mdrejhon

I did this at Gananoque: Socialize at the dropzone. Camp at the dropzone's campsite. Don't got home after sunset on Saturday. Ignore weather forecasts. Go anyway. Play sports during rainy and windy days. Have a beer night after operations end. Play poker. Fly steerable ramair kites when all the planes are grounded due to strong winds. Watch videos together and laugh together. All of the above happened last weekend. Making new friends, now I keep in touch with four people from the dropzone, and I am carpooling with some of them to the dropzone since it is a 2 hour drive away. Some dropzones are more social than others. This is easier to at some places (i.e. Skydive Gananoque). That's the best way. Don't be too shy to say hello to the other dropzone regulars, and start up a conversation. You may not succeed with the first person or two (they turned out to be overworked employees for me, so pretend they're too busy), just keep introducing yourself. Get to know the regulars at your dropzone! Some good ice breakers: "Hi! My name is Mark. What's your name?" "I'm training here, looking forward to my A rating!" "What's your level of experience?" "How many jumps do you have?" "What area are you from?" "What do you do for a living?" "Blue skies!" (as a substitute for "hello"/"goodbye" during good days) If someone tries to shake your hand in a certain way, memorize it! Next time you shake your hand, do it that way instead of the regular handshake. That's the dropzone's handshake you just learned. Once you're beyond a few jumps, you'll probably be learning about the 24-pack of beers and the cream pie tradition.

You just generated an important question I will be asking the instructor this Friday/Saturday. He told me to flare at my height (5'9"), maybe he told me that intentionally because he thinks I will flare a bit early. Or maybe it's because of the low wingloading factor. The escalator idea is excellent, at least as a "guideline". However, I will need to take the 10-12 feet with a grain of salt until I ask my instructor for an official answer. I have already done practice flares on my last two tandems this year that came before the PFF, so I have a general idea of the flare timing already, although it is probably different on a tandem rig versus student rig. (another important question to ask: Should flare timing be the same, slightly sooner, or slightly later?) I did notice on our 4th tandem, we flared at approximately 10 feet, I could clearly see we were higher than my standing height above the zone. (Mind you, the instructor did a low turn during my 4th tandem due to strong winds, and he told me it was because of the strong winds, we landed safely on the pea gravel, only 2-3 meters from centre. We didn't even step forward during our landing! That low 75-to-90 degree correction turn initiated at approx 100 feet kind of scared me a little. (Might have been 150 feet) He told me NOT TO ATTEMPT THIS TURN as a student. It was an unexpected low turn that the instructor decided he needed to initiate in order to land downwind. Actually, I was anxiously pulling slightly on the opposite toggle, indicating I wanted to cancel the turn, because we were descending faster than usual! Instructor did not notice my desire to cancel the turn, he was concentrating hard on landing safely. It was just a 5 second scare for me. (I have to admit it was more scary than the fourth tandem freefall itself!). The landing was the best stand-up tandem landing I've ever had though, so all was good. It was an approximately 20 degree swing out before the turn flattened at approximately 40-50 feet above the ground. Standup landing 2-3 meters from centre of target, and directly facing downwind, no single step walked forward (although we stepped backwards two steps as the wind pulled the canopy back, before it was deflated) At least now I know what a low 90 degree turn looks like from 100 feet, it does look dangerous. (Even though we didn't descend even nearly as fast as those swoopers I've seen) Was fun though, a brief 5 second scare, but I won't even be attempting to do this on my own for a long while yet.

I actually witnessed a couple of guys backing up slightly, so I'm glad I didn't jump. I don't want a FBH landing on my first solo landing... The others were flying higher performance canopies and they still went nearly vertical floating down. No injuries though. The worst thing that happened was people getting muddy feet. And one muddy container. It was raining almost all day Saturday, and then intermittently through Sunday. That load that went up in the sun but got caught in the rainclouds was funny. A few regulars chickened out the next load, when it became sunny again, because of that earlier fastball raincloud. They didn't want to play chicken with the weather. (And neither did my instructor either.) Two wingsuit guys took advantage of the 45mph upperwinds. I think they were the off-zone landers

I will. But the instructor doesn't like to be hassled by email during the week because he's very busy. I have to do some research on my own. Then I will send a barrage of questions to my instructor when I arrive there at 8am Saturday. Earlier, the instructor and I already talked about loading factor and he knows it's 0.65 and we both agreed that's pretty docile. I did not ask if it was unusually low. However, if everyone (with big jump numbers and instructor ratings) says 0.65 is completely normal for a student rig, I'm not going to bother flooding him with further questions about wingloading. I almost think I ask him way too many questions -- I made the class last about 3 times longer than usual, so I have to take it easy on my instructor. Yes, 3 times longer, partly because I am deaf and it was a one-on-one tutoring session. I'm definitely asking a bunch more important questions, but I'll hold them off until this Friday/Saturday if the questions remain important enough to ask. We are using the "arrow on ground" method to compensate for the lack of radios due to my deafness, and we will be having a lead canopy on the upcoming jump.

