linebckr83

Like others have said, skydivers come from all walks of life. I tend to be the party time that is up at 4am during boogies drinking and causing trouble. Others drive to their hotel at 8pm and relax and go to bed early. Luckily there are so many types of people that you are bound to find someone you really connect with. From my experience, the "just wanna freefall, no parachute ride, no skydiving friends or memories, just freefall" guys are the ones who usually don't make it past student status, or soon quit after getting their license. Solo jumps get boring really fast. Theres a saying: "People come to experience a skydive, but stay for the people". I cringe when people talk about the "parachute ride" as a boring, unnecessary time-wasting activity just to get to the ground. The #1 cause of fatalities is human error under a fully functional parachute, generally from this mentality which leads to having no desire to learn to properly fly and land a canopy. If you really dislike people that much, this might not be an activity best suited for you. It is a conversation-heavy activity, where your personal space will often be intruded. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Some really good points you made there. Out of curiosity, what aircraft do you have out there? Is it a busy dropzone, or more of the 182 type? I know the majority of my fatigue comes from crawling around a 182 with a 50lb rig and a student. And the rest comes from doing all the "staff" stuff that some TI's at bigger dropzones don't usually have to do since there are other people hired to do it. So like the tandem packers out here, I basically don't stop moving from sunrise to sunset. Can we just call it a washout? In your defense, even though a big (read fat) person is harder to deal with in every aspect of the jump, from the climb to landing, I have always felt that it is a small price to pay to get the opportunity to take the cute 100lb blonde girl who keeps shooting me a look That makes the big ones worth it. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Same way out here. Land, nice long walk back to the hangar due to airport construction preventing a close landing, drop the rig and immediately start on the next groups paperwork/training, go edit videos, finish up with the prior group, head to the plane. The only time I do sit is in the plane, but being a 182 and being 6'2'' and Martin at 6'7" and 2 students its never a really comfortable ride up. I remember the days packing tandems all day. It sucked too I remember. But besides my fingertips I never really hurt anywhere and had enough energy to go out on the town later. Maybe I'm just getting older but after a day of tandem jumps I am hurting all over, especially the legs, and want nothing more than to go to bed. The pay is definitely better upacking tandem rigs as opposed to packing them though! In all seriousness, I'm sure it has a lot to do with someone's physical level and experience doing either job. I doubt the OP wanted to read a debate on who works harder though. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

You said you have a thousand tandem pack jobs right? I have close to 3 times that, all before I became a TI. I know what its like to pack tandem rigs all day. I also know what its like to jump with tandem students all day. The most I've done is 10 tandems in a day, and I can assure you that on a hot humid day like it usually is here, that is considerably more work than packing parachutes. 15 would be even worse. Try not to make comparisons when you haven't experienced both sides. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Care to explain? I think anytime someone leaves an aircraft, deploys a parachute, and flies it to the ground to prevent death, it's called a skydive. I did 2 tandems before any solo jumps, and a couple more while getting my tandem rating. I never felt like it was gay. And it doesn't cross my mind as a TI either (unless my male student is gay, but they are always super professional about it). Like I said, that is usually the case. I haven't botched a tandem landing or hurt anyone yet (although there were cases on gusty days I was sure it was gonna happen), but I bet that day is coming if I stick with it. And I also bet that everyone in those YouTube videos has landed hard more than a few times. It happens. Unfortunately, if you jumped a different day, with a different instructor, or simply sooner or later in the day than you did, this injury probably wouldn't have happened and none of this would be a concern to you. If you jump solo the landings will most likely be pretty rough until you learn the sight picture and timing to correctly flare. To compensate for this you'll learn to PLF to help prevent injury until you get better at it. Then, once you're really good at it, you might take up swooping and a whole new world of botched landings and faceplants will be open to you "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I don't expect anything extra for taking a big 220lb guy. But after you try crawling around a 182 with someone of that size, you'll understand why I definitely don't turn down the extra money. And generally, a mediocre sized female is a little cuter than a big dude so I don't expect extra To the OP, I'd put money down that if you did another tandem jump, your landing would be considerably nicer. Sometimes this kind of thing happens, but usually not. Tandem landings are a very dynamic process, and sometimes an error in judgement occurs. In all honesty, even if you couldn't pick your feet up enough, he should have the experience and knowledge to deal with it. You'd be surprised how often a tandem student doesn't raise their feet as much as I'd like. It's not really fair to compare it to the "soft tiptoe landings" of experienced jumpers, which IMO are much easier. Spend some time and watch the solo students landing, and you'll see it is a little harder to do correctly when you're first learning. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

In all fairness, I'd say new grad EE salary has increased closer to 5-6x. I don't know of any new grad engineer making that much, and I'm an AE making 60k which is on the higher side for engineering. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

My cousin was killed by obesity because he never did he chores on his family's farm. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

What ever happened to good ol common sense? My "that poor kid" sympathy went out the window when I read those tweets of his. I can't think of any well-mannered 17 yr olds that talk like that and punch bus drivers (allegedly). I'm in no way racist, I have many role models of all kinds of races. But being a respectable black man and a "gangsta thug thats gonna kill all those bitches" are a worlds difference. Has anyone mentioned any prior confrontations between the two? It sounds like Zimmerman was pretty active in trying to police his neighborhood. Did Martin live in that neighborhood so that they might have ran into eachother on several occasions and built up a high-tension relationship, or were they total strangers? Like I said im not racist in any way. But it only takes a little common sense to see why a guy who is overly paranoid about protecting his neighborhood zeros in on a kid who projects himself publicly like Martin did. Of course that doesn't mean he could kill him, thats not what I'm saying. If a sweet old lady was wondering down the road at the same time, is it "racial profiling" to suspect someone dressed and acting like a gangster is more probable to cause trouble? No, thats just common sense. Same goes for a white kid dressed and acting like a gangster. People profile all the time whether they mean to or not. Its never bothered me. I'm 24, it wasn't long ago that i was getting followed around in nice stores because "young people are shop-lifters." I'm not a thief, Ive never stolen anything and I have a clean record, but did I get butt hurt when I was suspected of it? Nope I took it as someone using their head and realizing I'm more likely to do it than the 12 yr old down the isle trying on new hannah montana shoes. Maybe he followed him because of this profiling, maybe they had a long past. We don't know. Either way they pissed eachother off and 1 of them wound up dead. Tragic and unnecessary. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I used to chase tandems and it was a lot of fun, especially when it was someone you know. They take some flying talent but it can be done relatively safely if the right measures are taken. That said, a few months ago I took an experienced jumper's girlfriend on her first tandem. He asked to go along, said he had done it before a few times out in Deland, and knew where to NOT be (cone of death above and below, etc). I forgot what he said his jump numbers were. You can imagine where this is going. Right before the door opens, I remind him where not to be. He hung from the strut as we exited. Sure enough, we get belly to earth and i look straight up from me and there he is, about 20 feet straight fucking up I made it very obvious to get the hell out of the way, once he was good and clear, the drogue came out uneventfully. It was about 5 seconds total, but it feels like forever in that situation. I'm just glad I looked before blindly tossing it. Now, no one goes with me unless I know who they are, am 100% confident in their abilities by seeing them fly first hand on several occasions, and they have prior experience in chasing a tandem. That shit's not a joke. So for now, just get your jump numbers and belly skills up. Be patient with it, the time will come. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

My most common one is deploying and seeing a 10 sqft canopy above. Of course it hauls ass and I make a long 10ft deep trench with me feet as I land. That or a reserve that NEVER seems to open completely. Once I hit I get up and laugh about how much that sucked. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

After 100 odd tandems? Is there a certain amount of tandems required before I'm allowed to not scream and yell after the 8th one of the day? Maybe I came across sounding like its a common thing for me. I didn't mean that, but I am aware of the feeling yes. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

