NSEMN8R

Thanks for everything guys! I had a great weekend. I had more fun than I've had in a really long time and I learned a lot flying with you guys. I even got my EG Wingsuit Instructor rating and took up my first student (who totally fucking ROCKED by the way, nice job Pete!). I'm hoping to make another trip down that way as soon as my new Rigor Mortis shows up in about 4 weeks (Thanks Nick!). I'll bring my case of beer then. Thanks again! MexTony EGI 101

No disrespect meant, but the idea that people with 360 jumps and a bunch of tunnel time have "- more skill than it takes to take out tandems" is bullshit. They may be a fine AFFI, but they're still not qualified to do tandems.

Even with tons of tunnel time, no one with 360 jumps is the "most qualified, most experienced and most capable" instructor. They might have great freefall skills, but there's more to it when you're dealing with "4 arms, 4 legs, 5 handles, and a pilot chute in tow". edit to add: I think TIs should make more than AFFIs because in the end if everything goes to shit, the AFF guy can just let go. TIs can't.

Anyone with a C license (200 jumps) and 6 hours of freefall time can take an AFF course. I don't know of any Tandem Gear manufacturers that give ratings to guys with 200 jumps.

On the worst one I saw video of, a TM got taken out by the camera guy just as he was going to toss it. It came out and got wrapped around this chick's neck. Tore the skin off everywhere it touched. It's surprising that it didn't end up much worse. On another one I was on video, the TM looked like he was having trouble getting it belly to earth. He was on his side (drouge side down) and he just threw it. It shot right up between the pair and they rolled onto their backs while the bridle ran right up the back of the girl's neck and head. She had a frap hat on that probably saved some skin and hair, but the back of her neck that wasn't covered just got shredded. On another one I videod, the pair were on thier bellys and started to rotate slowly backward. The TM reached as they started to rotate, but didn't pitch until they were just past vertical. TM said it was a hard drouge pull. In the video it looks like they were sitflying. The student had his arms straight out and the drouge got under. It tore up his long sleeve shirt and left a gnarly rash from the inside bicep to his wrist. That bridle is nothing to mess with.

That bridle can tear up some skin. We all know it happens. No need to post if you don't want. Feel free to vote anonymously... Just curious how many have left a mark

Velcro Rocks. Pins are sketchy. I pca'd a dude with pins and it almost pulled my shoulders out of socket before it opened. I like skrivel flaps. Now I need a great big shrivel flap so I can fit a Troll 290 in my container. This canopy is fucking huge. Way bigger than I thought it would be.

There was an ad in the classifieds a little while ago where someone was selling custom shrivel flaps for $35. Anyone know who it was or have contact info for them? Thanks.

Why just pick on the TMs? I've seen plenty of grumpy, whiney, bitchy fuckers in just about every job at the dz. Packers complain because they're not jumping, vidiots complain because they have so much invested in gear and make less on a jump than the TMs, AFF guys bitch that they actually have to train their students so they make less jumps per day, DZOs are all living off beans and ramen noodles... Look what happens to even the nicest chicks when you put them in manifest for too long! In the end, I think we all love it or we wouldn't keep coming back every weekend. It's just a fact of life that some people aren't happy unless they're bitching.

Hey . I didn't realize that was you. You changed your name.. Thanks again for the hook up at BD05. If you're going to do something like that again let me know. I'd be happy to donate one of my rigs for the weekend. And thanks for the invitation. I'll have to make a trip up there sometime. Likewise, if you're ever down this way, let me know. We're mostly into cheap beer and "boring low stuff", but we still manage to have a pretty good time.

Just out of curiousity... Say I'm going to sell a rig to a guy and I get the following answers to your 3 criteria. Would you sell him the rig?

Does this mean it's ok to ride your students like that now?

I just bought plane tickets.

Of course I would expect their opinions to vary, but I was kind of surprised to see them go from one extreme to the other like that. One thing none of the charts mention is canopy size. A couple of very experienced jumpers came over here to help me open a new 300ft. A a couple weeks ago. They both had 42s and decided to take PCAs. because of it. One guy said he wasn't comfortable freefalling it with a 42 because of the weight of his 315 sqft canopy. How much does canopy size/weight play into your decision on which pilot chute to use?

It's interesting that Tom's chart recommends a 42" AV at 300ft and Nick's chart shows the skull and bones for this choice and recommends a 48".

I wrote a letter like that in Tom's class too. When I wrote that, a year ago sitting at IHOP on day 1 of the course, I just put down all the sentimental bullshit I thought I was supposed to write. I just wanted to get it done so we could go jump. I think I need to redo it and actually spend some time on it and put down some useful information and instructions for the people I leave behind.

Thanks for the info guys. Luka, Are those pics of the same canopy we are talking about? Looks good. Let me know if you get paypal sorted out. Otherwise, I can throw a check in the mail today. I'll email you my address. That last pic is very cool. Hope to see that place in person some day.

What's an early canopy? I'm looking at buying a used 290 MDV from a dude in Slovenia. It was manufactured in Oct. 2004. Would it likely have the smaller crossports or had this problem already been addressed by that time? I've emailed Atair, but haven't gotten a response yet. Almost all of my jumps nowadays are hand held from about 280ft. Will this be a suitable canopy? Would it be reasonable to expect about the same amount of canopy time as with my Mojo 260? Should I expect to be open lower becaust it's a bigger/heavier canopy, or will the MDV increase the opening speed enough to off set the weight?

How much is registration? It doesn't say on the website.

A better description might help. What kind of editing software? Pinnacle? Premier? Movie Maker? What kind of helmet is it, besides topmount? Is it a Bonehead? Pro-tec? And what color? What kind of ring sight? Newton? Finley? Orange disk? Pics would definitely help. You can download some freeware like VSO Image Resizer that would make it really easy to shrink the pics down so you can upload them. Good luck. edit to add: If someone with 50 jumps had the $675 would you really have a problem selling it to them? It's just a camera helmet...

I like the part about those with over 500. We used to have to do 3 recurrency jumps, now it's only 1. And DJL, I don't think there's anything wrong with a guy who takes every other weekend off.

Did you have them put in an extra stitch or two? I don't know if it's true, but I heard you can ask for that.

Anybody heard of this before? It sounds like a bunch of shit to me... My wife has been going to this place. You're supposed to sit in this room with some of Einstein's equations running across a computer screen listening to some kind of new age music for 2 hours to build up energy or something. They claim: "Our system uses a program of mathematical formulas developed by Einstein. By running these equations throughout the computer circuitry an energy field is formed. This field reconditions the mind/body complex to return it to its optimal functioning." Is there any chance at all this could be real? Any of you science type people ever heard of this? They charge $150 for a 2 hour session! And I thought freefall time was expensive... http://biodynamicenergy.com is their website. edit to add link

mojo260 @ .75

What rigging errors are possible slider off, but not slider down?