Hi, I am going to be jumping a student rig with 0.65:1 wingloading next weekend as part of my PFF training. (I'm 163lbs, and I'm about 185 when wearing everything, and the canopy is 288 square feet) Considering the circumstances I am deaf and we will NOT be using radios at all, and this should technically make mis-timed flares much safer. (Not that I'll forget one! I've gone through ground school and memorized everything several times before and after class, and will do all week long) I am just doublechecking: Are there any situations where 0.65:1 proved to be too low for a normal student rig? I'm not familiar with wingloadings for student rigs, but I hear many dropzones use something like 0.8 or thereabouts... They won't let me jump in anything above a slight wind, so let's assume a day of slight wind or no wind. .

I'm starting off at only 0.64:1! Part of that is that I am deaf, I am not using radios for canopy control, and they are not letting me jump in anything above slight winds. Can't wait to complete my PFF program. When I get the "A", I'd like to have my own rig. Hopefully it's a wingloading I can live with for a long time (1:1 maybe)

I did one jump and the ground class... Got rained out, and put on wind hold most of the weekend! Oh well, I'll do more jumps next weekend, I hope! The weather played games with the dropzone. A load went up during a sunny period, and they landed in sudden torrential rain. High winds were pretty strong (something like 45mph). Another load went up during relatively strong winds, and came down when it was suddenly more windy, two of the canopies got blown off-zone. (They were OK). Another person landed near the landing area, but he was floating straight down, unable to outrun the wind. Good thing there's lots of farmland out in this small rural neighbourhood dropzone, lots of soft landing. One rig got muddied up, and that ended her day (phooey). They said it was a really unusal day on Sunday, so I got to experience a little dropzone drama for the first time (high winds, then another load caught in rain, then another load had a couple of off-zone landings). Still not going to stop me from completing my training. Not going to let Mother Nature stop me! I'll wait patiently on the ground until it's blue skies and gentle winds. During my times between classes and jump, and being grounded, I had the opportunity to play a little sports, play poker, watch a bunch of movies/videos, have a beer night. Getting to know the dropzone regulars. Watched them fly steerable ramair kites during the periods we were grounded due to winds. Forked in my contribution for the "rock climbing wall" fund, building a small wall at the back of the airplane hangar. (25% complete now.) I now know why people drive an extra hour or two for Gananoque, because the people are more friendly there! My avatar is now a photograph, of the dropzone at sunset.

Shame on you for not using the CODE tags for proper formatting! From a fellow geek who's PICKY about code formatting. Extra overtime for you! (Fortunately, I did the below with only ONE BUTTON PRESS ... I didn't add the spaces myself) object me { me.still_alive = true; main() { while(me.still_alive) { me.wake(); me.pee(); me.poop(); me.eat(food); me.work(); me.fuck(girl); me.readcl(); me.sleep(); } } function fuck(human girl) { if girl.isHot() { me.cock.fill(blood); me.statedOrgasmThreshold = 60 minutes; me.currentOrgasmState = 0 minutes; me.undress(); if (girl.pussy.isExposed() & girl.pussy.isClean()) or (girl.pussy.isExposed() & me.horny()) { while(girl.givesConsent()) { me.penetrate(); me.withdraw(); if (me.currentOrgasmState > me.statedOrgasmThreshold or me.currentOrgasmState > 10 minutes) { me.orgasm(goo); me.scratchBalls(); me.ignore(girl); me.eat(pizza); me.drink(beer); me.nap(); } me.currentOrgasmState ++ 1 minute; } if not (girl.givesConsent()) { try { me.sweetTalk(girl); me.buyStuffFor(girl); me.ignore(girl); me.smack(girl); } catch(exception e) { if e.message.contains(girl.screamingPunchingScratchingOutMyEyes()) { me.runAway(); } } } } } elseif girl.sucksGood() { me.proposeMarriage(); } } }

I just saw a blue whale do a freefall today. Almost looked like it did some tracking techique. It badly needed a Stilleto 135K at least -- That is, a 135,000 square foot parachute. Bonus points if you can name the movie. (Hint: It just premiered Friday April 29th!)

My training begin this weekend! The weekend's almost here already... They have said they have solved all the logistics for training a deaf guy like me. Too bad the weather doesn't look good for jumps, but I'm going anyway. May not be able to get any jumps in during Saturday because of rain. They told me I should stop paying attention to weather forecasts and come anyway ;-) At least I'll be able to do the ground school portion. (Lesson Learned: Weather is not a reason to skip a weekend for training, you got to show your dedication.)

