KathleenL

I will jump on a load with you Dave. As long as I know what you are going to do I feel safe. And I will stay above you so I can watch from the sky.

I always let manifest know, and the folks on the load too. I don't think you can go wrong by communicating.

Thanks, I am only slightly intimidated. Mostly because I was on the LZ and witnessed the canopy collision between Danny and Bob in Dublin. I was still on student status then and almost never got back into a plane. But my home DZ, skydive the Farm, had a huge contingent there and I did get back in the plane with my coach and one of my AFF instructors. Actually, all of the deaths and injuries that I have witnessed have happened to very experienced, I mean thousands of jumps, jumpers. I am glad that the experienced jumpers at my DZ don't treat us low timers like we are a big pain the the a$$. They take us under their wings and teach us to be safe and have fun. Our DZO is awesome at making sure that all experience levels are well taken care of. And all of the regular jumpers there have no problems getting along. Visitors are astounded at the atmosphere at my home DZ. Hey if ya'll are every on the east coast stop by Skydive the Farm. I am usually there every weekend.

There was not any rule in Perris about pulling at 3000 or lower. The only rule posted was to let manifest know so that exit order would be correct. I thought that was a good rule and we did let everyone know.

Thanks for the insite about pulling high. We actually pulled between 3000 and 3500. The guys wanted us to go lower than that but we read the SIM and it said at our level to pull between those levels. Is that too high?

Hey guys, I just came back from the Perris boogie and had no problem landing there. Additionally, I don't have a problem with landing at my home DZ or any of the DZ's I visit. The reason is that at 37 jumps I took Scott Miller's canopy course. He instructed my class (all girls by the way) in canopy control, evasive manuvers and landing pattern. Because of that class I put as much attention into my landing pattern as I do my RW freefall. I speak to everyone on my load to find out what they are going to do and I let them know what I am going to do. I actually had some freeflyers on one of my loads in Perris complain because our RW 6 way wanted to break and track off at 5,000. They started in on us about not pulling high. There were three of us with 100 or less jumps on this formation. I told them that we were going to track for a count of 10 and clear and pull. Again I got "don't pull above 3,000". I informed them all that we had three low time jumpers and that once we tracked away they would pull. They then said that they would rather us pull higher to have time to react if something happened to our canopy. I am happy to report that my new freeflyer friends were then cooperative, gave us good seperation on jump run and kept an extra eagle eye out for us girls. Thanks to all the guys on our load. I mean really we can not be expected to perform at the same experience level as people with 1500 jumps. We in turn flew in breaks for awhile to let them get to the ground first to do their swooping by the pond and proceeded with the standard landing pattern in the student area. So all that said. Communitcation and education IMO are the key.

I will be at the boogie. I promise to do my best to be safe. By the way. I witnessed two boogie fatalities and both of them were very experienced jumpers. Thousands of jumps each.

The meet started out well. We had gift bags for all participants full of goodies and one of our new GSL tee shirts. The GSL was able to get 5 sponsors this year. All of the sponsors logos are on the back of the shirt. We were able to get in two rounds before the weather came in. We finished two more rounds on Sunday. The GSL website is down right now being worked on but all scores are posted on the NSL website. The final meet in in September at Skydive the Farm in Rockmart. We hope to have six or more teams competing at that meet. Additionally, the GSL has tried to incorporate swooping and VRW competitions into the meets as well. The GSL put on a skills camp during the spring for swooping, VRW and RW. I went to the RW camp and there were just over 20 participants. We had national champion and world class coaches teaching and jumping with us. It was great. The GSL is all about skydivers and always looking for new members so put the word out for us. Blue Skies

Hello Billy this is Kathleen. I am not sure about a poker game as I will be having a DJ, open bar and food for the wedding. Maybe you can get up a poker game on the side of the dance floor.

The very first piece of equipment I bought was a full face oxygen helmet. I figure that the plastica surgeon would charge to high a fee to put my face back together should I have a collision or bad landing. The oxygen is great and the face shield flips up. I have anti fog stuff on it and it works great.

What you call negative turns we call flat turns. Flat turns are a very underrated but much needed skill. I am glad that you already know them.

The Georgia Skyleague will be having meet number 2 at Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston GA on July 14th. All four way teams are invited to compete. If you would like to compete and you don't have a team pick up teams will be organized the day of the meet. We would like to have a head count for the meet post here is you can attend.

You should look at your wing loading not canopy size. I currently jump an alpha 165 but I only wing load it at .8. Take a canopy course. Don't downsize until you can fly your canopy. If you can't land what you have downwind without getting hurt then you are not ready to downsize. Look up Scott Miller's course on the Freedom of Flight website. It will save your life.

