FlyingRhenquest

Sounds like it! Pretty much any tandem that actually makes it out of the plane is likely to be a good tandem. There are a lot of youtube videos of a lot of people freaking out before their tandem jump. I've never seen anyone who was pissed off once they were back on the ground, though. Glad you liked it! Many people do it, check it off the list and move on. It's usually pretty easy to spot the ones that are hooked. I guess technically we're "One of us" all our lives and only realize it at some point during that first jump. It's quite a surprise, this entire new world opening up before you... I jump out of Mile Hi in Colorado. If you're ever out this way, please stop by! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

If you have a wind tunnel nearby, you can learn stable belly flight in there. It took me, my sister and her daughter about 5 minutes in a wind tunnel to be flying reasonably well without much assistance from the instructor. It took me a fair bit longer (around 45 skydives and 20 minutes in the tunnel) to look like I almost know what I'm doing in there. If you're not comfortable with your stability in the air, wind tunnel is a valuable resource. I'm not going to tell you when to flare. I'm not an instructor and I'm the last person you want landing advice from. What I WILL tell you is I, personally, would rather flare early and PLF rather than flare late and shatter my heels. You can get away with a lot if your PLF is solid. If it's not, practice it. Another thing I'll tell you is that your DZ probably offers a canopy course, and I highly recommend that you take it as soon as you can once you get off AFF. You should be somewhat comfortable with low-altitude hop and pops before this. I did one, liked it, and signed up for the canopy course almost immediately. It will dramatically improve your canopy and landing skills. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

So... How did you do? Did you sign up for the AFF before or after the tandem? Where are you jumping out of? I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I'd love to see a late-night advert for a product like this, with the usual badly paid actors and cheesy sound effects! That would be hysterical! I'm already curious to see how this device evolves. Once you have a number of people testing them, they'll start asking for refinements and features, pointing out things that could be smoothed out. I already have a number of ideas and am curious if they've already implemented any of them. 6 hours of battery life isn't too bad, as long as you remember to turn your goggles on before you start your jump and off afterward. I wonder if they could do an external battery as an option, to go in a helmet audible alarm slot? If they could marry an HD video camera to one of these things, that would be awesome sauce. I've seen some glasses with an embedded video camera in another forum post here. Battery life would probably be the biggest problem with that. I actually have a friend who skis who might be interested in something like that which has a camera on it. If I could download the flight telemetry and show my jumps on Google earth, that would be pretty spiffy. Even if it just spits out KML files, I could do something with that. Compass heading would be pretty nice, too, but at the same time I want to avoid information overload. Really the most important thing in my view would be the altitude. Can't wait to see what version 3 looks like! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Neat! I was just telling someone I wanted something like that for skydiving, too. Does it remember telemetry data, too? I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Can't tell you anything about your location, but you might want to wait until spring if it gets very cold where you live. As cold as it is on the ground, it's going to be much colder at altitude! Skydiving is pretty expensive, yeah. You can sometimes find package deals on the AFF training. I want to say the least expensive once I've seen on here was around $1600. That's really just the first step, though. AFF is 7 jumps (or a few more if you fail a few, it was 12 for me) and you need a minimum of 25 jumps to get your A license. You'll probably need to hire a coach for those, unless you have a very good friend with a coach rating. And of course you'll be needing gear. You can get second hand and might be able to find a good deal on some that way. If you want all new, you could drop upwards of $2000 for your rig, $2000 for a main canopy, some amount (Probably $2000 heh) on a reserve canopy and $1200 or so on an AAD. Cha-ching! Now's the time to buy secondhand gear though! It's the most fun thing I've ever done, and in my opinion, totally worth it. *shrug* your mileage may vary. The AFF training is pretty nice. I was really surprised at how quickly I advanced in the training. You start with a ground school and will probably do your first jump that same day. You'll have two instructors holding onto you for the first few jumps, so you don't have to worry about stability. They'll pull for you if you forget to and you'll pick up the basic skills you need. Once you get out of the AFF program, your dropzone should have some instructors they can set you up with and you'll start checking off the boxes to get your A license. During all this you have to jump pretty regularly. I think it was at least once every 2 weeks in my AFF training. I never bumped up against it, so I'm not positive. I get itchy if I don't jump a couple times a week IIRC you need a jump every 90 days once you get your A license. I checked it once. Don't plan to bump up on it. Itchy! The process is really pretty straight forward, and your dropzone has an interest in keeping you safe on your jumps. Once you get comfortable with your gear and the idea that it really IS going to keep you from dying, it gets a lot easier to relax on the plane and in your jumps. This is not something you can do with your conscious mind, your subconscious just has to get used to how everything works. Hope that was useful information! Let us know how it goes! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Army guy in there a couple of visits ago had what looked like a real one on. Though I can't imagine them allowing that in the tunnel. Big ass thing too. He also had some gear strapped between his legs. As awkward as it all looked, I can imagine you'd want some training on how to fly with all that crap before some dude chucks you out of a plane. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j56IiLqZ9U Between December 1974 and her death in March, 1982, Ayn Rand collected a total of $11002 in monthly social security payments. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I didn't do a tandem before going to AFF, and didn't find the training to be bad at all. You've got a couple of instructors holding on to you for your first few jumps, and they keep you very stable until you know how to do it on your own. I was astounded at how fast progress was. I'd have not called me having no problem with flips and barrel rolls at the point that I was doing them. They were more fun than anything. Getting on the plane was a mental effort for the first few jumps, but once I started relaxing, I was OK with it. Now there's no place I'd rather sit than on the floor of the king air, right next to the door! Wind tunnel's great too, especially once you aren't flailing around on your belly anymore and can actually do some stuff. That also doesn't take as long as you might expect it to. My sister and niece were pretty much flying on their own within 7 minutes. I think they'd need another 5 minutes or so to clean up their body positions a bit and they'd be well on their way to the fun stuff. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I've seen a lot of hop and pops freak out about the altitude and pull before they were stable. I'm immediately suspicious when I hear that's what it was. God only knows what the guy was doing when he pulled. My money would be on body position as the culprit. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Yes, well. You know what they say... Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

