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While I cannot speak for others, of course, I recently did a pretty drastic downsize, courtesy of my instructor. My first six jumps were on a 290sqft Skymaster student rig, 5 of which I stood up (I slipped on the other ), and when I showed up on Sunday, it was decided I was ready to go down. I was rather surprised when he brought over a 230 sqft rig, since that's about a 1:1 wingload for me. He said that since the wind was very light, and I'd be the only person in the air at any given time, the conditions were good to try it, if I wanted to, but if I wasn't comfortable, then it was ok not to jump it. Well, turns out conditions were good, and I stood up all three landings. Doesn't mean I'll necessarily use the 230 next time I go up if the winds are higher, but it lets me know I -can- fly the 230 with no problems under ideal conditions Just my take on the whole thing cavete terrae.

Here's a workup I did of my DZ using imagery from terraserver-usa http://spiceweasel.net/dropzone.jpg Also attached it, just in case cavete terrae.

Not anymore! I will have my revenge, young lady. cavete terrae.

I'm in! cavete terrae.

umm... i cannot be held accountable for any addiction that i may or may not have recommended to you. if it cuts into jump funds, just do what i did... get a job at the friggin place. therefore smoothies become free and you get paid too. its a win-win situation. Hm. A second job wouldn't kill me for evenings, not like I have anything better to do during the week. Hrmmm....... EDIT: I lied. Pool closes at 8, mall closes at 9. I don't think they'd want me to clock in for half an hour a day. cavete terrae.

I met a girl about 5'9", blonde hair, green eyes, cheerleader & swimmer, with an amazing body. Smart and funny, and I have a date with her this weekend. So yeah, I can beat that :) cavete terrae.

I'm a pineapple man-whore, so I bet I'd love the pineapple surf. I tend to get addicted to this kind of stuff, I hope it doesn't eat into my jump funds cavete terrae.

There's one next to Chick Fil A at the mall here, I've never been there. I'll try it, and if I don't like it... make your peace with god, I'll hunt you down and... ask you to take me to the DZ. cavete terrae.

I dunno about him, but I go completely batshit fucking loco at some of the stuff I see on internet forums and in instant messenger applications. I think I once told my father something along the lines of "If you send me another instant message with 'u' or 'ur' in it, I'll set you on fire and beat you to death with the limbs of a homeless man," to which he replied with "Ur gonna die first, u fuck." My father is just like me, only older He's even non-whuffo cavete terrae.

On the average summer day, when I'm not in school: I get up at around 10am, go "Fuck", and roll out of bed, throw on a pair of bright red swim trunks with "GUARD" on the left thigh, grab a tank top, sunglasses, whistle, and a hat. Once I arrive at the pool, I go inside, turn on the lights, start up the pumps for the waterslides, zero the registers, and take a nap for half an hour until my guards show up. Once we're opened up, I generally just sit out on the deck and make sure my lifeguards aren't being complete fuckups. I tell kids not to run, and on occasion sprint across the tarmac, dive into the water, and pull some asshat out of trouble. Once or twice a day, I'll do minor first aid when Tommy Tardboat trips on the tarmac whilst running, and needs a cut or scrape fixed up. About once a week, some irate parent with her head so far up her arse that she can see her lungs will whinge about something that nobody really has any control over, like, say, a lightning storm rolling in half an hour after she got here, and she wants a refund, dammit. Tough, because we neither know nor particularly care when you actually came in, and maybe you should check the weather before you leave. About midday, I'll get bored and start playing pranks on my guards, such as replacing sunblock with toothpaste, or my new favourite, the "freeze their stuff in a giant block of ice". At the end of the day, I go into responsible mode, and take care of all the money and stuff, sign everyone's timecards, make them clean up the facilities, and send 'em home. I turn off the slides and lights, lock up, then I swing downtown to drop off the deposit bag, and head home for the night, where I plop down on the LoveSac™ and watch some TV or a movie. I'd say in a given day, I do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work. I bill the city for about 10 hours. cavete terrae.

There is about to be consumption of mountain dew, and wendy's chili. Hold the finger, please. My favourite common midnight snack is basic cheese nachos. However, my absolute favourite midnight snack is key lime pie. cavete terrae.

