ciscobird

Would be even funnier if somebody dropped the "skydiver" at the very last minute!

A cheapo! But on a serious note, if he had turned it off and went in his wife would have a strong case.

Alright, I'll get in touch with him. Thanks!

Hello, I have my own suit (Classic) and I'm hoping to start doing wingsuit dives soon but will not do anything until I get a reputable instruction. I'm based in Houston (SDH) but am willing to travel within the state. Is Texas Wingsuit Academy still active? I would appreciate any information, thank you.

Any chance you have an extra copy? Wish I had thought of going on dz.com forum and ask... Oh well, anybody else if you have a copy you wanna find a good home for, please let me know! Thanks!

Used to jump in Talon Flexon with pull-out. Had a similar incident to what MrHxxx posted on the other forum. Copying and pasting what he said: "make sure the bridle is routed properly! the grommet the smaller bridle (with the pin) feeds through on the larger bridle should not be under anything other than one side flap. I created some hell-atious hardpulls for myself when I first transitioned and was packing this part of the bridle under the bottom and side flaps." Since I was a newbie and didn't know what I was doing (yeah, luck was on my side back then...) this happened to me... twice... I had to use both hands to pull the handle clear. So be sure to watch where and how you route the bridle around and through flaps. Also, on some dives I had hesitation, probably because I didn't pull the PC far enough. If you get the pull-out rig, be sure to have somebody explain how to pack and route everything correctly before you pack for yourself.

+1

After screwing up a dive (went below and corked the base apart) and feeling so terrible about ruining a dive for everybody, I was thinking how I could make it up to the guys… Of course I know it happens to everybody. I just wanted to know what you usually do (when you first started out and after making 1000+ dives). What are your thoughts on the matter? What is the custom or norm at your dropzones? Thanks!

Back in summer of 08 on a quick road trip I was able to jump at both dropzones plus do a bit of tunnel flying at Perris all in one day! I arrived at Elsinore around 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. I was able to get on a small load (a couple of tandems plus a student soloing) launching (felt like it) at 2ish. After packing, I sped to Perris (took a wrong turn or two trying to find the place). Got to make a dive around 4. I second on what they said about signing waivers. Not only do you have to copy word for word on the last page they have to film you saying the passage out load on their video camera. It's done at both dropzones. Perris was a bit confusing, I had to ask twice where the office for signing papers was at (it's all the way to the back). After packing up, I did 5 minutes of tunnel flying sometimes between 5:30-6. Of course I only jumped once at each dropzone so I'm sure you would want to jump more than once at either dz. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you will enjoy yourself anyway! Be safe and have fun!

Wow! I never knew that! Kudos to both of you! When I first jumped at Skydive Temple, I thought Cheri was an old-timer with 25+ years and thousands of jumps under her belt. I didn't find out until much later. Couldn't help but feel inspired!

Well, you have a point there. I might be mistaken but I think there's a difference between placing ZP (what my main is made out of) and non-ZP (reserve) materials under tension. The latter feels more like silk while the former feels and looks like dried & crumbled plastic bag. Lastly, it's more of personal choice. As long as I can help it, I prefer to leave it unpacked. I would do the same with the reserve except I'm not allowed to. Edited to add the following: A friend left his packed rig in the trunk of his car for a week. When he did a rig check in preparation, he noticed that the reserve seal was broken and the pin was barely still under the loop. It was determined that leaving the rig in his hot car caused the reserve to swell and contract on each day, resulting in the pin being pulled out a bit each time. So try not to leave the rig in a vehicle, especially on hot days. It's bad for the nylon as well.

Since my home dz has minimal packing area (always filled with people, especially tandem whuffos mingling around) I prefer packing outside. I use a couple of heavy welding canvas (cheap from Harbor Freight) big enough to lay my main on the ground. I place towels both under and on top of the rig to keep it out of dirt and sun. Fellow skydivers look at me like I'm crazy or dumb for packing outside, especially on hot days. I prefer that very much to dealing with the crowd inside. I try to pack close or next to my vehicle and/or a large bush to minimize the wind and sunlight. At end of day I leave it unpacked in a plastic bin with rest of stuff (altimeter, helmet, etc). The idea of having the packed main and rig held under tension, especially with the closing loop closed for a week or longer between dives, really bothers me. I like to think that leaving the main unpacked in the bin helps it last longer. Also, I love the smell of sweet nylon every Saturday morning when I open the lid. You do whatever you want to as long as you keep the main away from solvents and anything not related to skydiving. Treat the chute and rig with respect and they will last longer. When packing, be sure to check lines and untwist steering lines before the first dive of day.

One more thing... Don't let yourself be pressured into buying a rig with a main that's too small for your ability. That happened to me, I'm still "paying" for the decision... Before getting my rig, I was using a rental with a 190 main. I was persuaded into getting a rig with a 160 main. It took me a hundred of jumps to regain the confidence in my landing ability (after alot of baseball-type sliding on landings). Not only that, the rig was just tad too small for the 160 main so it was extremely frustrating to pack, especially for somebody with little experience. Get a rig that's packing-friendly and a correct loading main. If you keep it up, in no time you will know what you like and get whatever you want.

Strongly recommend you buy used equipment first... If you're comfortable asking around, try borrowing. That way you can figure out what works for you before making any commitments. Also, it wouldn't bother as much if you damage or spoil your rig on less-than-perfect landings on not-so-ideal days (wet grass/mud). No offense but a newbie is bound to tear or add strain somewhere... I know because I have some to show for it! Still using secondhand stuff... Let's see what I have done... Torn a suit... Torn a couple of holes in my main due to a combination of bad packing and hard opening... Added assortment of odd-colored strains to my bright-colored rig... Put alot of scratches on my helmet... Torn a hole in my glove sliding on the pavement... Popped several stitches on my rig from sitting on black anti-skid panel on floor in the plane... Stretched cordura around grommets trying to close on a poorly packed main. I'm sure I'm not done yet! Hoping for a day that I'll be confident enough to buy brand new... I'm sure somebody has a suit hanging somewhere you could borrow or check out the classifieds here on dz.com good luck!

I wonder how often does this happen?

That's irrelevant whether I worked in manifest or not. I can see and understand how it can be, hectic and confusing, especially stressful. No different from working somewhere else (restaurant/waiting, front office at doctor's office, etc.). The manifest is usually the first point of business contact for people interested in patronizing their dropzone. Dropzones stand to lose alot if customers are not given proper treatment/respect. When people are hired specifically to work with people, they are supposed to have better-than-decent people-skill and understanding of relationship between business and customers. I can understand losing temper or patience with a stubborn/irrational customer but there's no need to extend the attitude to next unsuspecting customer or the same customer at a later time. Just take a look at reviews here on dropzone.com for dropzones, I'm sure you will see some compliants about how they are treated by people in the manifest. It's not uncommon to encounter the attitude, "I don't care if you don't come back so I don't see the need to be kind to you, blah". This is not a blanket coverage of all people who work in manifest. Fortunately, I have encountered much more people who are hard working and glad to be where they are than those who are not. I can see problems emerging if a jumper or a worker at a DZ has been asked to fill in the spot temporarily. The person probably had not been given proper training beforehand. This is an incident waiting to happen if the person has undermined the demand of the job. Just my $0.02 worth. Take it or not, up to you!

Grouchy & sour people, especially pilots and guys/gals in the manifest. I can understand the pressure they're under, especially the pilots, but being cautious/safety-conscious and an a$$hole are 2 different things. Kudos to people in the manifest for putting up with alot of crap but not everybody is alike so it's unbecoming if they snap for at you for no reason just because of something that happened earlier in the manifest. Of course, there are always every type of people no matter where or what sports one dabs in. Skydiving is definitely a sport with many more friendly people than unfriendly ones.

I'm one of deaf guys Wendy worked with. Not gonna repeat anything that has been said here but would like to add a couple of things. Please try to write down or type out instead of relying too much on lip reading because it's common for a deaf individual to simply nod, nod, nod his head until you shut up even without understanding you completely, especially if he senses that you're getting frustrated. It's ok to lip read words that you both have already gone over but for new piece of information, nothing beats writing/typing, it's foolproof and you can use the written material to "protect" yourself in case anybody accuses anybody of any misunderstandings. I went through FJC twice, first time with Mike Turoff with Fred Goebels assisting. Fred, more or less, acted as an interpreter (despite the fact that he's deaf himself) relying on his own experience as a skydiver. After putting my training on hold for a couple of years, I had to take the course again, this time writing/typing/emailing back n forth with Wendy before the course. Since I was the only student in the class, we had no problem communicating via photos, diagrams, and hand gestures. When assisting with the landing portion: Be sure to position yourself in an ideal spot in the landing area because on my first landing I went beyond where the instructor was standing so my head was craning to look behind while I was trying to land-awkward, ended up landing on the runway pavement. Good luck with this deaf individual. Please keep in mind that everybody is different and try to be flexible! Make sure that he understands what you are trying to say WITHOUT putting any pressure on him.

Yes, we jump at Skydive Temple. Brian is looking for a rig to buy so if anybody knows of someone wanting to sell a complete rig, please let Brian (Norical66) know. Thanks!

Hello to all concerned, Just wanted to introduce a fellow deaf skydiver. His dropzone sn is norcali66 but he's Brian W. from Waco, TX. He was present at 2007 DWR and spoke with several of you. He completed his training last weekend at Skydive Temple (in Salado) so he's ready to solo. Wish him good luck!

I won't be able to join you all until Saturday morning. What time should I be there? What does the schedule for Saturday look like?

Count me in... Jon Leach I will do my best....

I'm new to the sport but I had the privilege of jumping with Dave at Skydive Temple a couple of months ago. I was "recruited" into a 8-way, which included Dave. I was supposed to be the first person in the group to dock with Dave. Being 5-8 tall myself, I remember looking up to him while standing next to him when doing dirt dive. Despite the fact that I'm deaf myself, from the look on Dave and his mannerism, I suspected he was the quiet type. The dive was successful and uneventful. It was not until after debriefing that someone informed me that the dive qualified me for a SCR award. It was a humbling experience. Upon leaving for the day, I made sure to seek Dave out and thank him for jumping with me. He was graceful and smiled a bit when I shook his giant hand. So yeah, he was a gentle and quiet giant. Thanks Dave.

Hiya, here I am! What's up?