8900 feet according to the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos I don't see where it says how fast he was going, but it says he could have safely gone another 20 seconds before deploying. Based on that, I'd guess he was at pretty close to a "normal" terminal velocity, around 120 mph. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Empty carbs no good! If you still drink sodas, swap 'em out for water (Or black coffee if you can't live without caffeine, like me ;-) and that'll help a lot too! I mostly didn't exercise and mostly didn't gain much weight after I stopped drinking sodas back in '98. All things in moderation, too. Stop eating when you're comfortably full, even if there's still food on the plate! If you're strength training, you're going to be losing fat but gaining muscle. So it's not too surprising to hit plateaus. Just make sure to build healthy habits around eating right and exercise, and don't get discouraged if you backslide a little every once in a while. As long as you keep your eyes on the goal, it's actually pretty easy! Have you managed to get in the tunnel yet? You should be able to fly there now. You can probably get back into AFF now too -- check with your drop zone. I was about your weight when I did my AFF 1 in July. They just slapped me on a 300 square foot canopy and it worked just fine. The tunnel's a pretty decent workout, too. I noticed I'm starting to see muscles on me. If I keep this up, I might actually consider myself... fit... at some point. That's actually a bit of a surprising thought for me... I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Eew yeah. I had a psychologist once tell me that I was a caffeine addict based only on the information that I drank Mountain Dew. You're going to get plenty of adrenaline just riding the plane to altitude, you don't need to open the spigot with caffeinated drinks on top of that. Now that I'm comfortable with the whole thing, I'll allow myself some coffee prior to heading over, but I've found that it makes me queasy on the first plane ride up (This doesn't happen if I stick to water) and I don't feel significantly more "awake" until I'm in the air anyway. I think many people try to deny the fact that they're afraid. If you don't look your fears in the eye, you won't have much control over how they manifest themselves. I've heard Buddhists talk about this sort of thing -- being "compassionately aware" and acknowledging your emotional state. Doing this prevents you from being ruled by your emotions, while being aware of them. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Yeah... you're hooked. May as well just enroll in an AFF program, now... I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I hope that's all it was. Did you ask your tandem instructor about it? I've always been able to find the hackey and never had any problem pulling it. It's snug in there, but comes out nicely without a huge amount of force. Hard pulls do occasionally happen, but it sounds like your tandem instructor deployed OK. It does seem like something that would be sensitive to angle, and it also seems like the tandem student position is already a fairly awkward angle. Nah, it's nothing like that. Especially once you've done your 6 minutes of tunnel time. If you can be stable in the tunnel, you can be stable in the air. That's actually pretty nice, the DZ having their own tunnel. If it weren't for the unique instruction I can get in the tunnel, I'd rather just jump out of an airplane than drive to South Denver (Jumping out of an airplane is probably safer.) By the time you get to the AFF jump where they actually let go of you, you'll be good and ready for them to let go of you. You might not even notice it. By the level 6 and 7 jumps, flips and barrel rolls should be more fun than scary. You can get a pretty good idea of my progression if you pop 'round to my youtube channel. It's not particularly "interesting" for most people, but you can see how I flail around in my first tunnel video and early AFF jumps and how I actually might seem to look like I know what I'm doing in the one from last week. You can also see how much my sister and niece improve in 7 minutes in that last wind tunnel video. https://www.youtube.com/user/FlyingRhenquest I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Incorporating as an LLC might not actually buy you all that much. A nearby restaurant was sued in a labor dispute a while back (Keeping tips in a tip pool, which is legal, and the owner was allegedly skimming from the tip pool, which is not.) A friend of mine found some documentation from the lawsuit online and one of the things the plaintiff's attorney attempted to do was claim that the owner's LLC had no other purpose than to serve as an alias for the owner. If successful, this maneuver would have allowed him to pursue the owner's assets (House, car, etc.) So if you do get sued, you'd best invest heavily in making sure the waiver holds up. Your best line of defense is probably that as a skydiver instructor you don't actually have any money, and anyone suing you probably isn't interested in skydiving gear. Typically the drop zone owner would be a much juicier target. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I'll stand outside the shower and pee in! Hah! "Hey man... are you peeing in my shower?!" I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