I just printed one off from USPA.org and was going over it, and realised I've done a good portion of this stuff. Some of it my instructor saw yesterday and commented on, but I didn't realise it was on the card or anything, so I didn't think to get signed off. The specific ones I have in mind: Exit & freefall skills: #5: Jump and deploy while stable within 5 seconds after exit from 3,500 AGL Canopy skills: #2: Demonstrate a stand-up landing Emergency review #1: In a training harness, recognize and take appropriate action for all parachute malfunctions. I did all these over the weekend with or in front of my instructor, so I guess I'm asking if he can sign off on these next weekend, if he remembers them? cavete terrae.

All wear bright yellow jumpsuits, and they're called the Golden Arches cavete terrae.

My good news? I hadn't jumped since December, but I jumped yesterday.. not once, not twice, but thrice! My instructor moved me to a new canopy, 1:1 wingload I stood up all 3 of my landings on it! And I looooooooove freefall. cavete terrae.

I'm bored, come chat! http://dropzone.com/chat/ cavete terrae.

Ooh, I'm jealous. I went from 5,500, but I counted out the 10 and let it rip. Next time, I'm going for 3,500 opening alt, like god intended ;) cavete terrae.

After getting screwed by the wind yesterday and sitting on the ground for six hours at teh DZ, I came back today for more action.. My first half-dozen jumps, I was jumping a 290sqft Skymaster, which gave me a wingload of about .85 Today, I showed up around 15lbs lighter, and my instructor felt I was ready for a smaller canopy... and moved me to a 230! Wingload of 1.05, ahoy! Well, I went and made my first jump of the day, and learned a few things: Smaller canopies are much more fun, and handle better! Wheee. I also learned the joys of the kill lines on the slider, after they were pointed out to me, so it was a quieter ride down. Well, time for landing. I'm jumping a much, much faster canopy, and I didn't realise it means it -flares- faster, too. Imagine my surprise when the canopy stalled about 18" off the ground, but.... I stood it up! Stood up all three of my jumps today, and today also marked the start of my delays. That's right, the best part of the day wasn't downsizing, it was FINALLY FINDING OUT WHAT TERMINAL VELOCITY FEELS LIKE! My only problem was that at first, I had an ever-so-slow left turn in freefall, but I managed to correct, and got a "VERY GOOD" written in my log, wheeee. I am super student, hear me roar! cavete terrae.

:3:1 No beer owed for "first trip to terminal velocity" though, since I"m a student cavete terrae.

My first experience with Skydive Adventures was last summer, when I enrolled in a FJC in July. I showed up expecting 6 boring hours, followed by half an hour or so of fun. Turns out, the whole time was fun! The staff members found ways to make everything enjoyable. Nine months later, I still love hanging out at the DZ, even if I can't jump due to the insanely hit-or-miss weather. On one weekend, I spent 6 hours under a wind hold, watching the wind meter go past 30mph, and the direction swinging around like a crazed monkey on a carousel. The next day, I came back to find 5mph winds steady from one direction. Funny thing? I still had fun on the Saturday, chatting with the other folks at the DZ, watching videos, and learning new things. I suppose what this long, rambling affair can be condensed to is this: if you're looking for a drop zone for your first jump, or if you're an experienced jumper, Skydive Adventures is a great place to go. The aircraft, incidentally, are a Cessna 182 and a 206.

Trust me, I feel your pain. Drove about 1:40 to the drop zone and sat around shooting the shit with everyone for 6 hours because of a wind hold. A few of the experienced jumpers got a load up, and all I could do was watch :/ I would have camped there, but my friend was supposed to do a tandem, and I had to bring him back, so I'm going back tomorrow, the forecast looks MUCH better. cavete terrae.

Conditions tomorrow look excellent, so hopefully I'll head back up in the morning, I guess :( On the bright side, I -did- pass my re-currency written test, just need to get some damned jumps. cavete terrae.

usairnet.com cavete terrae.

Do you find usairnet's forecasts to be fairly accurate? Here's what my day is looking like, I hope to god the winds go down just a litttttttle tiny bit, since the location this data is for is actually 25 miles north of my DZ. If I get a wind hold, I suppose I'll camp at the DZ, learn to pack, and jump on Sunday. cavete terrae.

I should be waking up in 6 hours to shower, shave, make some sandwiches, and get ready to go to the DZ, yet, here I am thinking about it, going over my EPs in my head, and quizzing myself on everything they might quiz me on before they let me make my re-currency jump. cavete terrae.

You've got me beat on temp, but the winds look similar. I wonder if that extra 1-3mph is really going to keep me on the ground if it comes up? cavete terrae.