wolfriverjoe

I'm going to make the probably foolish assumption that this is a serious question. Skygod is NOT a compliment. It is applied to those who think they know everything. They don't. The true "Gods" in this sport are humble approachable kind generous giving (and on and on and on) people who love this sport and do their best to help it grow and improve. They are the second most important reason I love this sport. "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

So go. Both are full of skydivers so they have to be cool places. Be careful with the surprise thing. If he's always wanted to do it you should be ok, but people can be funny. I've seen it go both ways. Both were couples with both doing tandems. One went great. She was the surprise "victim" and didn't find out until they turned into the driveway. She was thrilled and had a blast. The other wasn't so great (different time) He was the "victim" of the surprise and didn't think it was such a great idea (less so when he read the release). She jumped and had a great time. That didn't change his mind or improve his mood. It looked like the fight started at the end of the driveway. I doubt that anniversary went on the "good" list. Also, be careful what you wish for. This sport can be VERY addictive. You may find yourself spending a lot of time on the DZ (not that that's a bad thing)

We keep trying to give you our best and most honest answers and you keep not hearing them. A couple people were a little harsh tellling you to leave it alone, and you still didn't listen. Take a step back and look at how you keep telling us how wrong we are for things that are out of our hands (opinions handed to us by lawyers ect.). We keep giving you answers and you keep saying "but what about this" splitting hairs and pushing limits. My ex-stepdaughter was really good at that. (one reason I tend to think you are who you say you are). It gets really annoying. Having that sort of attitude while training doesn't go over very well. Perhaps one reason younger people aren't allowed to jump. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that DZs have NO insurance-can't get it. Paintball, racetracks, tattoo parlors, etc, all can get liability insurance in case a kid gets hurt and sues. Keep in mind lawsuits cost money even if you don't lose them. It may not be right. It probably isn't fair. I guess I'm still trying to be helpful and I do wish you the best, but you might want to step back and think about the feelings of the people here- some of whom have survived a very long time in a very unforgiving sport (No, I haven't been here very long, but I do try very hard not to dictate to those who have) "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 have a good point. Although there are a number of reasons to suspect deception (16-yr old with office in SD next to an attorney who practices GA law?), The more I read, the more I believe its a frustrated teenager who refuses to take no for an answer. Most DZ's tell underagers that "its against the rules" believing that it won't be checked. There may or may not be valid legal reasons to bar minors. IT DOESEN"T MATTER! You won't force a DZ to let you jump underage if they have a policy of no minors. The waiver at my local DZ was written before I started there, but I was told Morelli (Google him if you want to know) said it wasn't valid for minors and he wouldn't defend it if we let them jump. We aren't lawyers, paid him pretty good money for his advice and intend to follow it. Period. No minors. Period. My feelings toward you are changing and I hope you get to jump. Blue skies dude. "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 think you've answered your own question right here. I've felt safe (given it was skydiving) and learned a lot from all my instructors. There were and are some who I preferred over others. Isn't that just human nature? "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 write and spell very well (better than many on this forum). You research case law and lunch with attorneys. You scuba dive, race, play paintball (apparently) and want to skydive. Very unusual for a 16-year old. I'm not saying you are lying, just pointing out reasons for suspicions. Didn't Morelli have a letter in Parachutist a year or so ago about this? If I remember correctly, it wasn't that a parent couldn't sign the waiver, it was more along the lines that custody wasn't permanent, and if custody changed the waiver would no longer be valid. If I'm wrong, please point it out. Just like the rest of life, its a risk/reward equation, and most DZ's don't want to take the risk "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 hate to say it, but that's true (was gonna put "right", but that didn't fit) I've seen and heard of regular jumpers getting bumped repeatedly off loads for tandems - some were walk-in tandems that were put on the schedule at the last minute. A friend of mine sat at a DZ all day and could only get 2 jumps in because of this. It sucks, but unfortunately, the tandems subsidize the regular operations and are going to get priority. "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 don't have a hometown or home DZ on your profile, so its a hard question to answer. Ask around to find out how common it is there. Those "where'd he come from?!?!" misses are really scary. I'm both a jumper and a pilot, so when I'm riding up, I'm scanning the sky in all directions for traffic. When I'm flying I'm talking to the nearest radar facility and monitoring the UNICOM (local traffic) freq. I can keep track of anybody who is talking, but not everybody is (or has to-I'm not going into airspace regs here). On the plus side, I bet every jumper on every ride at your DZ is gonna be looking real hard now. "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

