gunsmokex

Hmm well here's my opinion. Just get out there and jump doesn't matter which one. Just go jump. For myself though the obvious one would be the one that is closest so you don't have to drive 5hrs when the clouds blow in or the winds come up. Instead its only 3 hrs and you already referred to the fact that it had a decent vibe and said they were nice people. What is it that you aren't confident about them? and more importantly what kind of planes and what kind of training SL, IAD or AFF?

I'm looking for some high quality exciting skydiving videos/DVDs for a booth for an expo. Preferably nothing with BASE jumps in it. Something along the lines of Mike McGowan's greatest hits or maybe the World Free Fall Convention videos. I'm going to give E-bay a shot and see what I find. Closest I have found so far is Norman Kent's "Dive In" compilation video. Anyone know of anything else or can point me in the right direction?

Here is George Carlin's view on global warming among other things. He hits the nail right on the head. No matter if you agree or disagree its still a great laugh! George Carlin was one of the greats. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0aFPXr4n4

He'd be a great Safety Day keynote speaker. I don't think there was an inch left on that board! Definitely Fandango https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9g7sBVUFMs

Go with a local "home dropzone" when you are jonesing for a jump on a Saturday you aren't going to want to drive 100's of miles to a bigger dropzone. You will establish relationships with other skydivers that quite simply $$ can't buy. Quite simply there are things that $$ can't really buy that you will get at the smaller local DZ. Don't get infatuated with AFF either SL or IAD is just as a good of training method they all work towards your goal of getting your A license. Weather sucks sometimes and there isn't any guarantee you will get this all done as quickly as you want. Winds and cloud ceiling you have to take into account. Read the SIM and start driving to your local dropzones and check them out. Then read the SIM again, and again and again.

Thought I'd bump this post up with Safety Day coming up in a couple of months, this post may be 6 yrs old but it got me to think about how we do things at our DZ compared to how others do theirs. Everyone's home DZ is a little different but ours is small s/l Cessna DZ. I was reading a lot on here about multiple radios/multiple frequencies, multiple jumpers etc. Its pretty simple for us one radio, one student in the sky. When the jumper is on the ground the next student get out of the plane. Sure it cuts into our fun jumping a little but we are able to do it that way. It is the safest way possible no one gets messed up on commands. On the other hand I understand that some DZ may not be able to make separate passes for each student. Oh and they are jumper #1 #2 #3 or #4, they don't get a name until they have hit freefall then they graduate to an actual name :) Anyways I thought it was good discussion, it made me think at least about it hard because this summer I will be getting my coach rating and will be running radio eventually this coming summer.

Sure it simple and not loaded with a bunch of hand picked stats but I think it sums it up pretty well. Its just in our nature to destroy ourselves. Its sad, we do it over and over again century after century. Tool "Right in Two" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yN-jJLj0k

Hmm I didn't watch the whole thing but I get the jist of it less people are dying and there are less wars. That may very well be but well placed weapons of mass destruction could potentially kill millions of people and the after math millions more. Sooo I'm not going to worry about carbon. If I lived in smog everyday I might but I don't I live is one of the least populated states in the US and I like it that way :)

All of this carbon reduction, green conferences and global warming El Nino BS isn't going to matter for $%^# because eventually we are going to blow each up to shit anyways. Its inevitable the world is at constant war with one another for religious and political reasons and they can't figure out their differences so they blow each other up. Do you really think anyone is going to give a $#% when there are nukes sent off into the air and its 30mins until they hit and all hell breaks loose. Any reduction we've done to earth in carbon emissions is going to negated in milliseconds! I get it though I mean we have to have hope that we won't someday blow each other up to $%^ so that's why spend billions of $$ on reducing carbon. But we should go to the extreme that the homeless aren't taken care of our education system suffers. The green stuff is just getting to be a little overbearing anymore and some people are now making it into its own lifestyle/culture. Anyways I could care less, I smoke, drink, fart and burn my garbage because I in the end we are only here for a shot while maybe and the Earth will be a hell of a lot longer than any person will be.

Just make sure that you get the right container to fit your main and reserve at the proper wingloading. You don't want to have to go with a smaller reserve because you made the mistake of finding a great deal on a container and then you find out that the reserve you want will not fit inside your container. Other than that just make sure it fits you for you height, weight and body size/type and you will be good. Articulated harness is nice but not a necessity my Vector II fits great and it isn't articulated. That brings up another thing you may want to think about is what discipline? You may want to get a rig that is free-fly friendly. Here is a good article I found that might be helpful. http://www.desertskiesrigging.com/newsletter-1.pdf

A King Air would be nice but unfortunately our DZ isn't quite big enough for one. I did a little research as well and you may find this interesting http://www.utilityaircraft.com/costcomparisons.html Its a comparison sheet on some common skydiving planes. Of course its from the company that makes the PAC so of course its going to favor their plane, take it with a grain of salt. I'm interested to know if those that operate the PAC-750 find that it is a cheaper plane to operate than the rest?

