RozeAY

If you are going all out with the suit, its worth it to get the inside knee grips. They are very useful for doing any type of RW even if you're not doing competitive 4way. Plus then if you decide to do a little 4way you will already have them.

Neither USPA Nationals nor NSL have requirements based on jump numbers (except you need a C or D license at Nationals). In the NSL you can compete in whichever class you choose. At the USPA Nationals, the only rule for the mostpart is that no more than 1/4 of your team can hold a medal in the class you want to compete in or a higher class. You can read the rules here: http://www.uspa.org/Publications/SCM/0802_SCM_part1.pdf

How much are you arching? You could try flying a bit flatter to help keep you up.

Where are you located? Your profile says you are in Delaware in which case you have Skydive Delmarva in DE and 4 DZs in New Jersey including Cross Keys which are closer than 250 miles.

Look at Bev Suits as well. I've had 3 and loved all of them. I'm not fond of Merlin at all. It was a nice suit but several of the seams did not hold up and the zipper was a problem. Plus if you order a Merlin suit, be prepared to wait a year to get it and then 5 months just to get the booties replaced. :-) I sent my suit back in November to get them replaced, ordered a new Bev Suit in the beginning of January, got it at the end of January, and finally got my Merlin Suit back in March after several phone calls and 2 trips to Deland. I have no experience with the others though so I can't say much about them.

Needless to say finding sponsorship in this sport is extremely difficult. My teammate, Jonathan, has already mentioned most of the troubles we have had. You can contact several skydiving companies to see if they can help you out. They're not going to give you free stuff or a huge discount but if you tell them who you are and where you're coming from, they might be able to knock a little off of the price. After all, every little bit helps. When it comes to gear, find used rigs. Matching isn't important at all. Especially when you need to use the extra money to train. Luckily we all had our own rigs to start with. None of us had competition RW suits or helmets so we did get matching since we needed them anyway. My best advice is to keep trying to find sponsors and money but plan for not getting any. We all work hard at our jobs to make money to train with. The most important thing for a new team is to practice. Find gear that gets you in the air and leaves you money to jump with. Depending on the level of experience, if you can make it to a tunnel camp to work on individual flying skills, it will help tremendously with your 4way and save you a lot of wasted jumps and frustration. If you have any questions about how we did things, feel free to email me. Good luck! Allison GT Inviscid GT Skydiving Club

The team needs to go as fast as its fastest faller. Granted, there are things the fall-rate setter can do to slow it down (material on front of jumpsuit, etc.) But taking those things into consideration, the team will fly better if everyone is falling at a comfortable rate. If one person has to change the way she flies and spend all her energy trying to cup air, her performance is going to suffer. It is a lot easier for 3 people to add a few pounds and still fly than it is for 1 person to completely adjust flying style.

My team falls at about 113. I know several teams that fall in the 110-120 range. The average is probably closer to 120-125 like a few people have said though. Most of the teams around here don't really have any big guys on them. But definitely not 130 mph. Thats fast!

I love my Oxygn. It fits well and the lens stays down. It is really easy to take on and off and I've never had a problem with fogging. Plus its taken a lot of abuse and is still in great shape.

4 means 4 way and 99 means the year. same thing as 899 (8 way). i've seen 499 and its pretty decent. i actually prefer the golden knights' new video (4002). it is much cheaper and works just as well.

Hey Lisa! Who is on the team?

I don't disagree with you. That is very important. But there is a big difference between people on a forum telling a guy he shouldn't jump a canopy when all you know is his number of jumps, his exit weight, and the canopy. I feel this is a decision that should be left to him and his instructors who can watch him fly and help him with his downsizing progression. Flat out telling him he shouldn't jump that canopy is a little extreme considering all you know are his numbers. My point was just that jumping a 135 with under 75 jumps is a possibility as long as it is done carefully and with help from experienced pilots. You obviously feel that this canopy should not be jumped with under 50-75 jumps and that is fine. I think it can be if done carefully and that is just my opinion.

There are many things to consider here. I'm not saying whether or not this guy should be jumping that canopy. My point is in fact that there are many things to consider and the possibility does exist that a Sabre 135 can be flown with under 50-75 jumps. The decision on what this gentleman should fly should be decided between him and the instructors and experienced canopy pilots at his dropzone that know his ability; not by people that don't know him and are just adhering to numbers they believe to be all important.

