AMax

There were rumors that French decided not to compete because they completely changed the 4-way lineup. Good for US in a way but looking at Belgium, Italy and Russia it is unlikely that there will be no serious competition for US in 2006. 8-way is such a tight race too! French still have a one-point lead after round 8.

As a big fan of Airspeed you should know that the team name is Airspeed Odyssey.

One reason is that if the back piece goes over they have from the knee to the toe to get a grip. If you put the front piece over you have to be back on level to get the grip. Many times I have seen bootie grabs and foot docks at the close of the 19....All legal. I see - Thanks for clarification

It seems to work pretty well, although I still do not completely understand the rational for back piece going over on 19.

Yeah ... even before the meet is finished I think it is safe to say that FASTRAX was definitely underestimated in predictions made previously ... and Fire is very very impressive. What a race

First of all, how do you define experience? IMHO, “I have been around for a long time” and “I have seen a lot” does not immediately translate into ability to handle the difficult situation. One of the most important safety factors in skydiving is currency and a person who makes 500 jumps a year is definitely more current than a person who makes a 100. I am not trying to say that someone with 1K jumps made over two year period is more experienced, just making a point that being extremely current is good for safety. There is another issue. When someone starts jumping a lot right after finishing AFF and knocks hundreds of jumps every year, this often means that the person really wants to LEARN. I do not agree with “he only does 4-way, therefore his experience is very narrow” opinion because those who focus and try to be good in one discipline, usually appreciate the fact that becoming good in other disciplines also takes a lot of effort. In other words, it is unlikely that these people will try to pull/do something they are not really qualified for. On the other hand, there are quite a few people out there who have been around for years but haven’t really learned a lot about tracking well, waiving off before pitching the pilot chute and behaving in busy canopy traffic.

The first scores are posted ... http://www.skyleague.com/pages/scores/index.php?PHPSESSID=9d6624a607580551e0303e895fa059e6

Oh dear God check this out. He's already on VX 89 loaded at 2.45 Edit to add: I understand that some people will never listen until they get hurt. The question is who sold him the canopy?

Propaganda is a powerful weapon isn't it ?

120 sequential during convention sounds like a lot of fun

94??? you haven't jumped in Texas have ya ?

I got that Still like the P exit better. It would be nice to try both but we don't have much time and jumps to do that. Need to focus on more important staff. Thanks again! Anton

So he just breaks, reaches up and taps the OC on his helmut. COOOOOOOOL This reminded me some hilarious video of my first coach when she moved form IC to Pt slot and tried to control the skydives form there Thank you guys for the input

We already know who you are J))

I will! thanks!

our G's are pretty consistent, but your point about aswitching from compressed vs switching from SB is right on target. I haven't considered that. good point again The knights (in the DVD seem to) do a sidebody, with the tail already storked on the right hand in the correct cat grip - bingo ... I am going to try that LOL ... last night I spent almost half an hour visualizing taking out an E with switched positions between IC/OC and Tail and grip switching to 13 ... what a waste of time

I was also thinking about lunching E with Tail as OC, IC as a tail and OC as IC (exactly as you said) but P sounds like a better idea since we need to straighten it up to avoid the traffic issues between IC/OC at the bottom of the block. I am running out of patience - cannot wait till next training camp Edit to add; Hm ... If we want it to look straight and righteously with Pt at a head and Tail as a tail, why not lunch a G? ....... just a thought

Hey all I am curious how different teams take the 13 out, especially in the ways Intermediate teams lunch and spin it without using the slot switching. Would greatly appreciate if you guys share your experience

I got the point I believe Z1 restricts visibility regardless the head/body shapes. I am 6'3 and I still need to TRY and look down at proper angle to see the handles after opening

IMHO, if you wear a Z1 looking down/sideways (instead of straight down) helps to see the handles easier. Also, as was already said above, it is important to remember and anticipate that the handles shift up with the harness when main is deployed (or deploying). We regularly practice EP's on the ground and in the plane when the handles are significantly lower than after deployment. Locating both handles after normal opening is a good drill that develops a muscle memory.

There is some at skyleague site Edit: OMG they averaged 4.7 I bet they will be doing double digits by the end of this season

My arch is restricted because of old back injury. I was always a little floaty so I started to wear weights when I had about 80-100 jumps. A few pound of lead definitely helped to fix the level problems but did not help at all to improve the body position. I lot of new jumpers float up because they fly de-arched and look down. Weights will help them to fall faster but will not help to fix flying problems.

Quote A lot of lighter jumpers wear weights. All three of the others on my 4-way team do /Quote The key word here is 4-way team. The reasons why teams wear weights might be different from the reasons why someone with 40 jumps is considering putting a belt on because he/she cannot effectively maintain the levels with the other jumpers. I am not sure that the weight belt is a good idea for such a beginner. Good suit definitely helps. But good 2-way coaching is a key (not to mention tunnel). Set the priorities right. You obviously need to master the very basics of fall rate control and simple RW moves. IMHO, the led can wait. It is very tempting to go bigger than two. I think most of new jumpers experience this temptation (I definitely did), but in reality going bigger before you really ready will hold you progression back. Select a coach based on his/her skills and consider spending a few bucks for their lessons. Spending some $$ for qualified coaching is definitely better than free coaching form someone who doesn't really know a lot.

IMHO, if low timers get invited for a jump, it is ok to expect that they might go low and experience problem with tracking. I would not blame them as long as they follow the plan (obviously, the plan needs to be discussed before the jump) and do not do unsafe staff like pitching without tracking or staying right below the base. As Nate_1979 said, having a low person on relatively small group like 8-10 way is also a good opportunity for other new jumpers to expand their awareness. Knowing that someone did not get in, seeing this person and having a plan to get out of the possible mess before break-off altitude is a best way to avoid the traffic problems after break off. Good tracking skills help a lot too

This has been extensively discussed before - completely relying on ProTrack may get you in trouble. I love the little thing but it did malfunction on me twice - the device was reading the altitudes wrong (presumably due to low battery). Fortunately, it was showing that I was lower than I really was. Still a good lesson.