JENNR8R

Thanks for the replies. I knew I should ask before trying it....and that someone here would have experience in this area. If I want to pull my pilot chute by bringing both arms in, I'll put a wingsuit on first. All the more reason to wear one.

Well, if you're in a big RW dive, some old fart like me might not recognize what those heel-taps mean..."Why is that guy tapping his heels while tracking off? ... Oh shit!" Sorry if my question wasn't clear. I was only talking about pulling the pilot chute by bringing both arms in symmetrically....not waving off with my legs.

I've recently taken up wingsuit flying. Since the arms are busy flying, one must wave off with their legs....clicking their heels three times like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Pulling the pilot chute is accomplished by bringing both arms in symmetrically and throwing both arms back out ....even though the left hand is not holding anything. This is a lot of fun. Is there any safety reason why I shouldn't pull my pilot chute this way when I'm not flying a wingsuit? What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

Oooooo! Ahhhhhh! Beautiful!!! Absolutely Angelic What made you decide on white? I've been trying to decide what colors to choose for my suit, and I can't make up my mind....but I'm a woman. What color is your rig? What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

A wuffo from church made me a CD of songs that reminded him of skydiving: Blue Skies - Point of Grace Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw (I went skydiving, rocky mountain climbing,....) Gonna Fly Away - Petra On my first tandem video I put: When I die, hallelujah by and by, I'll fly away... from the soundtrack of "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and "What Was I Thinking" by Deirks Bently What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

....For HAHO it works OK....OPANAS, without the tactical stuff.....my Kenwood TH-D7AG and transmit APRS data....during Hamcation....I'm watching the Titan development.....Atair's HMD.....in conjunction with DOQQ's and Fugawi.... How am I supposed to follow that alphabet soup?

Hey, that's your first jump in your own rig too isn't it? Do I smell beer? What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

That post was so good that I thought it was worth repeating. I recently tried wingsuit flying for the first time in a Prodigy. On my third (and first solo) jump I decided to try a barrel roll. I'd read that it was a good skill to have, if one could do it well, before deploying to check for others in the vicinity. I hadn't done a barrel roll since AFF, but I didn't have any problem doing it then....how hard could it be in a wingsuit? I didn't know how to do it, but I thought I would try. I closed my wings and dipped a shoulder.....nothing. I had plenty of altitude left so I decided to try it again by putting a lot of energy into turning. OH MY GOSH ! ! ! All the tumbling and spinning that began was absolutely violent. My first thought was that this is why there is the 200 jumps within 18 months requirement before trying wingsuits. One needs to be comfortable in the air when something like that starts. My second thought was reading about going into a fetal position and holding it....it may get worse before it gets better. It did get worse, but I held it and came back belly to earth and opened the wings again....no more problems. I read about that in the book: Skyflying, Wingsuits in Motion. I was so happy that I had read about it before it happened. Thanks Scott

What suit were you flying? Prodigy

The weather at my DZ in Virginia was calling for clouds and a high of 40 degrees last weekend so I decided to go to Florida to do my first wingsuit jump. I couldn't have asked for better weather ... blue skies and 80 degrees. I came home to snow and a promise of a 36 degree high this weekend at my DZ. Anyone have any experience in jumping a wingsuit in the cold? Flying the suit was harder than I imagined it would be, but everyone who saw Scary Perry's pictures and video of my first two flights said I did well. I appreciated the help and encouragement from all the wingsuiters there. Thanks guys. One of the hardest things for me was the flight plan. I didn't think I would ever get my 'A' license because I couldn't understand spotting ... excuse me while I breathe into a paper bag ... the mere mention of the word 'spotting' causes me to hyperventilate. I'm a belly flyer and have made it a point not to be the one spotting on a load. In fact, I try to exit from inside the airplane so I don't have to look at the ground. When I'm doing my RW, I never look at the ground until I'm under canopy at about 2,300 feet. Flying a wingsuit had me looking at the ground the whole time ... and at a landscape that I didn't recognize because I wasn't familiar with the DZ. This DZ has one of those triangular runways, and I couldn't find the landing area from altitude. I knew it was at one of the triangle points, but which one? I kept getting lost in the air, not knowing where to go ... not good! On my last jump I spoke with several people about the flight plan. The jump run was East to West. Since wingsuiters get out last, I would be West of the DZ over the swamp. I needed to get out of the airplane, turn South then East back towards the DZ. I wasn't to go much past the hangar. OK, I had a plan. The problem was that the airplane did a 'go around' for a tandem. When it was my turn to get out, I was directly over the hangar where I was supposed to end up. I jumped out of the airplane forgetting to pick up the arm wing grips. By the time I fixed that and looked at the ground, I was lost again and didn't know where to go. I've been trying to figure out what I should have done for days and cannot come up with a solution. Suggestions anyone? I'm thrilled to have joined those of you who jump wingsuits. I even know the secret handshake now ... too cute! Who knows where this might lead ... maybe I can even get Chuck Blue to party with me and get a hat. I feel like the Phoenix who has risen from the snow. What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

So how did the wedding music go? I was wishing I could be there all day Saturday.

You lonely? Unlikely.... "Besides, no matter how much you like her, you'll like the next one too. Women are like buses, just wait ten minutes and another one will come along . . . NickD BASE 194"

I swear by Natures Miracle. Just make sure it stays wet for 24 hours after treating. I use a water-soaked towel on top of the treated spot. Let air dry completely....that could take up to two weeks. The animals can still smell it until it dries so keep them away until dry. What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

I go to my chiropractor every four weeks for insurance. She likes to tell people that she makes sure that I can see my altimeter. I definitely have more range of motion in my neck than before I started going. I also go to the gym three days a week for upper body strength training. That immediately helped with nagging back pain too. Two days a week I do deep-water aerobics and never jump without stretching first. All of the above just to make sure that I can continue to skydive. It's working. I never miss a weekend. What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

Here for the Party - Gretchen Wilson Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up - Garth Brooks Of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without the Hokey Pokey & the Chicken Dance! What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

Lesson 14: Don't ever pack for anyone else. I can't be trusted to do it correctly. I finally got my new rig and was looking forward to jumping something that had a reserve that I wasn't afraid of. On my third jump (only the second time I had packed the new rig), I packed myself another stepthrough. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked up and saw that monster above my head again. This time the twist was well below the toggles. I released the brakes and tested them. It seemed to steer and flare well. I made the twist go down as far as possible and decided to try to land it. I prayed that the twist wouldn't decide to move up when I was landing. I landed without incident. I had two instructors show me how to tell if I am about to pack another stepthrough. Hopefully, it won't happen again. I've packed at least 250 times and twice in the last dozen jumps I've managed to pack a stepthrough. I don't get it. I'm very grateful for the exchange of information in this forum. I knew it was possible to land a stepthrough. I didn't panic when I saw it. That is directly the result of information gleaned from posts and PMs from this thread. Thanks guys

One month before I did my first tandem I applied for long-term care insurance. They asked things like: What are your hobbies? At the time, I truthfully answered gardening. I was approved for the lower preferred premiums. Applying for the insurance and doing the tandem were totally unrelated. I knew that I was going to do a tandem for my birthday, but that hardly qualified as a hobby since I had no intention of doing any more than one jump. That was two years ago. The insurance is extremely expensive for anyone that does any kind of risky behavior. Fortunately, once I was approved, the insurance company cannot raise the premiums. My policy covers any activity except 'acts of war.' What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I called my carrier, Cingular, and asked them if they had coverage in Fayetteville, WV. They don't, but they do use towers from other carriers. If you have free roaming, you should be able to use your Cingular phone there with good reception.

I didn't mean to imply that it was freeflying. It is just something a freeflyer could do if he couldn't do the 2-point 8-way. It would be interesting to see you do it in the headup position. Be sure and get video and post it on skydiving movies.

They already allow something for freeflyers. For instance the 'C' license aerial performance requirements state you must do "either" a 2-point 8-way or larger skydive or... "during freefall, perform in sequence within 18 seconds - a backloop, front loop, left 360-degree turn, right 360-degree turn, right barrel roll and left barrel roll."

It was explained to me by an S&TA that the USPA frowns upon this now. Apparently they want the requirements fulfilled before the exam be administered. The only requirement I have yet to fulfill for my C is the jump numbers, but I have to wait to take the test till then...I unfortunately couldn't take it at the same time as my B (@145 jumps). Maybe some instructors will still let you do it the old way though. It's not the USPA that has that requirement. I asked the man at the USPA who created the tests if I could take them (B, C & D) all at once. He said yes, no problem.

God, I could get both the Falcon and Eagle.... But they want $15 each for those... That, plus my yearly membership renewal, plus my yearly coach renewal fees, plus my B and C licence fees this year, just does not make sense financially for such an easy accomplishment to achieve.... I guess I know why these awards are losing popularity and getting canceled... You need a better paying job if those things put you in a financial bind.

http://www.uspa.org/publications/manuals.pdf/SIM2005.pdf You are not remembering correctly. Page 12 of the 2005 SIM says the aerial performance requirements for the 'C' license are 2 points on an 8-way. There is no 4-point 4-way requirement for any license. If you did 8 points on a 4-way, you could apply for your Falcon Award. That, however, is going away on December 31, along with the Eagle Award which is 4 points on an 8-way. If you managed to get 2 points on an 8-way on Jump 1 as a student, it would count towards your 'C' license. Your accuracy landings also count from your first jump so make sure you accurately log how far from your intended target you landed. There are no accuracy requirements for the 'D' license. What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.

Does anyone know if there is good cell phone reception at the New River Gorge Bridge Day event? Let me know what carrier you use if you have had good or bad reception there in the past. This will be my first year attending the festivities.

I have been giving this comment some thought and looking for a way to communicate how this mindset can be counterproductive to initiating emergency procedures for a partial malfunction. Cutting away is more like an art-form in the sense that you want to perform the maneuver as smoothly and efficiently as possible in order to maximize the quality of the reserve deployment. Fencing or Boxing are good examples of sports that incorporate good form and finesse under situations of extreme duress. A case in point is that rushing your EPs when you do not need to (low altitude) in an effort to beat your RSL might affect body position or even worse still, rushing it may cause the jumper to pull silver before the main has been fully released – I know someone this actually happened to because they were rushing it. Just something to think about. Well I'm glad that someone finally commented on this post. There are other situations that would make this course of action not make sense. Sometimes it would be wise to disconnect the RSL first, cutaway, wait to get stable or lose altitude, then deploy the reserve. I'm finding that there are infinite scenarios that may require different actions in dealing with a chop. Continued training is the only thing, short of actual experience, that will help you have the presence of mind to make wise choices when needed. What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy ones? -- Monday.