davelepka

The real answer? Because it's dumb. and has very little bearing on actual skydiving. What you end up jumping as a student depends on several factors, and PDs chart isn't one of them. The real factors range from what the DZ has available, to what is packed, to what the winds are like, to what harness will fit you. If your body weight is 220, you'll be jumping a 280 or larger. The 260 is too small for you at that weight for your first few jumps. If you prove to be good with a canopy, you might end up on the 260 by jump 4 or 5, if not, you might not see the underside of the 260 until jump 10. PD never intended anyone to analyze the complete set of data and make those types of comparisons because there's no reason to. What size canopy you jump isn't rocket science. You start off with a really big one, and downsize as you prove your ability to handle the faster wing. You're sweating the small stuff. What you need to do is figure out a way to get to a DZ and make a jump ASAP. The first jump course (FJC) is designed to take someone who has never seen a parachute before, and teach them everything they need to know to safely make a first jump. Forget about all this 'research' you're doing, because all that really matters is what the DZ you choose has in their FJC. They will teach you a very specific set of skills that will prepare to jump their brand of student rig, out of their chosen aircraft, following their dive flow for a first jump. Every DZ is slightly different in these ways, and if you muddle up your brain with 'ideas' and 'conclusions' you draw from this 'research', you're more likely to be confused or a pain in the ass during the classroom time. The only way to be sure you're learning the correct info for the DZ you will be jumping at, is to learn it at the DZ.

Indeed, and skydivers are likewise learning more in tunnels and flying in ways we never dreamed of 10 years ago. VRW, 'nuff said. However (and you knew there would be a 'however'), flight simulators are not used for primary training. The student needs to actually climb into an airplane and take it aloft. The same goes for jumpers. If a student proves to be 'stuck', then a tunnel may be the solution to their 'problem', but a spin on your first shot at level 4 is hardly a 'problem', and to take a skydiving student out of skydiving when there is no problem is just dumb. Let's face it, anytime you go into something you have never done before, the learning curve is off the charts. This guy went into level 4 with no experience in freefall not boxed in with an instructor on each side, and it showed in his performance. Now he's been there and done that, and on top of it all did it the hard way. He's in the ideal position to go back up there, minus the fear of the 'unknown', and overcome the adversity and really succeed on many different levels, and there's no reason to take that away from him. Beyond that, the tunnel does offer a far better venue for learning body flight, and actual jumps will never be able to match the value, duration or repetition of tunnel time. In the end, tunnel flying is tunnel flying, and skydiving is skydiving, and the OP is a skydiving student, so let's keep it that way.

I'm still stuck on why. Your personal choice of canopy should rely more on what you've already jumped, and the reccomendation of the instructors who jumped with you. If you haven't jumped yet, your instructors will deciede what canopy to give for your first jump, and make further decisions based on how well that first one goes.

I might just be me, but I can't figure out what you're doing, or why you're doing it? What exactly are you trying to determine with this exercise? Beyond that, 254 lbs is the tested weight limit for one of the TSO tests for harnesses and reserves, so that might have somethig to do with the suggested loading of the 260. I'm not sure what it would have to do with it, just that it is a significant number in terms of parachute equipment testing and certification.

No, I'm suggesting that the people who are ready to ship this guy to the tunnel because he spun one time on his 4th jump are acting like pussies. How about give the guy a chance to step-up to the plate and take care of business? What happened to him isn't out of the ordinary, or entirely unexpected. he should do what students do, and learn something from the experience, and move on with his training. Let's face it, if he really messed up big time, his instructor wouldn't have met him in the LZ with a smile and trained him for the re-jump. She would have told him he was going to die, and that he needed to hit the (excellent and nearby) tunnel before even thinking about going near a plane again. She seemed to think he was ready to try again, and she was present when he 'went for a spin'. If she doesn't think it's a big deal, then neither do I, and neither should the student.

