kimemerson

well, skydivejohnny with no profile information, you may well have an axe to grind regarding Jerry but I would question your assertion that he is "all but forgotten". He has indeed fallen on harder times but as another thread on dz.com shows, along with hundreds of memories and testimonials about him, his long standing contributions and influences, the vast number of people still active in the sport who attribute their own success to Jerry, all pretty much assure that the name Jerry Bird will long survive the name Beth Bird. I don't mean at all to take away from Beth, or to praise Jerry falsely. I only take exception to your fairly silly comment which, near as I can see, is more out of an emotional reaction than to any semblance of or approach to reality.

Look, money where your mouth is stud. Money where your mouth is. Anyone who doubts the orange will do any harm, blows it all off as drama queening, simply step up to the plate and let the rest of us drop said orange from said heights on your head. Hard scientific data right there when you need it. Don't forget the video.

For freeflying get a pair or Carhart cargo pants and slip a piece of bungee into the already made hem at the bottom. Get pants too long for you and they'll bunch up at the bottom. It's a cheap solution to paying $100's for what amounts to the same thing. Save the booties jump suit for when you get some time in the sport and come to the conclusion that you ain't nothing till you can do it all and do it well. (If you intend to stay in the sport you may find yourself looking for new challenges eventually and RW is as great a discipline as anything you're likely to do. So do it all and dismiss none of it, grasshopper)

If it was so obvious to us watching, why didn't the vidiot say anything? That guy should have been stopped and is just plain lucky.

If spotting had not become a lost art, deteriorating from when it was essential that everyone know how, down to having someone on the load sport for the load, down to only the pilot spotting and everyone on the load whistling Dixie as they exit like it's stepping out of a chauffeured limo, then there might not be much discussion on this. But I've heard people ask "how many seconds" and then they count like it's a speed reading test as they look out into space and disappear into the void sans clue. I've seen people attempt to employ some semblance of some concept of a 45° rule but then discover that the group before never got to 45° so they wait... and wait.... and wait.... I've seen people refuse to get out when the plane wasn't over the drop zone regardless of the winds aloft because they don't know, they just don't know. So, why don't people just learn how to spot like it mattered and take a little responsibility and act with knowledge rather than just with a parcel of patchwork advice? And don't even get me started on landing in light & variable winds and choosing a landing direction.

1,500' AGL. Cessna 182 in a headwind. Bungee pilot chute.

Congratulations on both accounts. And on getting back in the air. That too.

I just had my 20th anniversary in the sport. You've been jumping 18. There are 9,847 membership #'s between us, or roughly 5,000 new members a year. Jerry started 40 years ago. There are 68,396 numbers between us, or roughly 3,420 new members a year in the twenty years between Jerry & me. I've always considered membership numbers the better indicator of time in the sport. Licenses are limiting in describing anything beyond the fact that we have met certain minimums. A well funded first year in the sport will get you a D license but you can opt out of getting any license at all. A former student of mine from about 15 years ago still only has an A license because he can't swim and is afraid of the water so he never completed his water training for a B license, has never done a night jump and will never compete at Nationals but can skydive circles around a lot of us. So what's his A license say about him? That he's a novice? Hardly. So when it comes to bragging rights and some young tyro comes along and shows off his D license, that D can be trumped by the A license holder's USPA membership #. Also, my D license makes the absurd claim that I am a "Master". Yeah? Says who? I got it with 200 jumps which, at the time, I considered a huge accomplishment - which in its way, it is - but now with nearly 4,000 jumps those first 200 seem so much like baby's first steps compared with a marathoner's. My .02 cents re: Bush's #. No way should he have been given that. It was owed to a real skydiver who accomplished the tasks required to deserve it. It's a slap in the face to just hand it out to an octogenarian ex-pres merely because he was an ex-pres. A tandem and, what, one AFF? Remember when the Beatles got their OMBs or whatever it was and other recipients of the OMB gave theirs back as protest? Too bad their isn't some equal form of protest for us, but I sure as hell hope any license USPA bestows on anyone is given because it was well deserved. What's Bush's USPA membership #? Did he get one? Did he even join and pay up? Or was he given a pass on that too? And why didn't USPA ask members about this first? Did they assume we'd just agree? Maybe the majority of us would, who knows? But from what I've heard and read it doesn't seem likely.

no apology needed. Let's see more USPA #'s.

I don't know about the Safire but as I recall the Sabre was designed differently than F-111 and in particular, besides the advent of ZeroP-3, the nose (airfoil) design was new. A result was that the standard F-111 procedure of rolling the nose was no longer necessary and was actively discouraged by PD. Still, the practice lingered and not all openings were as nice as they could have been had people learned to pack for the newer design. So, I will second the advice you were just given and suggest leaving that nose alone. And I'd be curious to learn how this goes.

It's right there on your membership card.

