tdog

Hey, they land so well (as long as you don't put them into a dive too low), that maybe students would have better landings under them?????

Costa Rica sucks. Don't go there. Those of us who do go there, don't need additional tourists to ruin it... Best "3rd world" place I ever have been to. See attached photo. Paragliding in CR rulz.... That photo is how I spent a week of my life a month ago.

And.... I have a Sabre 2 170 that never has slammed me. Check your line trim, if your canopy is old, it could be the line trim. My friend's (excessively out of trim) canopy known for butter soft openings started to slam him often too.

None. The letter is a diatribe, could not read it all the way thru as it lacks clarity.

Dear fellow Jew, That is how a six page letter I received in the mail today started... This letter was the retelling of a single bible verse, as documented on page seven of said letter, fine print, legal size paper. The original authors seemed to get'er'dun in a few words, yet this letter takes pages of fine print to say the same thing. The letter ends: I found your address in the phone book, and no further letters will be sent. Do the white pages have a "jewish section"? Is it before the government pages or after? Here is the problem. I am not Jewish. Never have been. Never will be. The letter does not address this problem or give me options. My last name is somewhat Jewish, but I came from a long line of god fearing and sometimes god hating catholics. Hence I retired from religion, I already did my part, my ancestors did theirs too. So, please do me a favor. Send; M. Cohen P.O. Box 8094 Greenville, TX 75404-8094 A letter that starts; Dear fellow (insert your religion and/or ancestry here), Type a long diatribe on why everyone in your religion and/or ancestry are not following the "rule book" (Bible, Torah, koran, etc) of your religion. Find a simple passage and type a six page letter about it. Sign the letter first initial and last name. And end it with: P.S. My non-jewish friend from Colorado gave me your address appreciative that you care about his complete disregard for the scripture that apparently his last name requires him to believe.

But SOMEBODY's got to move here so they can fill up all the condos they're building downtown. I have no idea who they think are going to move into them all Lets see... I live in one... And they seem to be popular as ever. And my building is 97% occupied and selling at a good price still. No foreclosures. I think the bigger problem is the homes in Highlands Ranch. No one wants to live there.

Is it a dog friendly DZ? No. I believe it is because of airport rules, not DZ rules. P.S. To the OP. Don't tell the world CO is nice. We don't need more people and more traffic.

I say you can ethically sell ANYTHING for ANY PRICE in the free market economy, so as long as you disclose accurately what you are selling, and you have a willing and able buyer.

Well - we will have to redo the jump so it won't funnel! ;-) In our defense (we were the base) - we were rock solid until someone took a grip majorly off level and took us out. But it is alright... That someone got a pie. (lesson learned - don't reach up a few feet for a grip, and when a pie is delivered, duck.... hehehehe) T.

For a carnival ride Tandem I would not disagree. But we are giving Tandem students the benefit of the doubt that they have an instructor that is teaching them how to skydive. From the posts I have read around here I think quite a few tandem students are receiving pretty good instruction. I don't think it is a bad thing. To receive a license, a student skydiver needs to meet skill requirements anyway. A question for everyone is why we require a certain number of jumps for a license at all. Isn't meeting skill requirements enough? I count tandems, even carnival ride tandems. The leading cause of injury and death in our sport is canopy control and canopy awareness - not freefall. I believe even a carnival ride tandem exposes a person to a landing and an opportunity to be under canopy. But then again, I don't really look at jump numbers when I evaluate a "student". Jump numbers say nothing. I only care if the student can be safe in freefall and under canopy, and when I have that confidence, then I look to the A licence card and 25 jump minimum as just bureaucratic procedure to keep us all on the same page, as my standards are often higher. Proof of why jump numbers are just a hint to the big picture - I have video of someone with 17 jumps total, 5 hopnpops, so only 12 freefalls including AFF, and nearly no tunnel time, completing a 17 point 4way RW skydive where he had the outfacing slots too ("J-M-O-Q"). (The other skydivers were AFFI/Coach rated). He tracked and opened nicely, then landed on his feet in the pea gravel pit... Then quit skydiving after his 20th jump because it "did not interest him." After a few more skydives he proved to me that it was not a fluke, that he was just good. I wonder honestly if I would have signed off his card at 20 jumps...

Whenever I struggle with confidence, my performance is low. I believe you will have to work on your confidence level regarding the canopy skills. Both the deserved confidence because you practiced and got coaching and have real world evidence you can land safely... And the "fake confidence" that comes from your belief that you can do something and be successful, when you don't quite have proof YET that you can...

Congrats. You will have fun.

