Divalent

Are you absolutely certain of this? ... Isn't the "bottom" where the unit then says "jump is over, so now start looking to see if we take off again"? If so, then (for example) if you programed in a 1000ft offset because you take off at sea level but plan to land at 1000ft, then the unit will never reach the point (300ft MSL) where it concludes that the jump is over. Or does the Vigil have other ways to detect the end of the jump to exit "jump mode".

So if you've decided to go ahead and do AFF, why futz around and do a second tandem? That's $ for 3-4 solo jumps once you pass AFF. Plus you delay the start of AFF by a week (and so one less week you will have as a student to complete AFF before they close for the winter). I can see the value of doing one (familiarize yourself with the experience of freefall, the visual sight of being under canopy, riding and exiting the plane, etc), but what do you hope to accomplish by doing another?

If you hold off AFF until next spring, why bother doing more tandems now? (and doing tunnel time outside the training program?) Might be better to save that money so you can keep the pace up next spring. If I were in your position, I'd probably just start AFF now. In any scenario (you finish AFF or you don't finish AFF) you almost certainly will be required to do a recurrency jump with an instructor when you pick it back up in the spring, and that probably will set you back about the cost of a tandem. And if your AFF progression indicates a specific weakness that a tunnel would help, you'd make better use of your tunnel time by doing it close in time to your training with a known weakness to focus on. (And if you don't have any problems that would benefit from tunnel time, you can save that expense). So, if money is *really* tight: put everything off until the spring (saves you the expense of a recurrency jump; so cheaper overall). If money is not so tight, and you are itching to get more experience, just start AFF now rather than wasting time on a carnaval ride to tide you over, as (IMO) you would be getting better value for your money.

Several companies are working on, or actually have, devices that might do the job as a main recovery option for under $100. See some of the links in this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4512148 I'd be interested in your thoughts on what is they are developing. A more limited range unit is available now (~100 ft; and about the size of a triple thick US 25 cent coin), and one company hopes to have a 1/2 mile version out by the end of the year (but it's larger).

For all your solo jumps, it's smart to have a plan worked out in advance to work on skills in all 4 phases of the jump: - exit - freefall - canopy practice (from opening down to where you enter the pattern) - landing (And you should get help from your instructors in making your plans, and advice on how to do things). Exits: For however many jumps it takes you to perfect it: exit and try to keep the plane in sight for 5 seconds as you fall facing the line of flight. This is good practice to give you confidence for when you have to do your hop-n-pops. (As it gets close to the time when you will be doing your hop-n-pop, throw in a practice PC touch after 2 sec.) Exit different ways: sometimes a floating exit, sometimes leaping out of the plane from inside. Freefall: Work on improving your stability and mobility. Get unstable every way you can think of and then recover. Work on making precise turns using your legs. Try changing your fall rate by getting spread out/dearched to slow yourself, and getting small/hard arch to speed up. (Its hard to tell your fall rate when by yourself, but the point is so that you feel comfortable and stable when not necessarily in your usual falling posture.) Work on your tracking form and technique. (Note: if you track, make sure you do it perpendicular to the line of flight (which means you have to look down to determine what the line of flight is before you go somewhere)). Make sure you remain altitude-aware. Under canopy: Check the A-lic card for things you need to perform to get your license. (Front and rear riser turns, stalls, etc.) Also work on flat turns. Be sure to be mindful of where you are and who/what is around you. Landing: based on ground winds, plan your pattern in advance: pick out the point and altitude where you will start your downwind leg, and make sure you get there. (Make sure your plan is what others will be doing.) Note: there is nothing wrong with having fun (e.g., a bomb-out flipping exit is fun to throw in every now and then), but you eventually want to get to the point where your skills make you someone that others want to jump with (and from a safety standpoint, are willing to jump with) when you get your license. Solos are an opportunity to develop your skills.

In my experience using the technique (all 3 times I've had more than a full twist in the last ~250 jumps or so), it is effective for getting rid of them. Admittedly I'm jumping a Pilot loaded ~1:1, but once I got the twists down onto the risers, I found my body being rotated in the right direction. (I haven't had twists in a long while (>150 jumps, IIRC) but I'm a reasonably careful packer and concentrate on flying my body symetrical all the way to inflation.)

I don't know if its the best way, but I use the Weather Channel site (http://www.weather.com/) Once you enter a location, click on the "hourly" forecast and look at precipitation chances and ground wind predictions. Since you have options, compare to the forecast at the other DZs. Here's the "hourly" page for Cedartown GA, close to where the Farm is located. You get about 36 hours of "hourly" forecast. Sometimes it changes greatly in a few hours, so try to re-check just before you depart. http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/Cedartown+GA+USGA0103:1:US I also look at the radar to see what is rolling into the area. A site I use that I like is this one: http://www.wsbtv.com/s/weather/interactive-radar/ Click on the "RADAR & STORMS" tab above the initially blank display area to get the radar view. Then put the thing in motion to see where stuff is heading. (you may have to re-center the view to be over your place).

