Xitesmai

For those that have jumped at Skydance, does the gun range bother y'all? Like in terms of safety or hearing gunfire all afternoon?

Hey everyone. I'm moving to Oakland, CA this summer and I’m looking for a new DZ. It seems that the two options I have are Skydance in Davis and Skydive California in Tracy. I have my A license and 45 jumps so I'm just looking for a low key DZ with a really good vibe and a good place to learn and grow. Any recommendations between these two or any other places that I missed? thanks all!

I realized I posted this in the wrong place. Please disregard. I cant seem to figure out how to delete it.

Hey everyone. I'm moving to Oakland, CA this summer and I’m looking for a new DZ. It seems that the two options I have are Skydance in Davis and Skydive California in Tracy. I have my A license and 45 jumps so Im just looking for a low key DZ with a really good vibe and it would be great to have the option of Vegetarian / soy free…Totally ok to bring my own food too, just wondering what’s on site or close. thanks all!

According to my AFFI I have a medium fall rate. I jumped with a small frame girl and dropped like a rock, then a guy bigger than me, and I was floaty. So I guess somewhere in the middle...in all honesty I probably havent jumped enough to know which I am, if at all.

Hey guys, So I'm uber new to the sport (28 jumps) and I'm starting to do 2 ways, but so far I'm a problem child on all three I've done so far. I just cant seem to stay relative to my partner. I'm alittle better with fall rate...i can usually adjust to the fall rate in about 5-10 secs. I feel bad having someone more experience than me jump with me, because I feel like I'm wasting their money when I just shoot by them, or cant close the gap. Any advice on how to work on staying relative? Should I spend some time in the tunnel? Or should I just try to do an ass load of jumps with anyone willing to burn a ticket? Maybe a coach? Thanks for the help.

That depressing moment when due to my height, people think I'm a chick...yup...I'm there... Just for the record, I'm a dude.../sigh

I never meant to indicate that the Dolphin wasn't air worthy, just that my AFFI said not to do any free fly manuveurs or exits which create excess turbulence across the back of the container. I also took that to mean no loops or rolls, which I'm probably wrong about. I've been able to land the Pulse 190 consistently in no wind, but I haven't had a downwind landing yet. I'll talk to my AFFI (also a master rigger) about planning a good starting rig for me, then I'll start looking for the pieces. What are some good places to look for gear other than the classifieds?

So I'm about to come off of student status and as of 6 jumps ago moved off student rigs and onto rental rigs. However my frame is quite small (5'4" - 145lbs) so there is only one rig that fits at the DZ. It's an old Dolphin with a Pulse 190 in it. My instructor told me not to do any inverted maneuvers, or wild (read: fun) exits (back flips, etc) since the rig is most definitely not free-fly friendly. So I feel like all I can do is track, and turns, ( and RW once I'm licensed, if safe for this container). I don't have any gear outside of goggles, and my plan was to slowly acquire things in order of $$$. Altimeter, Helmet, Audible, etc. So I guess my question is this: Is this container OK for RW? I get the feeling from the way the flaps close that it is not safe for learning to sit-fly. I love my DZ so I don't want to change locations. So what is a good strategy for finding the right gear for a small frame?

It seems as though I'm on the right path then. I usually bring beer no matter what just to say thanks to the DZ for soft openings and great training. I'm doing jumps 13-? this weekend, and I'm sticking around for a few days so I'll see how things go.

So this may seem abit strange but I'm having some trouble understanding the DZ social structure and where exactly I fit in. So I'm still a student, and I have yet to convince any of my friends to come jump with me. So often I drive down by myself and stay at the DZ two days(typically) sometimes on the weekend and sometimes in the week. It seems like there are 4-5 groups of jumpers. Tandems - They come, they pay, they jump, they leave... Fun Jumpers - They come, they pay, they jump, they may leave depending if they are jumping the next day. Teams - They are always there, jump all the time, but are not the most social if you're not in their class/crowd already. Staff - Always there, relatively friendly and easy going I've noticed at times that there can be tension between the teams, and the staff at times and when you hang out with either group they either bitch about each other, or they talk about DZ elements/goings on that as a fun jumper/student really puts a damper on social enjoyment. So I guess my question is this: How as a new jumper can I make friends at the DZ without being drawn into the politics/sexcapades/BS of the DZ? I hope this question made sense...

