NWFlyer

It depends. Canopies even within a given size can vary greatly in pack volume. 9 cell vs 7 cell. Crossbraced vs non. Low bulk fabric vs regular ZP. Rule of thumb would be take the size the container was built for and you can go one size up and one down from there, but YMMV based on the factors listed above, among others. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Usually pretty good but since the weather gods have smiled on us all winter this year they may decide to smite us with a rainy spring. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Eloy has very specific rules for each of the landing areas. The good news is that if you don't like the landing direction set in the main landing area, you always have the option to go to the alternate landing area (and with your jump numbers, I'd strongly recommend the alternate as much as possible - depending on how many folks are around, you may have it mostly to yourself). Heck, when I visit, especially during a busy time, I'd say 80%+ of my landings are in the alternate. And if you don't like either landing area's direction, you've got miles and miles of desert, most of which is wiiiide open. The folks at Eloy will give you a thorough briefing when you get there. If for some reason they don't offer, ASK! Then spend some time wandering around and familiarizing yourself with the landmarks. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Best option I've found is having friends who work at M$. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

http://www.uspa.org/NewsEvents/RatingCourses/tabid/158/Default.aspx "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You've never been to Portland, have you? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

This is a Canopy Relative Work (CRW) team practicing. While canopy collisions and wraps can and do happen on normal skydives, the risk of them happening is much higher on a CRW jump. Here's a thread with more specific details about the jump (also there's really good narration on the video if you haven't already listened to it). http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3232876;#3232876 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Not planning to do the drive, but we did look into renting RVs for last year's boogie. Looking into it is why we decided to buy one. It might be reasonable if you shoved a lot of people into one RV, but for just the two of us we couldn't make it pencil out (so now we own one ... not sure that will pencil out either, but at least we can get some value out of it when we sell it and get a lot more use out of it than one week). If you do end up finding a ride and/or flying, just let us know and we'll be happy to set you up with camping gear - we've got lots and lots. I've even got a tent that's almost as big as your van. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

As a (current) juror on a murder trial, I of course can't talk about the trial, but I will say that one thing being on this trial has brought home to me (though I knew it, I'd never really thought about it) is that the term "witness" doesn't mean that you saw anything at all related to the crime - it just means that you are a person brought into the courtroom to provide a piece or pieces of evidence. In your case, it could be something as simple as establishing that the victim was in a certain place at a certain time (when you gave him a ride). This information may conflict with the story the defendant is giving. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What? You got that email too? But he told me (and I quote) "you are the only one that can help me." I'm going to march right down to Western Union and take that money back. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Actually, it was Dolly Parton's well before that. Have a little respect please. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Unfortunately the USPA already started down that slippery slope a few years back when they allowed wind tunnels to receive group membership. I didn't know that. But I'm not sure it's relevant to this discussion - unless the proposed training program is being proposed to become a required part of the AFFI course. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

First part sounds great. Some AFFI candidates already do targeted tunnel work to get prepared. Sounds like an excellent marketing idea from a tunnel to package it up as a curriculum of sorts, especially if they work with AFF IEs or other highly experienced AFFIs to develop said curriculum. Since it's just an optional supplemental training/readiness tool for AFFI candidates, I can't see why or how USPA as a governing body would need to get involved. It's only when you throw in the second part that you'd need USPA's involvement. And that's where I don't like the idea. (Of course, I'm neither an AFFI nor an AFF/IE, so take my opinion FWIW ... as with all opinions you get what you pay for). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'd suggest a tandem photo for "What my friends think I do" (or that would work for "What society thinks I do") and a photo of someone packing for "what I really do." "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

When the two tunnel instructors went through Jay Stokes' AFF rating class a few months back, I thought it was an interesting stunt. But it's just that, a stunt, and I hope the USPA board will agree. I'll be at the meeting and will make sure to attend the session that has this on the agenda. Hopefully it'll be a really brief "no way" vote. Edited to add: I reviewed the agendas for the meeting and don't see this topic included. I looked at all of them, but it would seem like it would belong in Safety & Training. Am I missing it? Do you know where it's supposed to be discussed? http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Agenda_ST_2012_02.pdf http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Downloads/tabid/84/Default.aspx#2445 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Quoted for irony. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You can get logging features for a lot less than the Altitrack. You could get a used analog for under $100, and a used Protrack also for around or under $100 (though those are a little more challenging to find). That's pretty much what I did until I got my Altitrack. Now I've got both, but like I said in an earlier post, I did not buy the Altitrack new - because I had devices that met my needs, I didn't have to rush out to buy one and I was able to be patient till the deal of the century came along. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

The Altitrack first came out right around when I got my license in 2005. I drooled over it until the summer of 2010 when I finally found a sweet deal on a used one ($150). It's a super cool product, I just couldn't talk myself into spending full retail price on it. But I've sure been happy with it since I got it. Would recommend the classifieds on this very site over eBay. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/page.cgi?d=1 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

FYI- that was all a joke, yet the truth for many male instructors as how to get their attention. If it is, then the student should work with someone else. Before you blame the instructors remember in some cases it's a shared blame. I've seen many female students hunting for something and using skydiving as a method to get it. You're saying it's the female student's fault that she can't get any assistance from her instructor unless she wears a low-cut top? Because that's what we're talking about here - that somehow if she chooses to wear a crew-neck baggy t-shirt, she's to blame for not getting instructional help. (Plus what skybytch said...) "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

FYI- that was all a joke, yet the truth for many male instructors as how to get their attention. If it is, then the student should work with someone else. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

August 4-13, 2012 is what was announced at last year's boogie. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

If your last jump was three years ago, and you never got licensed, you should (and will probably be required to) sit through most of a first jump course again, as a critical refresher training. Depending on the day of the week and how busy the dropzone is they may be able to do a modified refresher training for you, but you should expect (and want) it to be quite extensive even if it's not a regular FJC. However, it may just be easiest for the DZ to ask you to sit in on an already-scheduled FJC. So assume that day, you won't be able to get in that many jumps since you'll spend a good portion of your day in classroom training. Packing training (done right) takes a few hours as well, since the best way to learn is by practicing, and you'll be slow at it for a while. 10 jumps over three days is not an unreasonable number, but you may end up with weather holds, either for all or part of the day. Even if it looks like a beautiful sunny stretch you could have winds. Your best bet might be to call ahead to the dropzone(s) you're considering and talk about where you are and what you want to achieve and see what they recommend. Either of the two dropzones you mentioned would be a great option, as well as Skydive Arizona in Eloy (since you also mentioned AZ as a possibility). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Actually, all of those are awesome topics for the first date. Because then you know, right away, without wasting any more of your time that this person is not someone you want to date any more. I've been off the dating scene for quite a while now, but I guess I did an okay job of pre-screening, because I can't recall any truly horrific first dates. Most were just with reasonably nice people who weren't a good fit after all and we could shake hands or hug at the end of the date and say "Nice to meet you" and mean it, but not want anything else. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'll add: -getting lazy/complacent about the basics, especially gear checks, every single jump without exception -thinking you're too cool to keep up with the basics -rushing/breaking routine when gearing up. I like to do things in a certain order, and I hate to rush. In situations where I'm forced to rush (like team training days where the packer closes me up last), the absolute mission critical stuff still gets done with 100% focus before I get on the plane - I will not get on without my rig on, properly secured and tightened, handles/pins/3 rings checked. I can do gloves and alti on the plane because I can exit without those in an emergency, but the important stuff WILL be done and done right, or I won't get on. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Who's this Ramon guy? I don't know a lot of skydiver cannibals. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke