tdog

I cry a huge bull-shit... The most common student I have worked with thus far is in the 20-25 year crowd. Between managing their jump quantity, working as packers, sharing costs - they seem to be able to afford it. Heck, four friends got their AFF rating while being college students, and four others came within fighting distance of the fully sponsored military teams, self funded, at collegiate nationals, with one guy taking overall 1st place at a canopy event beating the military teams. Yes, two AFF instructors were military academy students, but that is all the more proof you can do it on a tight budget as they are not allowed to have jobs and found ways to use their $400 per month "salary" spending money to make it happen.... Another college student is very proficient at head down, and two years ago we had some rather large bigways at the MOAB and Eloy boogies with majority of them being students. I could show you video of another student and I doing some pretty wicked wingsuiting... And I know of two students who had enough experience to be qualified for a legit BASE FJC and used their dorm rooms to pack their rigs and celebrated their summer after graduating in Europe. To the original poster, I say - if you want to skydive, get educated, and do it. The money will come if you want to. Life is too short to "wait" for every opportunity because "now is not the perfect time." As the lyrics of a rather popular trance-song-background sample goes: "Son, it is better to regret something you Have done, than regret something you haven't done."

I quoted the entire thing - because on some days you and your stupid posts really piss me off (just kidding, I like people with attitude and opinions willing to share), but on this day, I think you are spot on and I fully agree. Further, I don't believe AFF is pass/fail. Dieing is failing. Cypres fire is a D-, almost fail. Everything else is an opportunity to improve on the previous jump.

Analog (door sensors found on burgular alarm systems)

Anyone know anyone who could help me with an industrial automation computer. Simply put, I want to automate an electrical system with two types of sensor inputs. One sensor input would latch on (close the relay) on the output. The other sensor input would delatch the output relay, but keep it on for a preset time. The logic process is simple, two inputs, one output. I am sure there are systems meant for assembly lines and other robotics that are perfect for this. If you or anyone you know might be able to help, please send a message.

I teach the landing priorities from the USPA SIM 1) Wings level 2) Open area 3) Flare 4) PLF I point out that LANDING INTO THE WIND IS NOT ON THE LIST. To illustrate the point, and importance of #1 - which is the number one way to kill yourself in skydiving these days it seems, I ask the class: 1) Have you ever wiped out on a snowboard, rollerblades, or bike going 20 MPH and tumbled? How seriously were you hurt? 2) Have you ever jumped from the window of the 3rd floor of an apartment building without a rope? How seriously were you hurt? I then say simply: "Don't die trying to land into the wind." The culture of landing into the wind is too strong in a lot of instructor's and experienced skydivers mind. There is a reason it is not on the USPA SIM landing priorities.... BECAUSE IT IS NOT A PRIORITY.

Those familiar with the Chicago area, please either PM me, and or post publicly info about the Chicago area DZs: My questions: 1) DZ Name 2) How many fun jumpers on the weekends visit? 3) How many fun jumpers on the weekdays visit? 4) Aircraft actively flying? 5) How many loads per aircraft per weekend day? 6) How many tandems on the weekends? 7) How many AFF level 1 in the FJC per an average weekend? 8) What do the skydivers do in the winter? I see a lot shut down????

I have been on my fair share of level ones, never taught "lock on" and rarely have altitude awareness problems, and of the ones where I have had to pull or remind, "lock on" would not have helped. In fact, I don't think I have pulled for a level one all season. Knock on wood, I am working tomorrow. Ps, the lack of "time" is true, however telling them to do a deep breath, relax and arch, with a good dirtdive of that, has worked as I don't expect them to count.

See attached photos... Costa Rica a few months ago. LOVE THE PLACE. Look for the Trapp Family Inn near the airport for a night's stay. Cool place. Jaco was very touristy. Caldera is awesome for paragliding. The people are awesome. Don't be stupid, there are a lot of people there who are not as honest as..... Example, a family was pulled over for a "flat tire". Their car was stolen when they got out to see the tire.

Questions 2 and 3 - I never tell the AFF student what I am going to do (pull at a certain altitude) as I don't want them to think that I am going to do anything for them, or know the altitudes where they can "give up". I do tell them that if they don't pull, and if I can for them, I will for them, however there could be a case where I am unable to do so, so they need to be the responsible adult on the skydive and be the one to pull. If they don't agree to these terms, I am unwilling to jump with them. Likewise, my pull altitude for the student depends GREATLY based upon the student's actions prior to pull time, and why they are not "pulling". Imagine a student who needs just an extra second to find the hackey vs one completely "out to lunch." Question 1 - I don't teach "lock on". Why? Once you finish AFF, you NEVER lock on. You should be instead looking for other traffic, tracking, and getting ready to pull. So I teach them instead, "when you see 6K, you are about 2.5 seconds away from pulling. Take a deep breath, arch, check your alti again, and wave and pull." I think the lock on is only, maybe, acceptable for level 1... But it is bad habit past that. My personal opinion. Questions 4 and 5 - the altitudes in which a student should pull on level 1 and their 24th skydive can be different, and both be "safe". The proper altitude should be above the SIM recommended minimum pull where the student is comfortable.