I have to disagree. It is true that a 1:1 wingloading on a smaller canopy is going to be different than a 1:1 wingloading on a larger canopy. But that doesn't mean it can't be flown with low jump numbers. It all depends on the jumper and their ability. All it comes down to is talking with the instructors and experienced canopy pilots at your dropzone about your individual canopy choices. My first canopy straight off of student status was a Sabre 135. I weigh 105 lbs which gave me a .88 wing loading on that canopy and I loved it. Just because a canopy is smaller or has the ability to be more high performance does not mean you have to do high performance landings. And with 35 jumps I did land it in somebody's backyard. I am jumping a Stiletto 97 right now and love the performance I get out of it, and I don't do high performance landings with it at all. I land it straight in every time. So again all it comes down to is talking with your instructors who have seen your skills. Just because a lot of people don't do it doesn't mean it can't be done safely.

Majik also has second arm grips on their suits. There is the front grip which is square with the elastic insets but they also have a standard cordura second arm grip.

I still would say it depends on the person. I'm two eval jumps away from my AFF rating and I still don't have 400 jumps. It just depends on what you've done with the jumps you have and your ability and awareness as a skydiver.

Does anybody know where we could get some malfunction pictures to use for an AFF First Jump Course? Thanks, Allison

At the U.S. Nationals, the Intermediate class' dive pool consists of all of the randoms plus blocks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22. This is the same as the NSL AA Class. The NSL A Class consists of all the randoms plus blocks 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 15, 19, and 21. The Advanced and Open classes at Nationals as well as the NSL AAA Class use the entire dive pool.

My first suit was one of Bev's Hot Bods. It was an excellent suit, took a lot of abuse and it is still in great shape. I later ordered another comp suit from Bev and love it. My team decided to get Merlin suits. We ordered them in February. And got them in May - after walking into her shop and making her finish them. It is a great suit but almost impossible to actually get them. I gave mine to her in November just to get the booties replaced. After several emails, phone calls, and a trip to her shop (plus a few promises she'd get it to me by such and such date, especially before our last major competition) we are entering the middle of January and I still don't have it back. My team just ordered new suits from Bev.

I would recommend doing a tunnel camp at Skyventure in Orlando. Their website (www.skyventure.com) has a list of all their camps with respective sites. All these camps are run by excellent coaches and you will learn a lot. Best of luck!

This is huge. If your team doesn't have set personal and team goals that are common knowledge, it is going to be a long frustrating season as people are striving to achieve different goals that may not be consistent with each other.

One of my teammates just burned 499 onto a cd and divided it up by blocks and randoms. Its helpful for some of the technique. Not an exceptional amount if you don't use their continuity plan though.

Skydiving is not an NCAA sanctioned sport like football, baseball, etc. Therefore skydiving clubs are merely clubs, not athletic associations and not funded by the athletic department.

The registration fees for Collegiates is too expensive in my opinion. But it really isn't that much more than Nationals. The $120 fee at Collegiates covers the entire event. After that you can compete in as many events as you'd like with only the extra added cost of jumps. For example, at Collegiates, to just compete in 4way it would cost my team $804 (that includes all 4 $120 registration fees and the $324 event fee for 4way which includes video). Nationals cost my team $1300. That is a $40 registration fee PLUS a $60 event fee. Then it was an additional $160 for jumps. Summed over 5 people (must include video) that is $1300. Granted that is 10 rounds instead of 4. So if you are only looking at registration and event fees (not jumps) Collegiates for my team is $480 but Nationals was $500. So we're comparing a $120 registration fee to a $100 fee. Yes it is more. And yes it sucks. But skydiving is an expensive sport. Plus that $120 allows you to compete in as many events as you want. Nationals only had the $40 reg fee but it had an event fee for every event. Not to mention Collegiates isn't going to have the turnout Nationals does so they have to charge more for judges, coaches, etc. I'm not saying its fair or it doesn't suck, because it does. But unfortunately, there is little that can be done about it other than going to the BOD. And its a little late in the year to get anything done right now. Good luck with whatever course of action you decide.

Several of us from Georgia Tech went down last year and had an absolute blast. It was an awesome experience getting to meet and hang out with a bunch of collegiate jumpers. The UF and FSU jumpers are a great crowd. I highly recommend making the trip!