Still comparing apples to bunny rabbits. How many skydivers have you seen talking on a cell phone while under canopy? Or putting on makup while in freefall? Training levels, frequency, distractions, and so on make any comparison irrelevant. (by the way, I drive a semi through Chicago on a regular basis- that can be scary!) "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 you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough. My bad, "if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough" "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

YES! Complacency kills. Early on I had a 2000+ jump camera flyer tell me he was still nervous in the plane and that it kept him sharp. While on the way up I always review my emergency procedures, double (triple, quadruple) check my cutaway + reserve handles and so and on. "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 you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough. Try a running jump off the picnic table for a PLF. Have an instructor demonstrate first. I've messed up and downwinded the landing. It was ugly and painful, but the PLF allowed me to get up and get laughed at, not carted away in the ambulance. "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

Why? You weren't the 1st guy to ruin it. I've learned more from my screwups than the ones that went perfect. You gotta start learning somehow. "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 bad do you want it? This is not a rude, mean, or smart-ass question. I knew from my first jump that this is something I really, really wanted to do. I had a period of time when I couldn't move to the next step no matter what I (or my instructors) tried. I've tried and failed and given up a number of things in my life. Some were minor, others were not and I've had to live with the regret. I wasn't willing to give up skydiving. It took me a long time to get my license, but I learned a hell of a lot, both about skydiving and about myself in the process. Remember, you are quite new at this. There will be setbacks, no matter how good you are. If it was that easy, anybody could do it. You have to decide how bad you want it, and how many setbacks you are willing to overcome. On a brighter note, you had a great jump, and a not so great jump. If any of the guys in the baseball playoffs could bat .500, they'd be superman. Those first solo jumps can be really frustrating because you don't know yet what was good and what was lucky. "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

Had the potential buyer decided against buying before jumping? I've tried several rigs and ground fit really dosen't tell much. Rigs that fit "perfectly" were quite painful under canopy, and my current rig doesn't fit all that well on the ground, but I could hang under canopy almost indefinitlely. Short of disconnecting the main and hanging from the ceiling there isn't any way to tell without jumping. However, I think you ARE owed a repack by the rigger of your choice. And just to toss a little more fuel on the fire: Knowing that the reserve works as attached to that rig would be comforting to ME. Yes, it was test jumped, but knowing that it is hooked up correctly and flies ok on that particular rig would offset any wear and tear on the reserve. "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

QuoteGround effect has to do with how the aircraft flies when it is close to the ground. I believe the positive pressure below the wings is increased, because it has nowhere to go when it hits the ground and thus gives the plane extra lift. This allows the airplane to take off at a lower speed than what would be required to maintain level flight at a higher altitude. I think ground effect is only when you are within 5-10ft of the ground, being different for size and types of airplanes. I'm probably wrong about most of this though, I'll let a pilot give exact details. For "not a pilot" you were pretty close. Ground effect is usually within 1/2 the wing length (1/4 total wingspan). You can feel it as the "cushion" as the airplane flares for landing (if you are still in the plane), or on a "soft field" takeoff when the pilot lifts just off the ground as early as possible and then stays in ground effect to get to normal takeoff speed. Feathering is very important for twin engined planes because the drag from a rotating prop is the same as the area of the prop arc- think of a huge plywood disc the size of the prop diameter. It isn't the drag from the blades, its from forcing the engine to turn. If one engine quits, getting the drag as low as possible is critical. Single engine planes with constant-speed props usually can't feather. I may have some of the stats a little off, but hey, gound school was 20 years ago "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

