tdog

The difference in temperature, not the overall heat, will make thermals. Thermals are just pockets of different temperature air trying to find equilibrium - with the hot going up and the cool going down. You could have a thermal on a skislope where the temperature is below zero. You could have a very strong one if the difference was great between the white snow and the black parking lot. About the colored ground. The reason why color of ground matters is because of how it absorbs heat relative to the ground near by and overall. Black solid asphalt is going to absorb more heat than light brown tall wet grass. If that asphalt will heat the air right next to it, you will likely get a thermal.

You wait. I remember when I was waiting myself. The good news, when it finally comes, the wait makes it more fun.

Kynan, When some freeflier falls thru your jump - and they were not on your jump to begin with, you will understand. Until then, you are a little naive. I learned myself how dangerous solo freeflying can be when a sitflyer joined our 4way without being invited. Backsliding occurs faster than you think! I wish you luck with your freeflying. It can be done safe, and you should have a lot of fun. Make sure you get good (doesn't mean you have to pay for it) coaching, because you can learn a lot. But also, I will say, this random advice giver might be more worried about themselves (you crashing into them) than you, but was trying to be polite.

AggieD, I really respect your opinions a lot of the time... But, could one not argue that the "ram air" design of a canopy has a lot more air "ramming in" at higher speeds, and thus collapses will occur less often and/or inflate quicker because of the increased pressurization when a canopy has more airspeed. I know they are completely different beasts, but I also know my paraglider loaded .5 ish was prone to very dynamic asymmetric collapses (like half the canopy). My current canopy loaded 1.45 to 1 bounces around a lot, but feels much more rigid. My 1 to 1 canopy was somewhere in between, but still more "pressurized" than the paraglider. A downdraft or thermal will take any canopy up or down with it. No canopy will fly thru a tornado well. But, I think your comment is a little to blanketed for the occasional rough spot where pressurization is going to play a factor.

Ditto... Is it possible for a pro-skydiver with thousands of jumps... I only have 600(ish) jumps.... But I will go out on a limb and answer anyway even though I don't have thousands of jumps, but do make money as an AFFI, so perhaps that counts towards the "pro" part??? I get a pretty good knot in my stomach before every wingsuit jump, even if it is the 8th skydive that day. I love to fly it, have maybe 30-40 wingsuit jumps, and once I am flocking with a friend I have a blast... But, it does still make me nervous, and every jump does feel like the first... Although now I am getting more comfortable, and can pull birdie style by muscle memory without having to go slow and think about it, so perhaps the knots will subside... But when I had 40 regular skydives I was not getting knots like I do before a wingsuit jump, so the wingsuit does definitely add more anticipation for me.

Well, vegas might be closed... Like almost two years ago.... I kind of missed a yearly jump, or 10... so... I found a 460 foot bridge and a group doing an expedition there next month. I never have jumped from a bridge, so it should be fun. Plus 460 feet over the Colorado? How cool. (The site is not BASE friendly, a friend wanted to BASE and it could have been an interesting two way)

Ok, we are getting warmer... Have the wording in the law? Nope. It was Senate Bill 197 if I remember correctly. I and a bunch of others fought it tooth and nail but it passed anyway. I found the bill... It is a 176 page document on juvenile justice. Assuming you had your bill number right, and there is no other laws of the same number that also deal with juveniles... http://www.leg.state.nv.us/72nd/bills/SB/SB197_EN.pdf I searched the PDF for "skydive", "endanger" and "parachute". The only think I could find that came close was (using the search word "risk", this is mentioned in regards to putting children in risky community service sites): So 1) Technically, citing this law does not answer my first question; is there a state the actually forbids or allows, by written law, parachuting/skydiving, by minors. 2) This bill- if someone wants to read all 176 pages - might put more liability on "adults" in how they "safeguard" juveniles, however I can't see it preventing skydiving any more than it could prevent snowboarding and scuba diving and BMX dirt biking, which all add risk.

Ok, we are getting warmer... Have the wording in the law?

