pastramionrye7

Sometimes it take a few years to get the parents to come around. I started when I was 18. I'm 21 now and I've been jumping for about two-and-a-half years. It took my dad over a year to come out to the drop zone, and my mom wouldn't come watch for two years. This past summer my dad chose to make a tandem jump because he finally got curious, and I got to come along (he still loves to show the video to family and friends). My parents hated the idea at first, but I live on my own, found my own way to pay for school, and I'm a big boy now, so I didn't have to worry about convincing them. Now if I could only get them to understand that I still have some years and a few thousand jumps to go before I actually know a thing or two about skydiving... I agree with everyone who said it might help to at least get your parents out to the drop zone or the tunnel. In my experience, some exposure to the sport helps the parents calm down a little (as long as no one gets hurt that day), even if they're not willing to learn all the ins and outs or try it for themselves. My mom still wants to know how high the parachute pulls me up when it opens. Best of luck puting the parents at ease.

I got one for you! Just like you suggested, I found a video of a BASE jump shot from the ground on skydivingmovies.com and pulled off the audio. This clip is from the opening in a short video called Wingsuit Flyby. The sound of the wingsuit flying overhead is also pretty interesting, but I just captured the sound of the parachute opening. Enjoy!

This is my Safire 195. I bought it used. It's a custom size and color scheme, so I don't think there's another out there like it.

I travel a bit, too, and I ended up jumping 7 different DZs in 6 states within my first 20 jumps in an attempt to stay current. No one ever held it against me, and I think benefited from being exposed to a lot of different instructors, aircraft, landing areas, equipment, etc. Of course, there are also advantages to jumping a familiar DZ with instructors who know you. I'm sure there are plenty of instructors who could make a great case for doing all your student jumps at the same place. It's a choice, and I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with jumping as many DZs as you have the opportunity to. After my two short years in the sport, I find that most of the skydivers I meet are pretty well traveled, and I often meet the same people at different DZs.

Do any experts out there know what is different about Dash-Ms that are not affected by the service bulletin? Were they built with different tape at the line attachment points, or is it the same Type III tape as the affected versions but with two bartacks? Does anyone know of Dash-Ms that were not affected by the service bulletin being damaged on opening? I'm interested because I have a Dash-M that was manufactured in 2001, after the service bulletin. Thanks. -Dennis

"Is terminal velocity when you go so fast that you die?"

I'm interested in the results, too. Could we see your paper when you're done digesting your research and survey results?