The 30 day rule is for currency. When I was doing S/L training, I went more than 30 days several times, and just had to do a practice pull S/L to get recurrent. Check with the instructors and see what they think (I would very strongly suggest you do that with ALL the advice you get here). If you start the program and have to stop for winter; then you can spend some time reviewing your jumps and studying the book stuff, maybe learning to pack, or other things you can do on the ground. That way when spring comes, you'll have a solid start. Again, ask the instructors. As far as cold goes, here in Wisconsin we jump until about 20F ground temp. That means -20 or so at altitude. One or two of those is usually good for me. We are more restricted by snow on our grass runway than anything else. There usually are some decent days in Jan and Feb that are jumpable if the runways have been plowed, and we can get the airplane out. A few years ago there was no snow on the ground until mid-January and there were still people jumping. One more time, ask the instructors what they think "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

Didn't watch video, not gonna. Didn't send message to "psychic", not gonna. I'm not giving her ANY recognition at all. That's what those whackos thrive on. I know my ignoring her won't make her go away, but maybe if she got NO resposes from anyone in the skydiving community, she'd go annoy a different group. Best treatment of these "channelers" was on South Park. I nominate destini or whatever her name is for "Biggest Douche in the Universe" "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 meant manuvering, not input. If you are 1/2 mile off the windline, if you have to point downwind and hope you make it back onto the airport, if you have to turn into the wind and do front riser dives to keep from getting blown past the landing area, that sort of thing. Yes, not turning toward the landing area or doing spirals and front riser turns up high without paying enough attention to what the wind is doing to you can turn a perfect spot into an off airport landing. Like you said, if a cutaway canopy and freebag end up in the landing area, that was a great spot; but if one jumper cuts away at 5, and another at 2, the odds of both canopies and freebags ending up on the airport aren't good. I was focusing mostly on the fall rate issue.

Why? The spot will be different for different fall rates. The ideal spot puts you (load/freebag/ect) right back at the landing area with little or no manuvering from you. Since how long you fall affects how far the wind pushes you, slow fallers (wingsuits and really light guys like me) tend to spot a lot longer than heavier jumpers or freefallers. pulling higher or having a larger, slower canopy has the same effect. That said: GPS is a good tool, but don't trust it blindly-the locals are still talking about the guy who went into (NOT through) the front window of the local cafe on the 1st load of the day, and that was 8 or 10 years ago Make sure you know where you are. The trap houses at the skeet range in the next town over may look like the hangars on the airport, but they aren't. Telling the pilot "Left 30, now right 5, now right 10, now right 10 more" is a good way to get him to ignore you next time-the ones that have been flying the same DZ for 10 years can spot as good as any jumper (at least ours can) If the skygod who's spotting doesen't even look out the window until just before jumprun, plan on walking. Having a jumpsuit on and a canopy hanging off your shoulder is a reallly good way to get picked up while hitchhiking. Lastly, if your DZ is in a relatively open area, spotting is one of the few things you can screw up without too much risk of getting hurt. "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

Start with the SIM, especially the BSRs and student requirements. Stress how much experience is required to do the more advanced operations. There are risks, but most accidents are a result of bad judgement or operator error. Students have a very low accident rate. Some videos of successful jumps could help. In my case, my folks weren't thrilled, but understood it was my choice, and my life. I have an agreement with my mom that I will always use an AAD and won't BASE jump. I always call her on the way home (she knows I'm out there every weekend). The enthusiasm I have for it and the friends I've made through the sport helped too. Skydiving has risks, but I could get hit by a bus crossing the street, or hit head on by a drunk. I could die hiding under a tarp in my basement, but hiding in the basement sucks. Be open and honest with them, and if they say no, wait a few years, then jump and show them the video. Good Luck "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