wolfriverjoe

I'd say that was earning the tip. They both added the "extra touch that means so much". Making you feel a part of it, getting you thinking about trying it (although that's also a good way to increase business). Not every DZ or TI does that. FWIW, I got the "is it okay to tip?" question last Sat. Guy and his wife, anniversary, total surprise for her (his brother also went, she was told they were only going out to watch, didn't know either of them were scheduled). My response was the standard "You can if you want, don't have to, think about the pilot and packer too" thing - when he asked where/how to do it, I said leave it on the counter by manifest (very small DZ, no one around to steal it) When I looked later, there was $10. TI said to split it between packer and pilot. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Are you a commercial pilot? A private ticket isn't enough to fly jumpers. Also, flying jumpers is a different deal. Slow flight with shifting weight, open door, often flying at max gross and minimum fuel. It's a lot of fun, and yes, some DZs exchange jumpe credit for flying hours, but it isn't the same as any other kind of flying. Diverdriver has a great website for jump pilots. He has a link on his posts. Look in "incidents", he usually posts about aircraft incidents. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

In some (not all) states, making an audio recording of another person, even over the phone, and/or even in your own home, without that person's permission, is a criminal offense. I only know that it is legal to do that in Wisconsin. Just out of curiosity, what about surveillance camers (like on the outside of a house)? Other states have different laws. That's why I said several times - Follow the advice of your Lawyer "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

#1 Lawyer Lawyer Lawyer. #2 Document Document Document. Double check with Lawyer before following any of this. Start a diary/journal/log. Dates, times, places, things said. No alone meetings. Always have witnesses. Recording devices can be your friend. In Wisconsin I can legally record all incoming or outgoing phone calls without telling the other person. Putting a small recorder in a pocket. Putting a videocamera in your own house. To repeat, check with the Lawyer before doing any recording. True sociopaths are pretty rare. They are master maniputlators. But if you know it, and know what to look for, they can be spotted. Especially if they don't know they are being observed. I'm hesitant to ask this, but... Do you know her? Part of me wonders if he isn't inflating her behaviors to get sympathy. As in "I'm never going to get custody of my kids. She's a sociopath and is just going to tell lies..." and so on. And if she really is one, then this is exactly the response she wants. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

How about reaching to check handles when you put the backpack on?? First thing that happens is I check for my main handle. Every damn time!! "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You ever seen a grown man naked? Do you like gladiator movies? Have you ever been in a turkish prison ? It looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue And of course "We've got to get these people to a hospital"... "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

20something. I got really lucky and bought mine from a jumper at my DZ that was leaving the sport to go to school full time. The instructors and rigger at the club recommended it to me. I probably could have gotten a better deal by waiting and shopping around a bit, but it was a good match and I knew he was a good guy who needed the money (so I paid a bit more than I might have had to) "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Me too. I hung out with him and Greg from UPT for a while. VERY cool dude and seemed to be more interested in customer satisfaction than anything else. I got to play with the d30 material too. That stuff is unreal! "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

If the door isn't already open and there's fabric out, there's no way whatsoever that I would let that door get opened. Experience of jumpers (or lack of) makes no difference. That cabin is way too small to mess around in. I'm used to a solid door in a 182. With the fabric door, it becomes everyones job to keep the pilotchute away from the door. Just my $0.02. I'm a pilot and a jumper. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Wait and see what the nutjobs make up next? Can't wait to see what you bite hook line and sinker and bring as your next piece of ridiculously paper thin "proof". I was in the grocery store checkout line and saw the "Globe" headline that read "Proof Obama isn't a US citizen", (Or something like that). I immediately thought of this thread. If the Globe says so, it must be true! Serious Question (mostly anyway) - For those saying a "Certificate of Live Birth" isn't a "Birth Certificate". What does a Hawiian "Birth Certificate" look like? Can you show me one from '61? Or were all births then and there recorded with "Certificates of Live Birth"? This is an honest question. I don't know the answer and am curious. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I don't like to give out advice on the internet. YOUR instructors know you best (and you aren't a hot chick). But PLEASE PLEASE upsize your posts and stop trying to post so fast. I don't want to see you get hurt. Look in the incidents forum to see how many cases of sprained fingers and carpal tunnel have resulted from trying to post too fast and make too small of posts. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It gets a lot better eventually. Student rigs are "one size sorta fits most". Rarely are they comfortable. If possible, try as many of the student rigs as they will let you. There will (almost certainly) be one that is more comfortable than the rest. The first rig you buy for yourself will fit much better. Even if it's not custom fitted. And will be a lot more comfortable. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Just an idea. I know a local musican/producer/studio owner. We discussed this subject a while back. I'm nowhere near doing tandems yet, but I showed him a couple "standard" tandem videos asking for his opinion. Clearly using copyrighted music was not an option, and he agreed that the usual royalty free stuff was overused and not really suitable. He offered to compose/record/produce a score that would be suitable for tandem vids. Upbeat and happy for the intro/waiver/gearup. Tension building for the airpane ride, with a crescendo for the door opening. Fast and furious for the launch and freefall. And so on. It would be the same score for all the tandem vids, but most of them get the same music anyway. Copyrighted by him, licensced to the DZ (including a synch). Credited to him on the vid. Couple hundred for the project, maybe a couple bucks per use. We didn't get down to details, but he was interested in the project and willing to work with me when I have the skills to make use of it. Again, just an idea. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm no patent lawyer, but if you substitute the rubber bands for a safety stow, and the magnets for velcro (holding the line pocket mouth partly closed) then it looks a lot like a reserve freebag. That idea has been around for a long time. I like the idea - baglocks would be minimized, but packing the lines neatly takes more time than rubberband stows. Note - Hooknswoop didn't claim it was an original idea, and I'm not criticizing the design. I think it's a good one. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Try the "sticky" at the top of the Gear and Rigging Forum. The one titled "Manufacturer Contacts" "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Would you be willing to share the site where you found the FAQ? I'm curious how it was worded. If you aren't comfortable posting it publiclly, I will keep a PM private. I googled "Tandem skydive FAQ tipping and got THIS The Norcal site was the only one (of the first few) that said it was expected. The rest I looked at said not expected, but appreciated. Something to remember: there are segments of society that expect to tip for everything. Like tipping the doorman for opening the door Every once in a while I get asked (both by the tandem student and the family/friends) if it is "okay" to tip. I usually say that it isn't necessary, but appreciated, and to think of the rest of the people who made the jump safe and successful, like the pilot and the guy who packed the rig. IMO, the best tip was from the micro-brewery, who did "private label" work. They delivered six-packs labelled with the name of the TI, vidiot, pilot and packer (1 6er each). Also very nice are the handwritten thank-you notes, often with pictures from the day they jumped. We get more of those than money tips. They all go up on a board. Prospective jumpers are usually reassured when they see all the happy outcomes. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