Can you cite the law(s) you are referencing? I would like to know one state that has a law on the books that regulates minors skydiving. (NOT the liability protection granted by state laws that limit lawsuits, but a law, as you state, that grants or revokes the right of a business to offer skydiving services by age.)

Hey, I learned so much from Brian Germain (Big Air Sportz). I use a lot of what I learned from him when I teach the FJC. I know not to overwhelm brand new skydivers, but some of his examples and methods of describing canopy flight allows me to convey information that is very complex in a simple way. We keep it pretty basic, but a graduate from my FJC should be able to tell you how and why the flare turns speed into lift, and how to recover from mis-flares in a way to maintain flight. It is from Brian's radio shows that I learned how to teach this, and a lot of the stuff I needed to know myself. Once you understand fully how it works, you will be able to guess how changing any one variable could be good or bad for the situation at hand. So, how do you learn from Brian? Well, he has classes and posts here every once in a while. I have NOT done these, but if you are the instant gratification type like me... So, goto http://www.skydiveradio.com/shows.htm and download the Brian Germain shows, starting with the oldest and moving up the list. Play them a few times. Once you are done with Brian, I like Bill Booth's shows too, but a lot of others are good. Or of course you can buy Brian's book, but I read it cover to cover and still got more from the free radio show.

Just throwing something out there.... If the rigger is supervising step by step (in the room, actively working with the apprentice) - the rigger's eyes inspect every step while the students hands do the work. A rigger's eyes and brain is what you hire a rigger for, if they direct someone else's hands to do the folding, it is no different than directing their own hands... How many seconds can a reserve be touched by a non-rigger before it becomes illegeally packed? Heck, translate this to other industries where apprentices work under teachers. In medicine students start by watching a procedure, at sometime they start to help the teacher with the surgery, and by the end of their apprentice period they are supposed to be able to direct the whole operating room and be in command of the procedure, perhaps teaching the next generation, with their teacher stepping back and watching. (watch once, do once, teach once) If it works for my heart, then it seems a reserve... I think there is a difference between the rigger not paying attention and signing off when done (if a reputable rigger is that comfortable with their student it is time to get them signed off), and the rigger's eyes and soul being on the packjob while someone else does the fabric folding.

A lot of handsignals used in the tunnel also are designed to make common sense without needing to be explained... If you did not understand his communication, it had nothing to do with him not jumping out of a plane... Don't take his advice on canopy control or rig choices, but as a tunnel employee with 200 flying hours, he has more flying experience than 99% of the skydivers you will meet...

I have a skyhook, and I use it with my FF2 helmet with no ring sites and no external still cameras. Here are the factors I considered when I made my decision, but I would say you should make your own decision after thinking about it for a while... I have rubbed strings all over the helmet. Something would have to break/crack open to become a snag point... The statistical chances that the helmet breaks open, and something snags in the hole, to me is less than the statistical chances of needing the speed of the skyhook and/or the harness shifting and making the handles hard to use and/or being injured and not able to use the handle as quickly as needed - (and all the other reasons a RSL can be useful.) There are no documented numbers on this, just my own asking questions and looking at incident reports... After thinking about it for a while, asking Bill Booth the question on Skydive Radio and on a private e-mail, and talking to mentors... I decided to keep the skyhook connected with both my wingsuit jumps and camera helmet jumps... I will rethink this if I ever attach things to the outside of the helmet. (Bill Booth said something like, if you have a main/helmet entanglement you will have to clear the entanglement/remove the helmet before you cut away because you could be hanged/strangled - with or without a RSL. That leaves the freebag and reserve bridle as the remaining issue. His exact words can be found on the skydive radio interviews and I think in the thread I started about this same subject.)

Be careful. SHURE is a brand used by professional musicians. How the professional systems work... "In ear" monitors are made from a mold of the ear canal by an audiologist. After the mold is made, a plug is made that fits only your ear. That plug has a speaker installed in it. You can actually "screw it in" as it looks like a cork screw about an inch long, just like your ear. The whole design is to cancel out noise in a way that all frequencies are canceled equally, so the remaining noise that comes thru is a fair representation of what would come thru without the plugs installed, just quieter. Now, why do musicians use these? First, in case you are not in the concert music business - a history lesson. Musicians used to use (and some still use) stage monitor speakers. These monitors are speakers facing the musicians so they can hear the other musicians on stage - or especially with instruments that need amplification (like their own voice or an electric keyboard) - they can hear their own work. Typically what comes from these speakers is not at all what audience members would want to hear, but just a few instruments that the musician requests. Drummers might use bigger speakers and want the kick drum to knock them off their stool. I just did a very well known band over the weekend. Lead vocals both had "in ear monitors", but the rest of the band used typical monitors. In this theatre, the monitors on the stage were so loud that the main speakers for audience were barely turned on. If the entire band had "in ears", the stage would have been very quiet with no speakers, and the audience engineer would be able to mix what the audience hears from a blank slate without the noise from the stage. This also makes for a better audience experience. What are the benefits for wearing "ears"? Well, historically band members get deaf. Q. "How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb?" A. "Huh?" Well "ears" are such a tight fit that they filter the very loud stage and only let a limited bit of the stage sound into the musician's ears. So the musician can dial in just what he wants to hear. He will tell the monitor mix engineer "Give me a bit of myself, some of the backup vocals, and a touch of the keys." So, now days musicians are not getting deaf anymore. They are able to dial in just enough noise into their ears that they filter everything else. History lesson over... Now to reality. Shure and others are selling less expensive "ears" to garage bands who cannot spend $1,000 for a custom fit system, but with nearly as good sound canceling technology. These "air tight" shure systems are just like their big brothers in eliminating noise. What does this mean for skydiving... You are not only adding music to your experience, but reducing the amount of ambient noise. So, your ability to hear someone yell to you is reduced somewhere between 50 and 90% with these "noise canceling" systems. Makes it worse (in being able to hear others) than perhaps just wearing the cheap Ipod factory buds... Note - I have tested my cheap factory ipod buds, and at low volumes, I can wear them in my car and hear just as much from the outside world as if I was not wearing them and had my car stereo turned up.... But, wearing "ears", I can't hear the engine, or a siren....

I once almost got in a canopy collision on final. A guy I was jumping with was so fixated to setting up his swoop he was not looking where he was going. I made an evasive maneuver at a few hundred feet while yelling his name at the top of my lungs. He never saw or heard me, however we were damn close. That being said, music would not have changed that outcome... But, I have landed and a second later heard someone yell "turn around" and I saw I needed to move quickly. In that case music would have changed the outcome... So this goes both ways. I really don't have a problem with music on the way up (because you should have your safety systems in place, like checks of threes, at a specific altitude - because often there is going to be distractions other than music). But I would not recommend it on the way down... Possible exception. If you do a sunset high pull, and you are the last out, and no other planes are flying... It is easy to know where everyone is and have the airspace to your self... Then, I would feel comfortable.

A lot of your questions can be answered by calling the tunnel directly. Just so you know my experience, I have somewhere around 30 coached tunnel hours, maybe more. I have done a few camps, and as an AFF instructor, I have coached about 30 people in the tunnel for their AFF/basic belly skills. There are a few ways at most tunnels to learn... 1) You can book time by the minute with the tunnel. They will group you with other people, and the tunnel employees will act as a coach and instructor. Generally, the instructor does not have much time before or after to debrief your video and/or train you. Most of the training occurs in the airstream (and they are very good at it) When you are sitting between your rotations, the instructor typically is working with other people so he/she does not get to discuss what to work on next. This is the bad part about this arangement (at least for me), if at all possible, having two instructors working with 4 people at least allows them to have a minute to demonstrate/discuss the next drill before you fly and they coach... 2) Another option. You can hire a private coach. In this case, the coach will work for you, and the tunnel employees will mainly look out for your safety. The coach costs extra, but their ability to dedicate their time to you and not the entire group often pays off. (Some people talk in terms of dollar bills blowing by quickly in the tunnel. Sometimes it makes sense to spend more so less blow by) 3) Another option. You can attend an organized camp where you are grouped with other people of similar skills and spend a few days training. Most tunnels offer time by the minute - where you buy 10 minutes and you rotate with other people so you fly for 2, are resting for 8.... This is more expensive typically than buying a block of time. If you buy a block, you pay for the tunnel from door close to door close, so you have to get friends to rotate with because flying 30 minutes straight (I have done it) gets old unless you are working on small details with a friend and have the fundamentals dialed in... You have to be pretty good to begin with, and be pretty "current" to fly for 30 minutes straight without getting too tired. My favorite option is the camp. The reason is after a day you and your coach get a good understanding of each other - and because you are sharing time with campmates, you eventually will get to the point where the three of you are flying together doing drills together in the air at the same time. So, buy one minute, get three shared. Plus, it is like going to camp as a kid, but much more fun. My second favorite option is hiring a coach for one-on-one sessions. I really don't learn well when I work without a coach... Now, most tunnels have great instructors who make great coaches. Sometimes you can get them to work well with you while they are also acting as the safety instructor. But sometimes asking them to work one-on-one with you pays off... Once you know the instructors, sometimes you can ask for some one-on-one work and they will make it financially work out with the payment arrangements. I hired a coach in Perris for 30 minutes of one-on-one time when I had 30 jumps. It allowed me to be able to do 4way (rough, but I was not funneling the group). It was a great experience. Then I did two airspeed 4 way camps and got about 10 hours of coaching in the camps. All this combined really worked well for me. (I was able to get an AFF rating pretty early in my career because of the training). I am learning to freefly in a much less structured way. I went to Orlando and booked 20 minutes and got acceptable on my back. I have worked with the instructors at my local tunnel and have made some progression... But I regret not formalizing my training plan in the form of a camp or scheduled sessions with a dedicated coach who knew where I left off and could formulate the best training for me. Hence, I have spent more money than I probably should have for the amount of progress I have made in freefly skills. So I have tried it both ways, and I highly recommend the coach/camp route, or just a disciplined approach with a dedicated tunnel employee instead of whoever is around that day. My two cents.

My second procedure was supposed to be a hundred dollars cheaper because of blood tests, but in the same hospital and same doctor, it was slightly more expensive. Turns out the anaesthesia is billed by the minute, and the procedure took just 15 minutes longer to get stuff lined up, so that made up for it... When I called around I was able to get firm pricing on the doctor's fees, the daily fees of the hospital, etc. But all the supplies and medicine is always a rough quote. So a smart consumer will ask, "how much do you charge per minute for anaesthesia"... BTW, in my neck of the woods, the teaching hospital was more expensive than my normal clinic where they "shipped in" the surgeon from his home office...

My dog

I just saw on TV that students with a 90% or better attendance, in a Denver intercity school, will each get a free laptop from a community donor.... 150 students total... That means, I am guessing 2350 students ditch more than 10% of their classes... Call me silly, or maybe a nerd, or dork.... But I had 6 to 7 classes a day in high school. I ditched 5 classes in 4 years. My attendance was 99.9%... (sickness and approved school trips excluded) That means I could have ditched 541 more classes and still qualified for the free laptop? (I understood that if I showed up and paid attention, I would not have to study on my own for tests because teachers do teach if you are in the room to be taught.) I can see laptops for students who score "As" in classes, or help a fellow student, or need help but are trying hard - but just for showing up? Is this where our education system is at? How many of you have jobs that require better than 90% attendance? Can you ditch 26 days of scheduled work each year in addition to your vacation and sick leave and holidays, and still keep your job? Would you get a bonus if you only ditched 25 days?

