AFFI

Do you have an instructor(s)? Maybe talking to them would be a good place to start... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Hey man, I'm just representing ~ I could agree with you - But then we'd BOTH be wrong! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I think it was Twardo (Jim) I was speaking to about this topic at the loading tent one day and the concern of getting checked by someone who does not know how to properly check gear making a mistake was mentioned. Then Jim said something like; “but I would fully trust any skydiver who learned at Spaceland to give me a gear check”. Waz that you Twad? We place great emphasis on gear knowledge here in our curriculum, so much so that students I am working with will give me, their instructor a full gear check prior to boarding and prior to exit from their very first solo. At first supervised, then usually by jump 2 or 4 they are doing it unsupervised. If I am doing my job then I should be able to trust that the students I am and have trained completely understand how to properly give a full gear check. Any skydiver, especially a newbie who does not know how to properly perform a full gear check had an instructor(s) that failed to appropriately do their job and teach thoroughly. All solo freefall instructors that work here at Spaceland must have this attitude concerning safety and leading by example in our safety practices. So if you know anyone out there you would not trust to give you a gear check, why not take a few minutes out of your busy schedule, pull them to the side and teach that person how to do it correctly? The life you save may be your own. Skydivers have been injured, even killed as a direct result of not receiving gear checks prior to exit by another skydiver, far more I would assume than have been injured or killed as a direct result of getting a check by another skydiver – far far more. Teaching others to not receive gear checks is simply a blatant disregard for that person’s life and we teach others largely by examples we set ourselves… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

How would anyone of you feel if you encouraged another skydiver to “self-check” using the finger, which is great for checking almost everything, and then that skydiver you taught to do this burned in as a result of an un-cocked collapsible kill-line pilot chute? You cannot check bridle window color with you end of your finger and yes, it should be gear checked before boarding, but everyone makes mistakes, especially when trying to make a short call. I have found over the course of the years 2 un-cocked pilot chutes in pre-exit checks both by experienced jumpers who were simply in a bit of a rush and made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Agreed whole heartedly - what a well placed post! A good AFF-I understands that teaching others to skydive has little to do with freefall skills and everything to do with safety and will lead by example. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Elaborate please? Where is "over here" and what are the gear check SOPs? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I don't think so. 1 in 150 million rides on a rollercoaster result in death and there are 900 million rides each year in USA. Roller coasters are fun! Nevertheless, a study in the January 2002 issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine reported a disturbing trend in the rate of thrill ride injuries. Overall, the risk of injury is low. Of the 900 million rides taken in the US each year, about 1 in 124,000 result in a significant injury that is detected. Only about 1 in 15 million require hospitalization and 1 in 150 million rides taken results in a death. Most of the worst injuries are from internal bleeding or from brain damage. So the issue is safety for minors until they are legally able to decide for themselves, gravity works as well for kids as it does adults - just ask Eric Clapton. Some countries have differnet laws and guidelines - for instance in some countries legal age of sexual consent is solely based upon the individuals ability to carry a pail of water back to the village.

The first AFF student I ever had go cluck cluck in the door was, ummmm, me... I got out that same day but the first look out the door really freaked me out cuz I am scared of heights and airplanes - now I am a senior instructor at a major DZ with 4,000 jumps, so I am very understanding when it comes to nerves. We have all been there at some level eh? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I did a search but could not find anything. Supposedly some rigger type person was attempting to pack a malfunction on purpose in a series of jumps to illustrate the reliability of canopies opening potential. I was told this video was on YouTube but could not find anything there either. Anyone in the know? Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Excellent question. Research is the first thing that comes to mind. Rather than just hearing of an alternate method and quickly deciding - “Next time I'm definitely going to give this a shot” – Instead, gather all the facts you can, run it by some experienced, “safety oriented” instructors and make the best informed decision possible. For example, I was getting a lot of packing advice when I first started, so I found the most experienced rigger I could, picked their brain and gathered facts. Most skydivers never get to witness ultra intense carnage first hand like walking up to a buddy laying in a field soaked in blood having just taken their final shit in their pants. Perhaps that contributes to the complacency so prevalent in our sub-culture but always keep in mind that in this sport, it is EASY to get all corpsed-up as a result of a bad decision so carefully take into consideration all the Pros and Cons before making a decision that could lead you to a disastrous end. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

NO - NO - NO Don’t be too quick to take advice off the internet and make changes to your current foundation of skydiving practices. There are inherent dangers doing this as already mentioned getting fingers, hands and or forearm caught in the risers. If this happens you MUST get out of it or you are supremely fucked! I have seen 3 videos that risers have twisted around an arm and this is a very dangerous situation to create for yourself. During inflation and irregular/erratic flight keep your hands clear of the risers and save yourself from unseen potential hazards until you gain more knowledge and experience. Something I strongly caution the students I train is being quick to make changes to the foundation of SAFE skydiving practices that we developed during their training, especially advice on the internet or packing room floor from well intentioned skydivers, many who have thousands of jumps, spend 10k a year at tunnel camp and can cut a billion points on a 4-way, yet still cannot fly a decent pattern and landing or even know what a flat turn is and how to properly execute one. Hell, I have seen AFF Instructors who are afraid to stall thier canopy! WTF Ghost Rider? Over... There have been many skydivers with mad freefall skills perish as a direct result of discontinued safety training. A lot of good those freefall skills do in a casket. Many skydivers have safety priorities fucked up – I have never been on a jump plane and the person sitting next to me has a femur sticking out of the side of his leg or is dead. So be careful when you decide to accept advice and make changes to the practices you should employ at your experience level… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Might I suggest: www.skydivespaceland.com Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

This does not sound like an experience that should be looked back on as “scary”. You were altitude aware, deployed as you were trained to do and altitude aware while dealing with situations under canopy. If anything, this experience should give you confidence in the sense that you can take care of the most important thing – having a safe landing. I think you did an outstanding job! Way to go! Discuss this situation with your instructor(s) at the DZ you are learning at, they can direct you better than anyone can in an online forum – this is the last place you want to receive coaching for an issue like this that requires personal first hand attention. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

No person deserves a tip? Dude, chill – it is what it is… The tandem instructors you have described would not be allowed to work at the DZ I have been working at for nearly a decade – we weed out the mediocre because we provide first class service and attention and expect that from our instructors. Every tandem student receives 30 minutes of training, given an altimeter and allowed to pull the ripcord and assist in the piloting and landing of the canopy. We provide excellent service and training from the very first tandem to the graduation jump in the solo program. We cater to a large demographic and tipping is frequent, largely based on the excellent service we provide. I share your sentiment whenever I visit another DZ – there is no comparison to Skydive Spaceland and we are always looking for good instructors who want to be the best. I am not a tandem instructor, but one of the senior solo freefall instructors here and half the time I don't get any tip and that is fine, sometimes I get a $10 or $20, even better a few beers at the end of the day – Largest tip I ever received was $1,500! Did not want to accept it at first but my client assured me that is was no big deal for him – then he flew in his entire family to be trained specifically by me because after a life of specialized extreme environment training he told me I rated amongst the finest instructors he had ever worked with. It is nice to be appreciated for providing excellent service that is “above and beyond” All it takes is a little effort and giving a shit about what it is we are doing – that is why most TI’s out there would not last a week with us. So yes, tipping is appreciated for excellent service but not at all expected… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

At least, not until after hours... Then the gumjob is on!

Be careful grabbing risers, I have seen 3 videos where the canopy pilot is “steering” an opening with the risers and the canopy takes a spin and twists the risers around the jumpers forearm! Grasping risers on opening is a calculated risk… I have around 3,000 jumps on Stilettos and am “qualified” to fly anything I want (and have flown a host of others) but I stick with the Stiletto simply because it is an awesome canopy. This parachute does not spin on opening; it opens great, is responsive as hell and has a quick recovery. I have gotten +200’ surfs out of my current one and can also put it down in a very tight landing area with power lines all around into a small backyard – so this is a very good balance between sport and safety for me. Anyone that calls it a “Spinetto” simply does not know this parachute very well or the benefits of good body position at deployment time. You have received a lot of warnings that this canopy is too aggressive for your experience level and I agree. There is the highest probability that you will not heed the warnings of others more experienced than you and in the unlikely event the more experienced can say “I told ya so”, it will be a bummer, especially for the person that sold you that canopy in the first and for your family, those who love you. It never hurts to heed the warnings of those who have already forgotten more about skydiving than you have even learned yet. Pay your money and take your chances… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Perfect... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONhHnkLKKLk Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Why Parachutists Die? I have the answer - Lack of oxygen to the brain... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

here is a brutal Stiletto 150 opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWj7p8YKnlA Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Gives me a mental image of being stuck to the wall of a spinner by the centrifugal forces - like the spinning barrel ride at the carnival where the bottom falls away. Can everyone please stop screaming? I am trying to enjoy my death here! Hehe, why does that sound like a fun ride? Piper Cub jumps are fun! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

One time I was training this guy and when I started on canopy piloting he said “look son, I land jets on aircraft carriers at night, no training like this is necessary” – after his first landing he was willing to listen to a block or two of instruction… Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Nothing here ever ends in a fight, different people will have different opinions based on their experience and the process may be construed as a “fight”, but that is just the collective genius doing it’s magic - personally I would not suggest my mother do static line training progression but that is solely based on my lack of personal experience with this type of training method but there is one dinoinstructor here that has seen it all and done it all. He says static line is outdated and not a good training method and he has more experience training static line (before squares) than I do total jumps because he started instructing back in the 60’s so I will respect and take into account that unimaginable level of knowledge and experience he has – the “best” training method he (and I) have been exposed to is a tandem progression that is similar to the USPA ISP haha - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…