skydude2000

Hi Guys, In hearing all this news about another attempted plane bombing and the seemingly knee-jerk reaction of banning ALL carry-on luggage, basically anything larger than a purse, how will this affect travelling skydivers? I ask because I'll be heading to Florida in the spring, with my new-to-me rig. I've already read about all the preparations you can make (cooperate, don't be an idiot, don't make a scene, have all the paperwork) But I REALLY really really don't want to check the rig I just bought, that happens to be worth more than my car. I'm just concerned that some valuable baggage may start 'disappearing' now that everyone knows we don't have a choice. Anything we can do at all? Is there a special exemption we can ask for? Call ahead to the airline? Or does this only apply when flying INTO the US? I'd really rather not just take my chances. Thanks!!! PULL!! or DIE!!

Our family just started doing this stupid thing last year; We used to pick names, set an amount we would spend, roughly, and buy that person a gift. Now everyone buys a generic gift worth $25 and picks a number. If you pick a present you don't like, you can steal one from someone who picked before youthen they are stuck with yours or they pick a new one. Everyone just ends up stuck with crap they don't want, or will never use. Argh. Much easier to buy a meaningful present when you know who you're buying for. PULL!! or DIE!!

Hey, At first I cut a plastic cover and used hot glue on the mount, and I used a dome to keep the flap shut so I could remove it. One jump and the pocket tore open. Luckily I didn't lose the alti. Now I drilled a couple of holes in the mount, and use wire ties to hold it on. I don't strap down the top, so I can still flip it up and look at the data. Maybe that's weird, maybe it's dangerous, but no one else had any better ideas. I can post pics later if you need them. Good luck. PULL!! or DIE!!

I'm sure you've been advised this already, but make darn sure your clothes are tucked in, tied down or taped up if necessary. T-shirts can flip up and cover handles, belts and buckles can be a snag hazard. I remember tightly tucking in my t-shirt once, and it still flipped up and covered my handles. Now I pull and tuck it through my leg-straps. Who cares if I look like a fool. A lot less chance of that happening again, hopefully. Be safe

60 bucks??? Count yourself lucky. In Canada it's $85, and I'm sure there are more expensive memberships out there. Unless it's different in the US, you're getting liability insurance in case you do something stupid, kill someone and get sued for it. As long as you're not breaking any BSR's. I don't wanna lose my house if I land on the hood of some guy's Ferrari. PULL!! or DIE!!

Look here: http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf Consider your exit weight/Canopy size, and your jump #'s. This should generally not be over 1.0 pounds per square foot. As Brian says, the scale is not linear, so I would suggest checking with an instructor, not skipping sizes, and get with a canopy coach or mentor. And remember, I'm just a doofball on the interwebz, so take what I say for what it's worth. $0.02 Oh, and HAVE FUN!!! PULL!! or DIE!!

You couldn't even consider the landing speed with that because the flare should change the forward speed of the canopy on landing. Maybe if you have a cop buddy with a radar gun, he could point it at you on landing. That's the only other way I can think of. PULL!! or DIE!!

The only equation I can think of that would enable you to calculate that is the pythagorean theorem. A2+B2=C2. So height(2) + glide(2) or slope = Ground distance. I have no idea how you'd calculate the actual forward speed. Oh wait!! yes I do. Buy a digital Blue ones. PULL!! or DIE!!

I just had mine shipped on Saturday

The idea of working through paypal is great because you have some assurance, but I tried to set up an account to buy some gear through that last week. It wouldn't recognize my bank transit #, and I wouldn't have been able to set it up with my credit card because the card company wouldn't approve a $3500 limit, even though I had the money in my savings account. So for me the buyer, paypal was more of a hassle than I wanted to deal with. PULL!! or DIE!!

I feel like this a lot too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LABoWPO1s_A&feature=related PULL!! or DIE!!

Hi everyone, I just had a quick question about AFF instructors. I actually did the old school S/L program, which is probably why I don't know. I know on the first stages, there are two instructors, a main side, and a reserve side. My question is, is the main side instructor responsible for the cut-away if the student doesn't respond? I know ultimately the student is responsible for themselves. But how does an AFF instructor respond for a student in an emergency? It seems to me, that through anything but a total, it would be exceedingly difficult for the reserve side instructor to stay with the student? Especially considering the generally chaotic opening sequence, even moreso with a malfunction. How do the instructors stay relative to the student during these critical phases? PULL!! or DIE!!

+1. I HATE landing on my butt. I know first-hand, if you do it wrong, you'll regret it. Compression fracture to the L2 & L3, off jumping for 11 months. It wasn't even that I landed on my butt; landed on my heels, lost my balance fell backwards on a hard landing. Even on the tandem I did afterwards, I was uneasy about the idea of landing on my butt. I'd rather land skidding in on my face or breaking every single bone in my leg. At least there'd be a damn good chance I'd walk again. You don't even need to land on a small rock or anything to crack your tailbone. FEET FIRST, PEOPLE!!!