I have repeatedly read many places that it is important to be "A" rated (the equivalent of USPA "A" for your country -- 25 jumps) at the same dropzone for all your jumps, to minimize chances of this kind of thing.... So I'm going to be sticking to one dropzone for all my jumps until I get my rating, to avoid nasty surprises... THEN after I am rated, I'll try other dropzones! Can't they just redo AFF level 6 and 7 for you? To make sure that you're really for real. Only a couple hundred pounds, I'd think? Talk to another instructor, maybe?

I just talked to Billy Vance by PM and he says DWR2005 is in October and in Orlando. Windtunnel training in Orlando is tempting, something I wanted to do anyway because I cannot find any damn windtunnels in Canada. So I might go, at least as a whuffo (Though I'd probably do a bunch of solo jumps at least, or some small practice RW) Cannot bust my budget to do so, but October is good news. Around then, it usually becomes too cold to jump in Canada...

Wish I could join DWR2005, but I'll only get my CoP "A" rating during May or June. I've got to make that hundred of jumps...got to...got to... DWR2006 or DWR2007, perhaps?

deaffreeflyer: Hey. You have a VERY NICE website. Congratulations as a profoundly deaf skydiver and your accomplishments. My website at www.marky.com is not as fancy as yours, and doesn't have a skydiving section (yet?). Blue skies!

I'll keep that in mind. My priority is to get "A" rated first. I'd like to check out other nearby dropzones eventually, finances permitting of course. I'm trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to get 100 jumps in, during this year... 75 is almost certainly doable, though. I'll be beyond 25 jumps by the end of May. I hope!

"Other Canopy Sports" would be an excellent catchall for now. (Skydiving newbie here, but speaking as a major moderator of a mobile technology forum called BlackBerryForums.com - with experience in the tricky job of naming popular topic areas -- BlackBerryForums.com)

I'm not in the market for a used rig yet....and I'll go by recommendations by my instructors (I'll be watching load factors and suitability carefully). Ask me again in couple of months after I'm writing an application for my CSPA CoP "A" ;-)

Me. Starting PFF this April 30th.

I'll become a reader of that forum once I start learning how to pack my own chute... Actually, I'm already a LURKER in that forum. Imagine that! Suffice to say, I know getting my own rig could cost thousands unless I buy used (and only on recommendation and inspection by the best at my DZ), use a pillowy soft low loading factor at first, and avoid downsizing too quickly... That's the gist I've gotten so far from that forum. Expensive! Let's see how my PFF training goes....

Congratulations! The first deaf jumpmaster.... One of these days I would like to participate in some Deaf World Record attempt. Maybe 2006 or 2007, who knows. Right now my goals are simply to complete PFF, aim for 100 jumps this year (or maybe just 50), and reach CSPA CoP "B" rating. I know this is gonna cost me thousands, but... Maybe I'll become a rigger, to save me some dollars, and pay for a few jumps.

1. Start PFF April 30th and complete it. 2. Aim for 100 jumps, but definitely get minimum 50 jumps this year. 3. Get CSPA CoP "A" and then "B" rating.

Ooops, I was unclear. Let me try again.... Reproduction instructions. 1. Click this link: http://www.dropzone.com/pub/tshirt.shtml 2. Scroll to the bottom. 3. Click "Freefly Sun" 4. Page missing! Some other T-Shirts sub-pages are missing as well (from the thumbnails at the bottom after you load the working main T-Shirt page). I tried from two computers, in FireFox and Internet Explorer, and I am a computer professional (I even own marky.com) so... If it works for you, try testing it from outside your Intranet (i.e. access it from outside the business rather via business LAN), I've seen that sorta thing happen before... Sorry I wasn't clear on explaining how to reproduce the problem. Hope this message helps now!

I believe the thread got moved or deleted at the same time as your reply. [Edit: Do a search for ZIPPO4, and I see some threads have been put into the Recycle Bin.]

April 9th here. I wonder what's the minimum jumps to qualify for posting in this thread ... I may still be a newbie, but I ain't no whuffo! Starting PFF training, going onto 100 jumps by September.

This is a much smaller ride than the bigger and more exciting freefall ride I was on almost 10 years ago. However, if I never went on one of these types of rides, I wouldn't be starting skydiving! Back in 1996, I went on a virtual skydiving type of ride at Canada's Wonderland near Toronto called the "Extreme SkyFlyer". That one was 150 feet high, much higher than the indoor version. It cinched my decision to try skydiving. My first tandem was 1997. This month, I am starting my PFF course. Have always wanted to try doing that. Maybe I'll get to 100 jumps by September. Wish me (and my wallet) luck! I just wanted to add my two cents -- that there are people who has been convinced to try skydiving as a result of freefall type of rides! Mind you, to stay on topic, it is unfortunate to hear that someone has gotten killed on this type of ride.