License #'s are fun but not accurate as to when someone became a skydiver. I have friend who went over 1,000 jumps without any license until she decided she wanted to compete at Nationals. So there were people with 200 jumps, in the sport upwards of ten years less than she was at the time, and they have lower D license #'s. Now, USPA membership #'s are a whole other matter. We all get them as soon as we join and that tells the story. Kim D-13439 USPA 68753

1. Beats the stairs. 2. I wouldn't get into anything less than a "perfectly good airplane." 3. What? You land in those things? 4. I don't jump from planes. I enter freefall. 5. With a dumbass question like that it doesn't matter what I say. You won't accept and you'll never understand anyway. 6. I got more education, guidance, encouragement & support for skydiving than I ever got before I got married the first time and no one asked me stupid questions about that blind move. So I ask you, which is smarter? 7. There are no stupid questions. We just have a lot of curious morons

If it's straight up AFF (7 levels) then the first three or four levels might require a lot of training and learning so that maybe three max would do it. But after level 4, it seems that the TLO's just get easier to accomplish so doing levels 4-7 in a day is possible. In fact, on another note, AFF was created back in 1981 to take place from about 9,000'. But with today's 13.5 there can be a lot of extra time if the TLO's are met high enough. So when I was an Instructor I used to actually combine levels 4&5 then 6&7. Same goals met. Money saved. But I then insisted that the student do a hop and pop and a solo jump before I'd graduate them.

As long as a skydiver has the ability to pull, pull at the right altitude and pull stable, can track away from others and not present a danger to him/herself or others, then how one orients one's body to the planet is of little consequence. As far as I'm concerned it is entirely feasible to teach skydiving in a head down/freefly position. I don't know who could do it now, but there's no reason to think it couldn't be done. So, how soon is too early? When you can't get stable and pull at a safe altitude or get away from others to pull. Getting the awareness to be a safe skydiver is not contingent on discipline. All the disciplines require extreme awareness.

well I'm not reading through all these posts so forgive me if someone on page 2 already said this. The purpose of any suit at all is because we jump with others who may or may not have similar body types and sizes. So, yes, it is important to understand how your body flies first, then add an appropriate suit to "dress for success" according the jump and the people on it. Suit manufacturers are making a mint on something that essentially is available for $25.00 at the local Army Navy store. I don't know what BDU's are but that sure sounded like great advice. I've owned two RW suits in 20 years and they were both free (staff suits). They are both long gone now so I have a long sleeved T and a pair of exercise pants I modified at the ankles with velcro. Works fine for me and all under $25.00. Then there's the option of trying to find people of similar body size and type and you can go in shorts and T-shirts for all it matters. The best of the best don't need a suit at all. It's the grippers they need and that's just for video judging to prove the point was made. What are BDUs?

No idea, but it doesn't look like the parachute was "popped" AFTER he jumped off the wing at all. I know the media tends to speak while ignorant but with proof otherwise right in front of them you'd think they could nail at least this one.

Don't misunderstand Lead. Mixed gender fighting has happened, is encouraged could well happen again. And as for outmatched, there have been several surprises along the dozen + years Fight Night has existed. Big guys falling to smaller ones. Women beating men. Then again, I don't want to suggest anyone might have been drinking, but alcohol has been held responsible for more than a few losses. That said, as I understand it, there is no certainty Fight Night is even happening this year. Strictly rumor and innuendo, but that's what I hear.

It would be dangerous and presumptuous for any of we lay people to suggest skydiving will help and that you and your daughter should go ahead. That's the caveat. Having said that, however, I can say that skydiving has probably saved more lives than it has taken. It has most definitely helped through the occasional (and emotionally devastating) depressions we all get as we lose relationships, or jobs, or gone through hard times. But as for real clinical depression unless anyone is an expert here I'd hesitate to say skydiving is a cure or even a help. It could well be and I would not be surprised at all if it does. I am simply reminding you that so far I have not seen any credentials added to names here and while we all have you & your daughter's best interests at heart and we all so much love and believe in our sport and its curative properties, I don't think any of us can actually be responsible for dispensing sage advice. The above is just ass covering. My emotional response is that you should go for it. You may well know your daughter best and be better positioned to evaluate her depression and its effects on her. If it is as mild as you say (and hope) then I van say without reservation that skydiving could well be the powerful enough mojo to do the trick. And yes, jumping with your daughter, when that becomes possible after instruction, will be a huge rush. A brilliant bonding experience as something you two share, an intimacy between you. This is priceless. Best of luck in this. I'd love a follow-up report if you don't mind.

a.) why is it "morbid" curiosity? b.) license? For nudity? it's not covered in the SIM which is the same as a green light. USPA couldn't care less about your choice of clothing. (I didn't check, though, to see if you're in the US and under the thumb of USPA). c.) I'd wager you could just go do it. Ask the DZ if they specifically ban it but otherwise I'd bet you can do it as soon as you're allowed to do anything on your own. d.) get video.

The one I wrote with Marcus Antebi... if you can find it. "Skydiver's Survival Guide"

that about sums it up. The right bag and good skills make the split bag useless. Always sewed mine up anyway.

Isn't it "Bicycle Day"?

when you have two places running two different programs, their levels might not match up. So doing a level 5 at one place might be like doing a 4 at the other. This could be another reason why the second place wants you to do a level four - if their 4 is equivalent to the other's 5. From your post I can't tell what your learning objectives are on each level in either program so I can't see the equivalents. So far all I can see is that you'll be paying more at place #2 but what you get out of it isn't apparent. Also, unless you are mistaken or misinformed about place #2, I can't see justification for two Instructors that far into the program. Straight up old fashioned AFF (seven levels) dropped the second Jump Master after L3. What is the benefit of two all the way through? What's the reason they give?

yep.