Dutchboy

And his boss thought he got carpel tunnel from "working" too much.

Try http://www.uspa.org and look for information on the Integrated Student Program (ISP). The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Don't forget Southern Tech, GSU, and loads of other schools around here. What are you trying to study? The GA Tech skydiving club is pretty large. They jump at my DZ, and get reduced rates. I believe they have all their own gear, so you don't have to rent until you get your own (not an issue for you). One day they had something like 65 people at the DZ doing a 1st tandem. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Yeah, freefly suits are there to slow you down. The measurements don't have to be as exact. You don't need to worry about booties and what kind of booties, and what kind of grips, etc. That makes buying a freefly suit much simplier. I think that fall rate is easier to control this way also, which makes getting the exact right amount of drag not as critical. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Where appropriate don't forget: - is your slider uncloppased - is your PC cocked I still remember a JM who was doing a coach jump this winter teaching a student how to pack. He told him not to worry about being too neat and that he hadn't had a malfunction in 3600 jumps, despite packing in 4 minutes. He had a mal on that very jump. Turns out he didn't uncolapse the slider and the string got caught in his cascades. Oops! The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Have a look at http://www.atlantafreeflight.com. They also have links to other sites from there. It's kinda cool to see what they did and then to realize they did this stuff years ago. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Yes, they come in different levels of bagginess. As far as the manufacture, I don't think it makes nearly as much difference as the RW suits do. I got one of the Freedom Means Choice suits for only $185 and it seems to work fine. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I haven't jumped from a B-17, but I have taken a pretty long ride (~1 hour) in the EAA's B-17 a couple of years ago. I was still a whuffo back then. It was really cool because I was only expecting a 15 minute ride, but they just changed crews and wanted to get some time in. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

All I can tell you is that I repeated my level 5 three times till I got it right. I have friends that repeated jumps 6 times, some even more than that. I figured out that I wasn't really afraid of dying, I was afraid that I wouldn't perform. I found this out when I went to the wind tunnel and was just as tense as at the DZ. What really helped me was to get some confidence by spending some time in the tunnel, and more importantly to just say f@#k it, I'm going to have fun and enjoy myself. I'll do my best to pass this level, but if I don't then I'm going to at least have fun. Don't psych yourself out. Here is a story not too many people know. I've been a licensed pilot for about 10 years. When you take your flight test you must perform some manuevers to a certain specification that is printed in a little book (practical test standards). I knew these cold. I was doing my checkride and all was great. That is until I was doing "turns around a point" and I realized that my altitude had slipped outside the limits. I had a huge panic attack, swearing at myself for failing my checkride. Well, then I started to fly poorly. Talking to the examiner on the ground he told me I only failed after. I was OK deviating from the standard because I recognized what happened and corrected it. But because I totally psyched myself out and got all pissed off and nervous I ended up failing. So the moral to my story is do whatever you can to relax. Visualize the perfect dive you will have in your mind. Think of all the fun you will have. Don't worry about how you will be judged, just do it. I'd try and get back to that DZ as soon as you can and do that jump. I'm sure when it's over you'll wonder why you were every nervous. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Unless your conversions are off, this is not a good deal. You can get a brand new Hornet, Tempo, CYPRES, and Dolphin for about $3200 from http://www.para-service.com. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I don't mind sitting on the ground if something isn't quite right. There will always be other days. Some times it's hard, like last week when I didn't make my 100th jump because a storm was blowing in and some of the other folks involved didn't want to chance getting caught in it. I was disappointed, but I could very easily have had a miserable jump had I gone. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Broken, Nice cane form at the kung fu demo. Wish I could have made the banquet, but still not 100% even today. Did Mott make his 1st AFF level today, or did it never clear? The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

It really is a good feeling isn't it! You are already turned to the darkside. Perhaps I shouldn't say that, it might start a whole thread on the exact moment that you've turned.

Don't think an intentional cutaway would have helped in this situation. The best you can do for that training is to use the suspended harness. I suspect that we don't do intentional cutaways for the same reason the FAA no longer requires spin training. They were killing more people with the training than they were saving with the awareness it brang. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I don't know boss man, sounds kinda personal and I don't think you'd want to post that stuff. In my kung fu school, we refer to male parts as the "baby". I didn't think you were oriented that way, you're not even from Californication!

Zennie is right about the accuracy trick. One thing to be aware of is that you will land slightly farther than the stationary point because your canopy will plane out and float in ground effect. This is more true if it is ZP or a 9-cell. I've had problems with landing long before. It helps to plan ahead and force yourself not to turn final till 200ft with no wind instead of the 500ft you might use with some wind. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Well, mine is on the 10th, which just happens to be the day the jet is supposed to be a Quincy. Sounds like a sign from God to me! The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Half of the team is in India for a few weeks. The other half will probably be at the DZ for the boogie next weekend. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

He's a good freeflyer. I have his book/video "Vertical Journey". If you don't freefly then don't be excited, otherwise see what you can learn from him. He also has a company that makes parachutes. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

You're assuming that they don't want to come back. I know lots of people who would love to pick it up as a hobby, but have other things preventing them from doing so. Usually it is money, followed by strong objections from family, or a schedule that doesn't really allow it at the moment. I think you are a skydiver if you've ever jumped. You meet the FAA definition of skydiving on the one jump, so you must be a skydiver. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Is that a big problem in SoCal? I find that a Z1 works great for the colonic dytter. Especially for one of our tandem masters that always seems to have the nervous students. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I feel very lucky because we have several of these. It's amazing that the guys with 15-30 years of experience and thousands of jumps are always willing to help to some neophyte, and the guys with just a couple years a few hundred jumps tend to be the "skygods". The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Sounds cool, just make sure you get it checked out by a rigger. If you do get it, be real careful packing that Sabre unless you want to see any unhappy (and in pain) frog leaping back up in the air. Oh, and I don't wish I weighed as much (little) as you.

I've got one as do loads of others at my DZ. I'm very happy with mine. It does the job, is pretty durable, even when you biff in. If you plan on freeflying I'd definitely get one of the Dolphin 2000's. If you're buying a new rig then it probably will be this model, so no need to worry. It has better bridle protection than the older ones. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

How far across the GA border are you? Are you near any of the tourist traps? The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra