get deprived. Gotta start 'em appreciating the finer things in life while they are young. Justin My Homepage

The Frankenotter is sweeeet!

Does anyone in your office recognize the name James Gavin? I bet some on this thread will. Justin My Homepage

Damn, but this describes my high school and college experience. I was "the guy who understands" to my numerous female friends. They cried to me when some jerk treated them like shit. Once you are securely pigeonholed as "the good guy friend I can talk to", without them knowing you are interested in dating them, you are ska-rewed! So bringing this back to Viking.... Let her know you are interested! Work on being assertive, without going into jerk-mode. I'm sure you can do it. Otherwise, you may set a pattern of being passed by and relegated to the role of "supportive confidant". The last thing you want to hear is how some guy had sex with your good female friend and just used her, when you could have been the one to go there, and make it into a relationship. Like everyone else said, GO FOR IT! I was a lot like you, and I agree that it is way harder than jumping from a plane. Look at it as a challenge, or personal growth. However you see it, take the chance and ask the girl out. End of relationship rant....

Kelly, I know what you're saying. Some jumps it wasn't a problem. But then again, sometimes it was. Since I'd been told about the high-speed landing area, I didn't try to land there. On a number of jumps, I landed on the far side of the x (student landing area, for those not familiar with Cross Keys) on the landing zone. So I definitely wasn't trying to land right near the hangar. But I was in the air above the high-speed area on my base leg. Running a left-hand pattern with a landing direction from the hangar toward the x, how could I not be? I got one nasty comment, from someone that flew in front of me, perpendicular to my line of flight. He wasn't really below me, so I don't know what he was doing. I'd been sticking to the pattern. I took it with a grain of salt. Still, I'd rather not have to land on the other side of the runway or something just to facilitate hook turns by the experienced folks. After all, I was landing in the student-designated area. I wasn't just spiralling down into the high-speed area or something. As long as I'm trying to fly a correct pattern and land in the proper area, I think it is sort of up to the experienced jumpers on elipticals to deal with that. Most of them seem to be fine with student/novice landings. It just seems like a few get pissed off when they can't hook in the exact place they want, when they want, in order to have a surf ending right next to their buddies. Any experienced jumpers familiar with Cross Keys want to chime in? I'm not trying to start a flame war, but just looking for more information on how to deal with landing patterns there. Thanks! Justin My Homepage

Damn, I got busted! I know that Maryland is both "The Old Line State" and "The Free State", as well as the fact that the Mason-Dixon bordered Maryland. I erroneously connected things in my head to have the line as Virginia-Maryland, rather than Maryland-Pennsylvania. And "The Free State" refers to Prohibition, rather than the Civil War. History refresher and arguement all in one.

Clay, Distances vary a lot by where in Maryland you are. For me, just northwest of DC, Cross Keys is 2 hours, 45 minutes. Justin My Homepage

Well, that was eloquent. Sadly, it is about two hours. There are 3 major airports, tons of military bases, and pesky things like the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, White House, Capitol, etc. Justin My Homepage

Damn, Clay, isn't Maryland on the wrong side of the Mason-Dixon line for you? Delmarva is my home DZ. Twin Otter & King Air. Reasonable prices. Chambersburg has a King Air. Smaller DZ with higher prices, but maybe more friendly, depending on who you ask. Ocean City is a tandem factory that doesn't take experienced jumpers. Haven't been to Orange, or any of the other Virginia DZs. Depending on where in Maryland, you'd face a 2 hour drive in any direction to get to a DZ, because of the extensive controlled airspace. Justin My Homepage

This is an issue that I had a tough time with a couple weeks ago. I'm a novice (44 jumps) from a medium sized (King Air & Twin Otter) DZ. The way they deal with landing patterns is that people generally fly a left-hand pattern, and the windsock dictates the landing direction. It seems to work pretty well there. I've never seen anything close to a collision. I took a road trip to Cross Keys and had a rough time with the patterns. In my "Welcome to the DZ" brief, I was told to land in the direction set by the first jumper to land, without exception. I was also told that I had to use a left-hand pattern. That sounded fine, but it didn't work very well. Under canopy (a 190 @ 1.1:1), I sometimes saw the first person land in one direction, with other people landing differently while I was still in the air. Maybe it was the "weekend wonders" like myself that weren't following the procedure, but it wasn't working. Also, there were times when I was out very early in the jump run and was one of the first few people down. If the 1 or 2 people lower than me are on high-performance canopies, I have no idea which way they will land until it is far too late for me to enter my correct pattern. I don't know which way they will hook (I saw all types), so I can't fly across the whole landing area to get into the correct pattern if they land a way I didn't anticipate. I just don't have enough altitude by that time. From my training, I'm supposed to start my downwind leg at about 1,000', then make a base leg and a final. Under a 190, that covers a lot of territory on all 3 legs. To land in the direction dictated by the first jumper, flying a left pattern, that sometimes took my base leg into the area where the high-performance pilots liked to set up for their landings. Some of them got annoyed. If I'd done the same pattern and direction starting farther downwind, I might have come closer to the trees than I'm comfortable with. I covered over 1/2 the length of the landing area on final. I need to know where I should be aiming to land and in what direction by 1,500 feet or so in order to get to the right place and begin the proper pattern. If Mr. High Performance is only 500 feet below me, I don't have any indication of how they are going to land when they are still at 1,000 feet. Any thoughts or suggestions for a novice trying to learn about landing patterns? Sorry about the long post.... Justin My Homepage

Whoops. My bad. Thanks for the correction. Justin My Homepage

I worked on this for a long time before I ended up making my decisions. When I looked into insurance, lots of fellow skydivers gave me the "We all die sometime, so who needs it?" line. Since I'm married and now have a child on the way, the answer is "me". If I can't afford some level of skydiving-inclusive life insurance, I don't belong in the sport. First off, contact the USPA. You automatically have $50,000 in coverage through them. They also have some info on additional insurance. I picked up $100,000 worth of Accidental Death & Dismemberment through their recommendation. It cost $240 per year. It does cover skydiving. Next, I bought some term life from First Colony, which is a GE subsidiary. They charged me $2.50 per thousand of coverage as a skydiving surcharge on top of the standard cost of the insurance. That is actually pretty low, from what I found in my research. On my $250,000 policy, I pay an extra $625 per year for it to include skydiving. I got a 30-year policy, and if I notify them in writing that I no longer jump, they drop the $625 per year charge. Of course, you lose the jump coverage. But at least you aren't locked into paying it if you get out of the sport for some reason. I went through PNC Bank to get it. They were easy to deal with. 1-877-762-4000 I also have some insurance that my parents started for me when I was about 15, so it is in effect and pre-dates my skydiving. From what I understand, they have to pay in the event of a skydiving fatality since the policy was in effect when I was a minor (not skydiving) and it has been in force with paid premiums ever since. You can buy "Guaranteed Insurability" riders and such for kids' insurance. I plan to get some for my child so they can jump with me when they are old enough and have at least some insurance. I also have regular insurance, which probably won't pay if I burn in. But I weighed the cost of the increased premiums on it and decided not to have it include skydiving. I didn't feel irresponsible doing this because of all the other insurance I arranged that does cover skydiving. If I die skydiving, my wife won't get as much as if I die some other way, but she will have a fair amount. There would be enough to pay off the house completely with about a quarter million to spare. When I get another raise, I might see about adding a little more. But even as it stands now, my wife and child wouldn't be out in the cold. This is an imporant issue that too many married/parent skydivers are in denial about, in my opinion. Justin My Homepage

Nah. You should tell everyone that you WILL be jumping a birdman suit, even if you won't. With all the flames you get, you'll be able to heat your house through the winter. Justin My Homepage

This isn't morbid or a troll, but I need to find out how to get blood off of gear. As I was setting up for a 3-way tube exit from a King Air this past weekend, I snagged my pinkie finger on the door track. The exit and the dive were great, but when I was gathering up my gear, I noticed dark spots on the mesh of my pilot chute and some of the lines and stuff. It was then that I actually saw a my finger dripping blood pretty quickly. I tried not to get much on anything as I collected my stuff and walked back to the hangar. I band-aided myself up and everything, but now I'm wondering what I should do for my gear. I probably screwed up by not doing anything right away, but I didn't think of it. I actually made another jump and was surprised that band-aids held up to freefall.

And that coming from a "Veteran". Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. Of course, I'm probably no better....

You are all wrong. Skreamer is pregnant, and Zennie is the father. Justin My Homepage

Clay, that isn't what she is refering to. And if it is, then my selective guttermind is interpeting it differently. Justin My Homepage

On behalf of all guys, YES. Justin My Homepage