First few hundred jumps were on an analog. When I got my neptune I was the opposite at first. I would stare at the numbers and "convert" them to a needle position on an analog. Not too many jumps later it became a quick glance. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Great! Keep it up! There's always something to learn about your canopy, keep looking for it. As you move on, keep these things in mind and practice them on occasion. Things like braked turns and flare turns WILL save you some trouble one day. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I like Steveo's answer. I'm new to it, got my rating a year ago to the date almost, and have done around 100 tandems in that time. During my student jumps I remember thinking about how someday I wanted to be a tandem instructor because I knew how I looked up to my tandem instructors. They were the coolest, calmest, nicest guys and got to do something this awesome all the time. Talk about a role model. Now I try to remember that with every jump. Doing alot of them in a day can get a little boring, and that boredom starts to show. Then all of a sudden they are in a ball and you're on your back. Just like dave said, it takes an amazing amount of focus all the time, because as soon as you sit back, something weird happens. So the challenge to be a high quality person as well as instructor each and every jump is really addictive. My sport landings have gotten better too. It's easy, after a few hundred jumps on the same wing, to get complacent when landing. I don't think I've had 2 identical tandem landings yet, so all the attention has to be there. I love that. The energy from most first timers is simply amazing. It reminds me of my first time, and I get just as excited as they are. You just helped them do something they will never forget, and they will never forget you. Most of the time I land with the same adrenaline rush as after nailing a good swoop. Sure I wasn't going fast or playing chicken with the ground, really the opposite, but it has it's own ways of making the juices flow. The money isn't necessary but it's nice too This sunday at couch freaks I took my girlfriend on a tandem for my 700th jump on a sunset skyvan. Easily one of the most memorable jumps I'll ever have! So in my opinion, the pros: The challenge of getting a total stranger's trust The challenge of flying someone else The challenge of flying someone else and handcam The challenge of landing different canopies/wingloadings The energy and excitement of almost all of them The memories and friends made with each jump The extra cash Cons: My first TI jump during the course was the scariest jump Ive ever had. You're so used to being in total control. Your space, your handles, your body, your parachute. All of a sudden there's a body in front of you hindering movement, around your handles, affecting your exit and flying, and then jabbering away after deployment while you try to figure out what the hell just happened. That all changes with experience though. Any of the challenges listed above, but they are more pros than cons. Sometimes I have to miss out on fun freeflys or great swoop weather. But that's the name of the game and it's worth it. It's a personal decision for everyone, but it's one I definitely wouldn't take back. Looking forward to the many more I have ahead! "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

That's some good stuff, and I sent it to our local skydiver email list. Good drills and info from beginner to advanced, and hopefully will get people asking questions. Now is the time. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Vector 3 M-Series Icarus Crossfire2 149 Wouldn't have it any other way "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I second that. Having packed tandems for over a year before getting my tandem rating helped me enormously in learning about the gear. Most students I see are learning to pack at jump 20, sometimes even later. Maybe promoting packing earlier will help general gear knowledge and trust....something that seems to be lacking more and more nowadays. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Got a new v348 in april. Originally had a Nitron 170 and pdr 160. A pretty good squeeze I thought. The sizing chart says it is sized for the 150 range, with room to go from 135 to 170. I doubt you're going to have much fun or luck getting a 9 cell 190 in there. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I put a few jumps on a XF2 at about that same wing loading, and I could tell it wasn't designed for that. The openings tended to be a little wild and it did not fly in turbulence well...2 of the reasons Icarus recommends a higher wing loading. Im on one now at 1.6, still towards the bottom end of the range, but it flies and opens MUCH better. As for the canopy transition, there is a huge difference is between the two. The Pilot is an awesome canopy, but the difference in control, turn aggressiveness, recovery not only in front riser dives but also in a toggle turn, and "twitchiness" are a decently sized hurdle in my opinion. As mentioned above, I agree that the safire 2 is a good stepping stone before going to such a tapered wing. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I just finished my last semester of aerospace engineering EVER! Time to celebrate before I have to hit the real world full time "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

The exact same for me, minus the speed Cypres and add an expert Cypres. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

I can't agree with that more. About 100 low and high hop n' pops now and I love it more every jump. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

On the UPT website, on the Skyhook page. There's a video at the top that explains where the idea came from and shows some test jumps and such. Towards the end of the video is the footage the OP is asking about. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52

Was it a crossfire 139 or a crossfire2 139 that you jumped? IMO the xf2 should have gotten a brand new name, as it is nothing like its predecessor, modded or not. "Are you coming to the party? Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!" Flying Hellfish #828 Dudist #52