Andy, I learned to Paraglide before I learned to Skydive.... Paragliding instructors dedicate their lives to this sport. Knowing what I know, I would learn to ground launch using a Paraglider... You will learn about the weather, the winds, etc - and have a wing designed for ground launching... Then, when you want to fly something faster on the same hill - most of the skills will transfer over. But have a few hundred skydives on a canopy (size) so you know how to fly it, before you try to fly it close to the ground. Ground launching can be much more dangerous than Skydiving, especially without training. From some numbers I crunched, it is much more dangerous. I think Paraglider instructors have a lot of knowledge that has not been utilized by skydivers wanting to try this sport, and finding a good one will open your mind to so much information about weather, flying, aerodynamics (most) skydivers have no clue about. And, my paragliding instructor even let us use his "Student Gear" as part of the flat fee package. Something like a few AFF jumps in cost would buy you a summer's worth of training lessons and gear rental...

I know of a DZ that does have a deal with a finance company and the sales person does all the legwork to get the financing worked out. If you are interested, PM me... However, the interest rates are similar to credit cards, with similar terms - so I still think a lot of people just use credit cards....

That is because you are taking a cold piece of metal indoors, where the temperature of the metal is below the dew point of the humid air inside... This is the same reason condensation/frost appears on the side of your mug if the mug is stored in the freezer before the is poured. If you leave that glass on the counter for an hour, the frost will melt to water, then the water will eventually evaporate after the outside of the mug reaches slightly above the dew point temperature. If you took the rifle inside, let the condensation form, then let the rifle warm up to above the dew point of the air, then let the condensation evaporate, then took it outside - you would not have the problem... The problem is, in a quick dinner break, this complete cycle cannot occur - leaving moisture to refreeze. However, the reason why you get so much condensation is because there is a lot of air inside, and it is allowed to condense... Another way to prevent the condensation would be to seal the rifle in a plastic (impervious to moisture) container, take it inside, and let it warm up above the dew point. The condensation would be limited to the amount of moisture in the bag - less than a drop... Not enough to jam the weapon. Back to a skydiving rig in the original post... The poster's question was, would a rig packed in warm humid environments freeze when taken to cold temperatures. While I of course would open a pack job and inspect if I had a fear - I don't believe it is of concern because unlike the rifle example, the parachute started warmer than the dew point, and it holds limited quantities of air inside the dbag and container - so it is actually the opposite of the rifle in terms of 1) The temperature difference between the surface of the material and the ambient air (Cold gun vs Warm parachute) 2) The amount of moisture laden air surrounding the material (Entire air content of the building vs the amount of air between the layers of fabric) So while I learned something new about military rules and procedures by reading your post, I am going to suggest that perhaps I disagree if it has anything to do with the original question... However, I do agree that - if you have a very cold rig, bring it inside and let condensation form, and do not let it dry before taking it back outside, that would be an issue. So, if you have a skydiving rig that is very cold and you want to bring it inside for a short while - seal it in a garbage bag with limited air in it, and you will not get any condensation issues...

The point I was trying to make is that you are right, students should not be learning from the net - you and I should not be either! (Meaning, we should not believe anything we read without further investigation.) However, their instructors (and hopefully ours) should have built a culture with their student (and us) where the student (and us) knows not to trust anyone anywhere without further critical thinking and investigation. At what point should that culture be taught to a student? When is the magical point where a student is safe to talk to? So if you go back to my first few posts - I was not advocating giving a newbie advice, but instead of saying "ask your instructors" - using the opportunity to instead introduce the concept of how to and not to learn in this sport. "Ask your instructors" gives the students no tools other than a brick wall, that if their curiosity is strong enough, will find their way around.

Please, everyone... Find a friend with kids, with a house that is very neat and tidy, preferably without a designated playroom and/or back yard - and purchase this product for the kids! http://www.spinmaster.com/products/moonSand/ The "Without the Mess" line reminds me of the M&M marketing campaign "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" - because if they say it - it has to be true.

Yes, I have a group of Mormons (well two) that are co-workers at one of my freelance jobs, and they are great people. They did their mission trip to South America and spent their year helping people with life saving aid - not traveling around the US knocking on doors. I respect them even more for that. I have grown up a bit since I was a kid, but I still don't like traveling salesmen, regardless of what they are selling... It is not that I don't like them as people, just what they are employed to do.