Eule

I am not very experienced myself, but that sounds approximately right. That involves, at a minimum, 7 to 10 jumps, which means an average of $140 to $200 per jump, which is about right. For AFF, the first jump (2 instructors plus class) is usually the most expensive, then the next few jumps (2 instructors) are a little less, then the next four or so jumps (1 instructor) are a little less again. Plan on repeating at least one AFF level; if you don't have to then you've got extra money, but many people find they need to. If you get through AFF in 7 jumps, you still have to make 18 more jumps to get the 25 jumps for an A license. That makes $700-$800 average out to around $38-$44 per jump, which is about right. About $20 of that is the same lift ticket that a licensed skydiver with all of his or her own gear would pay; the rest of it is gear rental, coach fees (depending on dropzone), etc. Probably Skydive Eagle Creek. If you haven't found it already, there is a DZ list and map on this site - you can see DZs in Oregon or search for one within a certain radius. Either way, the reviews of each dropzone might help you pick one. It's also perfectly legal to just go hang out at the dropzone some afternoon and see what it's like - I did that when looking at a couple of local dropzones and I'm glad I did. Based on those prices and the listing here, that is probably a static line or IAD course. This is different than AFF; I will leave it to others to argue which one is better. Getting one's license through AFF vs. static line/IAD probably ends up costing about the same, but the static line/IAD programs seem to spread the cost out a little more. Without being familiar with the actual numbers, I suspect that you may need to apply some high-grade sunblock to your posterior regions. I could make arguments both ways but I think if AFF was really that bad, it wouldn't be used so much as an instructional method. Good luck! Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Do any of the e-mails correspond to PMs that you got a while back? Sometimes emails can get "stuck" in the handoff from one system to another and not come back out for a while. If possible, you might look at the headers (this is called various things, including "view source" and "view Internet headers") and see if you can see large time gaps in there. It's not uncommon for there to be large apparent gaps in the hour, because of time zone differences, but normally the day should be the same or within one day plus or minus. If there is a gap of several days, this might be what's happening. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

You just have to get creative; there are all kinds of ways to make money and save money. :) Welcome! Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

We all already think your a geek Join the club. Hmm... You guys must have managed to fsck up the computer in the cafe again and want me to fix it. It'll cost you a lot of Corona and White Trash Chicken. Either that or Sniper John wants to do another level 4 with me... I haven't been jumping _anywhere_ since I won the Titanium Lottery in March; orthopod says September or so before I try again. On the other hand, I am off the crutches now and won't scare the tandems, so I may have to come hang out and drink beer sometime. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Between re-reading that post and reading your letter to the USPA, I think the gentleman I spoke with was referring to a meeting of the ARINC 424 working group. I know what you mean, but I am picturing something like this: Invite Mr. Garmin (and Mr. Honeywell, and Mr. Collins, etc) for some free tandems. Arrange for a _close_ fly-by of an aircraft while in freefall. Then deploy and have the tandem master ask, "Now, about that SAA support..." I have saved it as PDF and attached it. Will any of the improved dropzone location data filter back to the paper charts? There have been some comments that the dropzone/parachute symbols on the paper sectional charts are often not accurate, either there for long-gone dropzones or missing for current and busy dropzones. I'm not a pilot, but I was under the impression that the paper charts were the "official" word as far as the FAA is concerned. The GPS and FMS are more convenient for pilots to use, but I thought that even though the FAA provides data for them in a machine-readable format, they still considered such displays "advisory" and not "official". It may be that the hand-held GPS units are mostly "advisory" and that FMS that meet certain criteria can be considered "official", but I don't know. Where I'm going is that improving the electronically-displayed data will probably do the most immediate good, but that if possible, the paper charts should be improved as well. There have to be a few pilots out there that still plot their flights that way. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

N00b alert! Was there any particular reason behind this, at least in skydiving? It still seems to be around a little - I've seen the little rainbow flags sewn onto the leather frappe hats. I can barely remember rainbow stickers and such being popular in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, and I think there was some explanation of them as a symbol of peace or something. (Maybe it was just a part of the vast conspiracy to make us all catch teh gay.) I'm pretty sure this was before the rainbow gay pride flag was widely known, at least in the midwest US. When I get around to buying brand new canopies, I've been thinking of getting a main with black-brown-red-orange-yellow-green-blue-violet-gray cells and a white reserve. I think it will make people wonder if I'm a geek, gay, both, or neither. Or, I might try to spell my initial(s) in Morse code, which will just make people think I'm a geek. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

When getting ready to exit, Talking Heads, "Life During Wartime", in particular the lyric "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around!" Last summer the DZ staff had a lot of Jack Johnson music playing on the stereo in the hangar, and that's the only place I've heard most of his songs, so I associate his music with jumping. Then there's "1-6-3-2-5-4" as sung by O-470. Some people would argue that it's not really "music" or that it's just a percussion solo but I think it sounds pretty good. :) Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I _think_ there is a similar requirement for a USPA PRO rating - 20 consecutive pre-declared jumps landing within epsilon of a target. One of the Skydive Radio guys (Stump, I think) was talking about this on the show recently. Having instructor rating(s) could also be viewed as a "higher license" than a D. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I have worn these Red Wing shoes as my "daily drivers" for about a year, including on all of my jumps. Well before I started jumping I wore Converse All-Star high-top sneakers every day and put on some Wolverine high-top boots when I had to work in the yard or something. The Wolverines came up my ankle another inch or so further than the Red Wings. When the All-Stars wore out, I started wearing the Wolverines all the time, so I was pretty used to that style of shoe. For jumping, though, the Wolverines weren't ideal - the top few lace fasteners were hooks. I went shopping for some hookless boots and found the Red Wings and they seem to work OK. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Here's my post on this from an earlier thread. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

So far it hasn't reoccured, but shortly after I started jumping I did dream of ending up with a rectangular main that had only one surface. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

AOL*. I searched my own posts and one I just made shows up, but beyond that, the latest one that shows up is from 13 Jan 2006. I searched on another user who just registered in March 2006 and none of his posts show up in the search results. Time to rebuild the ol' index, as has been noted. Eule * "Me too." PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I think you'd need to be really sure to have a good grip on the door before you open it. Then, stow it really well *inside* the aircraft - like in the row of seats _behind_ the exit row, so it for sure can't fall out. It's a big hunk of aluminum and might damage the plane or objects on the ground if it got loose. If you can, do it while everyone (including the flight attendants) is still seated and belted - you probably need to do it then anyway if you don't have a bail-out bottle. The high airspeed might also be interesting. Before you do this, you will want to own a dependable car, or have plenty of cash for train and bus fares, as the big boys probably won't sell you lift tickets anymore. Those Part 119/135 types are awfully picky that way. You'll also want to have a good landshark lined up. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I've been at a DZ that had students fill out a jump planner on paper. One side had an aerial photo of the DZ on which to plot your pattern, and up in the corner there was a big empty circle. The directions said to "draw the windsock in the circle". A lot of students would just draw a stick arrow in the circle pointing in the wind direction, and the instructor would always make them draw a correctly-oriented windsock instead - I'm pretty sure this was to help people understand how to read the windsock. I always got the windsock direction right, on paper and in the air, but I managed to draw the wrong-handed pattern on the paper several times. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I looked at the original photos again, and it looks like pretty much all of their down had been replaced by flight feathers, so they may not have been far from fledging when you first found them. Maybe some covers with "remove before flight" ribbons are in order... or maybe a resident hawk. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Depends on the bill. $100 bills last a lot longer than ones; I think I've heard the 6-month figure for $1 bills as well. In other countries with sane currency units (in other words, it doesn't cost you 10,000 whatevers to buy a can of Coke), the smallest paper bill is often a 5 or 10, and everything smaller than that is coins, partly because the coins last much longer. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Drink heavily? Oh, you mean while you're in the air. Some random ideas... - Draw a comic strip while in freefall. - I've heard something like the wine idea, but in this case it was to take a cold beer with you on sunset load, and drink beer under canopy. - Besides the pressurized can of whipped cream, somebody just might be able to hang onto a pie in freefall if the pie pan had double-sided tape, or Velcro, or similar on it. It would have to be covered with a jettisonable cover, or the relative wind would scatter the pie before it could be deployed. - If you can time it to happen over Memorial Day weekend, do a water/humanitarian jump into Grand Lake. I hear that over holiday weekends, there are pontoon boats full of girls that are so underprivileged that they don't have any clothes to wear. Show some concern for those less fortunate and bring them some clothes. - Probably hard to organize on short notice, but the 1000 way out of Cessnas does sound interesting. Now that Cessna is making piston singles again, maybe they would sponsor it as a publicity stunt. All they would need is to provide 250 Cessnas and to pay BJ Worth more money than there is to organize it. :) - Do #999 as a bandit night jump into TUL, then get packed and ready to go. In the morning, sit by the side of the active with your rig on, thumb out, and a cardboard sign with "10,000" written on it. (This does assume you can get a lift before you get arrested.) Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

See this post and following for some important advice on cussing at your canopy. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Welcome to the rest of your life as a skydiver. :) //wavy lines// I once got into Skydive Dallas late one night with every intention of making the morning AFF brief. In the morning I could hear the wind blowing strongly against the hangar and decided to stay in bed. I heard the PA announcement for the early bird load. I heard the plane taxi up to the hangar and leave. About ten minutes later, I heard manifest on the PA announcing that they were shut down for a while, and if anybody had a car and wanted to help, nearly all the early bird load had landed out. //wavy lines// Welcome! Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I sort of thought that was what was going on, but I wasn't sure. It's all good. Having your name quoted in the subject line of the post tends to make you think the post is about you. If you are replying to make a general comment, it is possible to edit out the person's name in the subject, so it doesn't look like you're jumping on the last person to post. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I guess I'm not sure how experience affects the fact that I was getting pushed backwards at a pretty good clip when pointed directly into the wind. I spotted based on the observed ground winds and the forecast winds aloft, and it turned out that the winds aloft were stronger than the forecast. Maybe experience would have told me to not get on the plane, or that I needed a canopy with more forward drive. On that particular jump, I had a student canopy, loaded at about 0.8 to 1. I had a landing area picked out at about 3000'. Then I blew backwards past it. Then I picked another one. Then I blew backwards past it. I then figured out I needed to look over my shoulder to pick. I had a few different ones lined up, based on if I was going to get blown backwards all the way to the ground, or if I would eventually fall out of the really fast winds. Once I started getting a little drive, I knew I was going to land in a particular field, but I didn't know if I was going to land in the fairly open north end, or in the south end that had a stand of trees in it. I got enough drive to see that I was going to land in the south end, and turned to avoid the trees. Not that this will impress all the experts, but I did manage to stand it up. Your input is noted. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Someone I know in the Netherlands has jumped an AN-2. His comment: I found this write-up on the AN-2, which has the following description: Near the end of the article, it talks about the status of AN-2s with the FAA. It seems to suggest that if you brought an AN-2 into the US before 1993, you might be exempt from some of the regulations that preclude jumping from it. I won't be jumping again until well after the WFFC, but if I got a chance, I'd jump one. "Russian, radial, biplane, taildragger" - how many other "interesting" attributes do you want your jump ship to have? Also, I've done most of my jumps out of a 182, so long rides up are normal to me. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

I vote for OSC, but I'm biased, as that's where I've been jumping. :) OSC and Airtight both have 182s, so you WILL learn to spot (among many other things) at either place. If you plan to do this in a week off of work, make sure either DZ understands this ahead of time. I don't think either of them are normally open during the week, but they will work with you if you ask. I had 30 minutes in the NC tunnel (AAC) when I had about 20 jumps and 30 minutes in the Eloy tunnel (SVAZ) when I had about 40 jumps. In my opinion, for first-time tunnel flyers, the SkyVenture tunnels are better because of the walls. You will spend a little time trying to figure out how to stay in the center of the tunnel, and if you have walls to bounce off of, you get back on center quicker. Once you know how to stay in the center, I think AAC is a lot better, mostly because of the much improved scenery. There is also Flyaway in Pigeon Forge TN, a few miles north of AAC in NC, but Flyaway is a relatively old design and I am told it is not nearly as good for skydiving practice as the SkyVenture tunnels or AAC. I drove from Tulsa to AAC (two days each way; hotel outbound and camping return) and stayed at a good campground somewhat near the wind tunnel since I had my car. If you fly into NC, you'll have to figure out how to get yourself from the airport to AAC (about 40 miles I think). In Eloy, you can stay at the dropzone bunkhouse rather inexpensively, but you do have to figure out how to get yourself from Phoenix to Eloy and back. I don't know what lodging options are like near SVCO. If you decide on one of the OK DZs and the tunnel, make sure the DZ knows about it; they may suggest a good point in your training to go to the tunnel. I think that the DZs near tunnels that have the tunnel in their training don't always do the tunnel first - you might do a couple of jumps before going to the tunnel. A big DZ can have the advantage of faster planes and lots of experience with the "zero to solo in one week" progression. On the other hand, you may be able to get more attention at a smaller DZ. Last summer, I was weathered out less than one weekend a month in Oklahoma. In the spring and fall it's not so good, though. Parts of Florida actually get more thunderstorms than all of Oklahoma, but the ones we do have here tend to be more exciting. True. Also, Oklahoma needs the money more than Florida does. :) Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

Most any city will have a few office supply stores and small shops that will make them to order. Some of them only do text but some can put pretty much anything you want on the stamp. Look in the Yellow Pages under "rubber stamps". You might also check at hobby and craft stores. I've heard a story of a shop owner in Houston who stamped all the cash that came through her shop for a similar reason. After a few months, a nice man from the local Federal Reserve came by and asked her to stop, as they'd had to replace several tens of thousands of dollars worth of bills for the local banks. She didn't get in trouble, but it did help show how much money was coming through her store. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

In my one and only out landing so far, I had no doubt as to the wind direction, as it was the reason I landed out. I landed two miles north and half a mile west of my exit point, despite being pointed into the wind since shortly after opening. I made a couple of checks on opening and figured out which way made me back up slowest, and then started looking over my shoulder for landing areas. The wind calmed down enough below around 1000' to let me get a little forward drive, and I didn't adjust my direction other than about a 15-20 degree right turn at about 500' to avoid some trees. This was on the first or second load of the day (0900 or so); we got a winds-aloft forecast before jumping but it was LIES, ALL LIES!1! After that, things went on hold until about 1400 when the winds finally settled down. Eule PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.