flyboy62000

Hey There, Yep, Phree and I are going. I can't wait. Warm weather rules. It looks like a huge contingent from our DZ will be there that week some competing some just fun jumping. As PhreeZone said we'll be competing in freefly and sport accuracy. Maybe we'll see you there. Blue Skies, Adam

there is nothing wrong with the firelite reserve. It is made by glidepath which is now flight concepts (www.flightconcepts.com). flight concepts makes the firelite, maverick, fury, and sharpchuter reserves. they are decent reserve canopies and of course are tso'd. While I prefer to have a Raven or PD reserve in my rig, there is nothing wrong with the firelite. It will do it's job and save your butt. Hope the info helps. Blue Skies, Adam

hey, made 4 jumps on the intermediate board this weekend. 3 went really well. I love this sport. WEEEEEE. Hey Eric or Seth, one of you needs to video a jump for me this weekend. Later and Blue Skies, Adam

The Sabre2 is designed for soft openings without any special treatment. Pack it like the other newer PD designs (Stiletto, Spectre, etc.) PRO pack it, quarter the slider, and leave the nose alone. I like to roll the tail just to make the cocoon neater and easier to fold. Blue Skies, Adam

lol, I made a jump with Mark early this season where my goggles broke on the plane right before exit. I just went without them, it's not that bad. If someone forgets goggles and there are no spares on the plane I'll lend them mine. Jumping without goggles is different but not that bad.

I jump at Skydive Greene County, Xenia OH. Blue Skies, Adam

On an 8way I did out a Coolidge for my SCR we had 5 outside. We had video and 4 floaters outside. It is possible, but when I tell people who are used to airplanes with big doors they are like, "5 people outside the king air, yeah right". Blue Skies, Adam

Its the airplane the Golden Knights travel in. Looks kind of like a big otter. High wing twin turboprop. I've never jumped one, but they are pretty nice airplanes. Blue Skies, Adam

I agree with everyone else here. That is not a good price for the rig. I would get a Dolphin over the Naro in a half a second. I packed a Naro a few times for a guy and I didn't like the rig. If you are looking for a rig check out Roy at Rigs & Things. He has some great deals on gear. The hornet is a good canopy, especially for the price. The dolphin is a pretty good rig, there are quite a few around my home DZ. It is not one of the fancier rigs on the market, but it is definately better than a naro. Just my $.02 on it. Blue Skies, Adam

If you are going to jump a camera make sure your RSL is disconnected. Reserve entaglements with camera helmets has killed quite a few camera flyers. You want to be able to be stable when you pull that reserve for this purpose. If you have a spinning malfunction and your RSL fires your reserve it could easily entangle with your camera. Just a suggestion that was passed on to me by videographers at my home DZ. Blue Skies, Adam

You won't need any equipment to start, just the desire to jump. Most everywhere your first jump will be a tandem, where you jump with an instructor in a dual harness parachute system. Then from there there are a few different training programs to choose from. AFF, which stands for Accellerated Freefall is the fastest method to get off student status. Static Line Progression is still used at smaller dropzones and for the first couple of jumps you exit the airplane and your parachute opens automatically. The third option is a hybrid program such as the Tandem/IAF progression where you do your first few jumps tandem and learn basic freefall skills, then you do the last 5 jumps with one instructor and your own parachute. If you have the desire to jump, then go do it. Most places will require that you be 18 so you may have to wait until then. I would look for dropzones in your area and explore what training programs they have available. Good luck. Blue Skies, Adam

Definately PRO pack it. PRO pack is usually faster and takes up less hangar space. It also puts the canopy in the proper orientation for opening. Don't roll the nose unless you want about a 1000ft snivel. I have a triathalon and I just leave the nose wide open when I pack it and get about 600ft snivels and very soft openings. When I jump a Spectre 150 I keep the nose open and pack it exactly the same as my tri. You will love the spectre, it is a joy to fly and has always opened soft for me. The worst thing about that canopy will be controlling the fabric while packing as new PD zero-p fabric is pretty slippery. Have fun with your new canopy. Blue Skies and soft openings, Adam

I just bought a cypres and put it in my rig. It doesn't change the way I jump and I will never rely on it to do my job. It is simply there for added protection from unknown circumstances. If I have a malfuction I will use the emergency procedures I practice. A cypres does not replace being heads up but there are definately circumstances where even if you do everything right you may still need it. The reason I bought a cypres is just in case something that is beyond my control leaves me unable to pull. If I am conscious I will be pulling handles. I am careful about the people I jump with, but sh*t happens and even the best can get in trouble. If I'm on a jump that for some reason goes bad and someone hits me hard enough to leave me incapacitated I would rather the cypres cut my reserve closing loop and hit the ground downwind on concrete under a good canopy in half brakes than impact the earth at 120mph. I would jump without a cypres and not worry about it, but if you can afford one I would buy one. It will not keep you safe and there is no substitute for good training and awareness during a dive, but murphy can find his way into any situation. Even if you have the best training and are jumping with the best skydivers in the world something could still happen and it would be better to have a little insurance from a high-speed impact with the ground than none. Blue Skies, Adam

Lamborgini made an SUV about the size of a hummer. It has the same 12 cylinder engine as the countach. I helped a guy work on it when I was at his shop working on my car. What a wild machine. I can't imagine owning something like that. Blue Skies, Adam

The airline people usually won't care. I keep mine in the gear bag so I have all my gear when I get to my destination. I can always get some socks and t-shirts if they get lost. Of the times I have carried a rig on the security people never have given me problems. I had one security guy ask me a few questions and asked if I could open my rig, but I explained to him quickly about spring loaded reserve pilot chutes and such and he let me pass. As far as the CYPRES goes the security people have probably seen one before and if not you should have the card that shows them what the unit will look like under the x-ray. If you want to take your rig someplace I would carry it on so the baggage morons don't pull throw it around or anything. You shouldn't have any problems, even if you just throw it over your shoulder with no gear bag. I have done this a few times and you get some good questions from whuffos on the flight and in the gate. If you don't have the card with your cypres you can get one from airtec or ssk. I hope the info helps. Blue Skies, Adam

Don't land out. I like to wear TEVAs when I jump if it is warm out. I wouldn't jump barefoot as you don't know what you might be landing on if you have to land out due to a bad spot or high winds. Even in the grass landing areas there are stray stones and things that could really hurt feet on landing. Sandals at least provide some protection against these types of hazards. If you do jump barefoot have fun, but be careful to land somewhere that you won't hurt your feet. Blue Skies, Adam

You can buy one of those RC airplanes with the skydiver in it. The parachute is square and is steerable using a second radio for the jumper. You should be able to buy it from a store that deals in radio controlled models. Blue Skies, Adam

Actually weights do make you fall faster, that is the purpose. According to Newton all objects fall at exactly the same rate. This is true in a vacuum, but not in the atmosphere. A feather will not hit the ground at the same time as a bowling ball dropped from the same height due to its drag coefficient. The bowling ball is heavy and slick so it overcomes air resistance easily and falls fast. The feather is very light and catches a lot of air so it drifts down slowly. This is the same thing as in freefall only exaggerated. A small heavy person will fall very fast, where a light tall person will fall very slow. This is the purpose of bigger guys wearing bigger, draggier jump suits; to increase their wind resistance and decrease fall rate. However light people sometimes cannot arch hard enough to keep up with the big guys even in slick jumpsuits so you need more help from gravity with weights to increase your fall rate. Sorry the post is so long, but I hope my explanation as to the purpose of weights helps. If you would like to explore more specifics about this here is a school website I found that actually discusses the effect of different mass/weight and air resistance on a skydiver in freefall and under canopy. Check out the animation. I think this teacher or who ever wrote this was probably a skydiver. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/newtlaws/u2l3e.html Blue Skies, Adam

Didn't you do your first jumps at Greene County? Did you look into doing the rest of the tandem progression there. I agree with wingnut about aerohio. If you want to make the drive it is a top notch place for training. I can't comment on Richmond or Cleveland as I have never been there. I hope you find a DZ that suits your needs. Greensburg is also fairly close. Cacophony had the details on there as it is his home DZ. Have fun with your jumps. Blue Skies, Adam

I may go, it depends on what else is going on that week. As of now it looks good. Blue Skies, Adam

mountainman, Normally you give the escrow company the money for the item. Then once they have the money the seller will send you the rig. If you like the rig then you have the escrow company release the money to the seller. If you don't like it you send it back to the seller and once he has it the escrow company will give your money back (usually charge a small fee). Basically the money is handled by the third party so no one gets screwed. The buyer can't get the item and withhold payment and the seller can't just keep the money if the item is no good. I hope the info helps you on your quest for gear. Blue Skies, Adam

I just got my Paramount System 3 helmet. It is pretty nice for what I want to do with it. I haven't jumped it yet, but there is a videographer at my home DZ that uses almost the same setup. I saw someone else with one this saturday that liked it. It is not the most expensive or fanciest helmet you can get, but it will do the job. I can't wait until my camera comes so I can start jumping it. Blue Skies, Adam

Has anyone seen the show Daredevils on TLC where the escape artist is shackled with arm and leg chains, put into a locked mailbag which is put into a specially designed cage that will remain upright and stable in freefall and dumped out of a C-123 from 18000ft. He has to get out of all that crap, hook up a chest reserve to his harness and pull. He actually pulled it off too. Damn, that tooks some huge brass balls. Blue Skies, Adam

LOL, those are great. Blue Skies, Adam

Most people I know that just want to jump the bridge will rig up their skydiving rig for it. You have to put another slider on for a faster opening (mesh, bikini, etc.) and usually a bigger pilot chute. From what I have heard you don't use a deployment bag, you pack the chute like a reserve right inside the main container, but this may be wrong. I hope to jump the bridge with a bunch of people from my DZ this year or next. Maybe I'll see you there. Blue Skies, Adam