skybytch

Not being able to jump in "some weather" is not a bad thing. I'm assuming that you mean higher winds. When the winds come up, the chances of shit happening go up too. Forced to downwind it because of traffic, backing up on final, having to land out because the spot sucked... any one of those could end very badly and they can happen to anybody, regardless of their canopy experience or wingloading or type of canopy. Jumping when it's cloudy can lead to falling through them. Falling through them can lead to really bad spots, or worse yet, collisions in freefall or under canopy. And if it is raining you are hitting the pointy end of the raindrops and that hurts! Like every other jumper out there, I have jumped in some pretty sketchy weather. I don't do that anymore. Skydiving is supposed to be fun; for me, jumping in sketchy weather is not fun. The choice to jump in less than good conditions is often influenced by the sometimes overwhelming desire to go jump. There are numerous (read "far too many") examples of this being the first link in the chain of events that led to an incident. Just some more stuff to think about.

My mom was very much not happy about my decision to skydive. I was a single parent at the time, so I guess she did have a point. It took a few years and a lot of me telling her that I am a very conservative jumper, but eventually she learned enough about what I was doing and how I was doing it to be (mostly) comfortable with the whole thing. She has been to dz's to watch many times since. Unfortunately she is not physically able to do a tandem, but she would if she could. Most people think it's cool and want to know how they can do it. When someone says I am crazy, I reply "Yes. Yes I am. And your point would be?" ;-) The whole death wish thing? I tell them it's a living life thing and leave it at that. You will lose friends because you are a skydiver. But you will gain an extended family because you are a skydiver. Seems a fair trade off to me. :-D

"black skies for you my friends …." The above was posted in a recent thread, directed toward others who disagreed with him or called him out on his attitude/actions. This is a forum, so anything that is said here has to be taken with a grain of salt. It may not have been intended as it came across. But it got me thinking. We all know things like this have happened at the dz before and will probably happen again. Things are often said in anger that are not meant, whether the anger was justified or not. So I'm curious; how would you handle it if someone said that at the dz? I'm not sure what I would do. Please, keep this one general. Let's not attack the person who posted it. He may not know what he really said with that phrase.

Went looking for the pictures and video of the 2002 10 way dz.com RW record and they aren't there anymore. Looks like all of the pics/videos from BITD are gone. Any possibility of getting those back or are they gone forever? Thanks! Other than this, I like the new forum format.

I went home today. Hop and pop from 6k with my awesome hubby. Almost got blown off the plane because I forgot about the prop blast. Perfect exit, perfect deployment, almost perfect landing. If only the winds hadn't gotten all weird, I'd have done at least one from full altitude. But that's okay. There's always next weekend. Life is good again.

Linda left us last month, at home, apparently in her sleep. She was known here as hottamaly. One of the best load organizers for low to mid experienced jumpers that I ever jumped with. She wouldn't key the next point until everyone was smiling. She had the greatest smile too. Fly free Linda.

Perris in August will indeed be hot. It gets a bit bumpy at times and there is an occasional dust devil. Lots of people do AFF during August there. Lots of people with A licenses jump in August there. The heat doesn't cause major problems, it's just something to be aware of and adjust your jumping accordingly. August in Sebastian... well, like Skymama said, it's gonna be hot. Like walking into a steaming wet blanket kind of hot. Like you just stepped out of the shower and you need another shower kind of hot. But the air will mostly be very smooth under canopy and the view is pretty spectacular. At either dz, mornings will be better than afternoons due to weather. If getting a lot of jumps in is important to you, Perris might be the better choice. They have several Otters and long waits to get on a load are rare; it's easy to get three or four jumps in before lunch. IIRC, Sebastian has one plane through the summer.

Meh. It's easy to be the youngest to do something. Bragging about it only serves to confirm your age. Being the youngest to do something only takes parents with the required resources to make it happen. When others who do the same thing call you an expert, maybe then it's time to brag. But most people who are experts in this sport are also humble enough to know they still have things to learn. When it's obvious that someone is an expert by what they say and do, there is no need to brag.

Caveat - I know nothing about traumatic brain injuries. Head down to the dz. Spend the day. Watch some loads land. Talk to the chief instructor for a bit and explain your situation, see how they would suggest you proceed once you are ready to jump again. Hang out and talk to other people. These will be the folks you will be jumping with, never a bad idea to get to know some of them now. Bring beer. ;-) I'm in the US so I don't know what is required for recurrency in NZ, but you will likely get some ground training/re-training and then go up for a jump with an instructor. So I wouldn't stress what you may have lost all that much; anything important will be covered before you jump. There are loads of resources online that may help you remember/relearn some things. Start with this website - not just the forums, but the whole thing. There is so much good information here. If you have questions about things you may not remember and can't talk to anyone local, ask here. There are quite a few very experienced jumpers on here who can likely give you good answers. Hope the recovery continues on the same track and you are back in the air soon! The sky misses you

