AndyMan

At a thousand feet, less than 360 degrees. At 500 feet, less than 180 degrees. At 300 feet, less than 90 degrees. As you get really close to landing, 10 degree turns or less to avoid obstacles only. The nutshell here is that you should do turns as required to setup for your landing pattern, which starts at 1000 feet. Once you're in your pattern, you fly that pattern all the way to final, at which point you can make small corrections (10 degree turns) as required. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

If the Storm is anything like PD is telling us, then it's an excellent canopy for someone with 100 jumps. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The color of the lines, and the color of the "white" fabric makes me think that canopy has a lot more than 200 jumps on it. Either way, a canopy can blow up on any jump. That's why we have emergency procedures! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

!?!?!? Skydiving is not a sport where "going cheap" is recommended. I don't know the difference either, but you should bet your ass that there is one. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's a dumb idea, for all the reasons other people have listed. I'll go one step further, and ask why the hell you aren't using one right now? Seriously! You've got a family right? One of the things that I tell my wife when I go skydiving is that I do everything possible to keep myself safe. That includes using an AAD on most jumps. If you're not using an AAD, then you can't tell your family you're doing everything to stay safe - or you're lieing. People a lot more skilled than you or I have died when an AAD would have saved their lives. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would never give, nor accept anything resembling 10% or more of the canopy. That's just excessive. The only time I've given anything was after someone went to pretty extensive lengths to retrieve my main from a tree. In that case I gave a case of beer. I've helped people retrieve their main countless times, and I've never been given anything - nor would I ever expect anything. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I figure my first 100 jumps cost about $10,000. That includes paying for jumps, buying all the gear, and the cost of all the training. Now I get other people to pay for my jumps, so I generally break even unless I need to buy gear. For you, though - it'll be tough to get people to pay for your jumps until you've got quite a lot of experience. The only realistic way to earn money (or jumps) in skydiving at your level is to pack. Packers can earn quite a bit of money packing on the weekends. Skydiving is not a cheap sport. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Doing that came very close to killing PD guru John Le Blanc. It's an insanely bad idea. Be the hero by walking the corn field, climbing the tree, or piloting the swamp boat. Don't be the idiot that died in an entanglement. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I do things that may look extreme, that are impressive to see - but to me are easy, well rehearsed, practiced, and mostly safe. I think the notion of "extreme" as a marketing gimmick is entertaining, but as a goal is ridiculous and disrespectful to those who care about you. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

With a small flag, like a 4*6, I've found it doesn't affect the parachute flight much. The key to getting the flag to display properly is to have the corners anchored properly, at your ankle and then again at your risers. I use bungees so that it's pulled tight and doesn't sag. Then, under canopy you need to remember to keep your leg straight so that the flag is tight. When jumping a flag that small, I've often use my small eliptical. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Who knows? By all evidence, Vigil is not putting an artificial lifespan on their product. That leaves it up to the rest of us to decide when to retire our own gear - just like we do with the rest of our gear. Just like we did with the old-style mechanical AAD's. We're pretty good at doing that on our own - I don't see many FXC's in use anymore. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think a reasonable limit is 1/2 of the dz's set of tandem gear. This way you have one set in the plane, one set getting ready for the next load. I'm curious why you're asking the question. If the DZ has the gear, I don't see why you can't fill up as big a plane as you have completely with tandems. In a Twin Otter, this means 11 pairs, although it may be difficult to maneuver. The practical limit is probably 9 pair, plus a few video flyers. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Airtec is requiring me to throw out a perfectly good Cypres. I will not buy another. Vigil all the way! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Once they increased the jump numbers for a 'C' license, they also reduced the requirement for an open field demo to a 'C' license. So, you should have a 'C' at least to do this demo. Me? That's an easy landing area. Looks bigger and less obstructed than many that I've done. I would have no problem doing it myself. But, I would not have anything to do with someone with less than 200 jumps attempting this. Even if the poster gets permission from his DZ, he's still breaking USPA rules. Demo jumps are one area where USPA rules should be considered to have the full force of FAR's, so I do not recomend breaking them. There's a BIG difference between a demo jump and landing off in some farmers field. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I had to go for average, just because it's impossible to quantify. I'm a terrible instructor, because I've practically no experience. But, I'm a great mentor. I"m a very good photographer and video guy, but a terrible freeflier. I'm a competent canopy pilot, but because I also have CRW skills I think that puts me above most. So, it probably all balances out to average. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've been doing quite a few demos lately. Last weekend I jumped into an event with 10,000 boy scouts. That landing area was half the size of a soccer field, but it was tricky because it was surrounded by large trees. It was easy for me, but the guy with the 800 foot (20 X 40) flag had a more chalenging approach. I've done landings areas that are a lot smaller and tighter. I've landed on downtown city streets with crossing power lines as well as fairly typical back yards. Those are the ones where I'm thankful that I earned the rating the honest way. The most interesting jump was a night demo into a baseball game, and we built a 4-stack. Did I mention this was at night? Night CRW is an interesting beast, especially when you've over a large crowd. I've done some of these demos with large Triathlons, and I've done others with a small Samurai that I'll swoop. Which canopy I fly depends on who I'm jumping with, and what the conditions allow. My wing loading ranges from 1.1 up to 2.0. www.windycityskydivingteam.com The website is nice, but by far our best advertising is the trust that we've earned from our clients. We're happy to have a few gigs that keep bringing us back time after time. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I follow the advice of the IRM. Section 3-3 AFF Emergencies A. Aircraft Malfunctions . . . 3: Bailout: Exit and pull reserve. a: The instructor guides the student to the door. b. The student places his or her left hand on the reserve ripcord and pulls two seconds after exit. c: With sufficient altitude, the student may use a similar procedure with the main parachute. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