But in that case, the data should also show them coming to an abrupt stop at 350 AGL; so at least the data would show the error. (One wonders if AirTec will ever release the data from those units.)

I'm not an instructor, but I think the actual angle (at your stage of training, and respect to your tendency to spin) is not important at all. Most important is symmetry. One leg higher than (or out more than) the other will induce a turn. (And the greater the difference, the more rapid the turn.) The actual angle would (if your body is symmetric) tend to move you directly forward or back somewhat. But this is not the problem that is holding you up at this stage. In free fall, you won't be able to see what the issue is, so you will have to try varying them to correct. Someone above suggested clicking your heals together to ensure they are the same. But if that doesn't stop it, you might try small movements up or down with just one. (But you really should discuss this with your instructors.)

Thinking back to when I was learning to skydive (I assume you are just getting started), I'd say I generally had muscle soreness in my shoulders, and upper core. Sometimes still get it a bit when I jump a lot in one day. There is a lot of force to be resisted when your arms are extended out into a 130 mph wind. (It's 4 times the forces you experience if you stick your arm out of a car window doing 65 mph). So IMO exercises that strenthen your shoulder muscles, upper chest and back, and neck are would be beneficial. And if you've ever had a dislocated shoulder, really strenthen the shoulder region; a dislocated shoulder in free fall is not a good thing.

Shop around. They told you their deal (and "no exceptions") so not sure what getting the opinion of folks here would do for you. You are probably more experienced with the process than anyone here (you already transitioned to another DZ, and then back to your original). $60 bounty for 2 tandem passengers strikes me as quite high. You sure this isn't a tandem mill? (Those places always say they train students, but it seems like they either price it so high, or give you such low priority, that few people actually train there. They really only want to do tandems.)

Freefalling stable is much like learning to keep your balance on a bicycle: ultimately it becomes something that is just intuitive rather than something you have to consciously think about. Some people just need a bit more time to before the bicycle thing clicks, and the same is true for skydiving. Rest assured, however, it will eventually click for you. The only reason you know for sure for why you are spinning is that your body is not symetrical. Chances are it is your legs, but it could be your arms, your torso, or your massively lopsided head . The fix is to correct the asysmetry (or at least compensate for it). It's pointless to just sit there and spin: better to try something, and if it gets worse, do the opposite. E.g., extend your left leg a bit: better or worse? If worse, try the right. Or dip your left shoulder and arm a bit: better? (But you really should talk to your instructors on what to do. They have actually seen you.) Right now, when free falling at 120 mph in the air you are not "in your element". Once your stability is fixed, you will go through the same sort of learning process to do turns, to track, do flips, adjust fall rate, etc: you'll have to consciously think about what to do with your body to do those things. After a while, though, you'll get to the point where you just have to think "turn this way" (or "go over there", etc) and your body will know what to do and you do it. At that point, you will be in your element, and you can focus your attention on the things you do, rather than on how to do them. And that's when the real fun begins!

A flat turn IS a braked turn...if you have to 'limit the dive' you're not turning flat. You go to 1/2 brakes on both toggles and let up on the opposite toggle from the direction you wish to go...that's a flat turn, you stay under the canopy & lose much less altitude than 'diving' and then recovering by counter input. In a flat turn you should more or less pivot the canopy, not begin to carve and recover to normal flight. FWIW, (and IMO, it is worth a lot) here is BillVon's post on flat turns: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2121715

Indeed it is. You tie the elastic to one loop, then feed the elastic through the channel that spans the width of the leg pad, then out and accross and into the channel on the other leg pad, and then tie to the loop on the other side. When you pull it tight, the loops and the ties end up in the channels, out of sight.

from the attached image, it looks like your right brake line is not routed through the guide ring. Can that be right? If so, not sure what it is routed through, because although it is not attached to the riser, it's not floating free in space. Also, the elastic keeper for the bottom toggle tab appears to be partially detached.

$100 would be cheap insurance to virtually guarantee you get your main back after a chop. But biggest failure mode would probably be failing to keep it charged, since you would have to get into the container to attach the charger. I wonder if sewing a pocket on your d-bag to hold the transmitter would be an issue for the container mfgs. It also occurs to me that the more limited range units (50-150 ft) might be useful for your free bag in conjunction with this one on your main. Once you locate your main, the free bag is almost certainly going to be found somewhere along the wind line that intersects the position of your main, so it would greatly narrow the area you would have to search to locate it. The limited range units are tiny: about the size of a US quarter coin, so less likely attaching to the free bag unit it will cause a nuisance when packing the reserve. (But more likely to require approval of the mfgs).

