steve1

Skydiverek, I see you're from Minot. I've probably jumped with you there. Does Tony plan on making any jumps this weekend. If he does, let me know and I'll come over. Last time I was there the plane was down with battery problems. Steve

Jason, I'm not smart enough to figure out how to get my P M mail. But I thought I'd tell you I got my new Hornet in today. YIPPIE!!!! That's what we say here in Montana when we're happy. Just finished putting it together and packing it up. Steve

Jason, Have you got your new Hornet Yet? I'm sure getting anxious. I've been waiting about 4 weeks now for mine. The weather is finally warming up a little here. I may even get some jumps in this weekend after months of waiting to get in the air again.

Chris, Don't let some of the crudeness of some of us scare you off. Most skydivers are "Super" people even though some may appear a little rough around the edges. You'll fit in fine. The only other place that I felt such comradery with people was when I was rodeoing. Don't tell anyone but I used to be Catholic myself before I turned into a Heathen. Steve

I'm considering buying another rig, but it has large rings on the harness. I have three sets of risers but they all have the smaller mini-rings. Would this combination work? My guess is yes, but I wanted to make sure. I was also wondering if buying skydiving gear is addictive? I'm working on rig number three and my wife thinks I'm crazy.

I'm looking forward to making some sport jumps out of one. We used to jump Huey's quite often in the military. They were always moving fairly fast, and never hovered when we jumped them, so there really wasn't much of a falling sensation. We also jumped some old Marine ch-34 helicopters several times. They were almost antiques back in the 70's. Steve

SkyHawk, I don't know how keen you are about signing up for the military, but that may be the cheapest way to learn to fly choppers. Back in the olden days (when I was on a fire crew) most of the helicopter pilots were former Vietnam pilots. They accumulated about a million hours in combat. Those that survived often turned to civilian flying jobs. This used to be a very risky way to learn how to fly a helicopter. In the military now very few are being shot down, but things could change depending on the conflict. I had some friends who were going through Warrant Officer Flight back in 1970. I guess it is a demanding program. If you wash out you may never see a helicopter. That's how things often work in the military. I had another friend who was going through civilian helicopter flight training. He inherited a bunch of money so he could afford it. I know it is very expensive training. The Forest Service still hires a lot of helicopter pilots. Columbia Helicopters had a lot of logging type helicopters in the Northwest U.S. They may be doing most of their logging in South East Alaska now. Steve

SkyMedic, I forgot to thank you for the beer offer. If you get to Lost Prairie next summer I'll buy you one. I did try hang gliding once. We were on snow skiis and a calm day. I went about 20 or 30 feet and came back down. The hill we were on wasn't steep enough and I kind of stalled it out. I think it would be more dangerous than skydiving though. Would like to try it again some day. I know what you mean about having too many expensive hobbies. I've got a couple of horses I should get rid of, but my daughters can't part with them. Steve

That's a good question. I know the owner of my Drop Zone suggested that I not buy a Reflex for that reason, a few years ago. But don't listen to me because I don't know. Steve

Thanks for the advice Bill. With every jump I'm getting more dependent on my dytter. Noone ever explained to me why it should be set lower. Steve

I was quoted $575. with ($70. shipping to the states) about three weeks ago when I ordered my Hornet. I hope they stick with this price. Is there any other charges that you know of, Jason? I'm getting anxious to get it and get some jumps on it. I had a hard time getting my order in. Communications aren't that great between here and South Africa. What a bargain though! Vortex containers with hip rings are about $750. Ask for Manny.

Lippy, You really need to get a dytter. What a wonderful invention! Four of us almost burned in back in the olden days while doing RW. We were really concentrating on what we were doing. That is everything except watching altimeters and the ground coming up. Audibles weren't invented yet and if even one of us had one this situation wouldn't have happened. I ended up pulling at about 800ft while watching the ground come up to get me. I now jump with two altimeters and a dytter. Steve

Clay, I'm downsizing from a falcon 195. I really like the looks of the heatwave canopies (and their price) , but I ordered a Hornet 170 instead. In a couple years I'll look at the heatwaves. I figure I'm too young to die. Getting all busted up doesn't sound like much fun either. To tell you the truth I don't know the first thing about flying a small high performance canopy. Maybe someday, but right now I'm gonna take it slow. If a person had the right kind of coaching, maybe it could be done safely. Listen to Chuck. He's probably forgot more about flying a canopy than I will ever know. Steve

I hate it when anyone tells me what to do. Especially the government. I know I have trouble with authority figures and I'm all for personal choice. But I also know that skydiving can be a very dangerous activity and is very unforgiving. Safety equipment can spell the difference between living and dying. I have to have a very good reason to go without items of gear that can save my rear (or bald head). You start taking chances and you can get bit hard. We all know that, but why take chances. I just can't see how it could be safer to jump without a helmet, and I always jump with one. It's just added insurance that I'll live to see another day. I'm no jump authority by any means. I also know that I don't have the jump numbers to really argue this point with someone who does. These are just the ramblings of a demented old fart who got that way by not pushing the limits too far.