An easier solution to the toggle problem, is to modify a set of toggles to make them longer - like a Tandem set. Advantages are that a: toggles are cheap b: no change to line settings c: minimal changes to the risers (a new keeper) that can easily be undone. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There is no USPA or FAR prohibition against a Tandem into a Level A landing area. Obviously the TM must be properly rated. I'm not sure if it's also required that the tandem passenger also be rated, but I do think it's good form. A 'C' license is all that's required for a level A demo. We had one scheduled last summer, but had to scrub the tandem because of a low ceiling. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Given that FAX is the standard way to submit proficiency cards, I see no reason why you can't start with a high quality current photocopy. USPA will not have any way to know one way or the other. You can also download a proficiency card from the USPA website: http://www.uspa.org/publications/form.pdf/TanProfCard0806.pdf Once you complete your rating, the course director will fax in the card, and give you the original to keep. You only need to present the original if someone requires proof of rating before the USPA sends you your new membership card. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Recurrency jumps are student jumps. Student wind BSR's apply. Good rules are often a substitute for good judgment. I really hope that in winds like this you would choose to sit on the ground, rather than have to require someone to tell you to sit on the ground. Use good judgment. Also, keep in mind that a disappointing drive home is a much better outcome then many of the alternatives. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Where do you live? There are dropzones that have special gear for heavier jumpers. If you tell us where you live we can refer you to such a dropzone. That said, most dropzones don't have special gear for heavier jumpers. These dropzones will not let you jump, because at higher weight, the risk of the gear failing during opening is much higher. This results in near instant death, so it's a bad thing. In Skydiving, proper gear choice is critical. Once you find a dropzone with appropriate gear, then learning to skydive will be fun and easy.

Normally? Zero. I start the day with a cup of coffee, and I may have a shot of espresso in the afternoon. Any more caffeine then that and I I'll have trouble sleeping. When I'm doing 14-18 jumps a day, though - it becomes another story. I'll often have 3-4 sugar-free Red Bulls on a day like that. I then fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow. I drink them on a day like that to avoid having to stop jumping to take a nap. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I have more than enough jumps on the Vengence, Samurai, and Katana to know that for me, the Vengence is by far the weakest canopy. Overall, I think I prefer the Katana over the other two. I'm glad you're happy with your Vengence, though - in the end, that's all that matters! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think there's a fair number of coach course directors who think it's their job to put a candidate through the ringer, and then hand-select those who they think are worthy of the rating. They think that putting a ton of pressure on a candidate and seeing if they cope is a good way to determine fitness. Of course they're wrong. My coach-course director was like this. I hated the experience, and it turned me off getting any more ratings for 5 years. I was a lot more careful about picking my course director when I went for my AFFI. Course Directors should teach the course, give the written, teaching, and air skills exam, and give the rating if they meet the published criteria. Anything else is horse shit. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.