I'll shortly be off student status and am looking for my first helmet. I would like a full face with an audible pocket, but beyond that as long as it doesn't fog, has good visibility, and protects my noodle I'm not looking for too much. I've kinda narrowed down my choices to the Cookie G3, Bonehead Rev2, and the Phantom XV. There is a Cookie rep at my local DZ so I can demo the G3, but I was looking for some pros / cons of these helmets. Alot of folks at my DZ have G3's but I don't want to just drink the Kool-Aid because everyone else is. Any help here?

My log says M240 so maybe its a Manta 240? I'll double check when I'm at the DZ next time. I think 3 may have it right, I tried for a smooth transition from half to full, but I may have been too low and not aggressive enough on the toggles. I'll ask my AFFI next time to film my landing so we can go over that as well. Thanks

I wasnt sitting in half brakes on my final leg...I was making small adjustments as to not land on a runway...I went into the Stage 1 (half brakes) about 3-4 seconds before going to full flare...But once in full flare I didnt feel any lift or change in speed...hence my question.

Yeah I talked to my AFFI during debrief, and the other instructor who helped on the radio when he noticed I was landing off...but they didn't see the landing so they couldn't be sure what happened. I'll also go over it again when I go back in a few weeks...

Thanks for all the help everyone..allow me to respond to a few things: I did take notice of the wind direction prior to boarding...My DZ is very symmetrical and I thought I was over the correct corner, alas this was not the case...I have learned a valuable lesson to spot "the pea gravel" early, and look for other markers early after opening to ensure proper orientation... My position was on the airfield and I tried making small adjustments to land on the inside of the airfield area, but the crosswind kept pushing me back over another runway, so I made small adjustments to go more downwind to ensure that I cleared the asphalt... I guess I should have been more precise and called it a "two-staged" flare. Yes they did teach this to bleed off some of the vertical speed prior to landing. I can see how bleeding off the speed can negate some of the vertical lift from flaring. I was afraid of that...I will supply preferred beer selection as due penance when I head back in a few weeks.

So just to preface this I just finished my 4th AFP jump level. On my last jump I had a bad spot after opening and ended up holding on the wrong corner of the airfield. So when I went in for my landing I was half running with the wind and half crabbing. I went into half brakes, then flared when I thought I was at the right height, but I didn't really feel the canopy slow down/ lift much and there was no way that I could run it out (too fast), so I slid it in on my feet and rolled to hit my hip (sprained my foot in the process). Unfortunately I don't have video of the landing since I was a mile off, but I would like to understand the dynamics of the landing so it doesn't happen again...I understand that your answers will be speculation but any advice could help. Why didn't I feel the lift when I flared? Did I flare too late potentially? Was it because of the wind direction? Also, I was going to pick up a pair of goggles...Does that mean I owe beer? Also my total weight is 175 and I was flying a 240 canopy, if that helps...

Lol at first I thought you were going to give her a Rock River AR 15....I need to the DZ more and the range less.

It seems strange that the city would spend over $125,000 to fight this, rather than issue a temporary use permit for the former ODOT land, than they have been using from 1999 to 2006. Definitely another agenda going on here. Hopefully a decision will be made soon, and access rights will be stronger for DZs across the country.

Is there not a DZ close to where you live? Just curious.... The reason I ask is that there are two local ones near me, and one is smaller but is run by Jim Crouch who is the Director of Safety and Training for the USPA, and he and the other folks at VSC are super nice...so dont judge a DZ by looks alone or by how big they are.

That's it...I'm moving to CA. All we have at my DZ is that sweaty hairy guy that likes to fart in the plane. JK, SOI you know I love you...

"Mile Hi at it again.....How rude." Lady can you tell us how else we can get up to 13000 AGL? I'm sorry you dont like the sound of an engine that's part of a plane full of awesome, but next time you buy a house....you might want to know if you're new house in under NORMAL aircraft patterns.

This isnt really new. We use these for hanging up scuba gear all the time. This would probably work if you need to hang it. http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.aspx?op=ItemDisplay&ProductID=UKTSBCH But I agree that a storage bin is a superior storage solution.

I'm not disagreeing with you in any way...I fully intend to support my DZ in anyway that I can...whether that be from buying from the gear store, or something as simple as setting up beer for the jumpers coming in from the last load. I was just curious as to whats considered taboo in regards to gear buying.

Military Altitrack is current running $1650 from paragear. SSK is alittle less.