tdog

550 KWH I saw once on a control screen on a tunnel while operating. At .10 per KWH, $55 an hour... That is not to say the panel I was reading was calibrated accurately or that I was trained to read it...

This summer I was trying to choose between two tunnels; one had been open for a while and the other one was going to be open Real Soon Now. Next week, for sure. Well, OK, end of the month, for sure. No later than the 15th of next month, honest. They eventually did open, about a month after I did my tunnel time at the other tunnel. I've since talked to jumpers who've been around for longer than I have and they advised me that this wasn't all that unusual when a new tunnel opens. Since you seem to be fairly local, it might not matter to you, but to somebody who's trying to get an advance-purchase plane ticket, it might be pretty important. Eule I agree that tunnels have had a history of not opening on time... A 4way camp I was scheduled for at Eloy was bumped so many times I canceled and went to Perris... I have seen it first hand. About a year ago, before the ground was broken, the primary developer of this tunnel sent me an e-mail with a time line... I said, "ya right". After I was given a tour and talked with him first hand and saw the construction process and progress, I honestly believe that he learned from the frustrations (notice I did not say mistakes) of others, and I would even bet on this tunnel's opening date... I have faith... They have thought out of the box on so many things that I am impressed... As a business owner, I normally have a pretty good BS meter, and I am registering a zero right now.

Congrats for doing everything right (or so it appears).

Tom, I see you are from Colorado too. I was talking to the head AFF instructor at Mile High last week... I think the tunnel just might be an important part of training in Colorado once it opens... He is real excited about it. A lot of other DZs that have tunnels on site use it as part of training. Being the last first jump course for 2005 has already completed, I think you will be looking at January as a starting point anyway... By then a lot more info will be out about the programs the Tunnel will have in place. If you can wait until January 20th for your first jump course, you can go to the tunnel and get great advice as three of the tunnel rats are AFF instructors too. They will know what to teach you even if the tunnel has not established all it's programs and packages... If you are gung ho, call the DZ and schedule the next first jump course. If it is before the tunnel opening, you will make it thru some or all of your AFF jumps like tens of thousands (myself included) have. You then will be super lucky to use the tunnel to refine your skills while getting your A licence... I had to travel out of state, you won't. Isn't it great to be in Colorado! Snowboard at in the morning, skydive at lunch, tunnel at night.

Then we are on the same page... I have never used a WDI myself, but I done the rest... Makes sense... It was an old time skydiver who once asked me, "how long is the runway?" I told them... She said, "and why does it matter?" I said, I really did not know, since I was not flying the plane... She told me, "well, if the runway is 4800 feet, and you want 1000 feet of separation, you can break the runway into 5 1000 footish chunks and know how much ground track you need on jump run... Also, knowing how many seconds it takes you to go 1000 feet will give you your ground speed, and if you know the speed of the plane, then you have the winds aloft too..." So, I am glad people like this share the tricks of the trade... Any more you got up your sleeve???

Surely you're not suggesting that students would be signed off on spotting without actually being taught how to spot? If an instructor does not trust his/her student's ability to spot, that instructor should not sign off the student for their A license. If spotting is a lost art, it is because too many instructors have failed to teach it properly in recent years. Since you opened a can of worms by finding this year old thread and posting... I'll bite... Can you tell me about the lost art of spotting?

I have just started to coach, and I have found that students just off AFF (like their 8th jump) have the most incredible changes in fall rate, especially on exits. They will give it a full arch, but if they don't like what they are feeling (stability, etc) they get huge and dearch and make it worse for a while as they think they can grab some air or something. I have never worked so hard on maintaining fall rates as in the first 10 seconds of some student jumps... And, that is with me coming in with hours of flat fly tunnel time with a good hour probably dedicated to fall rate drills with coaches... So far, my slowest coach jump has been 98 average speed (while I was wearing a slick RW and I tend to be one of the bigger/taller guys at the DZ). But I can't repeat that reliably, 105-107 in that suit is something I know I can do over and over again. Baggier or FF suits and I bet I can slow down more, but I just have not tried yet... So, I guess I previously thought, "Students have not learned to push slow or push fast fall - so their range will be limited." But I am finding that a student can really push the limits of slow fall... So, my question to AFFIs - I am going to be working towards this rating and am setting goals now so I can practice... I know slow fall is a work on as I have been told to expect the evaluators to simulate a student that is spinning and gets real tense and puts everything out making them super slow while spinning... Or the opposite... The question: If you take your average size/build student (150-200 pound guy) who walks in the door that any AFF instructor should be able to jump with - what is the range of fall rate speeds needed for AFF instruction? How slow can they go???

I will be there in spirit... I had so much fun at San Diego...

I jumped all day yesterday. It was beautiful jumping weather. Of course everyone thought we were insane for doing a high pull on sunset load I agree, besides for the mud over all my gear, the snow loads were great... Saturday was better because the snow was still snow, but my fingers got cold...

I am no expert at paragliding or skydiving... But I had some paragliding experience on my Gin Bolero before coming into skydiving. Not near your paragliding experience, but some... I don't know your wing loading at 150 or experience with lots of landings and high traffic. The two major differences I felt right away... 1) Traffic. I was used to doing CReW with remote controlled gliders that 5 year olds were bombing my way, but having 20 canopies landing at the same time was rather new. 2) Adrenaline. After a flight on a paraglider, I tended to be real relaxed and calm for the landings, (as you launch when you want, not when the plane is over the DZ, and you get sometimes a much longer flight from the launch to landing) but skydiving has this little thing called freefall. Decisions are different when you are amped up... But I also learned first hand on a paraglider how painful and dangerous landing in a toggle turn can be... A lot of the discipline needed to fly a canopy safely translates to both types of wings... Also, I learned a lot more about weather and things like asymmetric collapses flying a paraglider... I think the key is to work with a local instructor, and learn as much as you can. I am sure you can more aggressively downsize than the average joe, but with knowledge and training. Don't trust anyone here, myself included, to know how your paragliding experience will relate to skydiving... You need someone you can trust locally to help you. Also, Brian Germain, one of the respected canopy instructors and authors of many skydiving books is an avid paraglider pilot. You should contact him at www.bigairsportz.com, as he will give you the honest to goodness opinion, especially since he wrote the "wing loading not to exceed chart" that a lot of people quote at the de-facto standard in our sport. Just my two cents.

