CanuckInUSA

Regardless of how scientific or accurate this is, here's my numbers: 11 - Experience and Currency 17 - Canopy Information 7 - Training Experience 35 - Total which puts me at the threshold of the Average/High risk categories which in all honesty if you don't factor in that I jump in Colorado, is pretty darn accurate of where I think I'm at with my skills/experience. But there likely needs to be more questions concerning how you fly your canopy, where you fly your canopy, what sort of DZs you jump at, etc, etc, etc. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's one of the reasons why those Eloy Holiday Boogie tracking dives were so fun. I got to jump with people I otherwise likely wouldn't have jumped with. Hope things are well in AB. I've exchanged a few emails with Kaye and she's been quite the adventurous soul since the New Year. When will you guys start jumping again? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Initially I'm of the opinion that it's best to let the newbies be base. But at some point, it's good to set them free so that they learn that "if you want to be in the dive, you do what you need to do to be in the dive". I will continue to mix this up, but a couple of weekends ago while about to do a 4-way FF with three lesser experienced folks, I volunteered to be the base (heck I was the only camera) and made it know to the others that they needed to come to me. It was a fun jump. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes you are very right here. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well there you went and blew it for me. I'm obviously not one of the hot freefliers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Nice to see other freefliers spreading the love with their videos. You knew there was a reason why we've got those expensive gadgets attached to our heads. It looks like a good time was had by many at this boogie and I'm sorry I missed it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This may not occur to new freefliers just learning the tricks of the trade, but you honestly can't think that we can't do the same thing while head down do you? LOL ... if you don't think I can't be nose to nose turning points with another freeflier, might I invite you to watch a video of us doing just that. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What makes a dive succesful? Are points needed, or are all the people flying relative to each other and everyone was safe and had fun? As far as having any hard core RW experience, I have none. As far as some intermediate RW experience, I have a little but could definitely use more. But I'm currently not interested in it as freeflying, tracking, swooping, wingsuit, CReW and BASE are what I'm interested in now and there's not enough hours in the day to address all of these disciplines, let alone doing RW jumps to boot. 1) Freeflying is like dancing in the sky. At the risk of upsetting the RW people, what's more graceful, some talented freefiers or a group of talented belly fliers? My answer is the freefliers are more graceful and more fun to watch. Anyone who's seen Mike Ortiz walk his 360 in the sky will know what I'm talking about. How could Airspeed (who are very talented) match the Flyboyz for grace and precision in the sky? But that's my opinion, possibly not yours. 2) Freeflying is hard and has been quite the challenge (not to say that RW is easy, it's not) and I am constantly going through new freeflying experiences. 3) While it doesn't happen over night, freeflying teaches you a greater control range in how to fly your body in the sky. 4) This next comment likely doesn't apply to experienced RW people, but the relative low-timer freeflier is more likely able to get to a formation than the same relative low-timer RW only skydiver. The new RW only skydiver may think that the only way to get down to a formation if they are floating would be to arch. But the freeflier knows many more ways to fly their body to get down to the low people. I know many belly-only people will disagree with this, but I have seen it in the skies with my own eyes. Don't forget I'm talking relatively low time freefliers versus low time RW people here. 5) At least at my DZ, it's easier to organize small-way freefly jumps with you and your friends. I could go on, but I won't. I'm sure this thread is going to get more freefliers and RW people mad at each other. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My hat goes off to both pilotdave and mcrocker for generously allowing us addicted jumpers to share our movies with each other. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm still tinkering with it every once in a while, and that whole intro section will be redone after mid April (I need to capture some additional raw footage) and yes I will revisit the thought of getting the transitions on the major beat instead of the beat which is more symmetrical with the music, the time it takes to play this intro etc, etc, etc. In fact thanks to your feedback and Zenister's I've made more minor enhancements but haven't put them up on the website yet as they are hard to dectect without prior knowledge. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If you had to rick click it in order to save it, your program associations are likely pointing to some other application for the WMV files. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yah like that Steve guy who's made these horrible freeflying, tracking and swooping skydiving videos and keeps on insisting that others watch them (by the way they can be found here). I mean his transitions are out of sync, he jumps all over the place with his action shots (I mean I want to see how the skydive develops) and his music selection bites. He should really go back to being a whuffo as his movies are useless. Hey you shut up there. I like those Bellas movies. Dang it's hard to live with more than one person in your brain. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Not that I'm trying to hijack this thread, but what happens when you press my here button? If you get a popup window that asks if you want to save my preview (which you should if you haven't seen it yet, you're even in it, although only briefly). But if that doesn't happen, then you must have a different application on your computer associated with the WMV files. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

