GLIDEANGLE

Look at the jumpers at this link. Note what helmet they favor. Size is CRITICAL for this helmet. You can't do a fair evaluation of this helmet unless you have tried the correct size. http://uspanationals.com/2013teams/formation-skydiving/open/ The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

You certainly MAY earn your A-license in 25 jumps. There is plenty of room in those 25 for some jumps which don't go as planned and which you do again. Smile, Breathe, Relax. Smile, Breathe, Relax. Smile, Breathe, Relax. Smile, Breathe, Relax. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

That is not entirely accurate. IF you jump someplace which enforces the USPA re-currency thresholds, it could be way more expensive to go through re-currecny training and/or supervised recurrency jump than to have paid for a higher license with a longer currecncy threshold. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I forgot to mention one reason additional for some folks in the USA to get the B & C licenses: Currency! If a jumper frequents a DZ which enforces the USPA currency thresholds.... paying for the B & C licenses may be a bargain if it keeps you from having to deal with re-currency training and supervised jumps. The 60 day A-license threshold can become a huge pain in the butt when weather gets bad. The 180 day threshold for C & D jumpers provides a huge amount of flexibility for the jumper. Example: I dislocated my foot while landing a few years ago. I recovered from the acute phase, completed ALL of my PT rehab and got back in the sky without ever hitting my 180 day currency threshold. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Tandem. I do a LOT of AFF-L1 (CAT A) jumps with folks who have never done a tandem. I am pretty sure that every time I have had a L1 jump get REAL exiciting it was with a student who had not done a tandem. The vast majority of first timers wildly underestimate the AFF sensory overload when they are on the ground before the jump. Combine that with the Dunning-Krueger effect, and some of those L1 jumps can be interesting. I have learned that it is a VERY bad sign when the camera guy looks at me over the student in the plane and silently mouths "You are SO f*#^ed!" with a big grin. Generally that means that the camera guy is looking forward to watching this jump WAY too much! Of course, I knew this one was gonna be "fun" long before the camera guy pointed it out to me... but if it is clear to him too..... The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

She goofed up to put herself on her back. However, once on her back & below pull altitude she handled it correctly....PULL! I bet that was an unpleasant opening. Hint: Look at the horizon when pulling. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

This might give you a good start: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4052172#4052172 The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Beeswax on the lines.... as I recollect, this has been tried before and the result was the capture of lots of dirt on the lines which INCREASED all the bad things that you are trying to decrease. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

It depends on your goals. In the USA: If all you want to do is jump at your home DZ... you may not even need an A-lic. If you want to travel to other DZ, you will probably need at least an A-lic. If you want to do night jumps you may need a B-lic (depending on where you are jumping). If you want an instructional or PRO rating, you will need the relevant license. (Coach >= B-lic; AFFI/SLI/IADI >= C-lic, tandem or PRO = D-lic) I cannot address the international travel issues. All I know about domestic travel in the US is that with a D-license, an instructor rating, a current log book, and a modest & respectful attitude .... I haven't gotten any grief anywhere that I have travelled. Could I have gotten the same response with just a log book with several hundred jumps? Maybe, but I doubt it. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

When in doubt......support@performancedesigns.com The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Yes. With rare exceptions... it is impossible to hear speech in freefall. Most jumps are made from much higher than that! Typical would be ~13,500ft. I live in Texas. In summer here, shorts are a perfectly reasonable, and fun, thing to wear. In winter, temps can be well below freezing at exit altitude... even in Texas. I can't say..... thankfully. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

The same could be said for teaching AFF. During eval jumps you know that, if all else fails, the evaluator will save his own life... not true with real students. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Let me help you understand the social side of this a bit more. One of the great advantages of big DZs is both the formal, and the informal contact with those very experienced jumpers you are intimidated by. Yes, you will benefit a lot from formal coaching. However, if you keep your eyes open and are friendly... you can learn a huge amount outside your formal instruction. You will see dirt dives and exit practice, you will see and perhaps hear folks debrief jump videos. You will have the opportunity to ask the occasional question when these folks are idle. You can learn a huge amount after jumping is done for the day... hang out and learn. My favorite example of the advantage of this depth of skill is when load organizers assemble jumpers to participate in a SCR 8-way. The organizers typically select skilled jumpers who can fly their slot reliably. Many times I have chuckled at the group assembled to help some new jumper earn their SCR: World Team veterans, competitors who have earned medals at USPA Nationals, professional coaches, and very experienced fun jumpers.... and the new guy has NO idea who these folks are. Regarding any concerns you may have about canopy traffic "it is SO busy".... Typically even the very busy places have a large, low traffic, student/novice landing area. The biggest variable isn't the DZs (all listed so far are more than sufficient for your needs). The biggest variable is YOU! Most important is your ability to build relationships, ask questions, listen well, and be a pleasant person who people want to spend time and energy with. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Does the price include slots? Including slots would be unusual. The econmic "worth" of the course is ...... whatever you are willing to pay. If it is a USPA couse there is supposed to be one evaluator per 3 candidates. In which case, the examiner is NOT taking the $2800 home. BTW....Complaining about a lack of responses after 22 minutes late at night suggests that you may not be well suited to the role of coach. Being an effective coach requires both patience and a focus on the CLIENT, not a focus on YOU. Good Luck The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Unfortunately, your profile is empty. Thus we don't know how much expereince you have, or where you are. If you provide that info, I think that people will be able to help you better. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Beware of jumping with other low-time jumpers. Jump with experienced folks....it makes for better learning experiences. In addition to the good advice about SLOWING DOWN....LOOK AT THE HORIZION while pulling! The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

I've never been in a cutaway situation... But I can't imagine that when the time comes I would be worried about whether or not I recover the main. That just doesn't seem like it would, or should be, a priority at that moment. Hmm... If you had lots of altitude and a canopy overhead (albeit not landable canopy) this might be totally reasonable. Certianly if the canopy were spinnging violently, riding it could bring the risk of incapacitation due to G-forces, and cutting away immediately would be prudent. I once had a stable but unlandable canopy on a Hop & Pop from ~4500 feet. I flew it to the DZ and spiraled down to limit the opportunity for the canopy to fly far away. Even so.... the canopy flew more than a mile from where I cutaway. If this jumper had cutaway immediately (above 10,000 ft AGL per the jumper's written description of the incident)..... the risk of losing the canopy would be VERY great. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

It is not uncommon to hear older jumpers say something about new jumpers "not knowing how to spot" or "not knowing gear". I believe that in many (but not all) cases this may due to inherent conflict of interest during some phases of skydiving instruction. If packing a main is taught by people who make their living by packing mains for sport jumpers.... it is not in their best interest to train new jumpers to be good packers! It is in their best interest to train the new jumper only well enough to squeak through their A-license P-card, and then rely on the packers for the rest of their career. If spotting is taught by the jump pilot, it is not in his best interest to teach jumpers to be good spotters. It is far better for him to train them so poorly that, after they get their P-card initialed, they rely 100% on his "exit" cue. That makes for FAR less grief for the pilot than would be the case with the jumper looking out the door and sometimes disagreeing with the pilot's selected spot. Let me be VERY clear. I believe that these conflicts of interest are usually SUB-conscious. I don't think that many packers or pilots begin this instruction with the overt intent to screw the new jumper... but the these conflicts of interest can be influencing their behavior nonetheless. Thoughts? The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Hmmm gotta wonder if velcro like is on a static line pilot chute assist would be of help to this guy... The trick would be to get the pieces of velcro (IN SHEAR) the right size to provide the desired the release threshold. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Interesting. Can you prove that assertion? The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Sit fly can track you down jump run, under previously exited 4-way belly fliers? Shouldn't she be faster falling then belly team? And much less drifted too? My 4-way belly team was first to exit, followed by the novice sit flyer. Yes, sit fly can generate enough horizontal movement to slide into another group's air space. Yes, she fell faster. Which is why she was under me despite exiting after me. I suspect that she left inadequate exit separation PLUS having lots of horizontal movement. I suspect that wind drift had little to do with it. I don't remember there being much wind that day. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

#2 is a non-solution. I have a friend who did that and sniveled through the other canopy. It was only luck that there was no body-body collision. TRACK AWAY! The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

Try this for an answer: http://forum.altimaster.com/content.php?176-contact The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

For the low timers, there is another way to get into this situation. Rather than conflict between jumpers in the SAME group... there can be conflict between jumpers in DIFFERENT groups. EXIT SEPARATION MATTERS!!! When I looked down and saw the distressing image of a canopy blossoming below me, it was due to a novice sitflyer who slid down jump run under my 4-way belly team. I kicked myself about it later because I had a bad feeling about her in the plane before exit. She was new to our DZ and obviously a low timer. Based on that experience I am now MUCH more curious about what other groups are doing. I frequently ask low-time solo freeflyers what they are doing and am told "I am just practicing my sit flying." Far too often these jumpers don't appreciate the challenges of falling straight down in a sit when solo, nor the need to orient themselves such that any sliding is ACROSS jump run rather than up or down jump run. I remember the color of her canopy vividly! I will take that image to my grave. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

It is ENTIRELY about performance. If you can pack well, and keep me on schedule, I would be willing to have you pack for me. If you screw things up, make me late, wander off when I need you, make excuses, and other such noise... my business will go elsewhere. The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!