jheadley

Agreed, specifically I'd go nuts on rigging equipment.

Agree 100%. I demoed a Katana 150 after putting 300 jumps on a Sabre 2 150 (and swooping it). I was AMAZED at the difference. Even at the same wingloading, the Katana was just way too much canopy for me. It needs your 100% attention from beginning to end. My next canopy will be a Sabre 2 135. That's not for a while though, even after putting 650 jumps on my Sabre 2 150 and getting pro-rated on it, I still haven't quite maxed out the performance yet. Maybe I'm a slow learner, I don't know.

Have you tried pulling in a full track?

Riggers in the US are certified by the FAA. You need to be 18 or over, and read and understand English. There is no parachuting experience required, in fact some riggers don't skydive at all.

I'm not familiar with them but I'm guessing they're a freefly team. The thing is they're doing RW also, but just RW in a different dimension. You said you want to do head down. That's awesome. Next time you see them, ask them how to get there. They'll most likely tell you to spend a while on your belly before going to sit (and spending even longer sitting before going head down). In my observations, the best freeflyers out there are the ones with a good RW background. I've seen freeflyers with over a thousand jumps who went straight to freefly after student status and they still flail around the sky with no control. You need to learn how to walk before you run, and that's what doing RW on your belly first teaches you. There's RW and there's belly flying, and they're not the same. Learn the principles of RW on your belly, and they'll help translate to doing RW in other dimensions. A good suit is more important to belly RW than freeflying, IMO. I've got 80ish freefly jumps with no freefly suit, just a baggy long-sleeve T-shirt and shorts. It may not make me look super pimp, but I've always been more impressed with how well people fly, and not how cool they look. So good luck with your goal of being a badass freeflyer (I wish I could be one) but understand there is a progression to getting there.

I've got 700 jumps on various Sabre 2's, and I've never had a hard opening. Learn to pack, and learn to deploy at the correct airspeed. Even after demoing nearly everything out there, my next canopy will most likely be another Sabre 2.

Only with approval from the factory, the FAA and the Pope I put a few more jumps on infinity risers a few weeks ago and did find that if you triple-fold the steering line, it does hold fairly well.

I tell every nooblet the very same thing. The all seem too eager to start freeflying as soon as they get their A license. So far none have taken my advice. I honestly believe spending the first 100-200 jumps on your belly (doing real RW) not only will make you a better all-around skydiver, but will actually make you a better freeflyer in the long run.

Skydive the Point in West Point, Virginia is doing a basic canopy course on March 1st, and an advanced course on March 2nd. www.skydivewestpoint.com

I'm 22 and I'm a hardcore RW'er. I'm taking it back! RW 4 Life

Thanks, that clears things up.

I did a search, and in the thread "PD soft links on reserve" you said ?

The card that came with my slinks say "Approved under TSO C23d". Although they don't say that on the slinks themselves.

Can anyone out there say with absolute certainty whether Precision Wrap-It links are TSO'd for use with reserves, or not? Yes, I have tried to contact the manufacture, I've been calling and emailing for the past two days but haven't heard anything back. I opened a rig that had the R-max reserve connected with wrap-it links and I need to figure out if this is legal.

Well lets start a count 1

Like getting a BJ through a picket fence

Which Roosevelt? Edit : It was Theodore

Vic flying head-down, tossing a spaceball back and forth between himself and star, on his AFF Level 3 is pretty damn realistic.

What does an officer need to do to get demoted?

also if you type "world's biggest douche" into google and then click the "I'm feeling lucky" button, you get a big picture of GWB.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_biggest_crap

Rob, my friend has an old sabre with the dual brake lines. Could he do the same thing that's done on SET 400's to control that longer brake line? He's the most neat freak packer in the world and still has had 2 lineovers on it.

The attached picture is what happened when I tried that. It was my fault for putting my hand through the loop of line before unstowing the toggle, but IMO that method makes it easier for it to happen.

Regarding replacing steering lines, I always thought it was funny that in Dave DeWolf's senior rigger's course (Mel is one of the instructors BTW), they teach you how to replace steering lines, then they tell you that you actually aren't allowed to do it.

I've always worried that if a main did get snagged on a camera helmet, it may break your neck as you cut away. Are there any camera flyers out there who have stories to share about their main snagging on their helmet, and how they dealt with it? You hear about the possibility all the time but it doesn't seem to happen too often in real life.