SkydiveMO

My new Mirage G3 just came in this week and I'll have a chance to break it in this weekend. How do you think I should go about it? And no I won't box it up and send it to you so you can break it in for me Just a warning, I was Army Airborne so I'm famous for rolling a PLF right over onto my rig and letting it dig into the grass when I crash in. Hey, It worked great when I was jumping T-10s.

When I was recently faced with the G3/G4 choice I asked around and the DZ to find out why everyone had a G3 and no one a G4 (we’re a big Mirage DZ). Everyone loved their G3s and when it came time to buy new gear they all tried a demo G4 and found it less comfortable and less attractive then the G3. Seeing no reason to mess with what works they’ve all stuck with the G3. I toyed around with the idea of being different and getting a G4 but decided the cheaper G3 suited my pocket book better. In the end they're both great rigs and you won't go wrong with either. This is just one more situation where trying the gear as a demo first would help.

When did you feel confident you were an experienced tandem instructor? I was having a conversation with my first Instructor who has 4,000+ tandem skydives and he asked if I felt confident in my tandem skills yet. I had about 200 tandem jumps at the time and admitted that I felt I had a lot more to learn before I could say I was an expert. He told me that was a good attitude because every time he thought he had seen and handled every situation some student or equipment malfunction would feed him a little humble pie. I’m nearing 400 tandem jumps now and though I’m a great deal more confident in my skills then when I started I must admit I still feel I have a lot to learn. I continue to watch what other tandem instructors do and ask questions of both new and old to try and find some of the tricks to make the skydives easier for me and more enjoyable for the student. I must admit several of the threads here have taught me a thing or two. What I was wondering is when, if at all, did you feel you were an experienced (some would say expert) tandem instructor?

When you’re an addict you want everyone taking the drug with you right? People can’t stand to see you sitting around “not wanting to make a jump” THAT’S JUST CRAZY??? Another angle is you often need everyone jumping to get the plane flying… once the tandems are done that is. So tired or not the tandem instructor may be the last person needed to fill a load. I look at it this way you know you’re experienced when the whining at the DZ doesn’t bother you anymore. I jump when I feel like it.

I've stuck with the hand switch as all I needed to make it was some speaker wire, a push button and a mono plug. Put it all together 7 years ago and it still works. I'm too cheap to switch to the fancy blow or bite switches

I go all the way out on the strut and put one foot on the outside of the step to allow me to angle my upper body and head towards the door. By being on the outside edge of the step I’m not competing with the tandem for foot space. If the student kicks my foot off the step I’m holding onto the strut so I just hang like a static-line student still looking into the plane at the tandem. Easy to do and gives you a great exit. I’ve tried hanging from other positions however they all give to high a chance of falling off or being bumped off by the tandem.

Nope no pros or cons with safety or use, just a matter of looks and price.

Playing around with the program last night I found the USE feature. The DSL/Cable formats set everything up for me. Thanks for all your help

Nope no ideas... Last word was hopefully by the end of the year.

I was looking to take some of the movies I’ve made for the DZ and convert them to QuickTime format for Skydivingmovies.com however the file sizes are way to large for the internet. I’m using Final Cut Express, does anyone know what settings I should use to get my file size down so they are more Internet friendly. Thanks

The runners aren’t the problem, they are continually moving so there is no real net control input. There is a lot of fishing around underneath you though. The tough students I have found lock rigid in the most inconvenient body positions, like knees down in the fetal position or legs out straight but uneven. They make you really work. I have luckily only experienced one student like you’ve described so far and my only fear was that they were going to grab my arms and hold on for dear life. I try to keep my hands and arms out of any “grab friendly” areas around the student. During the jump I wondered if it would be better to pull high and hope the student calms down under canopy or just wait it out since we were stable and have a shorter canopy ride. What do other tandem instructors think is the best option in this kind of situation?

I always think it is funny when the 135 is refered to as a "BIG" size. I guess that would have made my old PD210 "GARGANTUAN"

Are the 135 and 150 sizes only in planning or are they in development? Just curious if this is known?

10 DZs in one day! Archway Skydiving's annual “Where are we now?” tour is scheduled for June 21. Every year we try to jump into every DZ in Illinois in one day. It’s a true skydiving endurance test. If you are interested call Jason at 1-800-283-JUMP for more information. The cost this year will be $400. Must have at least 100 jumps and be able to pack in 15 minutes. www.archwayskydiving.com

I really improved my on heading openings when I quit watching my openings. Now I try to keep my shoulders level with the horizon while keeping an eye out for other canopies, I rarely have an off heading opening. I also find I'm more relaxed in the harness now that I'm not straining to look up.

Yeah I think their conspiring to keep up with higher fuel costs

Have been using a Triathlon 160 but have had the occasional snap opening. Recently put a Vengeance on order, loved the soft openings and easy landings.

Funny thing... I run because it makes me a better skydiver. Keeps the weight down, strength up and helps with the flexibility. Honestly, I can't stand running but do like the way I feel after I'm done. I have only injured myself once skydiving and it was caused by a combination of wet grass and a gopher hole... other wise know as S$#@ happens. I was mad because I couldn't skydive but thought "Oh Well, at least I don't have to run for awhile Like any sport you increase your risk of injury by participating but its a sport well worth the risk. If you follow your training and stay conservative with your parachute choice your risk of leg injury is really quite low. Most leg injuries involve high performance canopies with much higher landing speeds.

I think that you would agree that USPA would never waiver wind limits for students to 30mph. The statement made by lawrocket was that jumping over 14mph as a student is bad. If an area is free of buildings and trees that may cause turbulance and the winds are constant not gusting then it is quite reasonable for a student to jump in say 18mph winds.

Many of the Basic Safety Requirements (BSRs) outlined by the USPA are waiverable. The 14mph wind limit for students is one of them, if the DZ and surrounding area is free of obstacles such as buildings and trees students can safely jump at higher wind speeds. An instructor or safety and training advisor (S&TA) can show you if and what waivers may be in effect at your DZ.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=biff Main Entry: biff Function: noun Etymology: probably imitative : WHACK, BLOW - biff transitive verb

A trick we found at my DZ for the Optik is to move the straps from the outside to the inside of the helmet. All you have to do is pull out the bolt, move the straps inside the helmet, and reattach them with the same bolts. By having the straps closer to your face they provide a little extra stability, the chin cup feels more secure, and surprisingly the whole set-up is more comfortable. I recently switched to the Optik myself and was having trouble with head movement; this change helped a lot but did not eliminate the problem. I’m still playing around with the set-up but believe it is a great helmet for freeflying and tandems but just catches too much air for shooting RW while keeping a rock steady shot.

That's what I was wondering! Sure I could sit down and calculate everything out but in the end what I wanted to know is under canopy could I feel the difference? It’s funny, you can spend all day calculating how a parachute should open and fly then you throw it out of an airplane and it does something completely different. I let the professor handle the calculations I just like to push stuff out of airplanes and see if they open

I do have access to the equipment needed to measure it however going through all the trouble to design the experiment and controls to test this would go against my lazy nature. I was hoping for the easy answer, like has anyone had 825 microline on their canopy then had it relined to 550 microline and said “Wow! That made one heck of a difference!” http://www.pcprg.com

Which leads me back to the question is the difference in line drag of 550 vs. 825 significant? I was wondering if the drag from everything else (slider, pilot-chute, jumpers body, wing itself, etc.) so great that it makes the difference between 550 and 825lb microline even noticeable?