tetra316

Both Madras and Eagle Creek are a definitely call before you go place. I've been to both, although not recently. I've heard they are both kind of winding down but still jump. It you just want a tandem either Eugene or Skydive Oregon are great places. If you are looking to continue into AFF then go to Skydive Oregon. Due to the issues with the city council and where they have to land, Eugene cannot train new students. They just do tandems and experienced jumpers.

I had a student deploy us 2 seconds after I threw the drogue once. It was an uncomfortably, long ride down. Would not want to do it again.

Keep in mind that even once you have your A, you still have recurrency requirements but it extends to 60 days with an A, 90 days with a B and 6 months for C & D licenses.

Make sure you are not over tightening them. Try a couple jumps with them adjusted not as tight as you normally do.

I'm ordering a competition suit and am at a loss as to which fit to get. Tight or regular? What are your experiences with either of these? I want a fast fall suit good for 4/8 way as well as appropriate for big ways. Probably should get a tight fitting suit? Just don't want it to end up skin tight with no room for anyting but a tshirt and shorts but don't want it too loose. I already have a suit that's supplex front and is not tight but fits. And yes I have a call into Bev, just waiting to hear back

Very true But he didn't ask much so I get the impression he's not too concerned. I did ask him where he jumped etc as it would make me feel more comfortable knowing who he his.

Not sure if this is acceptable etiquette but here goes I'm selling a canopy and he wants to buy it and will send me a check. Anyone know him? I going to call the dz this weekend but thought I'd check here too. I'd feel more comfortable knowing someone who knows him before sending the canopy

Thanks for the explanation. So it would seem at a single plane dz, that a hop & pop at whatever altitude the plane happens to arrive at, should have a neligible impact. The only concern then being the dzo is getting just the hop & pop price, instead of a full slot. I've always wondered the logic of a dz saying they will not do hop & pops unless 3 or more people are doing them. Seems to be more efficient if they let just one person do it per load instead of 3. And charging nearly full price for one while saying they cost more ($15 vs. $21) still irks me

Alrighty, then. So basically all the dzo's I've heard say hop & pops cost more, are lying. Very nice

So you are saying that it does NOT cost more to level a plane for a hop & pop? Just wondering since the consensus is that it does cost more hence hop & pop prices everywhere but Lodi reflect this. That or dzo's are just money grabbing theives

Our full altitude prices are $21 and a hop & pop is $14. I've had dzo's tell me that hop & pops actually cost more since they level the plane. I am confused about Bills comment that the extra cost with a cut for a hop & pop is "unnoticeable."

If a cut really is unoticeable in terms of cost why then is the average hop & pop more like $12-15? I don't think it's unoticeable.

I want to know why some of these posts are not getting moved to bonfire. This one has absolutely nothing to do with skydiving.

Really? Oh well. Yep. No waiver, no gear checks, no questions. Just buy a ticket and jump.

That is asking for problems and undue attention. One of these days you are going to get it.

Kudos to you for doing the research and educating yourself about skydiving! But keep in mind, no matter what you read, your instructors have the final say. Meaning some things you may be reading may not be appropriate for students or your instructors may have a different way of doing something. I would not be practicing things like plfs and pulling without getting the proper instruction as you may not be doing it correctly. And different instructors will have different routines. Practicing beforehand will only then drill into you bad habits/incorrect sequences that are harder to break. And try to go into the course with the atitude of learning and listening, even if you've already read everything they are trying to teach you. There's nothing worse than a know it all student who's never actually done a solo Oh, and have a GREAT time!!

Thanks for the reply. How does one sell the stock, though, if it isn't publicly traded? For example, if I wanted to sell the stock to you, there is no way I could get you enough information for you to make an informed decision about the stock without violating my NDA. That's my concern about accepting actual stock rather than options--it seems to me I'd probably be stuck with stock that I might not want. You probably won't be able to "sell" it. Generally private companies place restrictions on their stock. Such as only the Company can purchase it back. If you leave the company there's usually a buyout in place for any stock you hold. It probably will not be something easily bought and sold.