I think the Storm is a Spectre2, but with so much new good stuff under the hood, it deserved a whole new name. I am sure the Spectre sales will be hurt drastically by this product, but I bet some Sabre 2 prospects buy it also. I think you should get a demo and try it out for yourself. I was impressed.

I am one of them. I do teach my students "what turns are allowed", per the 1000 ft, 500 ft, 100 ft chart you claim is only used by dumbasses. This is right after I teach them a real nice landing pattern with the proper 90s. I teach the context in which it is used.... The context is that - sometimes landing patterns go bad when obstacles and poor decision making is made, and student's need tools to fix it. Or they have a sudden off landing surprise and they need tools to do a plan B. The context is NOT how to fly the ideal pattern. I am going to consider "nothing more than 90s once you are in your pattern" - however I kind of like the gradual decrease in the chart - as it reinforces to a student that turns need to get more gradual lower you get...

We had every storm size between 135 and 190 at Mile Hi this weekend for a demo weekend (thanks PD). I jumped the 135 loaded 1.7. A 60 jump new to the sport guy jumped the 190 loaded 1 to 1. We both liked it. Both had soft easy landings at high altitude, no wind, high density altitude days. I would have no problem recommending it to newer skydivers... Dare I say it, I like it better than a Sabre 2... Some people think more cells the better... Well this 7 cell canopy proves differently. Get a demo. Jump the demo. If you like, buy!

Honestly, I don't know the exact ratios. It could be much higher. I was going based upon runway lengths and altitude in freefall. The problem was that I was exiting well past jump run, so I was making good guesses. But I am far from a mere mortal. Some even say I suck.

Dude. I just flew my PF Tracking Suit (brand new) last weekend from an aircraft in prep for some "other" jumps... My first flight, I almost pulled at 6K as it "had to be time"... I looked at my Alti and almost did not belive it... My neptune reads speeds equal to some of the wingsuit flocks I have been on, and I was getting about .5 to .75 to 1 glide ratio on my first flight where I was just casually tracking. I watched the tandem drogues go by like those white dots on the asphalt on the highway. I seriously had no clue the range. It just looked like baggy pants - but there is some of them-there 'dat science in there somewhere. I now have to dial it in. I tried to "really push it" and I had worse results.

Now that's not very nice at all. There are a lot of us (big jumpers, fat jumpers, whatever you want to call us) out there that are jumping very regularly. I am not saying it is not possible, I am just saying that, it is "not average" and requires "special instructors and gear" to take someone who is 250 pounds and someone should call ahead to verify if the DZ will do it... I was telling this guy, he should just show up and jump! P.S. I am 6'3" and at my peak was 245 pounds. I lost 40 pounds (among other reasons) so I could skydive as my home DZ had a published weight limit that I believed on face value without calling...

Not knowing your specific issues, I cannot help... But I will say in GENERAL I have had great success with students telling them to keep their chin very high, as it then rounds out their chest and puts the pelvis the lowest... Plus, raising the chin is easy. So, consider equating in your mind "arch = chin up." But tell your instructors what you are doing before the jump so they can see if it is working. Oh, simile and stick out your tongue too... It helps. Laugh a bit too.

Take a deep breath and relax, go to the DZ and jump (after working with an instructor preferably.) Your size is not that far out of line. Very common actually. If you were 40 lbs heavier, then we would worry.

I plugged in 5 of the websites I have worked on, and I can say, they have it all wrong! I don't have a single ad, yet I make, per that site, money every day!

I am thinking of starting an Internet correspondence class where I can ship a trashed rig to someone and explain what they need to do, give 30 minutes of lecture over the phone, and give a certificate when they send me photos or video of them jumping in their neighborhood pool and doing the prescribed exercises. It seems like no one offers water training. (I do it monthly here in Colorado. Got it down to a science by now. NOTE: Perspective instructors, practicing a 4way or freefly exit at the top of the waterslide, with the corresponding funnel of 4 bodies sharing the same waterslide at the same time - is a good way to get permanently kicked out of a pool. Note to self....)

Seems good enough for what I need. Powerpoint and handouts and posters for walls.

