Donna

I'm just hoping my husband is as nice as Merrick and waits for me before sending in for his B!! pssssssst... Pammi... what did you offer him anyway? Skies and fluffies, D

Course it matters! My number (A37295) is one before my husband's (37296) and that made me very happy!

Yup!! And people at our DZ always try to get Gary to sign their logbooks on all jumps ending in 69!

Just an update. I tried e-mailing skykat and got a reply back in a few minutes. They are business as usual and just having a temporary problem with their webpage company that they hope to have settled soon. Blue 1111, D

When I bought my rig in December I paid $1000 for the CYPRES. My husband ordered gear in March and while waiting for it, CYPRES prices went down and even though he had already put the order in, Skykat reduced his price. I think he ended up paying around $850 but I'm not sure as the whole rig is lumped together on the invoice. Like Matt said, if you buy your rig or even part of it at the same time it is usually cheaper. My husband only got his rig a few weeks ago and has been on the phone with Skykat so I bet the website was just an overlook. You could try e-mailing them at info@skykat.com (hopefully that still works) or try calling them at 910-875-7231. Blue 1111, D

Sounds good to me! Thanks Sangiro! I was just concerned because the student put down that AADs are required and they definitely aren't. He probably is just thinking in terms of students and doesn't know more than that yet. I just didn't want people getting the wrong idea. Thanks! Blue 1111, D

I don't think just anyone should be able to list a dropzone. It should be someone who works at the DZ. I say this because our DZ (Jumptown in MA) now has 2 listings and the second one was put in by a student with 3 jumps and has wrong information plus it is confusing with 2 listings for the same DZ. How can you get a listing removed? Blue 1111, D

Sure. I don't have them copyrighted.

Awwww Ben. That is so sweet of you. Thanks! Ummmm did they ever come up with a nickname for you? And Tiger? That was the point!

What a wonderful post, Mouth. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. My deepest sympathies. Blue 1111, D

I can't believe it! Same exact day I made my last jump. Seems like forever ago. I hurt my back on that one and then we had the worst winter here in the NorthEast and just when I was getting ready to start again (April 1), with new gear and all, I tore the ligaments in my knee. I go to the doctor next Thursday and I'm crossing my fingers for good news. If my knee hasn't healed good enough I still may need surgery and that will pretty much take me out for the rest of this season. If that happens I just may jump out of a plane with NO parachute! As for the other... Saturday night.

Just to expand on the "accident" meaning by the FAA. The following is from the definitions section of NTSB Section 830 - which is used by the FAA for accident/incident reports. "Aircraft accident" means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage. "Incident" means an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations. So accident does not mean that no one was found at fault. It is just a category the FAA uses. My heart goes out to Michelle and her family and all her friends. My hats off to the camera person who tried to help. Blue 1111, D

Great pictures, Arthur! Thanks for sharing. My favorite was the sky. Blue 1111, D

Hey JT - The study guide I have is basically just certain parts of the SIMS, occasionally paraphrased. It's only 4 pages long so I'm typing it out for you and will e-mail it. I type with one finger (but a fast one!) so I'm working on it in between reading posts on here but I'll get it sent out to you tonight. If you know everything on these pages you should do well enough to pass. I think they pretty much just took the sections that pertain to each answer on the test. I'll send it to you too, Pammi. If anyone else wants it just let me know. Good luck! Blue 1111, D

I love Lenny Kravitz and have 'Fly away' on my AFF I video. I'm afraid to tell you guys what I'm listening to.... you'll think I'm old and boring probably. I've been listening to some Bruce Springsteen, Buffett (while I grumble about not getting tickets to his Labor Day weekend show), Tom Petty (while smiling about getting tickets... for some reason there were plenty available

I agree to make sure you have a current copy of the SIMS and specifically study the sections it tells you you need to know for the A. Make sure the test you are taking is current too, as I got one wrong on my exam, that I really had right as the rules had recently changed. Don't over think the questions. If you know the material in the sections noted you should do ok but if you think you need more help, Jan Meyer has a study guide you can buy. Click here. Do you remember any that you had trouble with? Maybe we could all help you. All I remember is one of mine was about FAA rules and was about pilots and seatbelts etc and the answer was all of the above. (I got it wrong so that's why it sticks in my mind) So remember to read over the FAA rules they suggest knowing. Also I have a little study guide that my friend got from her DZ that I'd be happy to send to you. It's from last year so a few things may have changed but I thought it was helpful. Let me know. Good luck! Blue 1111, D

If anyone hasn't read Dick's site yet, you should definitely check it out. Very interesting! Blue 1111, D

OK Here's mine. Keep posting your sites everyone because I love reading them. Blue 1111, D

Hey Lisa - I didn't know you weren't jumping because of an injury. Boy can I relate to that. I injured my back from a tree landing late last fall and couldn't jump and was so looking forward to starting again this spring and ended up wrecking my knee while painting at the DZ on clean up weekend! Arghhhhhh! So I can really relate. It sucks! Hopefully in another month I'll be back jumping. Hope you will be jumping again soon too! Chris - Welcome to dz.com! How long are you out on the boat for? Good luck trying to stay sane (if you were lucky enough to begin with!

Isn't that such a great feeling?!?!? Congrats, Jay! Have fun jumping it! Blue 1111, D

LOL Andrea! I thought the same thing about his name. I'm going... now how many u's and how many r's??? Jack is much easier. Hope those winds die down for you, Jack!! Let us know how your next jump goes and your girlfriend's too! Hope you get better weather than us. They are calling for a 3 day rainy weekend here. Yuck! Blue 1111, D

Hehehehehe I'm rolling here!!! Great answer, PLF!!! I love it!! I might have to steal it sometime! Blue 1111, D

I had the video 'Breakaway' before I started AFF. They show both the one hand on each and the two hand on each method and I asked my DZ which one they taught so I knew which one to practice. They teach the two hand on each handle method so I practiced the "Look red, reach red, look silver, pull red, reach silver, pull silver,". Months later when I got to AFF clas they used left and right instead but I've always had trouble with knowing left and right quickly... kind of dyslexic there or something so I asked if I could just go with red and silver instead. This is so drilled into my head that I don't feel comfortable changing it now. On Safety Day we practiced in the harness and simulated hard cutaways. One very experienced skydiver who was adamant about one hand on each method ended up pulling in the wrong order when he did the hard pull drill. I'm not saying not to use that method... just something to be aware of. My husband, in fact, has switched over to the one hand on each method. He is much stronger than I am and isn't worried about a hard pull. I think it doesn't matter which method you use as long as you have a set plan for emergencies and practice your procedures all the time and are aware of any drawbacks. It is a good thing to check your handles after deployment so you can check where they are. One new thing I've added is to be really pushing my hips out the whole time. At our Safety Day this was really stressed by one of our long term jumpers who has had quite a few cutaways in his 26 years of jumping. We were also taught to throw our handles away but after recently getting my own gear and seeing how much those handles cost I'm hoping I might hang onto them anyway now!

I had a fun time too! (The little while I was there.) I will try to remember earlier next time. Thanks Sangiro!! Blue 1111, D

I've always had flying dreams but now I fly in a track and hover in the box position. Blue 1111, D