GentleTiger

Hi Flame, Well said, thank you...you pretty much said the same reasons my instructor did when she recommended the Spectre. I kind of figured the ZP would give a more powerful flare, and for me, that's where I'll need the most performance. I've also been doing a lot of reading, and from what I've read, the 7-cell, in general, has a LAR, as opposed to the 9-cell, so at least I've narrowed my search down to the 7-cell. I'd love to get a ZP-F111 hybrid, but can't find any PD's that have the same basic flight characteristics as the Spectre. Thanx again, BBS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Tink, Ya, I think sliding and a good brace will be a big help, but don't I have to do some stand-ups for licenses? Are there any methods of sliding in that you would recommend? As of now, I use my heels to break the fall, and slide in on my butt...but I don't want to break my tailbone to save my knee. Thanx for your input, BBS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

hiya piis

Hey Steve, YIKES I just checked out your profile and see you jump out of MH...I hope you understand my first instinct is to defend my DZ. Hope to see you there this weekend, it's supposed to be a nice one. BBS for us Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Canuck, I've been on the Skymasters (290) at MH...we're getting all new Navigators soon. About MH: The student gear isn't that worn out, everything is well maintained and inspected carefully. Have you jumped there? BBS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Dave, Choices choices choices choices! I think I'm just going to fly as many different canopies as I can when I go to the Canopy Control Camp at Deland...Skybytch wrote and said that choosing a canopy is pretty much an individual thing, so I'm going to try as many as possible while I have the opportunity. So far, the list is: Silhouette, Navigator, PD 9 Cell, Spectre, Lotus (haven't gotten much feedback on that one at all, except at my DZ) and the Sabre 2. so many canopies, so many jumps, so many maneuvers and styles for each jump and canopy; and so different a fabric for each canopy...I just LOOOOVE this sport!!! BBS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Lisa, That's some great advice, thank you! I think I'm going to jump as many canopies as I can when I go to Deland for their Canopy Control Camp. I also agree that PD is simply the best and I'll be sticking to their products too. BBS, Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Dave, Thanx for your input! While I've looked at the Sabre 2, I scratched it off of my list early on, but haven't yet looked at the PD 9 Cell...worth a gander. BBS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

I'm sorry if you thought I misinterpreted your message...when you said that the glide angle wasn't that shallow on the Spectre, I pretty much crossed it off...I need to protect that knee as much as possible. I've looked into the Sabres, and decided against those (for reasons I can't remember now...too much info in my head already!)

ya, been sliding on in, on my heels and butt. You can always tell which jumpsuit and rig I was using. Part of the trick is not to trash the right one as well. Please wish your friend the best of luck for me.

I figure *Everyone* knows more than I do. Thanx Canuck, maybe I should scratch off the Spectre from my list. BS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Thanx Dave, there is one brace that's come highly recommended by a friend at the DZ with the same prob, I'll check it out. I tried hers on and it felt great. Looking forward to graceful stand up landings, not sliding in on my heels and butt! BS Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Good idea Dubbya, thanx. Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi everybody, I'm getting off student status (hopefully the weather will coop this weekend) and looking into gear. Mirage G3, PD Reserve are musts, but there's so much discussion about different mains from different instructors that I'm thoroughly confused now. Many of them have jumped tandem with me, so they know my style. I also have a missing ACL in my left knee, and they've also taken that into consideration. The canopies that have been recommended are the Spectre, Silhouette, Navigator and Lotus. I've looked at posts here about all 4 and have studied the flight characteristics of the canopies where the info was available. It seems the best reviews came up about the Silhouette and Navigator, but I like the idea of the airlocks in the Lotus. My primary JM highly recommended the Spectre, saying it was very forgiving, shallow glide and crisp turns (that would become more important as I gain expereince). It would be a canopy that I could grow into, but I'm concerned that it may be too advanced for my beginner skills and not tolerate the mistakes a Nav would. I'm going to the Canopy Control Camp at Deland, and hope to pilot as many canopies as I can, but I also will need to downsize so I can have some options (I'm on Skymaster 290s). But I ALSO want to be safe while I do all of this. AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! What's a girl to do??? Thanx for your help everyone, Big Blues, Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi, I've fallen in love with skydiving and was wondering if anyone had any insights as to how I might protect my knee in landings? I'm currently looking at docile canopies with a shallow glide, suggestions on canopies would be appreciated too. Thanx in advance.

Hi Jeffrey, Sounds like a really beautiful way to relax and that you have wonderful JMs too. Breathing is getting easier and easier. Thanx for your post! Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hey Shawn, Not anymore. lol ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi Paige, Well, I did 6 tandems before I decided to do AFF. Then I blew 2 chances at Level-1, and did a tandem after each shot, so that's 8. Then I did 7, working on each aspect of my fear, one bit at a time, slowly building my confidence. Plus, the DZO wanted to be sure that I would be safe, so he wanted me to work on canopy control for a few of those 7...see, I took one little chunk at a time and worked on it. The AFF program is incredible, and my DZ is the BEST!

Thanx Diver, Blue Skies! YeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaa!! ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Hi, thanx for your reply to my post, I'm really glad my experience has spurred someone on to examine and conquer their own fears. In our AFF program, one of the JM's has a walkie talkie, and tells us when to flare. Is that the case with you? In the Level 1 course they will teach you how to land safely and the student canopies are very forgiving. Keep up the great work, and let me know how you're doing! ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

N/A

Hi all, this is for folks having a tough time with fear. I feel like an expert at it now that I've conquered mine, so I wanted to share a technique I used, in the hopes it might help someone else. Big feelings most often are the result of lots of small ones put together. So I thought about my fear of the door, freefall and the canopy ride and broke it down to the smaller fears. With each tandem I did, I knocked my fears down one by one. First I couldn't breathe in freefall, and couldn't keep track of altitude at all. Bang, bang, down in 2 tandems. Then I had a really rough canopy ride one day (it collapsed at 1500 and we were going up and backwards...didn't even look like we'd make the airport), and lost my confidence under canopy, but was having a ball in freefall. My fear under canopy was mostly about steep turns and landings. Bang bang bang bang...Knocked those fears down one at a time, blessing my JM's for their wisdom and patience. When it came time for my AFF Level 1, I simply walked up to the door, did my count evenly and deliberately and exited with my JM's. There was no fear...I'd trained long and hard for that moment and the exit was right on. Now I'm just blowing off time until Friday, when I'm scheduled to do Level 2. Ugh. It seems such a long way away and I'm bored with everything else in my life now, all I want to do is jump and learn and jump... Fear can be conquered, sometimes it just takes time and some tandems to work it through. Blue Skies everyone, I hope this helps someone out there. Tiger ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

Ya, it sure did, but it was well worth it. That's one of the beauties of the AFF program...you can use tandems to learn, build confidence, etc. My instructors were kind and patient enough to answer all of my thousands of questions, I can't thank them enough for making themselves available to me, they are all wonderful. ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

See what I mean? You all are so supportive and caring, it's really refreshing. Thank you for such a warm welcome into this amazing and challenging sport. I'm already thinking about level 2 and can't sleep worth a ****...I just want to soak up my JMs experience and knowledge and skydive and skydive and skydive and... ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!

buck-buck-buck-bugaaaaaaaaaaaawk ________________________________________ Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a tiger in the sky!! Throw down some steaks and run for the hills!!!