Thanks for all of the replies. Charlie gave me the lowdown on them. Maybe someday in the future we can pick one of these or a Chieftan definitely a nice intermediate option without the $$ of a turbine.

A little clarification, so you after the slider hang-up and cutaway had the slider replaced? Or are you saying the slider had previously been replaced before the hang-up/cutaway? If its the 2nd option then I would send your canopy back to the factory and have them evaluate for airworthiness specifically looking at the slider. Why would you want a bigger slider? This slows the slider from coming down, usually this is remedy to fix hard openings....and then at the same time have two holes in it? Which is a remedy to speed up the slider? It sounds to me like someone put on a slider and they didn't know what they were doing and now you've had to chop because of it. I wouldn't jump it until you have it evaluated by the manufacturer, the slider shouldn't hang up for no reason. Plus there is no reason not to do it since you have broken arm and at the same time might as well have them check the lines and see if they need replacing. Are Triathalons known for hard openings? Does anyone else have modified a slider on their Triathalon?

Congrats man great to see this all come together, you are living out a lot of skydivers dreams. It'd be interesting to know if you canopy pack bigger or smaller compared to canopies of the same class/size.

Different ad same plane http://www.aircraftmerchants.com/cf/acDetail.cfm?AircraftId=77FFF0C1-880B-452B-8A9C-F6008C09ADB4

Any one there know of any DZ's that use a Piper Navajo as their jump plane? http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Multi+Engine+Piston/1968/Piper/Navajo/2167148.html Just was curious if cost wise it'd better to have one of these instead 2 small cessnas? (C-182/C-206) The one in the ad has a REALLY insane looking step lol.

Please keep us posted on what the rigger finds out on your canopy, it would be interesting to know what the problem is. Who knows it might just need a reline? How many jumps since the last reline and how do the grommets on the slider look?

In my opinion don't get caught up in who is world class and what kind of planes they have. So you haven't even went to the small dropzone yet and are considering spending more $$ to go to another. Skydiving is expensive enough and you haven't even jumped out of a plane yet other than a tandem. I think you are way overthinking this, small dropzones are not bad at all. I learned on static line and wouldn't have it any other way. Just go jump. Skydiving is a brother and sister hood, don't abandon going to the latest and greatest when you have a great opportunity in your backyard.

You might just think I'm crazy for saying this but did anyone here happen to jump with Patrick Swayze in the past? I can't wait for the movie though, it'll be interesting to see who plays Gary Busey's character.

That's the most bitchin altimeter I think I've ever seen I want one! Looking at it though isn't 4 supposed to be IV not IIII?

Truly I wish it were that simple. Basically the problem is that chasing after things that fall out of the sky is genetically engrained in this guys head...he's a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Not sure if you are familiar with that breed but basially they were taught to retrieve geese out of icy rivers which does a great job of. I just have to convince him that skydivers aren't big geese! I may have to resort to the bark collar not sure yet but first I will seek out a professional dog trainer first. I have a year to figue it out but yeah exercise he gets plenty of it. He's a 24/7 outside farm dog, never kenneled and has free range. I've socialized him plenty around other dogs and people, he does great and is good well rounded dog. Just has this problem of not liking stuff in the sky that he doesn't think is supposed to be there such as birds of prey, hot air balloons and canopies. Its in his nature to do that though so I can't really blame him I just have to figure out how to train him from not barking at canopies that he thinks shouldn't be up there. No biggie though just was wondering if anyone out there had any past experience or owned a dog in a similar situation as me.

Ok thanks guys. I appreciate your opinions and past experiences on dogs and I'm sure that I'd get sick of people bringing dogs out to DZs too especially if one shit on my container or canopy. I only plan bringing him to one boogie at yes I have previuosly checked with the organizers and it is ok for leashed dogs to be there. Also after going to the boogie this year I saw that it was a place that isn't a bad environment for a dog, in fact after going there I promised myself that I'd bring him along next year. I'll figure it out no biggie.

So basically I have a hunting dog, took him out to the dropzone and he basically HATES canopies. Any advice on how to break a dog from barking at canopies? I'd like to be able to take him to boogies and don't want him barking at canopies all day.

Sounds to me like your lines might be out of trim. Depending on what type of lines after 400 jumps they might need replacing. Even if they look good they might have shrunk depending on the type. But I'd definitely have your pack jobs checked out or have someone else pack and see what happens and then go from there.