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My 3rd paying customer who grabbed the strut on the 182 on exit and then went fetal. This guy was 6'8" and 220 pounds. Anyway,I recovered from the side spin by 9K(we exited at 11K) and then had to land with basketball Jones passed out with no wind. That was several thousand tandems ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. No injuries,just alot of torn up grass and dirt.

I agree completely! If someone says no and you talk them into going anyway and they get hurt,you could be accused of coercing them into doing something they had not really wanted to do. In this country,that could mean losing in a court of law.

Letting a tandem 1st jump student help me flare a main on landing sounds like a bad idea,let alone a reserve. I have seen T2's,T3's,andT4's who did great practice flares above 1000ft,look down at the ground at 50ft and try to yard the toggles down. The only reason we did not get driven into the dirt like a tent stake,was because I was strong enough to stop them from yarding them down. Adrenaline will help the TI to a point,but the students have adrenaline also,and if they are stronger than you it could be very ugly.

Great student gear,great rental gear,very fast climbing aircraft,nice grass landing area,the wind is almost always 5-10 steady,nice packing area. I do not know what else a skydiver could want in a DZ. This place has a very talented staff lead by great management. I would recomend this place to everyone. Great place to try a 1st skydive or to visit for an experienced skydiver.

Go to kapowsin

Skydive oregon is one of the best dropzones in the country for a beginner or an expert. They have world class instructors,excellent gear,and very well maintained turboprop aircraft that will get you to 13000ft lickity split. Skydive oregon is a private airport dedicated to skydiving,and has a huge grass landing area that is just what you need when learning how to pilot a parachute.

Right on dude! Most of us want to help others to stay safe,but skydiving is ,and I hope always will be big boy rules.

I agree! But how about method and technique with a little more power to back it up?

A larger TI who is fit,athletic,and KNOWS HOW TO FLY! YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO FLY! no matter what you have for surface area or strength. I also know some great smaller TI's and I know some great larger TI's. The bottom line is, know matter how you feel about it,a larger TI will out perform a smaller TI of equal skill and many times even of greater skill. It is simply physics. Does this mean only large people should do tandems? Hell no! If you can do it if you can do it,if you can't you can't. My advice to anyone large or small who want's to do tandems is go for it,but remember that tandems are by nature the most dangerous skydive an experienced skydiver can make. When things are going bad,it is nice to have a little extra horsepower to go with all that skill. A little good luck is nice also,even though some poeple believe luck has nothing to do with it. P.S you can disagree with me completely if you want. Blue skies!

All BS aside,a larger TI who is fit,athletic,and knows how to fly,will always out perform a smaller TI. It is plain old physics at work here. This said,it does not mean smaller TI's are not good or that they are unable to haul meat. It means they will work alot harder to do so and will be more likely to struggle for control both in FF and under canopy. You won't know wether you can do it until you do it.

I remember the old canopies and I remember thinking how easy to use the 384's and the set 400's were.

I arch unless the situation calls for somthing else (like side spin,or tailgate exit,ect...). I have never had a problem controlling the skydive or finding air to fly with by arching. I've seen alot of TI's buck and chip flying with knees low. I also have a few thousand handcam tandems.

I agree. All that floppy crap makes everything shake. I dress for the temperature. If its cold I wear jeans and a jacket,and if it's bitter cold then everything I can get on and still move. I've found that I fly best in shorts and a T shirt though. I always hear poeple say they want the extra drag for more control,but the only reason I would wear more fabric other than temperature would be to slow down the fall rate for the camera flyer if needed.

Eloy has better weather for skydiving in the winter than any other place I've been. It may freeze at night but it is almost gauranteed to be blue skies and mid 70's by noon this time of year. Eloy also has more aircraft full time with less wait to get on loads than any other place I've been period! If you want to skydive your as off,go to eloy. Florida is nice but eloy is the place to make a crap load of skydives or play in the tunnel with some of the best in the business wether it be freefly or RW.

Thats the one! They call him skippy. Another good quote when asked by a wuffo,"What happens if both chutes don't work?" Answer:"I aim for your house".

Are you thinking about the guy who tracked down the runway?

"Remember! It's all fun and games until the pilot chute hits ya in the eye and it's not yours." "I'll see ya in hell!" (screamed back into the door on exit). "Not if I see you first!" (screamed back out the door),or "I'll save ya a place in the shade if I get there first". "you are never too low to hook it,but maybe too low to limp away". "It's all fun and games until some one loses an eye, then it's just fun for everyone else".

They have a 206U full time and there was a caravan there for the new years boogie. The boogie was a blast and had many visiting skydivers from washington and oregon present for full caravan loads to 13,000ft. Sincity skydiving has really gone the extra mile to welcome funjumpers in Vegas. There were a few local skydivers who resented the dzo because he inforced USPA BSR's, but most of the funjumpers were cool and the staff was very profesional. I had alot of fun while I was there and plan on returning for the next boogie.

I know the instructors should control the exit and,the student should never lose both guys but, it happens and will happen again some where. By the way the student had some great body position out the door eh. Not making excuses or anything but, wow!

I have over 3000 handycam tandems and have had over 24 chops while wearing the camera (in las vegas) and it has not been any problem at all. It actually makes for some cool footage.

I know some great AFF instructors who suck at tandems. If the student goes fetal or thrashes on exit they have a hell of a time out flying the student stuck to their chest. The canopy ride is another issue. They have a hard time getting a decent landing without a shitload of wind. AFF and Tandem are two different methods that require different abilities. I know alot of AFF/TI's who do both well. If you have an AFF rating you should be able to fly your ass off but it does not mean you will be a good TI, and a great TI may never be able to get an AFF rating. AFF takes more time, but tandem has greater risk to the instructor. Many say that tandem is ten times safer for the first timer than for them to go by themselves,and ten times more dangerous for the TI who takes them than to go by themselves.

I will not be buying a javelin then. I have 64 cutaways,7 on sport rigs without a RSL,20 on strong tandems with the RSL unhooked(when strong allowed TI's to do so because of riser breakage issues),two more on strongs and the rest on relative workshop tandems with the RSL hooked up. The worst reserve deployments I've experienced were while using the RSL while chopping from hard whipping main malfunctions. I had one RSL deployment bounce the freebag off the left side of my head when I chopped a wild wobbly spinner that was throwing us back and forth from our side to our back. I always use the RSL when the manufacturer requires its use. I understand the reasoning behind the manufacturers policies and I feel all solo students and many up jumpers should use RSL's, and RSL's have saved and will continue to save the lives of many skydivers who fail to pull the reserve in time after they cutaway. I also feel that if you are no longer a student or taking a tandem student,you should be able to decide wether you use the RSL or not. Just because some skydivers get spun out and cant find or pull the silver should not force everyone to use RSL's. So why stop a person from removing or having a rigger remove a RSL from the rig they own as long as it's done right(like it's rocket science) if they are no longer skydiving in the student arena.

Riding thermals when alone is great,but I've found that tandem students are more prone to getting sick on those long canopy rides.

You bet I have and what I did was get some serious red,dry eyes.

Word bro! I ask evrytime "Are you ready to skydive" and if they say no,then we do not go. I do not even try to convince them to go after I hear NO. The cool thing is I still get paid to take a plane ride. I would rather skydive but I like airplane rides also.