With a range of only "50 to 150" ft, it is not ideal. And since they are still raising money to produce things, it's not available now. This looks very similar to the product Sticknfind currently has on the market (in terms of range and size), so if that is sufficient for your needs, at least you can buy those now. IMO, if your canopy lands off in the woods, 50-150 ft range would be better than nothing, but you may have to do a lot of wandering about the brush in the hope of getting close enough to pick up the signal. As I noted above, the thing that would be ideal is the BluTracker that Sticknfind is trying to get to market. Half mile range should be sufficient to get any canopy located within 10 min or so.

Yeah, this seems perfect, once they actually start delivering products. 1/2 mile range, 2 month battery life per charge, about the size of a container of dental floss, and only $90. Reasonable insurance to ensure you get your main back promptly. Seems like it shouldn't be that hard to design a pocket in the d-bag to hold it.

You know, if you want to get a measure of the risk of skydiving relative to other things, life insurance companies are the place to ask. They make money by figuring out *everything* about you that is known to affect your risk of dying, and then charging you a premium that will ensure they have the house advantage in the bet on your life. (Indeed, the strongest evidence that praying to one particular religion's god is useless in promoting good health and a long life is that fact that no insurance company will offer a discount based on any particular (or even a general) religious affiliation.) So if they say skydiving (at your level of activity) is much less of a risk than 30 lbs of excess weight, then that is almost certainly a fact.

As others have indicated, (and for all sorts of reasons) asking for that sort of information is not going to be very helpful for you. Depending on your location, chances are that you only have, at best, 2-3 options for "local" DZs. A much better option, as Dave suggested, is to visit them on a busy weekend and get a feel for the place. And talk to people. Ideally, you're looking for a DZ that has a good mix of business: some tandems (keeps the DZ financially healthy), some students, and a sizable fun jumper population. Talk to some students, talk to some fun jumpers, watch the plane loads to see who gets to jump. Tandem mills might advertise on their web site (and tell you to your face) that they train students and that they allow fun jumpers, but in reality they either don't, or that part of their business is given such a low priority for plane slots that you end up wasting time. One other suggestion: fill out your profile with your location, and also perhaps state the specific DZ you are considering. Chances are that if it is a good DZ, many people here can give you a good rundown of what the place is like. (Including a lot of things you haven't even considered that might be important.)

For the price of a repack at most, or just do it when a repack is needed and we can all contribute data of generally how hard it is to pull out the freebag with the main packed. I will be checking mine when I get a repack very soon. FYI, prior to dropping off my container for a repack this last weekend, I had a friend video my reserve PC launch and then freebag extraction from the container by pulling the bridle. http://youtu.be/E9C6KKt2RpQ I was able to lift the container off the floor, but the bag came right out with a little jig of the bridle. Note: this will be my first repack on a Wings container I got new last Dec.

I had no problems viewing all in the original playlist. (perhaps they fixed it after you made your comment). This really should be cross posted in the Instructor's forum (with a more descriptive title). IMO, getting some of those videos of actual mals took some real balls! I mean, who would actually volunteer to be the subject demonstrating how to fire your reserve into an actual horseshoe and into a PCIT? They do teach the "cutaway-then-reserve" method for all mals (even hard/no pulls on the main), and the terminology/checklist they use for assessing your main after opening differs from what I was exposed to in the US. But these are great quality examples of the situations students need to be familar with and know how to handle. (And which more experienced jumper need to review from time to time). Most excellent.

Do you mind telling me where you jump? I really don't want to be anywhere near someone who thinks like this. It's one thing to be super aggressive to the point where just one fuck-up will kill yourself, but it's another if you are doing things that could take out another.

{ring ; ring ; ring} mom: "hello" you: "Hi mom. I've taken up skydiving, and have done 15 jumps so far. I like it." mom: "that's nice, dear. Be safe." you: "okay. bye" mom: "bye" {click}

However, I'll note that a benefit of this discussion (and a benefit of the guy posting his video) is that those that were uncertain at least *now* know that a disconnected chest strap is not necessarily going to kill you, and that there are simple things you can do to reduce further the risk you face. It would be interesting to ponder the situation of what to do if you failed to connect your leg straps. I suspect you would discover that error as soon as you left the plane, as the relative wind tries to lift your container off your back. Assuming you were able to cross your arms and hang on, what should you do? (You would have about a minute to try something to fix it.) Anyone think it would be possible to get one reconnected by themselves? With help from a buddy?