tdog

Hey - I have about 1000 jumps at Mile Hi in the last few years, every month of the year. I have jumped in the winter winds and snow and summer heat and thermals. You have very little to worry about as the winds don't pick up THAT bad normally... If you watch the trend before you get on the plane, and get a windcheck on the plane, you won't be surprised... That often at least. However, while others gave you a lot of general stuff - here is the lowdown for Mile Hi. The prevailing wind directions are east and west, which happen to line up with the runway. This is good because the "outs" to the east and west are better than the north "outs". If you are on the north side of the runway - and you are not making it over the hangars and runway - you have to make your "plan B" decision MUCH higher. I have seen very few people land off on this side of the airport, but those who tried to land on the airport grounds had a tricky dangerous landing. Those who turned around, went with the wind, and were pushed over to the fields or even the golf course to the north and northeast, landed safe. When stuggling to get back on the north, you have to know that the best landing area is BEHIND YOU... Turn around, go with the wind, and land in the open fields. The areas along the taxi way and hangars are not good. South you are fine. Lots of fields. East and West you are fine too. Here you can make your decisions of where to land lower, because there is no runway to cross, so as long as you avoid fences and ditches. So... My personal strategy is to head for the center of the landing area ASAP, especially when I am North, so I can start getting thru any winds. If I can't get over the runway by 1000, turn around at 1500 feet... This comes from landing on the taxiway once when I was around 50 jumps. Then, I set up my normal landing pattern... Ok, so on high wind days - where are the object based turbulance? Well the hangars are not a good place to hang around, that is for sure.. If you want canopy coaching, Jimmy T and some others at the DZ will be able to help you out on rears vs fronts vs hanging in brakes - etc. P.S. a simple way to know what the winds are doing on the ground - for a low time jumper - is watch the canopies of the others who land before you. How much penetration did they have? Did their canopy fall on their head or drag them? This is how I tell wind speed as I am setting up my own landing. Last but not least. The art of collapsing a canopy after you land is an important one. You need to run as fast as you can towards the canopy while pulling in one brake line (or any one line preferably on the rear riser) until you have fabric in your hand... If you pull back on it, you will lose the battle every time. This seems easy until the first time you are running towards the runway and your mind is thinking, "pull the canopy away from the runway" but it is counterintuitive - you need to get the canopy collapsed and in your hand, and the way to do that is to get line tension off the fabric.

Less worry... More do... Every skydiver had their first landing... Most live. Incident reports statistics show that, you need a small canopy and 1000 jumps, for landings to be dangerous. In all seriousness, student canopies are easy and fun to fly. You will be able to do it. There is another student who posted that he/she did not land correctly... Well, the simple solution is - practice in your mind the whole skydive you will be taught by your instructors and keep asking them questions until you are confident... Today I jumped with a student who was a bit nervous on the plane. It was his level 4... He rocked and we got much more "done" than planned... We docked in freefall and we made funny faces to each other. (I like sticking my tougne out in freefall)... He was laughing back in freefall... Then he pulled. And landed safely. He was not a superman or superhero... But he did great. You can too.... I have yet to meet a skydiver who is superhuman... So just take the first big step and show up at the DZ. If your FJC is in late april, go to the DZ next weekend and start watching and learning... Most skydivers will welcome you to their bar-b-que too...

He was a great guy... Did it for the love, not the money. We need more people like him in the sport. Lately I made a point to say hi to him more often. In exchange he always greeted me by name, and with a heart felt smile. RIP

Don't you know - property acquired after the divorce papers are filed remains the property of the individual, not the marriage????

