SkymonkeyONE

No matter what US dropzone you go to, you should show up with a properly filled-out A-license proficiency card (if you are still unlicensed) and logbook. Yes, most places are going to charge you for Coach jumps and the rate varies. The $75 charged at one of the dropzones I work at covers both slots, gear rental, and the whopping $10 the coach makes for briefing you on the jump, taking you on the skydive, and then debriefing you and filling out your logbook and A-card. Yes, there are some places where you can find Coach and Instructor-rated people willing to jump with you for cost of slot or even nothing, but don't expect it. Just know that you are a student until you have that card filled out and stamped, so you should try and get that done in as timely a manner as possible. It's those extra costs which led me to respond to your initial post. You see, unless that drozpzone is also providing you with the requisite coaching after your basic training (whether AFF, SL, IAD, whatever hybrid they might come up with), then simply "giving" you the rest of the jumps up to 20 (not the requisite 25) is misleading. Chuck

Not at all. If you are "cleared for self supervision" (after Cat E here), then you do not need anyone to "spot" for you on whatever solo jumps you do. All category F,G, and H A-licence requirements must be done under the supervision of at least a Coach rated jumper. Yes, all your jumps, supervised or not, count toward your 25 jump total needed for your A-license. That said, it is entirely possible to screw around, have 25 jumps, and have not "checked the blocks" on your A-card. Simply having 25 jumps does not mean that you have an A-license.

he must have caught it right in the kisser then.

Lots of places use fastex buckles to attach the drogue releases, but my releases (both right and left side) use a cuff which has two "pull the dot" fastners.

In the USA you require coached supervision to complete the majority of your remaining skydives in order to obtain your A-license which comes at 25 jumps; not 20.

The purpose of the BMI course is to validate it as a pure and legitimate form of introductory instruction. I am not a BirdMan "Coach". I train people on an entirely new aparatus and have no problem charging people to do so. I cannot believe that your "system" could restrict you from recouping your investment in this case. Chuck

What I mean is that you are only paying $16 per jump for the coaching (on top of the averaged cost per slot). Once again, I challenge you to find first-rate instruction/coaching in freefly or competition RW for that price.

Me, for the duration. Running the BirdMan concession.

That was pretty entertaining.

I have been head-butted by more than one student on sliding landings. Once they get to sliding on their butt, they threw their head back. I promise you that the frap hat they were wearing (always here at Raeford) kept me from getting another scar on my chin and kept me from being knocked out. Just my experience.

My dad jumps (10,000), both sisters jumped (about 100 apiece), and my brother in law jumps (a few hundred). I have taken both my niece and nephew on tandems.

I got had a tear in my eye after watching that. It was remarkable!

Kimmie you KNOW you need to spend some time at the BirdBooth so we can put you to WORK! Hooty HOO!

$300 bucks (US). We really prefer to have our candidates to have over 100 wingsuit flights, some other instructional background, and over 500 jumps, but there have been and will continue to be some exceptions to each of those criteria. Some people have the skill-set to nail the air evaluation with less than 20 flights. On the other hand, some people with vast instructional background can't put together a complete and concise ground brief and don't even get as far as an air eval. I just taught a course in Canada where only one candidate even owned his own suit. All were brilliant "natural" skydivers, though, and by the end of the long weekend had no problem whatsoever taking docks, passing their air eval, and taking "real" students for the rest of the boogie. Of particular note at that boogie was the fact that one newly-minted BMI (Nick Stetzenko) has already forged the document/sylabus that will become the wingsuit instructional doctrine in the CSPA PIM (their "SIM"). Totally squared away. Chuck BMCI

Kevin, that is less than $16 per jump for fully coached/debriefed skydives. Do you know how much people pay for top-rate freefly coaching? Try $75 per jump. The package cost for the "campers" pays for a lot of things in the overall scheme of things. When putting together "proper" camps and boogies, organizers must calculate their up-front total cost for getting the right instructors/coaches/organizers there then all the other "fluff." (T-shirts, chow, beer, etc). If you think I am going to ride a bicycle to Eloy, AZ and then sleep on the floor of the bunkhouse, then you are sadly mistaken. Remember, this is my real job. Chuck

I am fully aware of that. I am a BMI. I wrote a portion of the original BMI program along with Ryan Gifford at AAP. I simply stated I've never had a problem with it. I'll add no one has been able to sucessfuly show me why you shouldn't use one. Like you said though, JP, your mileage may vary. I can only think of you and one other person who regularly jumps a pull-out with a wingsuit. I also know plenty of people who regularly "get away" with jumping standard length bridles and unmodified containers, but in my opinion they are simply asking for an eventual massive PC hesitation. This is the wrong forum for it, but the real reason that pull-outs are a bad idea for wingsuit jumping is that they are designed to be extracted out and then pulled out of your hand by the wind at arm extension. This force could easilly cause a sketched out, inexperienced wingsuit pilot to barrel roll at pull time. Ultimately, after a person gets to a base level of proficiency in his/her wingsuit, I don't give a rats ass what they use. I will simply not take a First Flight candidate on a wingsuit flight with a pull-out for the reason I stated. Same argumentative facts used against "spinny" canopies in wingsuits. Jump what you like, after you get the suit figured out. Chuck BMCI

You can say that again. Sometimes it's a total breeze, but other times you will work for every single penny of that $30. Either way, one must be totally "switched on" on every single real working AFF dive. Chuck

I can also add with certainty that the split-rail wooden fences that surround the landing area at Raeford dropzone are setup so that if you fly into them, the boards will simply fly off as the horizontal rails are nailed to the outside of the 4x4 posts. Chuck

I don't know about that, but I can say with certainty that Deland has flexible sewer ducting over the tops of their chain-link fence to prevent such a thing from happening. Chuck

No idea what is required in Australia, but in the USA you can attend the course with six hours of freefall. There is no jump-number requirement. One only needs to have attended the USPA coach course and have a filled-out AFF proficiency card. I believe camera flying to be good experience in this case. The ability to get and maintain relativity is of paramount concern when doing AFF. Chuck AFFI (among other things)

There are tons and tons of threads in this forum on the subject so just do a search at the bottom of the page. If you still cannot find what you are looking for, simply shoot me a PM and I will help you out. Chuck Blue D-12501 -a PST professional

Nylon crack!

At Raeford anytime someone eats it we all bark. I mean everyone starts barking like a dog. There is no escape. If you go down onto all fours you are gonna get barked at. Yes, I still bust my ass on very-rare occasions too, so its all fair. Chuck

I ride the tall ones like a monkey on their back! Just like the old Wally Gubbins video.

Andy, my brother from another mother.....what are you saying?