So all skydivers with children should cease jumping immediately? Depends entirely on your circumstances. If your wife's OK with it, your family has the means to get by without you, your family has the means to pay for skydiving and those inevitable ER visits when one of the kids has an ear infection or your life insurance will pay out in the event you die in a skydiving accident, then by all means go ahead. In the case of the original poster, his wife's not OK with it and he mentioned later that money was pretty tight. With one kid still on the way, those really aren't ideal circumstances to take up an expensive hobby, even if you completely discount the risk. Personally I don't think I know any skydivers who have children. I know a couple of people with children who say they'd be interested in doing it once their kids are older. One friend with one on the way is currently so worried about the financial impact, he doesn't even want to do a couple of minutes in the wind tunnel. Though he might in a year or so, once things settle down a bit. That's just how things go. Sometimes it's just not the right time. Trying again at a different time is always an option. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

That's quite a flight to altitude. Hope no one farts on the way up! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I doubt he'd be in any financial shape to do skydiving with 18 years of child support and alimony payments ahead. This is an issue of responsibility. When you get married and bring new life into the world, it's about more than just you at that point. Deprived of his income, his wife and children would face a lot of hardship. Risking that unnecessarily would be selfish and irresponsible. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Never done one myself but looking at the video from a couple of family members, it looks like at least some tandem instructors like the spinning. Some of it was the cameraman flying too, but I'm pretty sure I saw some spinning in there. The first few AFF jumps, you have two dudes holding on to you, which will contribute greatly to your stability. Relaxing helps a good bit too, though this may seem like an unreasonable request on your first few AFF jumps. If you're really concerned about your stability and control, you could spend some time in a wind tunnel if there's one near you. I did some time in one between AFF 1 and 2 and it really helped a lot. I find tunnel time to be entertaining in its own right. I actually got to do some stuff beyond just flailing around on my belly last time I was in there, and I had a blast with it. Spring for the video too -- you'll learn a lot more with it. Can't tell you why the pull would have been hard. Maybe your angle on it was just funny or something. Ears popping is different for everyone. If you have a cold or allergies and are congested, it might become more difficult. If they're actually painful, consult a doctor. You might have something else going on in there (Maybe an infection or something.) You might have dislodged some ear wax too, and again your doctor can get that out for you if that's the case. Mostly I think you just need to relax about your skydiving performance. This isn't a competition. Everyone learns at their own pace, and your early dives will in no way indicate how good or bad a skydiver you're likely to be. Take it at the pace it needs to be taken at, and you'll get more out of it. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

If you're running wireshark on the Linux box, try using ifconfig to put its network card into promiscuous mode. I seem to recall that working, back when I used to do that sort of thing on a regular basis. You probably could set all your packets to go through the machine that's running wireshark, but routing games like that always give me a headache. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I'll try to find out some more details (like just how long to go) next time I take the canopy course again. I'm planning to do it once I get my own gear, to get a better feel for landing my own stuff (The video of the landings and pointers from the instructor were incredibly helpful.) I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I've been in the sport since July 7, and I spot. They drill that into you. I think it was on an AFF jump, my instructor told me he wanted me to look out the door and tell him when we got on the ground where we were relative to the swoop pond when we got out (We had just passed it heading northwest.) I look for the runway, swoop pond, the running track to the south, other planes and, if I'm not first, the person who jumped just before me. Gives me something to do while waiting for separation or the light to turn green. So far I've always liked what I've seen. If I didn't, I wouldn't jump. I was supposed to do a "Long spot" during a hop and pop for my canopy course, but I really didn't feel that comfortable going beyond the road at the end of the runway, so I probably jumped that one sooner than I was supposed to. I think I got more done with sight picture on my 11K high pull than on that long spot anyway. That was really a long time to look at the scenery and play with the canopy