betzilla

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Posts posted by betzilla

  1. Hey mixologist,
    Whatcha doing buying all that beer if you could be shaking beer-light martinis?

    I just mean, people already think we're nuts (which we are, sort of), so we don't need the bad publicity of also being jerks.

    Of course some people have plenty of cash to burn and will come back even if they more than it's worth to do that first jump. Me -- I was a budget student I wouldn't have been able to stay in the sport if someone had taken advantage of my niavete, and taken my money!

  2. Quote

    [blatant plug]
    If you just want the Pro Rating, then that's one thing, but if you really want to know how to put together a demo including the site survey, working with the clients, all the FAA paper work, planes, pilots, preparation and safety, I can think of nobody finer to learn from than Jim Wallace.
    [/blatant plug]



    Thanks for the blatant plug. As sick as it is, that actually sounds interesting to me...:)

  4. Quote

    So, I think we've done fairly well here at my home DZ.




    Diverdriver is totally right. My little former home DZ had a rule one year that you couldn't do a freefly jump without a cypres. I didn't have one, and really felt that my rights were being impinged upon.

    At our home DZ (diverdriver and I are form the same DZ), it was posted as a recommendation when I first came here to visit, that all freeflyers jump with Cypreses, audibles and hard helmets. I think every freeflyer who calls this DZ home jumps with all three, and it's mostly people who've been in the sport for a long, long time (along with new jumpers buying their gear one piece at a a time) who jump without them.

    We all know that skydivers want what the other skydivers have. So if your role models jump with AAD's, you probably do too.

    Now that I have a cypres, I would feel kinda funny jumping without one. but I don't think it should be mandated.

  7. I have a friend with tons of demos who swears by this old ratty Manta for demos. Like you, I can see wanting something that will sink in a little more for demos, but now that you mention it, I don't know why F-111 is better either.

  10. You also have to land ten declared jumps IN A ROW within ten meters of target center, standing up.

    I know lots of people who made it to jump 8 or 9 before blowing one of their landings, then having to start all over with jump 1. Each jump eneds to be signed off by an S&TA or BOD member.

    Of course, those are the honest people who actually meet the requirements...

  11. Second, does anyone know if you can test drive the Raven Dash M series as a main? I remember the original Raven's could be jumped as either a main or reserve, but the DASH M is a ZP top skin and I presume would fly differently. I also recall that it was only offered as a reserve?***

    You can put anything you want in your main container. Resevres are built so that you can attach a d-bag and pilot shute to them, and use them as mains. But I'm not sure whether precision has a demo program for their reserves.

  12. Quote

    I'm glad I didn't have an RSL hooked up since I was on my back. I know there are a lot of advocates for it, but I don't even want to think about what might have happened if my reserve deployed before I was stable, or even while I was flipping myself over to my stomach



    RWS has a sweet new RSL device, the Skyhook, which gets a reserve over your head before you have time to entangle with it. Check out their website -- it's pretty hot.

    Quote

    I'm glad I practice my cutaway procedures on every single jump run. It may not be cool to do it on every jump...



    I do it on every jumprun too. We expericened jumpers need to set the standard for what "cool" is, so that new jumpers will practice it on every jumprun too.

    Glad it all went the way it should for you!

  13. Quote

    Get some slinks - as soon as I did, no more problems



    But make sure you have good risers. A hard opening can send you slider flying down past those slinks, and could dislodge a toggle if you have sketchy risers/toggle keepers. That's an instant spinner.[:/]

    STill, I never could collapse my slider till I got slinks either. Now I have short risers, but am so used to hearing the damn thing flap that I sometimes forget to collapse it.:$

  17. I think he should be fine -- just warn him that he'll lose a bit more altitude in turns, so to plan long finals on his first few jumps with it, til he gets to know the canopy. If he not downsizing, only switching models, there's not much to worry about.

    I work ina geat store at my DZ, and we have several rental rigs, with Sabre2's and Stilettos in them. Everyone, EVERYONE who rents from us prefers the Stilettos. One guy will chioose a Stiletto 2 sixes larger than what he usually jumps, just so he can have Stiletto, even if there's a Sabre2 of his regular size hanging on the rack.

  19. Quote

    1. You showed up to the DZ early, before the pilot. The pilot calls and tells the DZO he is running a little late. A load has formed, geared up and is waiting on the pilot. The pilot arrives, jumps out of his car goes directly to the airplane, and without a pre-flight, starts it up and tells everyone to get in?



    I would SO get off that load and avoid that pilot, maybe even that DZ.

    Quote

    4. One evening you witness the DZO forging a 100-hour inspection in the jump-ship's logbook?

    5. The pilot tells you the DZO has disconnected the tachometer to prevent the meter from showing that the 100-hour inspection is past due?



    As though that kind of thing doesn't actually happen..? One of the things I love about my DZ is that the planes are maintained religiously. I hate the thought of making a forced skydive because of shoddy maintenance.

  22. Quote

    I've also heard a mother of a tandem passenger ask the JM'

    "so...how many jumpers do you lose a year?"


    My fiance often teaches tandem classes at our DZ. Last year a student asked him, "When was the last fatality here?" She thought he was joking when he said "Yesterday."

  24. Try maybe the national skydiving league website. Sorry I don't have the web address. There will definitely be plenty of info on 4-way there, and maybe some really basic stuff too.

    That side-grabbing thing is called "sidebodies," by the way. :)