Stable freefall and clean openings have nothing to do with what canopy size is right for you. Based on your history, a 150 at 1.25 wingloading would probably be just fine as far as landings are concerned, depending on the type of main you are flying. As mentioned above the issue of traffic, especially in the pattern, is different than you are used to. Think about how will you react if someone is doing a downwind final at the same time you are on final into the wind or if the jumper in front of you is flying a larger slower canopy than you and you are overtaking them on your base leg or if someone cuts you off on final or if someone opens close to you and is flying right at you just as you are opening... There are many situations like these in which flying a larger slower canopy when you have little experience flying around other people is a good thing. Always consider worst case scenarios when deciding what wingloading is right for you. Have you thought about your reserve size? You are used to flying a nine cell at a higher wingloading, but have you ever jumped a 7 cell at a higher wingloading (or at all)? Having never jumped one, would you like to land one at 1.25 into someone's backyard (or whatever area with lots of obstacles) at sunset because the spot sucked and you had a mal? More square footage equals slower landing speeds equals a better chance of walking away from a worst case scenario. Regardless, make a point to take a canopy control course as soon as you can after you get off student status, preferably before you buy anything. Probably seems silly considering your experience, but I can guarantee that you will learn something about how to safely fly in traffic and how to avoid canopy collisions (which kill skydivers way too often). If your instructors feel that you aren't ready for a 150 yet, listen to them. They know more about skydiving than you do and they aren't trying to hold you back. They only have the safety of you and everyone you will be jumping with in mind.

The best way to get your questions answered is to talk to your instructors. Most of this is best explained in person. Once you are off student status, take a canopy control course as soon as possible. Don't do anything I suggest before talking to your instructors/S&TA. I found this easier to learn by practicing up high. While flying straight at full flight, pick a point in front of you. If it's fixed, you will likely land there if you change nothing about how you are flying - ie no turns and no brake or front riser input. If it is moving down, you will land long. If it is moving up, you will land short. Now change something. Go to 1/2 brakes. What does the spot do? Go back to full flight, then pull down both front risers. What does the spot do? Go back to full flight, then pull on both rear risers. What does the spot do? Once you've "seen" it and practiced it a bit, you'll find it easier to apply when it comes to entering the pattern, knowing when to turn base and when to turn final. Once you are on final, consider yourself committed to wherever you are going to land (unless of course you would be landing in the swamp or power lines or trees...). Too much other stuff to think about and do. DO NOT DO S TURNS ON FINAL - or anywhere in the pattern for that matter. It can not only confuse other jumpers, it can be a cause of a canopy collision. In many cases it's better to overshoot. Flying in deep brakes on final will slow you down and confuse other jumpers. Practice flaring from brakes up high. Go to 1/2 brakes and then flare the rest of the way. Try it again from 3/4 brakes. Even though you really don't want to do it on final, someday you might have to - like when you really overshoot and are going to land in the swamp/trees/powerlines. It is an option, just not on final. Again, unless you are going to hit an obstacle. Don't. The jumpers behind you can't predict what you are doing. Unpredictable is the last thing you want to be in the pattern.

Makes total sense. :-) AFAIK, both Perris and Spaceland have excellent instructors and produce safe skydivers. Because you will be jumping at high msl altitudes, I'd lean toward Perris since they are at 1500 feet msl, which may make the transition to your home altitude a bit easier. The tunnel is also a good reason to go to Perris. Invaluable learning tool.

Question for you. Where do you plan on jumping once you have an A license? Why not do your student jumps there?

Check out Bryan Burke's comments in this post. Some interesting data there.

Velcro toggles. Before no Velcro toggles, "toggle fires" were rare. Yeah, there is a downside. If you aren't careful stowing the excess you can catch the steering line in it. This will cause fuzzy lines. which does equal new lower brake lines if it you let it go too far. It's pretty easy to avoid though, just pay attention to what you are doing. You can reduce the risk even further by using standard risers instead of mini-risers. Yeah, there is a downside. You won't be able to pull your slider behind your head... but it also won't be able to come down past the slider bumpers and knock your no Velcro toggle(s) out on opening. Between the two of them, you can virtually eliminate the chance of a premature brake release (as I'm sure you know, you can never completely eliminate that risk). There are tradeoffs with every gear decision you make. All depends on how "safe" you want to be.

What part of falling straight down at 120 mph (ish), relying only on some nylon and your ability to execute emergency procedures to save your ass - at approximately 6 seconds to impact if you don't do something or that nylon fails - seems safe to you? I'm guessing you have yet to witness a fatality or have a friend die skydiving. You probably haven't seen or known someone get badly injured while skydiving. Skydiving is not safe. You can do everything right and still die. You can not remove every risk factor to make it a safe activity. It's not a safe activity.

A few silly questions along the same lines. Isn't there an age requirement in the BSR's? IIRC it's 18 now, but it used to be 16 with parental consent, correct? So... is a 12 year old skydiver, with parental consent or not, a violation of the BSR's? Was the person who allowed it a USPA member? If so, did the above quoted statement apply?

The big issue for you will be gear - it will be difficult to find a dz that is willing to take/handle the added risk for the dz/instructors and you. It will likely be impossible to find one that has regular student gear with a canopy big enough to safely carry your weight and a big enough harness to fit your body, and to find instructors who can fall with you. How do you want to do your first jump? Tandem? Chances are very slim. Even though the rig will handle your weight alone, the combination of you and the tandem instructor may be too much. Plus it would be a lot of work for the instructor to handle the freefall; it would take a very experienced tandem instructor to do it safely, and it will likely cost you more than the standard rate. AFF? Possibly, again depending on gear, instructors and the dz's general attitude toward doing out of the ordinary student jumps. I have seen and heard of larger students using converted tandem gear on a non-tandem student jump. Again, this will cost you more than the average jumper since a rigger will have to do the conversion to make the rig suitable for a solo student jumper of your size, and your instructors will need to be experienced and big enough/skilled enough to fall fast enough to stay with you - at your weight you will fall MUCH faster than the average student and this takes much more skill on the part of the instructors. There is a possibility of doing a static line jump, again using a converted tandem rig, but very few dz's in California do static line anymore. Best advice I can give is to contact dz's close to you. Call around, or better yet go visit. Ask to speak with their chief instructor. Be prepared for a "no" but there IS a possibility. If the answers are no and you really want to do it, the folks at the dz's you check out can tell you what their weight limit is. I know it will take a while and a lot of work to get down to whatever maximum weight the dz has as far as the gear and instructors that can handle the weight. The goal is not to limit your ability to do things based on your weight - I'm sure you are pretty tired of that! The goal is for you and everyone involved to do it safely. Good luck! I hope you get to fly soon.

It's getting closer. Who's your favorite for the finals this year? I'd like to say the Sharks, but they are seriously lacking in the goal crease this season. I think it's going to be Calgary. Cue Eastern Conference fans...

I was incorrect. Vectran does not go out of trim quickly. But it still needs to be replaced at about the same jump numbers as the others, depending of course on what environment it is jumped and packed in, because Vectran does wear. In trim or not, a broken line can really suck ass. But back to the topic - openings. My experience - my Spectre with Spectra lines opened harder than my Spectre with Dacron, and my Safire with Vectran opened harder than either Spectre, all when they had less than 100 jumps on them. The other Safire with Vectran that I jumped was ready for a line set and had started to open like shit, with visible wear less than what PD calls medium. YMMV of course. Great discussion guys! I learned something today.

<shrug> Neither does Spectra or Vectran, thus the suggested relines at 300 jumps. On a lower performance canopy like a Spectre, I see no reason other than pack volume not to have Dacron and lots of good reasons to have them. Imho of course.

The one thing I would add to what everyone has said is... practice the flare up high. The more times the better. Do some looking out and some looking up at the canopy so she can see what it is doing. Focus on smooth and slow and finishing it all the way to arms length. She will begin to feel what the canopy is doing, which is imho the first step to a good flare. Even though it sounds scary, practice it with eyes closed; she can then feel what the canopy is doing as she flares much better than with eyes open. We taught this in the canopy control course I used to help with and nearly everyone said it was extremely helpful (it was extremely helpful for me too). Of course, she should discuss the eyes closed thing with an instructor prior to doing it, and be done with practicing flares before her decision altitude. For me, my landings went from pretty bad to mostly pretty good after I took a canopy control course. I would recommend it to both of you actually; even if your landings are good, you will learn loads.

Seriously? Damn. Time to sell my volumes 1 and 2 I guess.

No. Too much other stuff to think about. But my first jump was almost 30 years ago; I've had plenty of time to get over the beginning of the addiction phase. No, although took a few years before a dz opened in my area and I was too broke to travel. Since my job paid far less than it was worth, I did a lot of packing and instructing and not paying utilities and eating mac and cheese. Balance. It's all about balance. I am not jumping now but my husband does. So we have found things that we can do together other than jumping. There are 52 weekends in a year. Not all of them need to be spent at the dz. I stopped five years ago for medical reasons after 1200 jumps. Regret? No, pissed off is a better description. I will be back in the air this year. One thing I would suggest before starting AFF is looking into what gear is going to cost you - figure at least $5k new, less but still at least a couple grand for used. Not much worse than spending loads on your student jumps only to find out that you can't afford gear. Most of all, have a blast. Don't forget to smile. .

Copyright is for the author's entire life plus 70 years. Doesn't matter if it's out of print or the publisher is out of business, which in this case makes sense since Dan Poynter was Para Publishing.