I have used these. I am not so happy with them as they are terribly outdated. I know students don't understand the difference between spanwise and chordwise canopy construction, however the canopy does not "look" the same as what they use. I ALSO WANT some photos of mals. Not screenshots off of video, but high res quality modern images. 1) Line twists 2) Two out bi-plane 3) Two out side-by-side 4) Two out downplane (could be a CrEW downplane as with photoshop I could make it work) 5) Deformed but inflated canopy 6) Baglock 7) Horseshoe 8) Good canopy Hopefully all with the same equipment. I don't believe in overwhelming students, so I keep it simple... "Does it look and fly right?" "If not"... So I don't care about too many variations of a deformed inflated canopy (tears/broken lines/etc).

You forgot one... A user buys a battery for a unit that has 1 year left on it. He uses it for a year. He then gives/sells the battery to another user who needs one year left. Now you have a battery transfer where the battery only has one year left... I kind of wish that there was a way to notate the card so that a battery with almost a full pack cycle left could be used. When the packs change from 120 to 180 days - this will be more of an issue. If the battery "month" does not matter by 30 days as Jan 1 and Jan 31 are both the same, as you pointed out a savvy skydiver will ask their rigger to pack/change batteries on the 1st of the month so they don't lose 30 days on the battery... So if the system already has a 1/3 of a pack cycle "slop" built into it, shouldn't there be some way to make this work for all involved with a "packjob expire date" so I could pack a rig, 30 days later open it up to remove an expired component and reseal for the remaining term without a full inspect and repack.... When we hit 180 days on a packjob, it will suck when someone has 179 days left on their battery and I have to change it because it will expire in the packjob when the system has 30 days of "slop" with no day of month in the month/year bat due date....

I am pretty nerdy when it comes to toys. I never have had a desire to upload my alti into a computer. I sometimes look at the last jump (especially wingsuit flight) to see speeds and stats. I highly recommend a digital altimeter to everyone as their first altimeter, but ultimately will say, "it is personal choice and whatever you choose has disadvantages and advantages and as long as you accept those, good!" Before I get flamed, find a previous thread where I said the same thing and rehash it there, not here.

Dude, I am VERY bias against Aerodyne products after putting 300 jumps on a Pilot and 700 jumps on PD products. Be warned. I don't like either the Pilot or Triathlon, although I only have a few jumps on the Tri. Your results may very, however I found the Pilot not as forgiving in the landing as some others, and I never had fun landing it... I thought it was me until I started borrowing other canopies and realized that at the same wingloading I could get a real nice plane out and landing on other canopies whereas on the pilot I always found an imbalance of either the downward or forward speed.... I asked an Aerodyne factory rep (no longer employed there) and he said, "you just have to flare it differently than any other canopy." Basically he described to me a student flare, not a nice two staged flare where you get a nice little plane out. I know a lot of people who have the impression, "the Pilot opens great, is fun to fly, but lands like crap." The most often told theory in the rumor mill - the trim of the pilot is flat to help with glide and openings, at the sacrifice of the landing.... But - YOU will need to demo the canopies to find out what you think. I know a lot of people who jump Pilots. Accuracy comes from skill, not the canopy. Although, you can fly both differently to get the same result. Example: My 310 sqft F111 Blackjack can sink in real nicely. When I jump it, I can pull deep brakes sink it in, go to full flight, then flare and have a real accurate approach. But my Katana is equally as accurate. I saw a bunch of Air Force cadets doing training with accuracy using all sorts of "adjustments" on their final to hit the target. I decided to try my hand at it, and from full flight at 500 feet with a straight in approach, with just a minor adjustment, hit the target with about 3 inches of inaccuracy... The Blackjack is better at sinking in, but I can full flight it and I can sink the Katana if I choose, in the same way a sports car can go to the grocery store and you can drag race a mini-van. The key is to understand what your pattern should be like, and what things should look like, for your given canopy. And these things will change canopy by canopy, so you have to learn how to learn, not learn one canopy.... So, to answer your question. If you were my best friend and you did not or could not demo a canopy, I would say.... Get a PD Sabre2, PD Storm, PD Spectre - then consider the Safire2 and Pilot, but demo them first whereas I would not insist that you demo a PD product..... I have jumped all of them, except the Storm, and I will be jumping the Storm soon. Again, in fairness to Aerodyne, your results might vary, I might have just been disgruntled. (P.S. I also used to have problems with Aerodyne customer service, but I don't know about the yet-again new ownership/management... I feel more comfortable with a company like PD that is real stable too, if you damage your canopy this is important.)

I am gonna send you a PM with some more info... However, I will say, you will have no problems in the USA. In fact... I think most people go to the DZ alone when they start AFF - and quickly make new friends... I taught a FJC last weekend. 11 people. 4 people (2 pairs of 2) came with friends, the rest solo. They by the end of the class were friends.