I wish I could say no. 270 jumps and two hard openings. 1st hard opening... 1st jump ever on the canopy, 1st pack job on that canopy (meaning I did it with limited experience, not a pro who is used to brand new fabric). I bet it was my fault 100% in the packing as the fabric was explosive to say the least while trying to get it in the bag. It was a symmetric hard opening... I had black and blue bruises where my harness leg straps were for a month. I had a rigger inspect every part of the rig for damage... Ouch. 2nd hard opening.... Saturday (two days ago). One side of the canopy inflated early for some reason - insta-left-canopy. My left riser went ka-boom. I have pulled muscles all over my left side, and my neck muscles are sore. I was dazed for about 10 seconds after the opening as my head was slamed down to the right. Perhaps the fact the D-bag came out of the container twice between jumps (for maintenance of the risers) or just random luck on how the fabric met the air... I don't know... But ouch... The riser slap left a crack on my pro-track and helmet... Had a few twists that I flew out of without kicking because my body was still swinging around on its own.... But, other than those openings - the rest have been very trustworthy and nice... Some line twists, but never causing a chop...

I think I counted 5 different paintjobs on that plane... I wonder what the history is of that plane... Was it built from scratch from the junk yard heap... I mean, I never have seen so many components comming from so many planes...

Washing them actually cleans them out. They are made of spiral wound stainless steel, the same stuff you see on any public phone. When the housings are formed a lubricant is used to keep them cool during the process, the excess lubricant is what initally picks up most of the dust and grit found on your cut away cables. Washing them actually helps keep your cables clean. Mick. I just learned something... But if that is true, you would think the manufacture would pre-wash the housings....

Laugh.... Last time I went to the doc he asked me about my activities. I told him... He was interested in the skydiving, but we talked for more than 45 minutes about my concert lighting jobs as he is in a band and plays all the local bars.

Some injuries, no fatalities - per CNN... Skid off runway... Friends work at southwest, you scared me.

Dan, Speaking of tunnels and our team, I got an e-mail last night (and as a broadcast e-mail I hope they don't mind me posting it here):

I had SO many firsts at San Diego when I had 30 jumps and they welcomed me with open arms... I am sad that things are changing. Thanks for jumping with me Choppn' Chucky in Sandy Ego... But we will have fun elsewhere when our paths cross again.

Great post... I almost did not read the thread because I thought this was going to be another critique of attendance based upon the subject. You should change the subject to "WFFC is a great place to learn".

Sounds like what I did last time I traveled... I felt the handle thru the duffel bag just waiting to be snagged, so I got the brightest pull up cord I could find... There was no way I could miss it, as once I tied the reserve handle down, I tied the two main lift webs together with the excess...

From the perspective of a newbie 4way guy who worked with a few video guys who were learning too, here are the "priorities" as they relate to video: Don't fall thru the formation. It is better to be high and far as the team can walk up to the TV and still see what they need to see than find you joining them. Get the exits... As a novice team, our biggest workons related to the exits most of the time. Framing up the point and tail is just as important as the center. Be the most reliable member of the team - being there for the mockup, for the jump, and having the video ready to debrief before the team gets to the TV. Heck, our video guy even managed the manifest process too while we were debrifing. Advanced skills... If the team is having levels problems, I saw a video guy drop down to our level to our side and get a perspective that really helped... He knew what we were learning and thought like the coach, knowing what would be the best view for the problems at hand. That being said, our team last year was super lucky with who we had working with us. Rock stars with little experience in the sport! Only one guy let us down on his own skills - he could not get our exits and he fell thru the formation often.

Funny... Didn't you know you were to wear a transponder and be in contact with ATC under canopy... "Sabre2 170, change heading to 230 and maintain 14 knots, and contact approach at 123.51" Just kidding.

For some silly reason I feel violated that my body would be able to show up on your approach radar... Anyone got one of those stealth jumpsuits?

Note, this is not from a skydiving perspective, but a perspective of one of my company's crews... We had/have Motorola radios at a outdoor retail mall for our 24/7 maintenance staff. The staff pressure wash, shovel snow, climb ladders, rake leaves, mop stair cases etc. The radios are used, dropped, abused, and loved. In the winter they go from negative temperatures outside to 75 degree heated areas many times per hour. In the summer they bake on the side of the staff as they walk around the concert events. The Motorola are ROCK SOLID, the only malfunctions we have had were due to water from the pressure washing and the contacts for the batteries... Also, they don't like to charge while on, we killed a few batteries before we figured that out. BUT, they are so pricey, I switched to Kenwood. 8 months in service for a few of the units, and they are so far holding up just as well as the Motorola, and at just a little more than half the cost, I was able to save a bit of money. If they last another 2 years, my ROI will be great as the Motorolas have a 4-5 year life, tops, in the environment we put them thru.

I am into silly dry humor like that, so I think I pulled a muscle laughing...

So, what about the PC1000... For $100 more you get a three chip that a lot of skydivers say actually works in freefall... If I remember correctly, the HC90 has a bigger chip than the three chips in the PC1000, and the chips in the PC1000 are CMOS, so, it might not just be about size... HC90 or PC1000?