I'm not sure how much a DZ would be willing to do for you, and I'm not sure it's ever been done before on a regular basis, but you might be able to jump a Tandem canopy solo. I've seen experienced jumpers do that to do a check-out of new Tandem equipment, so I know it's possible. Likely for a student, or likely for a DZ to do that?? Might not be very likely. But the least you could do is ask :) Best of luck. PULL!! or DIE!!

Hey Peter, I can tell you I've gotten into line twists, probably on the same 190 you're talking about. I'm loading it at about 0.97. But I know, when I did it, I was in deep deep brakes and working on slow turns. PULL!! or DIE!!

Thanks, I just tried making an email transfer, but apparently because it's to a US bank, it couldn't be delivered. Cancelled the payment. I suppose I'll just bite the bullet and do a wire transfer. I wasn't sure I could dump money on my credit card, even though that would probably be the safest way, and then I didn't really know how an individual receives a payment by a credit card. I'll double check with the seller, and my bank again tommorrow. PULL!! or DIE!!

Hey guys, feel free to move this, I'm mainly just venting. I've spent a long time looking for my first rig, and now that I've found it, my bank won't let me have my own money to buy the damn thing!!! I have the cash in my account, I even asked my credit card company to increase my limit for this single, momentous purchase. I got denied, even though I've never carried a balance in my whole life. I've got almost 3x the increase I'm asking for sitting in my chequing account, and they still wouldn't bump my limit. The Post office won't even let me buy a money order for the same amount, either. Bastards!!! I swear I'm going to close all my accounts and keep the cash in a box under my bed. Assuming an account in the Cayman islands is just as much hassle as my current bank [/Rant over.] PULL!! or DIE!!

I have a question about this, "Well, you could fly in a deep brake or double front risers configuration until your trajectory came up short of the obstacle." Wouldn't double-fronts increase your forward speed, not decrease it to land short of the obstacle? And increasing speed toward said obstacle would be undesirable, no? I'm not quite sure how the trade-off works between the increased speed, and the loss of altitude when using double fronts. I'd imagine it depends on the canopy. PULL!! or DIE!!

Don't you need an EJR, or Exhibition Jump Rating too? Or is that only for certain types of jumps? If I'm not mistaken you need something like 500 jumps to get one. PULL!! or DIE!!

Clicky http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Membership/JoinRenew/tabid/117/Default.aspx PULL!! or DIE!!

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I've contacted the organizers to see if I'll still be able to compete without having to qualify, since it will be for charity. Normally I do about 100-200 laps per day in the pool, which is just slightly over what the SF Bay swim would be. I think they have two separate divisions for the races, olympic and sprint, and I'm not sure which I'd be best to do yet. Normally a swim coach would be a great idea, but I don't think it would help, with the way I swim. I can really only swim with one arm, because of my disability. So I think my best option for that is to start training open water soon, and learning to minimize my use of energy. That forum is great, I think I'll have to keep my eyes on that for some more tips. Thanks again for the advice, and feel free to add more or PM me if you have other tips. PULL!! or DIE!!

Hi guys, I'm looking for some good sources and info. I've competed in one charity 'sprint' triathlon before, and it was great! Pretty tame in terms of triathlons, I know, it was a 300 m swim, 12 km bike and a 3 km run. I'm planning on 'competing' to raise money for Cerebral Palsy, considering it's something I've dealt with personally. Are there any semi-pro triathletes here who can give me some good tips for training? How long does one need to train for something like this? Anyone on here who's done it before? Specifically the race in San Francisco. Does anyone know people I could talk to about sponsorship for an event like this? Like I said, I'm pretty much a newbie with this stuff when it comes to competing, especially for charity. I'd like to do the Escape from Alcatraz in June of 2010, so it's 1.2 mile swim, 18 mile bike, and 8 mile run. I'm not saying the swim will be easy, because I've never swam open water before, and it'll be F*ing cold. But I'm going to do some training in Tobermory (Lake Huron) later this year, and hopefully again next year before I leave. Any other suggestions about what I should do to prepare? Thanks in advance, and sorry for the wordy thread. PULL!! or DIE!!

I was briefly taught the 'T' position again mainly for stability, and now I'm working more on bringing my arms further back to minimize altitude loss. But while we're on the topic of teaching, on my last jump I was told that I waited before I started my track. I think this was mainly because I was trying to choose a heading and took too long. That's one of the things in this thread that has me confused. The idea is to turn 180 and track away from the centre, yes? But if you're tracking perpendicular to jump run, how do you make sure not to track into someone, or that someone tracks into you? Sorry for the aside, just wanted to clear that up while I think of it. Thanks!! PULL!! or DIE!!

I think I might have read somewhere, or maybe it really was the Mythbusters episode, that from a terminal deployment, you would have to absorb at least 3x that jumper's weight, or around 300 lbs. So unless you're a serious body-builder or insanely hopped up on adrenaline, which I suppose could be the case, but for most people it would be pretty impossible. PULL!! or DIE!!

Hi Katia, I'm glad you're enjoying your new canopy. What your instructors will let you jump, is going to depend on your weight, your ability, your experience and your jump numbers. Here are some excellent recommendations from a fantastic instructor and canopy pilot: http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf Happy reading