After reading this thread I think everyone here should hear from a low time jumper about this issue. I was at Dublin and witnessed Danny and Bobs collision. I was with my coach and on jump #12 when it happened. I almost never got back into a plane. Keep this in mind when you read the rest of this post. I was never taught anything about canopy control in AFF just the basic pattern and flairing. I took it upon myself to find a canopy control course. I inherently knew that there had to be more than a left hand pattern into the wind and flairing. Wow was I right. I took Scott Millers canopy course and have to say that in my opinion that course should be mandatory for everyone to get a licence. You learn control and even better how to actually plan your landing pattern. Including vertical and horizontal seperation. I am not sure if changing the BSR's will help collisions. But I know that education will. I almost had a collision two weeks ago at my home DZ from a visiting jumper who flew the wrong pattern we were both slower canopy jumpers. Everyone is taught to turn to the right to avoid collision. I went into brakes and flat turned right creating vertical and horizontal seperation and avoided the collision at 300 ft agl. Thank you Scott for teaching me something that can save my life. When I get on a load I ask everyone on the plane what they are doing not just on the jump but what they plan on doing as far as landing. Plan the dive, dive the plan that includes the landing pattern etc. I personally have no problem with swoopers because I know how many are on my load, I tell them, (if they don't already know) what my canopy looks like and to not swoop near me AND I hang up in the air till I see them land. Then I will land in the normal pattern. So teach all the canopy control that you can to new and low time jumpers. It might save YOUR life if us low timers know how to fly our canopies. Lastly, nothing is going to control hotshots out there doing hp landings in a crowd. But if you are one of those I will know it if you are on my load and I will let you go screaming down to the earth before me. And if for some reason you are behind me and you swoop near me after I have said on the plane not to. You and I will have a come to Jesus meeting when I get to the ground I promise.

Hi Mark, I jump at the farm regularly. We had a great time this weekend with the boogie. I will try to find you and say hi next weekend. Keep jumping! Say hi if you see me with the RW crowd. Blue Skies, Kathleen Check out my kiss pass pic on the wall over the gear store door.

Hi Gary, Here is my advice. Don't listen to any of us here. The most important thing that you need to know about any canopy is how to fly it. You do not need any more speed at all if you don't have the skills to fly what you have now. I highly recomend that take the Scott Miller course thru Freedom of Flight. Scott is on the road now with the Skyfest Training Tour. I have taken his Essensials course and will take the advanced course soon. Learn all the flying skills that you can on the huge forgiving canopy that you have. If you take Scott's course, when you do downsized you will have the training and skill to (as Scott says) dial in your new canopy. Believe me once you stall your canopy when you are at 4 grand and see the end cells touch and the entire canopy balls up into a big ball of crap and you recover from it (the way Scott teaches you) you will have the confidence you need to start to maybe think about downsizing. Blue Skies, Kathleen

What is this impending success? Are you serious. Did you find a girl in Ohio?

Wow, just posting here that and telling your story is a huge leap in the right direction. You have identified that you need help. Right now you only need to take responsiblity for you. Everyone else is right that your girlfriend is responsible for herself. This works for me in alot of situations. 1. Live each day in the now. Make the most of each moment of that day. Be happy for the great things that are happening right now. (Like you are getting help.) 2. Only try to change the things that You have control over like yourself. It is a futile battle for you to try to change your girlfriend only she can do that. Those two things sound really simple but it is some times hard to do. All the best to you. kathleen

Thanks I check out the bonfire.

Hi Everyone, Is anyone jumping in Georgia? It would be great to hook up with some other "newbies" in the sport.

Go to www.chutingstar.com. My rigger has a great article on there about AAD's he also lists his prices which are below what you asked for. I just bought a new Cypress 2 from him. Blue Skies, Kathleen

Hi Roy49, Your hooked. I bet you will not stop thinking about skydiving for a long time. I know that everytime the sky is blue I am looking up at it wanting to be there. Have fun and stay safe. Kathleenl

Hi and Welcome to the sport and the forums. Have you done your AFF training yet? You might want to get a few hundred jumps under your belt before you try BASE. Good Luck with med school. Kathleen

Welcome! I am sure that you will finish up your AFF soon. I hope you got to go to the boogie. I was probably super fun. I was at home with a terrible head cold. No jumping for me this weekend. I did my AFF at the Farm too. I usually go every weekend so maybe I will see you out there? Just ask around for Kathleen. They all know me there.

Hi Everyone, I think I have a team all put together for myself. However, the Georgia Skyleague is getting the roster formed for their season. If anyone is interested in participating in the GSL meets or need to form a team at your experience level you should email anthonystone5@comcast.net or mike@chutingstar.com. They are handling organizing the GSL meets this year. Blue Skies, Kathleen