For links to videos see This Thread. When I flake, I look at the knots. Each line group has it's knots at approximately the same height. Each different group is at a different height. Something else that helped me is to do the B/C flake first (lines are seperated by the risers and the slider), Then move up to the A/B, restraighten the B/C, then do the C/D. Its a little extra work to do the B/C twice (I couldn't do the A/B without messing up the B/C), but that way helped neaten the whole canopy so that I could see the A/B and C/D seperations easier. As it says in the other thread, there is no substitute for real, live supervised instruction, but some of the vids should be of help. Good Luck

Guys - check the profile. She's a girl (daughter) not a guy (son). She is going to respect her mom's wishes. There is a lot of difference between doing that and being controlled. The fact that mom is willing to let her do tandems makes me think it isn't that controlling. She is over 18, but that doesn't automatically mean maturity. The number of times I 'm glad I followed/wish I had followed my parents wishes at that age far outweigh the number of times I wish I hadn't/was glad I didn't. To the OP- What would I do? Split the money between tandems and tunnel time. Tandems are still jumps. You are still getting your butt out of the plane and into the sky

I'm pretty sure the fella on the left was at the toga party Monday night at Summerfest. But his companion was far more attractive And no, beer goggles weren't involved in the determination "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Personally, I'd have issues with the pilot being dumb enough to go up through the hole in the first place. They call them "sucker holes" for a reason. Going up through a cloud layer that you may not be able to get back down through? Just my $0.02 "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I had a very similar situation (without any racial implications because everybody was white) happen. The guy across the steet was selling a non-running car. A friend of mine bought it to fix up. At night. They used flashlights to confirm the VIN matched the title. A neighbor saw "2 guys trying to break into the car" and called the cops. They showed up and sorted everything out. 20 min later the cops showed up again. Someone "heard breaking glass" and called the cops. I guess the tiedown chains (car didn't run and was being loaded onto a tow dolly) sounded like breaking glass. One cop commented "nice to have neighbors who watch out for you". I agreed. Since it was the same cops (small town) we didn't have to go throught the whole rigamarole again. I can't speak at all for the "Black Experience", but if I have to break into my own house, I would hope a neighbor would call the cops if it was dark and they didn't recognize me. And I would understand that breaking into my own house certainly qualifies as "suspicious activity" worth a police inquiry. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

They call them "Bandit Jumps". Search that and you'll get a lot of info. The last time that was asked is HERE You seem to be asking the question because someone else asked you. I hope I don't have to tell you that you are nowhere near being able to do one. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Poynter I & II FAA Rigger Handbook (available free online) Para Publishing's: Rigger Study Guide (questions and answers for the written test) Paqrachute Rigging Course (a syllabus for home study) You will still need 20 packjobs of each type and an instructor sign-off to take the written test. I took (and passed) Para-Concepts rigging class in May and reccommend it unreservedly. They give you what you need, but make you learn it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Summahfestttttttttttttttttttt yessssssssssssssssssssss Tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Depends. If you take a break over the winter, you will have to get recurrent. Usually that means repeating the last level you completed. So is having to pay for one extra jump worth getting to jump again before next year? If course you may have to pay for extra jumps if you need to repeat levels (and a lot of people do). Check with your instructors and see what they say. Me? I'd say fuck it and Go Jump!!! Getting recurrent is no big deal, and the sooner you jump (like right now) the sooner you'll get your license. Even with an "A", you need to get recurrent after a winter off (or jump when its really cold up there) "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo