Slimrn

My 4-way team:

1.7
1.3
1.2
1.15
1.5

I hope the guy who uses “wude” and “shude” chokes on these results.

Call them up- they will sell it to you. Their customer service is top notch!

Bonehead makes a roller style low snag hazard mount. I have one on my Aero and have had no issues. It is well made.

Don’t do it for someone else, do it for yourself. If you aren’t enjoying it, that’s ok. There is too much to learn and stay current with and if it isn’t something you want to do, there is no shame in admitting that. Thanks for sharing your story. Sometimes the hardest thing is to pull off the load.

A successful completion would be to complete at least one formation, you pick the formation. And, yes, AFF student jumps are indeed formation skydiving and they would count.
...

Mike Mullins
USPA National Director


I admittedly don’t know much, but if the goal of each license is to show some higher level of proficiency than the last, counting AFF jumps as FS jumps is a farce. You have two people holding on to a jumper, then in later levels you have one instructor most likely chasing someone around the sky while they perform flips and turns. That isn’t in the spirit of why the BSR was changed. What’s wrong with actually requiring people to get better before awarding them higher licenses? The verbiage is vague and I’m guessing that was done intentionally.

Zach Breaux

This falls into the “any input” category because I’ve not personally owned one. We have several at our DZ because there is a spokesperson that works here. Mostly new jumpers are buying them. I recently saw a flamethrower post on FB that got over 300 comments, mostly negative- about quality and business practices. I’ll stick with the more expensive suits and enjoy quality customer service.

Get suits that fit. As long as you are both reasonably flexible there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to fly together given basic skills. The best married couple I know jumps 4-way together and they are 15 inches and 120 lbs apart in size.

Heard on skydive radio a while back about someone having 13,000 with no chops.

Those canopies are very different. Don’t ask the internet what to do, ask someone you respect that makes good decisions and has a lot of experience. Make sure that person knows you too.

Skydive Perris has a fleet of Skyvans!

Dallas is pretty weather dependent. Windy this time of year, but we have a great wind meter and load clock website: http://dallas.spacelandclock.com/wind31.aspx

That being said if it is jumpable, they will send loads. There is usually someone around. Spaceland is a great dropzone with nice facilities and planes you wouldn’t mind landing in.

steveorino

***Find yourself an AFFI who has been an AFF course evaluator and go to the tunnel. You can learn spin stops and flip overs very well in the tunnel so that you are not burning up skydives trying to learn the techniques.

+1

Nothing prepares you for the AFFI course like practicing Cat C&D jumps with an AFFI or a tunnel rat who knows what that is. And learn to teach a class. All the 4 way skills in the world won't help you with that part of the course. IMHO docking on a 4 way ain't nothing like chasing a student across the sky, stopping spins and flipping upside down students.

I’m not exactly sure how much four-way experience you have, but it isn’t exactly “docking on a 4-way.”. A lot of the skills required are flying other people around, starting and stoping fast spins etc. I trust DJ’s words because he has trained quite a few AFF-Is.

I failed AFF6 twice. Pulled high one time. Unintended spinning. It was all due to unawareness of leg position. Legs have to be stronger than you think in the wind, while still being relaxed. It’s like a golf swing- it all comes together at some point. I was spaghetti legs. Seeing it on video helped me. Good luck!

IMHO a LDI is not a useful tool, and in fact can increase confusion- at a DZ with a “first man down” policy. I love LDIs that are wind guided AS LONG as the ground crew is proactive in locking it down at light/variable times. If an idiot mans the arrow, bad things happen. The ghost of the first man down rule has no place if there is an arrow that people are taught to follow.

How to disappoint your parents and ex-wife...

What if it isn't the 4-way team's fault? What if the whole team manifested, but the camera guy was accidentally left off by manifest? At least at my DZ, they manifest teams BY THE TEAM NAME, which automatically holds 5 slots.

My Petzl Meteor+ is like this. Ultralight weight. One hit and it is done but as long as it protects my brain I call it a win.

I have noticed this as well. To avoid having to dicker with it to add jump numbers, I simply take a delay of over 10 seconds so it registers the freefall- altitude allowing of course.

Hear, hear!

Spaceland doesn't do AFF (they do STP) but they work 7 days per week.

I hope my team doesn't have to compete against that team.

Check out Rigging Innovations Curv 2.0. They feature a "bio-yoke" that gets the hardware off your shoulders. I've jumped one for over a year now and find it very comfortable. There are also other things that IMO make it the most comfortable rig on the market.

A.) Feel free to prove your friends wrong. Downsizing is not mandatory.

B.) Simple- don't swoop.

At around 75 jumps I got a Curv VC3 (170 to 135) and a year and a half after buying it, have made over 500 jumps and am on the 135. Personally it was the correct decision for me, because I'll be on the 135 for 300-500 more jumps is my guess. I can always go with a more elliptical canopy at a larger or the same size to increase performance if I choose to. Currency is a big deal when downsizing safely.