With that in mind, lets remember that if a student failed to learn, the instructor failed to teach, and that applies to advanced briefings of experienced jumpers given by non-instructors too. While I do agree with your concept I don't agree with simply saying if they failed to learn, you failed to teach. You also have to take into consideration those students who are too arrogant/think they know it all types. No matter what you do you may still not be able to get the point across. I KNOW we'll all come across people like this. Perhaps we should do a better job of grounding those with this attitude until they are willing to learn/listen.

This next part is sincere: thank you for teaching me this - this whole discussion probably hasn't swayed much opinion, but now I know more. I just checked with two similiary situated jump buddies - none of us is familiar with this term (until now). Perhaps at your DZ (which may in fact be Lodi) this term is part of the first jump course, I dunno. If you have really not heard of what a cut jump run is you have ABSOLUTELY no business being involved with this discussion as this is the central issue of this incident.

What is a cut jump run? There isn't enough context in this thread, the term is not used in the SIM, a forum search doesn't reveal a good hit... If I paid for a hop-n-pop, I would assume the hop-n-pop is the same as one of the ones I did to get my A. You're "nothing to ask in the plane" is emblematic of the problem. There's no doubt that if I delayed the load because something didn't look right, and dare I ask you a question, (a USPA instructor WHOM I SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE AS A RESOURCE) would yell at me in an irritated voice, shaking me up... And I'll say it again, these may not be the facts of the Lodi incident, but they may not be far off... A cut jump run, the plane is leveled before jumpers exit as opposed to a climbing jump run (as was the case in this incident). With 50 jumps you really should know this already Again I was ONLY refering to this specific scenerio that you should ALREADY know whether the jump run will be cut or not. I was not referring to anything else as you are.

I've never been in a plane such as this, so I can't imagine what that would like like. But, to be honest, prior to this thread debate, I probably would have jumped assuming the pilot knew what he was doing. Now, I'll probably ask and risk getting yelled at by the experienced jumpers. You should know prior to boarding the plane whether or not this will be a cut jump run for a hop & pop. You should have made that choice on the ground. Nothing to ask in the plane. Either you jump or you don't. I have many hop & pops both with a cut and without. Personally I see no problem exiting without a cut. I believe that's a decision each individual jumper should make after being informed of the hows and whys. Whether or not to accept the additional risk is a personal choice. Just like whether or not to skydive in the first place, jump a camera, swoop, wingsuit. They all add additional risk that could result in injury and/or death.

I doubt he ignored it, he probably failed to realize the instruction at the time he exited the plane. I would consider this both a teaching failure and a learning failure. If he didn't understand the instruction that was given to him NUMBEROUS times then he should have asked instead of just nodding, saying okay or whatever it is that he did that led other people to believe he understood. Otherwise if they didn't think he understood the instruction I would hope they wouldn't have let him on the plane. Yes I am an instructor. As such you have to realize that as much as you can teach someone, you cannot make them absorb the information and make them understand. They either do or they don't. All an instructor can do is recognize this and try again or ultimately decide to recommend another sport. This sport is NOT for everyone.

So telling him numerous times prior was not sufficient? He's an adult. He was told the proper way to exit and why. He ignored that advice. His fault. If he couln't follow instructions or was uncomfortable with it, he should have not jumped. People need to take repsonsiblity for their actions and stop trying to blame everything on everyone else.

Appearently, not that much of an idiot if I assume some of the facts in this thread are true (i.e. numerous near collisions, lots of verbal warnings, no one mentioning to the jumper at exit that he was in danger) - and I apologize if I incorrectly addressed your earlier point. Skydiving has a tremendous learning curve and is rife with danger. Some people are great at looking after other members and helping them scale the curve, but many (that I've come across) are not. They rush people out of the plane, get frustrated when you ask for a buddy check, etc. This latter group increases the risks of the sport for the younger participants. Yeah the kid may have been told - but he likely wasn't told contemporaneous with his exit from the plane, and he probably could have been told if someone gave a damn (speculation). How many times must he be told? He WAS told numberous times NOT to jump up, both the day before the incident and the day of according to previous posts

I'll second that No kidding