What's wrong with arriving at the course prepared, having read everything possible, taught a few FJC's and done numerous practice jumps with experienced AFF I's?? Oh, wait, that'd require effort and time. Nevermind. I just helped my friend get his rating. He went way beyond that and aced the course. However, he also had fun and respected his evaluator... There is more to it than being evaluated, especially when a good CD can add value along the way. I agree with Popsjumper - the other guy's attitude is all wrong. AFF instructors should motivate their students to be confident, knowledgeable, and excited to be a student and want to jump. If the AFF evaluator does not do the same, then no quality example is set. Someone mentioned a semester of school followed by a final exam, and that the CD is the equivalent of a final... Well, guess what... When my students go for their A and we do a checkoff dive (their final exam), we have crap loads of fun, and I have a bucket of tricks to see if they can remain altitude aware, handle the unexpected, communicate effectively in freefall, and save their life. And, I have even done their "A" checkoff without them knowing it, telling them after they landed that they passed the USPA and my criteria to be an A licenced jumper. This is skydiving, not war. It should be fun, educational, and rewarding (even when being tested). I stand by my previous post, the week I spent with Bram was one of the most fun and challenging weeks of my life in skydiving. And I know he tested me, not pencil whipped my rating...

I hear the bigger ones (which I have) have slightly different openings, however I have noticed: 1) Pack it sloppy, it does not need a lot of attention to the nose. Not advised, but I have thrown it in the bag raw - no flake - nothing - just the tail up and cocooned, and it opens perfect. 2) Pitch and relax. The more I grabbed a riser or fought it, the more I had troubles with it. Now I just weight shift and even sometimes kick a hair to straighten myself under it if it goes 45 off heading or something, but for the most part, let it take me where it wants to go, which is never too far from where I want to be. Now I love my Katana openings better than my Sabre 2! Hundreds of jumps and no line twists or anything unpredictable.

Well I took a paraglider I ended up buying tonight, to a friend who is a paraglider instructor and... He had this cool little toy: http://www.jdc.ch/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=134&lang=en He ran 7 tests, threw out the best and worst, and took the average of the rest, in a database application he built, and kicked out a number that lines up with paragliding manufacture's and DHV tables... He had a database of 119 other wings tested and could tell me exactly where the canopy lined up with other wings tested. Scores are, 300 = grounded, no longer airworthy. 15-20 (ish) = new. Everything in between is airworthy but at various life remaining... I kind of want one... If I tested a group of new skydiving canopies, and a group of canopies at the end of their life, I could figure out where a used canopy sits... I am a toy person.

Can anyone tell me about porosity checks for canopies... I know a paraglider dealer can do it for a paraglider using a tool. Seems like this could be handy for used canopies in our sport too..

I don't know what is more weird.... That I have two cypres in my logbook with SNs 2 digits off, or that they are in the gap between some of the SNs that are listed... So... Do I get to keep the $70, as a rigger, for doing the re-open and re-pack for my customers who are affected???

Benjamin Franklin wrote (about a loan, but pretend it is a tip) in a letter dated April 22, 1784: I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money. In other words - the best tip is not cash to the AFF instructor (although some of my full time working friends appreciate these gifts to pay rent in the wintertime).... But instead, when you get good, helping someone who is trying to get good...

I disagree... 100%... Take your rig apart. Then go to your rigger and put it back together. Don't let him do it. Participation is better than watching! (P.S. anyone who is close to my house can do this anytime they want. Free repacks if you help... But don't think you can just hold a string and not give a crap and abuse me either.) A good rigger working step by step with a skydiver can teach each other a lot. If nothing else, the customer will understand why repacks cost a lot of money because they take a long time to do right.

I am fortunate enough to have enough fingers to count to 12... Wait... I think I miscounted.

Just a guess... The USPA hires a firm to publish and send the magazines. If you are not in the database before the deadline, you don't get one... Now, to be fair, their system should say "12 issues owed" and fill their promise. If not, then I would complain. Why not call them and simply ask, "I paid for a year membership, I am owed a years worth of mags, which ones do I get?" Now, if they don't give you a years worth, I would be upset too....

That's gotta be a nugget

I learned long ago (ok, maybe last year or the year before) that a good instructor and a good skydiver and a good student thinks WAY out of the USPA cereal box on water training, and for that matter, all training. I don't care what the USPA teaches... I have learned so much from professionals in watersports who have attended my water trainings, (like how to navigate a river without a boat) that I try to pass on. Like where to land in oceans. Like how not to get a foot under a rock in a river. I even now have video of square and round parachute landings, two done by yours truly, plus a few others, into rivers... Too bad the USPA does not think bridges are good starting points for such endeavors... However students get to see real landings, just forget the lack of an airplane.

Wanna fly here? I teach it often. Heck, if you video tape yourself jumping in a pool with a rig and swim out of it, we can do the rest as an Internet correspondence school. The ground school stuff is pretty easy to do over the phone. Note - that is not meant to be an invite into some sexy you-tube video, however if you want....

Mr. Popsjumper, DZ.com has Gear reviews DZ.com has DZ reviews So... Since you started a thread that clearly shows Course Directors provide various qualities of goods and services... How about you contact the powers that be to expand the review system to include the directors!