That might be true, but come on, is anyone really that surprised that a guy with 3 jumps got on his back and into a spin the first time he was 'let loose' in freefall? Look at how many experienced jumpers have trouble holding a heading when they learn to backfly, this guy ended up on his back on his 4th jump, and 'big surprise', he started to spin. The tunnel might help, but so would another jump, and combined with the other jump is the lesson not to over-react to a situation, but to proceed forward in an organized and logical fashion. He was debriefed, retrained for spin recovery, and I would assume that the next jump ground-prep would include some extra focus on a good arch and relaxing in freefall. Naturally, because they own tunnels and that sells more tunnel time, and introduces a new flyer to the tunnel who might book furture time. Aside from that, I'd be interested to hear from AFFI's at either Perris or Eloy what the protocol is for sending an AFF student to the tunnel before they make another jump. How many tries do they give a student before they send them for corrective training in the tunnel? What sort of behaviors does a student have to exhibit in order to be directed toward the tunnel?

So how did anyone learn to jump in the 40 years before 'real' tunnels came into existance? How about the 90% of jumpers worldwide without access to a tunnel short of traveling 100's of miles (or more)? The guy spun on level 4, on his first try, after 3 solid jumps. He doesn't need a friend, or a backrub, or a tunnel, he just needs to re-train, and make another jump. It was his first shot at a jump where he wasn't pinned in between two instructors, and he got out of control. There's nothing unusual or outrageous about any part of that, and I would describe it as 'not neccesarliy unexpected' on a level 4. He got dumped out, spanked on the opening (which he deserved) and landed without incident. He was properly trained the recovery technique, and just needs a re-jump. No offence to any pussies out there, but this is a prime example of the pussification of skydiving. "I've spun out of control and been dumped out by an instructor 8 times in a row" "I've rode the plane down 5 times in a row because I'm terrified of going unstable in freefall" "I only have one leg and I'm not sure I can get stable in freefall" To all of the above, tunnel, tunnel, tunnel. To a guy who spun up the first time an instructor have him a little space in frefall? It's called a re-jump, that's all he needs.

I don't think the legality of weed is the question here. The article stated that the packers were seen both drinking beer and smoking pot during the workday, while packing parachutes. So the issue is the impairment of the packers while working. If the weed was not a factor, the drinking of perfecly legal beer while packing parachutes would be an issue on it's own. I don't know of a 'law' or FAR with regards to substance abude while packing, but I do know that no jury anywhere in this country would ever find that to be a prudent and reasonable way for parachute packers to condict themselves, and the DZO would get no smypathy for allowing that to transpire. It reminds me of the old 'Cops' episode where they pull over a car with two guys and they find weed in the car. They come to find out that both of these guys work at a DZ, one is an instructor and the other is a packer. I laughed my ass off, and thought that it sounded about right, but he cops recoiled in horror and seemed to think that the DZ was some sort of death camp and that these 'potheads' were risking everyones life. I'm sure a jury would alaign itself with the attitude of the cops.

Maybe a dose of reality will help you - You lost confidence? Where did you get this confidence in the first place? By making 3 jumps that went well, with two of them being harness-hold jumps from exit to opening? Get real. It's not like you have 100's of jumps and could not get stable or depploy your own canopy, you're a STUDENT and what you did was learn a lesson. Your buddy makes it look easy? All that means is that your buddy hasn't been unstable yet, who knows how 'easy' it will be for him when he finally loses stability for the first time. You jumped, you tried, you lived. Move on with your training. This won't be the last set back you have in skydiving, so nut-up, listen to your instructor and get on with the re-jump. You only partially failed in that you didn't remain stable. Your instructor dumped you out when she had the chance, but for all we know you might have dumped yourself out before pull time if she didn't (that's a hint to remember your altitude awareness, no matter which direction you're facing, pull time is pull time, no exceptions). No offence to others, but fuck the tunnel. Get back in the plane, and make a real skydive. You know what you need to do, so just do it. Keep in mind your instructors also know what happened, and will train and treat you accordingly. Most of your jumps have been fine, build on that, and just get on with it.

Along the same lines as some of the posts in this thread, I found this in the classifieds - http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=104687;d=1 If I'm reading it right, they're looking for drug free non-smokers only. Everyone asks for drug free, and some back it up with actual testing, but this is the first I've heard of a DZ not hiring smokers (if that is indeed the case). How long before no drugs, tobacco, or alcohol?

Just wondering, but what was the audio track they removed? Natural sound? Royalty free music? Your own personally composed and performed composition?

No, I think you're correct about all that, it's just that they never actually put it into production. Might have been an issue with the TSO, or needing to re-certify something, or even a copyright deal with UPT.

Did they ever actually offer the DRX?

You probably want to put your rig in a carry-on so you can keep an eye on it at all times. Not much else will fit in there, but do what you can. Next, you probably only want to bring one suitcase to check on the flight because they charge you for that shit now. So find the biggest bag you want to haul around the airport (along with your carry-on) and stuff as much of your crap in there as you can. Finally, take everything that is left, and put it in a box and ship it to the DZ. It will be waiting there for you when you arrive. be sure to include a small roll of packing tape and a return shipping label in the box, so when your trip is over you can re-box everything, seal and label the box, and put it with the DZs other out-going UPS packages (or FedEx, or USPS, or whatever).

It's spelled out for you on your A licesne proficiency card. Get that out of the way before anything esle. Believe it or not, the requirements for the A license are all things you should know so you might as well knock them out first and earn your license first. Once you have your A, you can do whatever you want. I'd suggest putting a rig together, getting a jumpsuit, and attempting some easy 2-ways with another fun jumper. Jumping with your ultra-skilled AFF instructors will lull you into thinking that a two way is easy, but the reality is that the jumps go exactly the way the instructors want them to. Whatever you can throw at them, they can adapt to it and keep the jump moving forward. Get out there with another 'average' jumper, and see how 'easy' it is. Repeat until you succeed.

Let's say that the above are correct, the problem is that the delta is not the only position a passenger can assume in a wingsuit, it's just one of them. Consider the myriad of other positions a passenger could assume, the fact that the suit will probably increase the student's authority over stability, and the subtraction of the stability the drouge provides, and you can see that there are too many 'what if's' to introduce tandem wingsuiting to the general public. There may be solutions to the problems a wingsuit could introduce, and those solutions may be good enough to allow the general public to participate, but until those solutions are formulated and tested, you can't let the gen. pop. get involved in wingsuit jumps of any kind.

It's not hard to try it on for size. Take the closing loop out of the bottom of the container, and tie it off so it's about 3 inches long. It only has to be long enough for the three other flaps to thread through it. Thread the loop through the bottom flap, and try to close it that way. If it seems to help, have a rigger help to set up a more 'permanent' solution. The deal with the unstiffened flaps and unconstructed corners is that when you put them under tension, they don't hold their shape. Other containers are so built-up that they keep their shape better under load (until the stiffeners crack and the corners split open). Like I said, good for openings, bad for over-stuffing the rig. The other guy is right, look on the inside of the reserve pin cover flap, there will be two numbers such as 350/350 or 425/450, and those are the pack volumes for the main and reserve containers (but I forget which is which). Post those numbers, and we can figure out what should fit in the rig, and see if you're close.

You can't overstuff a Racer like that. The flaps have no stiffeners, and the corners are 'open' so when the pin is pulled they disappear. These are good things for deployments because it's less to get in the way or inhibit the bag from exiting the container. It's bad for overstuffing because the flaps will bunch up in the center, and you'll have all sorts of shit sticking out of the corners. You want to avoid lengthening the closing loop beyond where the flaps will all be touching when the rig is closed. Having an open space in the middle, and all of that closing loop snaking around is not good. One thing you can do (if it's not already done) is to mount a much shorter closing loop on the bottom flap as opposed to inside the container. It makes it easier to close, but you need to tack the closing loop to the bottom flap or you'll lose it everytime. Also, make sure you're doing a 'good' job of bagging the canopy. The corners should be full, and the bundle you put in the bag should be roughly the same size and shape of the bag, so the bag will fit better in the container. If you're trying to shove a square-ish shape into a more rectangular bag, then fit it into a rectangular container, the end result won't be very pretty. If you're having that much trouble, and feel like you need 3 more inches of closing loop, maybe have a rigger or more experienced packer have a look at the rig and see if it 'checks out'. Mismatched equipment is never good, and the problems can range from just being annoying, to not functioning well at all. A second opinion might be in order.

And we finally have a winner. If you look at the entire spectrum of possibilities, and you factor in a couple of the above mentioned man-users, and then the 'normal' percentage of dates that just don't create a 'match' for more honest reasons, you can see where a guy can spend quite a bit of time and money going on several dates with nothing to show for it. Again, does 'nothing to show for it' just mean 'no sex to show for it'? No, not at all, but that's one facet of having a significant other (a pretty good facet at that) and one more thing to lament not having, along with the company/companion ship a man is seeking while out there in the dating world. Let's face it, as much as some people want to feel like sex is a lowly aspiration, and that they are 'above' that in terms of relationship seeking, they need to get real. While an emotional connection is an important part of a healthy adult relationship, so is sex. Just like people have emotional needs that drive them to socialize and seek companionship, there is an undeniable physical drive to seek a sexual partner(s) that needs to be recognized. The healthy, succesful adult relationship is a combination of emotional and physical connections. Of the two, the phyical connection is far easier to recognize or catagorize than the emotional one. If there is physical attraction, and you are acting on it, then it's plain to see that the physical connection is alive and well. Recongnizing or confirming the emotional connection can he harder and take longer than the physical. Some people are much slower to make (or admit to) that emotional connection, and even those who come upon it more readily, you really need to spend time with someone to see it the connection is really there. You need to interact with someone through some lows and some highs to really see what they are emotionally made of, and if that fits with your own personality. So it's no surprise that some men use sex as a 'barometer' of how things are going, and react to the lack of it.

That's why I mentioned your previous knowledge of the guy. If you knew he was 'upping the ante', I don't blame you for blowing him off and skipping the date. Beyond that, if you're not comfortable at the places a guy is suggesting, it might be a sign that you wouldn't be a match for him anyway. If you're comfortable anywhere, you should at least consider that the guy is just looking for a good meal if he's going out to eat. Date or no date, he's still going out for a meal, so he might as well get what he wants as opposed to 'dumbing it down' to 'un-impress' a woman.

You realize that on a perfect jump, you could get away with jumping just about anything attached to your head. What we're talking about here is the 'worst case scenario', when things are anything but perfect. In those cases, you need to see if your choice of equipment is going to further aggrevate the situation. In a perfect world, you would only jump gear that would assist you in the 'worst case scenario', and actually improve your situation. Seeing as that's a pipe-dream, you look for gear that will at least 'do no harm'. When things get weird, you need every advantage you can get just to make sure you get through it, not poorly chosen gear complicating things and making your life hard(er).

True. The other problem is that if you pretend to be something you're not, sooner or later the 'real you' will be revealed. What then? The woman who was interested in the 'impressive' you might have no interest in the everyday you. It's much easier to just be yourself, and let the chips fall where they may. That said, if the 'real you' eats at a five-star restaurant every week, that's probably where you would want to take a date. I'm not a five-star guy, but I do avoid chain restaurants like the plague and like to eat good food. I wouldn't choose Applebees or Fridays anyday even if I was eating alone, so why would I want to take a date there?

Since you knew this guy previously, you may have known better, but if he was a 'stranger' to you, isn't there the chance that those are the restaurants he goes to all the time anyway? I know it's a tough call to make because some guys will go all out to try and impress a woman, and sometimes that creates hard feelings if things don't 'work out' between the two of you. I can see how you would want to avoid that situation, but be open to the idea that the guy regularly eats as those types of places, and is just asking you out to 'dinner'.

If that's what you think is going on, then that's one more thing you need to learn. In case you couldn't tell by my post (like it's not clear enough) I don't give two shits about you or what you do. Everytime I give you a drop of credit and try to post something constructive, you never fail to remind me why I wrote you off a long time ago. I've said this many times before, but the majority of what I post isn't for the benefit of the recipient, it's for the benefit of the community at-large. As far as you're concerned, you're going to do whatever you feel like, but for the others reading this thread who may be making the mistake that you have a clue as to what you're doing, I want to make sure in no uncertain terms that that's not the case.

You seem to have made your mind up. Why even bother asking anyone anything? Just nut-up and put 100 jumps on the thing. What are you in such a hurry to take shitty video of anyway? How about focusing on your flying, and setting up a dedicated camera helmet to shoot some real footage? Unless you're proximity flying below treetop level, set-it and forget-it POV footage is never anywhere near as exciting as you think. Are you so hell-bent on recording every second of freefall that you have to mount a camera to every helmet you have? Sometimes you jump just to make a jump, not to shoot bullshit video for you and your dickhead friends to giggle at over a few beers.