While I wasn't there, I have enjoyed looking at yours and Amazon's (and whoever else has posted) pictures of the boogie and feel a little sad that I wasn't there. But a good time looks like it was had by many (including the sheep which were no doubt imported to help a certain DZ.COMer get through the boogie). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This is going to depend on the time of year. In the summer (with no weather holds) I should be able to get 8-10 jumps in (maybe more now that I own more than one rig). But in the winter time I may only get 1 jump in. You just never know. I'd say all in all though, I probably average about 5-6 jumps on your average weekend day. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Already did (GTi white with red wings) ... and hopefully it'll be ready on or before April 15th when I show my ugly mug in Eloy for four days of tons of wingsuit (as well as some freeflying and tracking) dives. BTW ... thanks for the Bytch Boogie DVD. Dang we were drunk and stoo-pid that weekend. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You've seen me at the DZ countless times. I just don't really go by my screen name at the DZ because well it's NOT a nickname. Anyway, unless I sneak a jump in Saturday morning, you won't see me on Saturday as I'll be playing in a volleyball tournament. But weather permitting, you'll see me on Sunday. And as for what canopy to buy? I like what Lisa (Skybytch) wrote this morning at 7:30 am (5:30 our time). Trust what she tells you as she kind of does this (councils and sells people gear) for a living and she won't set you up with inappropriate gear. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

So whatever happened to your CA dreams? Is it going to be CA or FL in 2004? Opps ... I guess Rosa beat me to the punch. CA in May eh? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Look what you did. You made me sad that I wasn't there to meet all of you cool people. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang ... not only am I near the bottom of the order, but now I'm also a "Pecker". Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The current student containers sure are nice compared to the stuff they had only just twelve short months ago (a lot of credit for the current student/rental gear at MH must be given to Frank and the Sands Family). But the canopies are still these old worn out Skymasters. Believe me when I say I know how they fly (they suck). I only wish I was a student all over again once these Navigators you speak of come online. Anyway, my point about the Skymasters is that once you start flying different (more modern) gear, it will perform like nothing else you have ever tried (and this will be a good thing). At some point in time, you will be ready to try the rental Spectre 230/210s at MH and you will see that these are very good canopies (a million times better than those tired old Skymasters). And it sounds like your up and coming Deland trip will be a great time to gain some canopy experience/confidence and of course to demo some gear. [Disclamer] I AM NOT AN INSTRUCTOR NOR AM I A USPA COACH [/Disclamer] Based on the fact that I have seen you land and I do sort of know you. I would recommend a Spectre loaded within the limits Lisa (Skybytch) mentioned in an earlier post. I fear that the Navigator (and maybe the Silhouette) may not give you what you may need at this stage of your short skydiving career, and the nine cell canopies may have too much forward horizontal speed for your liking. So what better canopy than a tried and proven Spectre which is used by novice and expert skydivers a like. Finally while PD does make a good product, other good products from some of the other manufacturers do also exist. I love my Crossfire2 and it's not a PD. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang ... why am I always near the bottom of the pecking order? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

One thing to keep in mind is that these modern canopies will perform like nothing you've ever tried before (I'm assuming you're still stuck on those old worn out student 260-290 rental canopies at MH). Yes the Sabre2 can be swooped like a high performance canopy, but it can also be flown in a docile manner as well. By the way, what canopies have you tried at MH? I'd say the Sabre2, Saffire2 and Lotus canopies will all perform in a similar manner so if the Sabre2 scares you (it really shouldn't), then the same thing could also happen on the Saffire2 and/or Lotus canopies. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Actually that was not the message I was trying to send. Spectres are very good canopies and would make an excellent first canopy for you (I soon will start flying one in my 2nd rig and in the future should have a much better understanding of how they perform compared to the other canopies I have flown). But I just wasn't so sure about this shallow glide angle comment. If $$$ is not an issue, you may also want to look into a Sabre2 or a Saffire2 canopy (canopies which will perform quite similar to the Lotus). But the problem with the Sabre2/Saffire2 options is that it's hard to find used versions out there as they are usually snapped up very fast on the open market. There are a lot of good choices out there, you need to decided upon the appropriate wing loading and then decide if it's possible to find used versions of what you want, or if you need to go with a new canopy. Good luck ... PS: By the way, I have flown seven cell Spectres and Triatholon in the past, I'm just not current on a seven cell canopy as my last 500+ jumps have all been on nine cell canopies. Historically I prefer the nine cell (for it's shallower glide angle), but my opinion may change with more time under my new (used) Spectre which will come online soon. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

A properly loaded Spectre would make for a great 1st canopy for you (as would some of the others listed), but I'm not so sure that I would agree that a Spectre has a shallow glide angle compared to an equivalently loaded nine cell canopy. But maybe I don't know enough about Spectres? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over