One could argue: "To Pack" root verb is "To Do". To Do, does not require solitary or solo involvement per the dictionary definition. Hence, if the rigger is actively participating, (I.E. Doing with their mind) while the rigger candidate is actively participating (I.E. Doing with their hands) - I think you satisfy the intent of the regs. A rigger cannot leave the room or supervise multiple candidates at the same time with this interpretation of the regulations, whereas they could supervise without active participation multiple packers packing mains... but... they clearly can solicit the assistance of their friends/candidates so as long as they, the certified rigger, are actively participating (i.E. doing mentally) the work. I have seen a trend lately of riggers extrapolating meaning beyond the actual words in multiple regulations for either their personal gain or to somehow paint the FAA as being overly strict... I think it is wrong to extrapolate that non-certified individuals cannot participate in the packing based upon the above regulations because the regulations quoted above do not explicitly prohibit assistance from a non-certified individual while the certified rigger does the work, hence why does one assume you can't have assistance and/or work with a non-certified individual as a team??? Nor does the regulation define that have been packed means without assistance... If a non-certified individual folds the fabric while the rigger is watching, then the rigger inspects the work for quality, and takes solitary responsibility for the workmanship, it is as if the rigger did the work with his own hands. That is my two cents... And an Lawyer and someone familiar with FAA rule making procedures, US Laws, and proper document interpretations agreed with me when I posed this question.

Yes, this adware thing sent virus alerts all over our company servers that dropzone.com is trying to install virus/spyware!!! Shame, shame, shame...

Yes, that is what I did. Over about a year, almost weekly, at various rigger's lofts/basements learning. Structured = yes. Informative = not if you have good friends as mentors. and I'm sure working under an very informative rigger can be almost as effective. Dude, learn to pack rounds. Not hard at all (the containers can be a bitch due to variations, but folding a round is easy. Further, I never thought I would use the round packing techniques... Then I jumped a round twice off a bridge into a river... Then I started paragliging again and paragliders use rounds... Knowledge never hurts. Get it. It can be fun!

Was it in an XP or Vista or Win2000 computer previously? Have you right clicked the files and tried to take ownership under permissions/properties/security?

Assuming he has the knowledge and flying skills - AND MOST IMPORTANTLY has the passion and desire to help others earn their A licence, then go to bat for him, and promise the course director you will continue to mentor him as he starts to work with real students.

Not help to "pass". Help to make them a better AFFI. Passing is easy. Being a good AFF is a work of art. The art part is not evaluated in the course, so helping the candidate in this field does not discredit the candidates core skills. Here is a real world example... I asked Bram in an evaluation: "Can I ask you a timed out question... At home the AFFIs only have their students wear gloves in the winter time, and hence I would not check for gloves on this dive, but you have them in your hand and it is hot out here... In your career, what have you experienced as pros and cons of students wearing gloves? Do you require them, or should I suggest you can put them away as a student? Are there pull problems? Canopy problems? EP Problems?" This became a fruitful conversation with someone outside of my "home territory" to see if there are different schools of thought at other DZs. I could have just told him to put on the damn gloves and passed the course without learning.

I entered the following text into an employee's file: When I retire, I am going to sell all the videos I have gathered over the years of employees doing stupid stuff and make a lot of money. This one, if you added a bit of music, is real hot... The guy is like a model. It would spread like wildfire on the net. It is much better than the last employee who jacked off at a customer's location, because that guy was overweight, old, and walked in and out of the camera shot...

That is bull-crappy.... As long as the candidate is showing the skills needed to be an AFF instructor, why not use every jump, every exercise, as a way to make them a better AFF instructor. (I am not talking about helping someone without the core skills to pass). Let me give you a great example of how an evaluator can TEACH you while you are being evaluated. Don Y. was evaluating me for my coach rating. The "Pull" signal was not engraved yet as something you don't do unless you mean it. We were on the ground at the mockup. I instructed Don to do something. He repeated back what I instructed him, but added a hint in how I could have done it better. So I learned... I put out my hand in a relaxed expression in what looked like a sloppy pull signal while saying, "Good point." He interrupted me and said, "Arch, reach, throw, check? I don't even have my rig on?". Since then I have only screwed up once and gave a pull-like-hand signal to a student in freefall, but I realized my mistake before the student saw it. Don took that moment to make a lasting impression.... And taught me. Skip ahead a year... Bram on my AFF rating. I remember clearly asking in the middle of a evaluation, "can we time out for a second." I asked a question, not something fundamental that an AFFI should know, but something complex on how to better teach something. After the evaluations, we had very productive debriefs. I learned so much. The fact remains - no matter how good of a skydiver you are, when you are getting your AFF rating you have not (legally) ever jumped with a student. If you are not allowed to ask valid questions, and not given information, then you are not taking advantage of the learning opportunity.

