mbohu

I just listened to some presentations on safety day at Arizona Skydiving, including one from one of the jump pilots, who I asked a similar question and from what it sounded like, it's usually the pilot who makes the decision if we get to bail out. (sure, if it's about your own life you might want to take it into your own hands, but if this endangers the lives of all your buddies in the plane with you, do you really want to do that?) The pilot said that in most emergencies of that nature he'd let us know to stay or go and would usually even use the yellow-green light procedure, just like on jump-run. (I guess on a smaller plane that would be different?)

Amazing answer! (or the wife of the fat guy you threw off the bridge to derail the train.)

My own gear won't be here til May but I'll be in Arizona for safety day and I'll be doing a lot of testing and practicing.

I think that's a good question and very helpful IF the fear is really more of a concern or a type of mental worry. My guess is that it's more likely a simple physical/emotional experience (something in the pit of your stomach, not so much in your rational mind). For example: I once went through a process with a group of people that I completely trusted which included facing your fear of death, where in the end I was lying in a "grave" on a beach and they started shoveling some sand on top of me (this was after hours of other activities that were all designed to make your body (if not your mind) feel that what you are experiencing was real) and I knew with absolute certainty in my mind that I was completely safe, yet my body went into one of the most intense feelings of panic I've ever experienced. It took all my self-control not to jump up and run away. Anyway, even though the feeling is probably irrational, it does respond to things like visualizing success and also knowing more about what you are about to undertake, so for example reading "the parachute and its pilot" by Brian Germain (who also has lots of videos online about the topic of fear) can be really helpful. (I think it reduces the irrational aspect of fear not only because you gain knowledge on how to stay safe but--as you read about the topic of skydiving--your subconscious mind imagines itself doing the activity many, many times over and--as the subconscious usually can't tell the difference between imagination and reality--it gets more and more used to it) Here is what helped me to pretty much completely get rid of the fear while getting to altitude. I started my AFF late in the season and I always felt completely fine once I was out the airplane but "THE DOOR" just scared the living sh...t out of me. Not only jumping out of it but also the fact that they left it open during the ride to altitude and I often had to sit right next to it. Well, after passing AFF it got too cold for me to want to keep jumping and in the winter I went to the tunnel instead. I got very used to the feeling of entering the tunnel, where you would basically trust the feeling of the air that would meet you immediately and hold you up and support you. At some point I realized that it must be the same in the airplane--since the wind coming from the front would be there as soon as I stepped out--already going at pretty much terminal velocity. So, somehow, in my mind it changed from "jumping out into nothingness" to "leaning into the air coming from the front and immediately being held up by it". Once this change had happened in my mind, I was surprised that as soon as I started jumping again in spring, my fear of stepping out the door had vanished. I just trusted the air meeting my body as soon as I leaned out the door. This also somehow made my fear on the way up go away. There was nothing to worry about anymore (again: this is from a FEELING perspective. I still make sure I know I'm about to engage in a dangerous activity and do everything reasonable to ensure my safety, including gear checks, planning the jump and jumping the plan, and simply not jumping if there is anything too sketchy about it.) Now: I'm pretty sure my fear will return to at least some extent when I do my first jump into "dead air" from a balloon or even helicopter--we'll see!

Wolfgang, I believe what he is saying is that the DVR does not allow him to retrieve anything because it isn't connected to a satellite dish with an active subscription to the satellite service. You might not be from the US, and this particular problem might not exist in any other country (where there are probably laws against TV companies doing such things), but in the US, you don't own your DVR. It's lent to you by your TV service provider and they make it so it only works when you are connected to their service, so you need to pay for their subscription even to watch old recorded stuf. So there is probably absolutely nothing wrong with the DVR, but he needs to get around that little trick that the TV service company uses to disable it. Sorry, I have no idea how to do that. Haven't paid for (or used) any cable or satellite TV for a decade. The idea with the hard drive could work IF they don't use some encryption scheme on these DVRs.

Makes sense. Much obliged, Obi-Wan!

Coming back to the actual chop: It looks like his slider was hung up on the top and, given it was an AFF jump, it was probably really good reaction on his part to just chop as soon as he could and save his altitude--but: Is it likely that it would have eventually come down, and would you have waited a couple seconds longer if it was you in that situation? I mostly jump a Spectre and honestly, this probably wouldn't even have looked like a malfunction to me at the point he chopped it--just like a more or less average snivel...well maybe a little extra long, but certainly not much different than average. You can see that the instructor pulls just 3.5 seconds after him and his canopy is still sniveling at the point the student pulls the cutaway.

Yes, I guess that's what I'm probably saying I'm of course as far from Flyboyz Eli as one can be (and still be a skydiver) but there is definitely weird stuff going on in the tunnel that does not happen in the sky, and on our last 2-way FS in the tunnel we had one guy who was a great FS skydiver but had never flown in the tunnel, and while he was still miles ahead of me, he definitely struggled quite a bit compared to those that were regular tunnel flyers (and mind you, this was belly FS, so the argument of being all over the sky, as you mention in another post, can't really be what's the issue here.) One possible test would be: If you put an expert skydiver, who has never flown in a tunnel into one of the huge new tunnels (Dubai, et al.) and have her fly at the center, where there is unlikely to be much interference from the walls or too many fliers in a small space: would she still struggle as much as in a small or regular sized tunnel?

Is there any chance that the tunnel also requires more constant micro-adjustments because of the airflow not being as constant and smooth as in the sky? When talking physics, it stands to reason that airflow in a confined tunnel is not constant independent of where you are in the tunnel (the air right next to the walls most likely does not move at the exact same speed as the air in the center of the tunnel), and we all know the effect of the door and usually a few other places in the tunnel. If you add formations, then the position of your co-fliers also affects the air flow of the rest of the air in the tunnel (beyond simple burbles) I don't have a tremendous amount of practice in the tunnel, but being a big guy (and usually flying with another big guy if we do formations) I can definitely tell that we both affect the airflow.* Is it possible that good tunnel fliers, consciously or not, learn to take these things into account almost automatically, while skydivers have no idea what's going on at first and get thrown off by the constantly changing airflow? Just wondering... * For example: (and this just shows how much I suck in the tunnel ) when we did our first 2-way FS, my buddy suddenly got stuck near the net and I thought, well I am base and I'm just gonna wait for him up here--he simply couldn't get enough lift to join me for a long time. When we discussed it afterwards with instructors, they explained that me hanging out above and to the side of him, threw the air below my body to the side he was on, directly above him. That did not allow him to get any lift to come back up. So I needed to come down to allow him to get lift again.

That seems like a great suggestion--and I'm always looking for suggestions on what to do on solo jumps. I feel like being real careful with that though. Wouldn't want to pull something for real, unless necessary.

Yes. Of course. That's how I consciously remember it, but our sub-conscious picks up all kinds of things, so I thought I'd give it another tool.

Ha! Yes, that makes sense. Funny thing is: I ordered the rig with both handles red and a day later called back to change the color of the reserve handle to another bright color, as I thought it might be useful to have one more distinction between the handles that my subconscious mind can imprint on.

Certainly: While I personally really enjoy belly flying very much and want to focus a lot on it, the 2 (soon to be 3) dropzones in my area have a culture very much focused on freeflying. I have quite a few tunnel hours and am mostly sit-flying in the tunnel but have so far not done any freeflying at the DZ, as I did not feel comfortable with the rental rigs in that regard. So: I talked to quite a few instructors and experienced jumpers, who all seem to agree that a loop type or D-Style handle is not a good idea in that discipline. One of the reasons to get my rig now rather than rent for a little longer is that I have been unable to keep jumping with the people that I started out jumping with, because I don't want to use the rentals for freeflying. Also--like you said, not necessarily a good reason by itself--I don't know of a single person at any of the DZs I've been at who bought (or jump) a rig with anything but soft handles. Maybe that's different where you are.

I like that idea!

I'll keep discussing this with instructors but I'm wondering what others did as well: In AFF at our Dropzone we learned 2-handed emergency procedures. Student rigs and the simulator-wests we used on the ground had soft handles on the cut-away side and D-Style metal on the reserve side. We were told: 1. grab the cutaway handle with both hands 2. look at the reserve handle 3. pull cutaway and toss it (as far as possible) from you 4. grab reserve handle with both hands 5. pull and toss In fact we had lots of fun throwing the handles as far as we could during ground training. (When I asked if the heavy metal handle falling from the sky at terminal speed couldn't injure someone they just laughed--I still think it could kill someone if it landed on their head or go through a roof easily) So: I still practice the 2-handed emergency procedure every time I get on the plane. I just ordered my own rig with 2 soft handles. I notice that almost everyone recommends holding on to your handles in emergencies.--which seems impossible with the 2-handed method (or, if possible would make it too error-prone--trying to pull the reserve while holding the other handle in one of the hands you're pulling with) Also: with 2 soft handles it seems to me that I actually might get quicker and more repeatable results by grabbing both handles first and then peel-pull, peel-pull, rather than hunting for the reserve handle after pulling the cut-away. On the other hand I keep hearing and reading: NEVER change your emergency procedures (unless you absolutely have to--and I guess wanting to save money and equipment wouldn't count) So: Did you change your procedures once you had your own rig? How did you practice with the actual equipment? (since you can't really keep pulling your reserve handle) Did you just stay with the two-handed method? (of course this question only applies to those who learned 2-handed initially)

Really? I'm not an instructor in this sport either, but I think if I was, I'd say if anything I would be weary of working with someone who has no fear (or professes not to have it). I don't think it is a good or natural thing to not feel fear, if engaging in an activity that requires 100% focus and can easily result in one's death. From all I'm hearing and reading, that is actually one of the problems when becoming experienced, that one assumes--because everything has gone well for so many times--that there is no significant danger...and that will make you less vigilant and more careless. Respect your fear--and don't let it stop you! (unless you make a conscious decision not to take the risk. In that case, respect your decision!) EDIT: by "can easily result in one's death" I do not mean that this is at all a likely outcome if you are conscious and reasonable, just that it is certainly an activity where you do have to be ON as much as possible and where in some way you are saving your own life on every jump.

Sorry. I was unclear on this. Yes: If they actually know their credit card number, you can key it in. I've never known a customer who could recite their CC number though, if they didn't have their card with them. Re. the second point: Again, maybe on a DZ this is very straightforward, if you only have accounts with $ amounts on them. In my own business the "you look up what they are owed" is not that straightforward. They might have 10 sessions (=jumps) on their account but that tells me nothing about how these sessions were added to their account and therefore how much they paid for them. They can come from promotions, gift certificates, pre-paid purchases, rewards (like we gave them free sessions for whatever reason), or a combination of all. Looking up how much they are "owed" would be the time consuming procedure. I'd actually have to go back to find the original purchases, at least in some cases--and our regular front-desk staff would be somewhat over-taxed by that task, especially if they are taking care of the regular business at that same time. (again: that would not apply to credit someone has from the same day of jumping--in that case I also don't see any good reason to claim that this would be difficult)

While this might not add much to the overall conversation: That is true only in ideal circumstances. For example, if the CC was charged through our online booking system, it is possible to refund in that system, but only after CC charges have cleared (which takes 24 hours IF the initial charge was not on a weekend--otherwise longer). So to refund before that time, you have to log into the system of the payment processor that's behind the online software, search for the specific transaction (often not as easy to find as one would wish) and then cancel the transaction before it had gone through (generally that's not a system that the front desk person would have access to, so involves getting a manager/owner) With in-person credit card transactions via physical terminals, you have to have the actual credit card to slide it again for a refund and if you don't, it's a major headache involving calls to the merchant provider with 30min+ hold times, or you can wait until the charge has gone through and use the online system for the refund--but that could be days later. (We've also heard of people wanting refunds, where the CC they initially used had expired between the charge and the refund, making a simple refund impossible) Additionally, you have to make sure that the person who calls you and wants a refund has actually paid in the first place (sure, if it's the end of the same day and they want their deposit back, then it's not a big deal, but if they call at the end of the season and say they purchased a 20-jumps block back in April and used only 7 of them, you'll have to spend some time verifying that) Still, those are not reasons not to give the refund, but the "this only takes 5 seconds" argument from people who are not running businesses and don't know the details of the processes involved, is a bit annoying. (Lastly: If you call the CC company to invalidate the charge instead of the DZ/vendor himself, the CC company charges the business an extra fee--usually around $15--for the trouble of taking the money back. So call the DZ first--they'd be really stupid not to refund and then have to pay the extra fee. Of course the bank usually sides with the consumer and they love these refunds because they get a fee no matter who wins the dispute)

Do you know why the Silhouette has such extremely different wingloading recommendations compared to the Spectre and Sabre2? At my weight I am looking towards a 230 main. On The Spectre, PD's recommendation is 218-230lbs (Novice-Intermediate), so up to 1:1 loading, on the Sabre2 even a bit more (230-242) BUT: On The Silhouette 230 they specify 172-196lbs for the same experience level--a HUGE difference (meaning even a 260 will barely do) So: Will a Silhouette at the same wingloading be much more aggressive than a Sabre2? (which seems to be the opposite of what the descriptions of the canopies indicate.)

Yes! Again, I don't run a DZ but a business that is in many ways similar and I was cracking up at your examples, as I recognize them, as well as the attitude: "well what's the problem: this should be simple for you!" I think running a business is in some way like being an experienced skydiver: You shake your head at some of the suggestions whuffos give, that they think are totally reasonable. Experienced skydivers on this site often marvel at the ridiculousness of people who have never done something thinking they can tell them what works better. Well: The same is true for running a business. If you haven't done it before you can't even imagine what it really takes and how easy or complicated something really is. Again: I know this has nothing to do with the original post. Certainly there are practices that are generally unfair, no matter what. But: Putting money on an account and then wanting it back is additional work (more than you think!) for a business, and it's nice they allow you to do it. Transferring money between different customers accounts is even more so. They should ALWAYS refund you unused money, but the fact they allow you to prepay is an OPTIONAL and ADDITIONAL service. If it gets to be too much work for them they can say: "You have to pay for each individual jump" (and that might mean delays in you manifesting and maybe missing the next call) I have plenty respect for anyone operating a DZ and always want to comply with their rules as much as possible. (And I also shake my head at some businesses' practices!)

Hi there! I'm currently 215lbs (took me a season to get from 225 to 215, so good luck! ), am pretty new (80 jumps) and still rent, as there are relatively good options at my DZ and I wanted to be sure to know what I want before buying. Currently, I love the Spectre (a PD canopy). I jump a 230 (which I would recommend based on your weight), although I mostly jump at 5500ft + (that's where we land, not where we get out of the plane!) I did try the Sabre2 as well and did not like it as much, but probably haven't tried it enough to be sure. The reason I like the Spectre: 1. It opens super-soft 2. So far it opens "on-heading" every single time 3. It lands great. 4. It's fun to fly In details: 1. That one actually bothered me at first. It DOES take longer to open than other canopies (at least it feels much longer than the student Navigators I jumped before.) So figure between 700-900ft from throwing the PC to being under a fully inflated canopy. But: Ever since I had my friend, who jumps a Sabre2 have one of his shoes ripped from his foot on a hard opening, I started to appreciate the soft openings. 2. Again, I noticed the difference when I jumped a Sabre2 recently. As it opened, when I looked up, I could see it starting to turn left, then right and then again in some direction, never going quite into line twists, but certainly I ended up under it heading a different direction than where I started out. On the Spectre, I look up and I see it sniveling for what seems like an eternity, but it stays perfectly in place during the whole process. Not sure how important that is, since I'm not BASE jumping with a cliff behind me, but it feels strangely reassuring. 3. Once I figured it out (at the higher altitude, we come in at quite some speed even at this wing-loading), the landings are great and easy. Even at no wind (which is common here) I can stop it as long as I use every last inch of its flare. Once I was just sliding with my heels barely off the ground and lots of horizontal speed, thinking I already flared as hard as I could and then realized I had a couple more inches left, stabbed down the last 2 inches and it stopped in its track, allowing me to stand up with no need to run it out. When I flew it at sea level I touched down with 0 speed every single time. 4. That was the unexpected thing: When I tried a Sabre2 I was expecting it to fly more aggressively--as that was what everyone was saying--but for me, it felt less fun in the air. When I burry a toggle on the Spectre, it starts out turning as expected and then gets steeper and steeper as I keep holding it down, building up speed and verticality. On The Sabre, somehow that didn't happen so much. It started the turn and then just kept turning the same way. (But maybe that was a fluke or just my personal impression. Everyone can't be wrong about this, can they?) I also love how it digs out of turns: I generally end my toggle turns not by releasing the inside toggle, but by pulling the opposite toggle down and enjoying the positive Gs. That works much better too than with some of the other canopies I've tried. The only thing maybe: The rig I rent most often doesn't have dive loops on the front risers, and so I haven't used them much. If I try to hold them down without loops, I can't hold them long at all--way too much pressure. So, there might be lots of front riser pressure, even with loops--if you care about such things. Anyway: If you have a container and money: Why not use the demo program of PD and the other vendors to try every single canopy you think might fit you, before you commit? Should be fun! But: Check into your reserve's weight limits: I borrowed a rig with an old 210 reserve once--thinking I might buy it--but when I checked the data card on the inside of the reserve flap it specified a lower exit weight than mine as a MAXIMUM weight for the reserve (and that wasn't even considering my relatively advanced age, my inexperience and the higher altitude at which I jump.) I never jumped it, even though I considered a reserve ride as very unlikely. Good luck, man!

This. And This. Not so much this. As a business: Why not have an attitude of wanting to provide good and fair service to your customers and whenever possible try to help them out with what they want? I find there is hardly any situation where trying to hold on to some small amount of money from a single transaction is worth the upset it causes if the customer thinks she deserves to get it refunded. As a customer: Why not have the attitude that the business is offering me something that I want, that they do so with best intentions and might have procedures that make it easier for them to do so. Rather than: "Greedy capitalist pigs are probably trying to screw me out of my money and I should have my lawyers on speed-dial" When coming to a new DZ (or any business), find out how it works: "Hi, I'm new here. How do jump tickets work? Can I prepay?" "Sure." "Do I get a discount? Can I get my money back if I don't use them up?" "No. And No." "Really? That seems like a really bad policy, you might want to think about changing that. ...Well anyway: I'm just going to pay for individual jumps then. Thanks!" To the OP's original question: Yes. I sympathize. Bad practices. But what else is there to say? I would exhaust all possible "friendly, cooperative" options (talk to the DZO, rather than the front desk person only, etc.) before starting any threats (bad reviews, legal action, etc.) This is much more likely to get you your money back. But again: Best thing is to find out how they work before you give them your money.

Simple. I run a business (retail & services) that also provides gift certificates. No. That is not what I said. They do however report it as a liability on their balance sheet and not as an income on their P&L statement (until they are redeemed or expired.) Here is an explanation of the concept: https://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/unearned-deferred-revenue That I am not certain of. I am pretty sure though that it is a required accounting practice for a publicly traded company. It probably doesn't apply as a law to privately held companies. But that really doesn't matter. If you run your business properly and there are ANY costs associated with providing the services you offer on certificates you need to do it that way, no matter if it is law or not. Let's say it costs you $10/jumper in fuel and other costs (I don't operate a DZ so this is simply a made up number), your average jump ticket is $20 and you still have $100,000 in unredeemed gift certificates out there: That means you are liable to expenses of $50,000 WITHOUT any more future income (for this portion of your services). This is important for you (and anyone who looks at your business) to know. If you simply booked the $100,000 as income in the beginning, your books would hide this fact. On the other hand there usually is a percentage of certificates that never get used, so at some point you need to be able to recognize the certificates as income, even if they are unused. You do that when they expire. (And to be sure the IRS (or your country's tax agency) will insist that you do that, since you only pay taxes on this income, once it is recognized.) Possible, that you don't have to do it by law, but if I was thinking of buying your DZ I would want to see this in your books. If you don't do it this way you are not operating honestly (even though this might be unintentional)

I'm probably going to get flack for this but: In regards to pre-bought jump tickets: 1. I completely agree that they should be refunded in full AS LONG AS there was no discount involved in the purchase of the multiple jumps. 2. If there is a discounted package price then it's a different matter. If I purchase the 10-jump package because it gives me a $10/jump price versus the regular $20/jump for single jumps then I trade the risk of not being to be able to use some of my jumps for the discounted price. In that case I can't just use a few jumps and have the rest refunded. Otherwise why would anyone pay full price for single jumps? 3. If I put money on my account and can't use it up, I'd be surprised if it would be legal at all for the DZ not to give me my unused money back. That seems like a horrible--and in all likelihood illegal--practice. Regarding gift certificates that expire: I would like to at least make it clear that there is a rationale for having an expiration date on gift certificates, which is not just related to greed: As a business, if you sell someone a gift certificate, let's say for $200, you cannot claim these $200 as income at the time of the purchase, because you have not provided the services for this money yet. This means that the $200 go into a LIABILITY account, indicating that you OWE $200 worth of services to a customer. When the customer redeems the certificate (or when it expires) is, when you can claim the income. So, if your business does a lot of certificates, that means that at any given time you may OWE tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to your customers (in your books). This has advantages, such as: You don't pay taxes on this "income" until it is claimed. It also has disadvantages: If you sell your business, the value of it is reduced by that amount. (same if you try to get a bank loan) Also: consider that prices might change radically between the time a certificate is purchased and when the service is provided, so if someone redeems a certificate they bought 10 years ago it is very hard to account for that in your bookkeeping, as your service now might cost you much more than at the time of the purchase. So: It is generally not practical to have gift certificates, which do not expire. (Although: In some countries expiration dates might not be legal and they might take that into account for taxes.) In the US, I believe, the law is that you need to give 5 years for redemption (not sure if that applies to all types of businesses.) In any case, as a smart business--in my opinion--you should have an expiration date (as legally allowed) but then, if people STILL want to redeem, let them anyway. It makes for happy and grateful customers and usually there aren't too many who try to redeem expired certificates. ...just sayin'

That certainly would be. (If their plane does not go to 8k, then how can they sell a tandem jump from 8k???!!!) Again, the DZ I visited seemed to be very upfront about it and the altitudes were accurate except that the 18k run did not always make it quite up there--still: 16.5k plus. And since, personally I had previously only jumped at DZs where we land above 5.5k AMSL, and this one was close to sea level, it felt like an eternity in freefall. (Oh: And the landings were oh so soft!) All I'm saying is: Groupon can be useful if you use it the right way--and if there is no right way to use it because the business has too small a margin, then you shouldn't use it. But comparing Groupon to a company website (even with the best SEO and most awesome discounts) just does not make any sense. It's not going to give you the same at all.