Quade, It was at the end of December. We had Melon Head for a load organizer on a couple loads. Then there was another guy, for a load organizer, who works as a magician and acting coach. I'm sure you know him. And then we had another guy from England, who has been in Perris a long time, as and organizer. As you can tell my memory is poor. But what a wonderful place to jump. I've been coming to Perris, over Christmas, for the past two years. I can't wait to jump there again. Montana sucks this time of year. Last night it was 25 below. Steve

Quade, You do have a good point. Maybe there are too many old farts in our club. It's great for me because I know a lot of them from the olden days. My daughters will both be in college next year. I've been trying to get them interested in jumping as members of my old club. My oldest daughter made the same point. There's almost noone there her age. The owner of this DZ does actively recruit from this college making a lot of demo and stadium jumps. He does a lot of tandems with college students, but almost none of them continue. I only jump there occasionally now. In fact the only college student that I can remember in our club was one rich kid who seemed to have more money than sense..... I'm just wondering if I jumped with you at Perris over Christmas. We had a cameraman on a couple of our jumps. I was the good looking elderly gentleman with bugs in his teeth. Do you remember me?

Quade, I know wages were a lot less back then, but I think it was a lot cheaper then to begin jumping. If I had to lay out hundreds and hundreds of dollars to go with AFF, I'm not sure if I'd do it. I know the only way that many drop zones can make it now is tandems and new students. Actually the price of jumps aren't too bad now for experienced jumpers. Many places you can go to 13,000 out of a twin otter for around $15.00 to $17.00. Even back in the early 70's we were paying about $7.50. But the price of gear really seems out of reason in my opinion. I have heard that what you are really paying for is the technology and that may be true. I sometimes wonder though, if companies had more competition if that would bring prices down some. Back in the 70's you could order a new custom canopy for around $300. I bought a new Super Pro harness and container for around $150. This was the same stuff used by the Golden Knights back then. If you were really broke you could get a complete used rig (B-12 harness and container and 7-TU canopy) for around $75. I know all this gear is considered junk by today's standards but it was state of the art back then. I was just a poor college student working my way through school, yet I could afford to jump. Our jump club in Western Montana is (I believe) the oldest collegiant club in the U.S. But today there are almost no college students in this club. Most of our members are around 30 on up. I think the reason for this is the expense. Just my opinion. Steve

This is off the subject, but this reminds me of Relative Work in the olden days. Nearly all our formations were round. Everyone was hurrying to get there before time ran out. And yes it was full contact at times. It was fun, challenging, and sometimes quite dangerous. We would rent a DC-3 or Twin beech from the smokejumpers in Missoula. The door was usually small and exits really strung out. Jerry Bird's All Stars even came up to jump with us once during one of our meets. This was back in the days when the World's record star was about 35 people. It was hard to imagine anything bigger, then. A big round with all the baggy jump suits was difficult to fly. Most everyone tried to sit up in the star, but this often put too much pressure on everyones grips. The old days were fun, but I wouldn't want to go back. Skydiving is a much better sport now. I only wish it was cheaper for all to enjoy. When I started I paid $50. for a first jump course. All jumps after were around $5.00 until you could jumpmaster yourself. A 30 second delay after that was around $3.50. I know the money end of things is holding a lot of people back today.

I'm just wondering if B.J. Worth is still organizing the aerial stunt work for the James Bond movies. He was a while back. I used to jump with him in the olden days.

I was just wondering if there are any statistics out there on these two methods of training. I've got two daughters who may continue after their first tandem jump. It seems like AFF is throwing a lot at a student all at once. I also wonder if it is possible for a student to get away from the instructors, such as floating above them. What if they lose a student who is in a severe spin or tumbling etc. The chances of a malfunction would increase dramatically. In the olden days everyone started with static line. I trained that way and it worked okay. I know most everyone says AFF is the only way to go, but I'm just wondering which is safer for my kids to learn under. Thanks, "Mother Hen Steve"

I was just wondering if there are any statistics out there on these two methods of training. I've got two daughters who may continue after their first tandem jump. It seems like AFF is throwing a lot at a student all at once. I also wonder if it is possible for a student to get away from the instructors, such as floating above them. What if they lose a student who is in a severe spin or tumbling etc. The chances of a malfunction would increase dramatically. In the olden days everyone started with static line. I trained that way and it worked okay. I know most everyone says AFF is the only way to go, but I'm just wondering which is safer for my kids to learn under. Thanks, "Mother Hen Steve"

I guess my last post doesn't make since. I meant to say that people are upset by 120 days not 180. I know better than typing on the internet after drinking a bunch of wine. This is Steve "The Drunk" signing off.

I've only been back in the sport a couple years after being out for about 25. When I was packing reserves in the olden days it was every 60 days. Most of us only charged five bucks for a repack so it was no big deal. I couldn't believe it when I found out riggers charged up to $50. for a repack now. I know repacking reserves today is more involved, but with that kind of expense I can see why some people are upset by 180 days. I've got the attitude that whoever decided on 180 days is probably a whole lot wiser than I am and without a doubt, more up to date. So I'm not going to complain. It makes since that something could happen to your reserve while it is packed up. I doubt if riggers want shorter periods just to make money. I know one rigger who only charges $30. for a repack. He doesn't feel right charging his friends more than that. He is a rigger because he likes the work and helping out the people he jumps with. This guy is a veterinarian so I know he doesn't do it for the money.

I have finally taken the time to go back and read more of the earlier posts under the gear and rigging section. I suddenly realized that nearly all of my earlier questions have already been answered there over and over again. I'll bet the experts like Rigger Rob, Lisa, Chuck, and others get tired of answering the same old questions over and over. Thanks for having so much patience with us "Greenhorns".

Emmie, Get another instructor. The guy sounds like a jerk. I hate people who trash other people's feelings. The guy probably feels inadequate and builds himself up by putting others down. Someday you'll be a better skydiver than he is.