Good olde boy's club. Granted, after the USPA's attempt to remove a few dropzones in a lawsuit that failed, then a second attempt to remove a Board Member they did not like, both of which failed and backfired... I don't ever see them having the guts to make any changes on something like this.

Nah... This guy, albeit seemingly new, has the FAA figured out... The FAA WOULD publish two different documents with two different names so close in name the entire community would be confused.

Its the Parachute Riggers Handbook... PRH. You found it. Now go slap Councilman24 around for making you look so hard for something that does not exist.

Lets see, a day at the DZ: Tandem = 12 jumps * 30 = $360 Tandem packer = 40 rigs * 10 = $400 AFF = 7 jumps * 30 = $210 Vidiot = 12 jumps * 40 = $480 Rigger = 4 rigs * 45 = $180 (note, I don't know how some riggers do a full inspection and repack in less than an hour, it takes me 30 minutes just to inspect and do the paperwork before stuffing the fabric in the bag.) So, Mr. SCP.... I appreciate the thank you (although I just pack a few rigs a week for friends and am not a DZ rigger) But, if you want money - you have to follow the money - and it is in tandems and packing for tandems... Not reserves.

I think any learning program that specifies manufactures is too bias for a learning progression. Rigging is not manufacture specific. Instead, maybe just specify "four unique manufactures packed." This will prove the candidate can read the manual on a few different rigs and complete the task and has enough diversity in their learning to apply the knowledge to rigs they never have seen before. Realistically, except for a few small differences, all sport rigs pack the same - and the "art" is in making them look good and close quickly. (Racers and Reflexes excluded) Bail out rigs are a different beast. Each is unique. But then again, it is about following the instructions, not having every design memorized.

Don Yarling was one of my evaluators for my coach rating. I respected the shit out of him. He was an awesome hard working man who cared about my success. When I screwed up, he, playing the student, asked a question in the way that told me how I screwed up and how I could have better taught it. I can tell you exactly what character he pulled out of his hat, and it was perfect because he found the most opposite personality as me to see how I operated out of my comfort zone. He pushed me without insulting me. I felt small, but at the end I felt confident. I asked Don to coach me for my AFF rating. He said he was considering moving out here, even looked at real estate. Then he passed away two weeks later. I understand game playing. I don't understand making rude, offensive, unprofessional, threatening comments outside of the evaluations. My issues are: 1) Value out of the course, 2)Professionalism, 3) How much fun can be had, 4) How to become a better instructor.

Order from Square 1 or Sunshine Factory. They will double check your order, give you a decent price, and educate you. The manufactures always sell at full retail, unless you got an "in". The dealers can sell for less than retail by adding perks, etc.

-center flap A-G (2-7) -type III loops -VGH harness -1 piece and 2 piece leg straps this is an obvious one but could someone post pic of each one to see the differences please? -type 17 and type 8 risers

Depends on your initial canopy and body size and goals... I put 1000 jumps on my first container. 1.1 WL to 1.45 WL capable. Also - a new container you can sell after a few hundred jumps for a good chunk of change to another newbie... But I would never let someone buy a rig that accommodates a larger than 1.0 WL canopy unless the person is petite.

Nah, I just thought the 1st post was overly thick in the "he is so good he walks on wind."

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to get the joke.

I think the word "godfater" was what took me over the top. (You know the best guys are the ones who, when asked, call themselves students and are willing to learn). P.S. Don Vito Corlone might want his name spelled corectly, it is "father" not "fater".