Reginald

No it's not which is why a "packing class" is part of a A license progression. I'd suggest you take your gear to the DZ and ask a rigger to teach you haw to pack. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Anton, maybe you should try and get stable on your belly first. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Anton, In the tunnel I was taught to start with arms to my side for stability. The objective was to start brining them into a mantis as my stability increased. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Why? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Where in your statement does personal responsibility come into play? How about putting the majority of the responsibility on the people that buy high performance canopies or try HP maneuvers on any canopy without a reasonable progression. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I’ve jumped both canopies at very similar WL. I’ll say the 170 felt a lot faster than the 190. The first time I jumped the 170 on a no wind day my eyes were so big on landing that spectators commented on it. I test jumped a Sabre2 150 recently. It felt MUCH faster than the 170. The higher the WL the faster you will go. The smaller the canopy the faster turns will be regardless of WL. My opinion I that if you are in doubt go with the bigger canopy. You can easily put a hundred or two hundred jumps on it and sell it for almost what you paid for it and then downsize the smaller canopy. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Backsliding is a very common problem at your jumps numbers up until abotu 100 jumps. I dont' know why but that is about where people lock in a little more. Be aware of it an be prepared to compensate for it. You'll be fine. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

No. A coach isn't suposed to jump with you until you are cleared to self supervise (pass AFF(). So why are you asking the question in the first place? What's the real issue? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I doubt it. You were scary low. In over 700 jumps I’ve never been that low. You were WELL below the US BSR for students when you pulled and the instructor sounds like he was below the BSR’s for the most advanced US skydiving license. It sounds like you made a number of mistakes and I bet your instructor told you about them in the debrief. If so listen to him, if not go back and talk to him more. It sounds like you are opinion shopping here because you didn’t like what your instructor told you. With all that said, you lived to jump another day. Good job on that part. Blue Skies. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Great, now I know why I'll have to sell mine to fly in it. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

LOL, Justin my friend. Tell him your story. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

The tunnel is so similar to freefall you should not notice any real differences in basic mechanics. The biggest difference is you were probably relaxed in the tunnel and stiff as a board in the air. This is natural, the whole fear of dying from impacting the planet tends to make people stiffen up, combine that with the pressure of trying to “pass” an AFF level and a little stiffness is normal. The best thing I learned in the tunnel as an AFF student was to relax. It’s easy to say but hard to do. It makes one fly infinitely better than being tense. Keep it up, you’re going to get there. The tunnel is a great teaching tool to help you perform better in the air. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Okay, I bite. Tell me how too big a canopy was the problem not your canopy skills. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hey Robert, I've seen you land your parachute. Trust me you're better off letting Sven take you down in the Otter. Just teasing... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

It sounds like students were put out in winds above the student wind limit. So is the problem the size of the canopy or the violation of the BSR's for student wind limits? I'm betting its the wind limit. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I have to beg to differ. This has been posted for a year now. “…according to our current knowledge base it is very unlikely that a skydiver will reach the necessary speed for a CYPRES activation after the setup for a high performance landing. This does not mean that something like this may never happen in the future as canopy designs further evolve….We continue to monitor new canopy developments, and have a permanent data gathering program utilizing our data logger technology.” I read it as Aitec saying that it is unlikely but not impossible to activate a Cypres under canopy. I also read it as the company saying it is keeping any eye on the situation. And that it is using its resources to develop technology for the future when canopies are smaller and people’s canopy skills such that they are hitting the limits of the product. I don’t’ see this at all as the company lying or trying to hide anything. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Bill, we’ve done research at my DZ about pull force on a reserve handle too. It turns out 22 pounds is roughly equivalent to the strength it takes to hold a six pack of beer at arms length. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

A main canopy is pretty easy to find at most DZ’s as is a freebag. Handles, if tossed, are almost never found. So, I keep a spare set of handles in my gear bag. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well, most industrialized countries have socialist leanings (including Canada) and have massive taxes (including very high fuel taxes) to support government programs. I presume in Canada you don’t have to pay as large a portion of your income to buy health insurance as I do, but I have lower taxes (including fuel taxes) than you do. Thus it is not possible to compare lift tickets between countries. Long story short, costs of living (and yes skydiving IS life!) of across countries are difficult to compare and can’t be measured via a singe item (lift tickets). I’m not passing judgement on anyone’s economic or social believes or any countries’ system of government (at least in this forum) I’m just noting that comparisons are problematic, hence the request for US respondents only. And I reserve the right to wine all I want! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Ouch! My DZ just announced it's raising lift ticket prices due to an increase in fuel costs. A ticket is going from $21 to $23 USD. I’m thinking that makes for the most expensive lift ticket in the US, but it might be normal now days. Please tell me what your lift tickets are! Since costs are not comparable from country to country, please US drop zones only and turbine planes only since 182 DZ’s are not comparable either. EDITED to add: Single ticket price (no blocks) and assume "full altitude" (typically 12,500 to 13,500) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

*** Where does USPA require waivers to be videotaped? It must be a CA thing because Elsinore tapes also. LOL, okay they ARE anal about liability! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

The point is to show currency when traveling to DZ's where they don't know you. Perris isn't anal they are simply complying with USPA guidelines as any USPA group member should. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Yeah, Blake is a real skydiver. He got his license this year and has about 100 jumps. A damn fine person too. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

One of our own is on the new Survivor that started airing last night. Blake T. is a skydiver from Skydive Dallas. There is good and bad new here. The good news is a skydiving friend on TV. The bad news is I have to watch reality TV… Here is his bio. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor11/survivors/bio_blake.shtml Hey, someone’s got to win, so it may as well be a skydiver. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Or a "D" line is common too. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP