koz2000

There is no written exam. It's an more of an oral exam. Look in the SIM. All you need is you proficiency card filled and stamped to get an A. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Have you tried to contact the manufacturer to see if your order is even in the system? ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Like everyone else, I still can't believe it's true. there's no freaking way. Chris thanks for everything that you gave to this sport. I'll miss you, Dave ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

First I completely agree w/ AggieDave about the info you get here. All info here is superceeded by info from your instructor. One question, what airplane were you jumping from? Exit - a big % of cat A students forget the hotel check. That's minor compared to the arch. A LOT of students go fetal. Body position- most students will see more than one "legs out" signal especially if they have done a tandem. Couple things that might help as far as legs - first get on a creeper - build muscle memory with the proper position, (2) toe taps might help you realize where your legs are. However now that you're aware what you did on your first jump, you'll probably do much better. Navigation - try to look out of the plane on the ride up. When you open, after you do you checks, look for the other canopies and where they're going. That should help you find the dz, pattern, etc.. Don't be too hard on yourself. At least from this critique it sounds like you did a pretty decent job. There are a lot of students way worse than your "debrief." Again look to your instructors FIRST for any information, rather than this forum. AFF can't be taken by correspondence. D ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

See about getting new ratchets for the visor. It's not very expensive, and that might do the trick. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

It's a Griffen. It a square (non-tapered/ellipitical) zero-p canopy. Not a bad canopy but not great either. I don't think the manufacturer is in business anymore, but I can't think of the name right now. I'm pretty sure they were made in Georgia ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Like which features are "over done" I like both the Infinity and Mirage, however I prefer the upward facing main pin flap so I would go Mirage. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

One great place for info is your instructor or an experienced person on the dz. Any fall from an airplane (or object) is freefall (as long as there's no canopy or drouge (see tandem) out at the time. Flatflying vs Freeflying is orientation of body to earth. Flat is typically on your belly, freeflying is basically everything else eg: head to earth, back, feet to earth, etc. As far as freeflying and flatflying (belly) here are two very basic examples, which hopefully illustrate the point. D Everybody sounds like a dunce at first, don't hesitate to ask questions ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

I didn't know a cypres could do that. Just out of curiosity, will it power-up normally the next time? If it does, isn't that a MAJOR concern. You might have never had a working unit. The reason we came to that conclusion is that one it did it more than once, and two by manipulating the wires and putting pressure on the unit, the rigger was able to get the unit to shut off. SSK found the crack. Thanks for the info. Dave ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

First -I completely and totally have faith in a cypres, but one interesting failure I saw - Tandem Cypres was turned on on the ground and was checked by the TM. In the plane he got a gear check and the cypres was checked again, but it now turned off. The TM and the passenger rode the plane back down. On the ground the rig was taken off, the cypres turned back on, TM and passenger went back to altitude, during gear check same thing, no cypres. The rigger pulled the unit out on the ground, it was within 4-year, and life time, and the batteries were less than 1 year old and showed max voltage. It would operate fine on the ground. Ended up, the cypres had a microscopic crack in the unit, and when the rig was put on, it put a "correct" perssure on the unit to short-circut it and shut it down. The unit was replaced. That being said, it is a one in ten-thousand possibility that it would happen again, but it is a "failure." I'll still take my chances w/ an AAD ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

On one of my cutaways, I was over the ocean under a bad spinner. Didn't mean to drop a handle, but oops, somehow fell out of my hand..... At least I had my soft reserve handle. Anyways I was kinda bummed since I had my name embroidered on it, but as luck was to have it, while looking for my freebag, and main, a golfer found my handle and returned it to me.

I've sold a few Boomerang's and it seems to be doing quite well. The customers have had no complaints. I have seen very few bad finishes from Bonehead. I honestly don't like the Havok as it looks like Rick Moranis off SpaceBalls. However the function of the helmet is excellent, especially for instructors, I just don't like the looks. Since you're thinking of BASE, I'd look into the RatHat. I personally wouldn't use the Havok or Boomerang for that. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Are you looking for what type of camera, set-up, helmet, etc...? Or are you looking for techniques? ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

So do you think it's fun trudging through waist deep swamp, or thick briars to help someone else find his main? Not my idea of a great weekend. I only made one jump last weekend because I spent the rest of the time doing just this. I have done it more than once. Did I expect anything (except a couple of cold beers) no. But it was a friend and he was going to be out over $2000. (risers $100, Main $1900, D-bag $50, PC $85, Res-PC $110, Freebag-$80) Like one post said, for me, just knowing he got his stuff back is reward enough. But I guarantee when you chop YOUR (not a rental) main, and you think you've lost it, and someone spends the entire day looking for it, you'll want to give them a tip. When you're sitting in the woods, thinking how long it will be until you can afford to buy new gear and jump again, and that person comes up w/ your canopy, you'll want to do something in return. Tips are just that, a tip not a fee. It's optional, but a nice gesture when he's saved you some major money. Just as when you give a higher tip to a waitress/waiter for really good service, it's not about the money, but it's a way of showing appreciation. Just my .02 ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Which helmets did you demo? ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Will Heath get a bid since he won it last year or is he out? . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Here's a bigger picture. Dave . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

If you don't drink then buy some sodas instead. D. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

TJ Landgren (the coach Weegegirl recommended ) is a member of Team Xaos and an excellent freeflier. The Avitar is the picture next to my userid. TJ is the guy w/ the yellow and red rig in the 7way picture, I'm in the center with the black and white rig. D. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Call around to some of the FBO (gas stations at an airport) and see if they have any. Aircraft operators need them to fly to the Bahamas so you might get lucky and find some. D. ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

I think a good basic way is to have someone that can carve face off with you in a sit and begin to carve, if you continue to try to stay faced off w/ him you'll be carving as well. The unintentional carving is called orbiting. When you orbit, typically you're faced off w/ someone but slightly offset to the left or right. As you try to move closer you be moving around them because your body is offset, but you're looking directly at them. You've got to have an ability to have good forward movement. Carving around a stationary object is the same principle but just a little harder to do. So offset your body, look at the person, and try to drive to him/her without changing your offset. Talk to some good belly fliers or instructor about how to carve on your belly. Personally I'd work on belly and sit carving before you get to back flying. Dave. .Like Weegegirl said, get a good FF coach and make a few jumps. It will help. That's TJ on the right side of the Avitar ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

Well if you're just talking about backflying - it would be no different that carving around someone on your belly. If you're talking about a very steep headdown carve, then yes you need to be able to control your headdown movement (speed, foward/back movement, turns). Have you thought about trying to carve in your sit? That would be a good way to start. BTW look at my post in Safety & Training about "Why you should freefly w/ good equipment" d. . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

I got one out of an aircraft (GA-12) and it will fit into a cypres pouch. You have to take it out of the plastic to make it work though. D. . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

If everything works as planned I will be able to make it as well, please add me to the list. Dave . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

I had my coach rating for a month before I got my AFF-I. I quite a few AFF/tandem video jumps, but not a whole lot of basic coach jumps. I did teach several FJC. 95% of my jumps were freeflying, so it was an interesting course. I did about 20 practice jumps w/AFF-IEs on my dz before the course. I think the hardest thing for me was to fly a close slot, doing video I was used to backing off a few feet, that will bite you in the ass, especially on the Cat C. Our Course Director had the 8-second dance - the bottom end sequence, LEARN IT, LOVE IT, PRACTICE IT. . ______________________________________________ - Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -