livenletfly

lmao! thanks for the reply, ive been waiting 3 years! >

i cant disagree more. i think you will find that people that have put a good amount of jumps on the veng have alot of good things to say about em. most nay sayers either put only a couple jumps on the veng or never jumped one. they were a great canopy. the openings at the time where consistant with most of pds products of that generation. pd's are not exactly known for outstanding openings. >

i have close to 1000 jumps on various size vengance. they are an awesome canopy. at the time they were the best stepping stone to the velo. i never chopped one, and had pretty consistant openings. they are a pain in the ass on windy days trying to gather up after landing. i loved having airlocks, whether or not i was safer i felt safer in turbulant conditions with airlocks. the canopy dives great and has awesome rear riser range! honestly its a shame they dont make the veng any longer. good news is you can get used ones super cheap becuz they arent that desired. i flew a 135 and a 120 then went to the velo 96. it was a very smooth transistion. the velo was obviously different but to be honest it didnt feel all that un familiar after so many jumps on my veng. now that the katana and xcrss2 are out there it they have dominated the market. but imo the veng has qualities you just cant get from any other wing besides the big air sports airlocked samurai. >

i dont recall any "harsh reactions" to a stand down written by anyone on here. just people disagreeing. there were stories of jumpers saying some fucked up shit, but nobody here has done that. you yourself decided to make a jump after a fatality. you could have not got on the dc-3 if you felt so inclined to not jump, but you didnt. it didnt mean you dont care. nor do people that dont have a problem jumping in the aftermath of a fatality. leave the choice to the individual. thats all some of us are saying. "standing down" wont bring the dead back, it really doesnt accomplish anything. it wont make the un-compassionate compassionate, it just stops the jumping for no real ryme or reason. funerals and memorial ceromonies honor the dead. >

ouragan suits is a very large succesful company. i highly doubt they would take the time to fake a profile and post. they really are a good company to deal with. my suit cost close to a grand! however its exactly the way i wanted it to fit and look and will last thousands of jumps so to me its worht it. >

lets say there is a fatality from a low turn at an attempted hp landing. pure operator error that had nothing to do with the facility. what would be accomplished by shutting down for 24 hrs ? if i die jumping, the LAST thing i would want would be for my fellow flyers to not be able to do what they love beacuse i died doing what i loved. especially considering some people had spent alot of money and time away from their jobs to visit the dz and jump as much as possible. its not that i dont have compassion for the deceased and their loved ones. i just feel that we all know whats at stake and the risks we take to live our lives to the fullest. if we die, we die. at least we went out doing soemthing that is so meaningful to us. some dz's do shut down, other more busy, larger ones do not. if i go in feel free jump your asses off! >

they are working for you so i doubt anyone would have a problem with it. if they did i would get another coach. these things are very pricey so im going to get my money's worth anyway i can. ive had some caoshes that didnt want me to wear my vid in air. i dont remember why but it wasnt a big deal so i didnt mind. >

im glad to know its not just my coarse. i wonder why he still has a job as a cd. that nasty bastard kept taking his false teeth out, fucking gross! i hope candidates read this thread so they get their money's worth. its nit cheap and you should be treated with some respect and not humiliated on a daily basis. F that guy. >

sure that would work too. vid would be better so you can see the coaches body language but audio is way better than nothing. >

well sure if theres an issue with the dz thats related to the fatality then of coarse shut down so it can be addressed. if the reason is that people are shook up by the fatality then that should be left up to the individual to decide whether they can safley skydive. im just not in favor of that decision being made for me. a couple years back i was at sdaz when a crew jumper turned low and impacted in the desert. i was on the load that he jumped from. it was the second fatality i was present for. when i saw them take his body away it definatly made me think of my own mortality within the sport but i never felt it was wrong or odd that the planes kept flying. many people spend alot of money to go away to jump in the winter months. to have sdaz shut down for someone dying would be pointless. dont foregt dz's are a buisness and many people are there with an agenda to jump. although its very sad, ya just cant shut down cuz someone burned in. it happens. its part of the sport. the crappy part but part of the whole package. >

i really should have wrote a letter to the uspa after my coarse but i didnt. i just wanted to put it out of my mind and start doing real world aff. i feel a little guilty now because i think of all the other jumpers taking his crappy coarse beacuse nobody takes the time to let the uspa know how he hold his coarses. heres something ive always wondered. before i took the coarse i figured we would learn alot about flying during an aff jump. things like tips to get the student to respond, staying on them like glue, what to do when your student goes ballistic near pull time ext... i was blown away when i took the coarse and there wasnt one second of in air instruction. the whole damn coarse was about those f---ing tlo blocks!!! how come we spent countless hours on tlo's and not one min on the most crucial and life threatning part of aff, the flying!? its taken me years to learn all those goodies i listed whe they could have been taught in the coarse making me a safer and better affi right out of the gate. i think this is a major flaw in the coarse. they expect you to show up knowing it all in regards to the flying part. i really feel the aff coarse is rediculous. i wont say its easy by any means, it was haard as hell, but not having any flying instruction is freakin retarded! was it just my coarse or are they all; this way? thank you my fellow instructors, although i no longer do aff, (for personal reasons, pm me if your curios) my rating is one of the things i am most proud of achieving in my lifetime. i just think the coarse needs a major over haul. >

ive done quite a bit of coached jumps so heres my 2 cents. dont worry to much on finding the best of the best. like someone else said its more important to find a coach with a good teaching style and someone you feel totaly comfortable working with. dont disclude jumpers at your local dz's. if they are really good fflyers and have some background in teaching they can help you as well for a fraction of the costs. usually they will help you for slot and pack jobs. as long as they have vid you can get the basics down for much less cost. obviously they may not be as good as the top teer of freeflying but you dont always need a "rook nelson" to learn how to change fallrate, drive, side slide ext.... when you get coaching video your debriefs!!!! you will be suprised how fast you forget some of the details of their instruction and end up going back to your old bad habits months or even weeks after your back home. watch the videos over and over at home to get your moneys worth. ggod luck, babylon are freakin awesome and inspite me to fly my ass off!! >

thanks for replying. i thought of asking amy but she;s so busy these days id rather not add to her load. does anyone have an email for bryan b? >

im not sure if im reading you correctly. if your saying that there is a saftey concern for the mental state of jumpers following a fatality i think thats going way too far. maybe there are some that may find themselves in a fragile state but they should ground themselves. i would be pretty upset if i was forced to be on the ground because someone thinks i cant pull due to emotional stress! for me thats absurd.i can, i have, and i will safley jump following a fatal inceident. if i was too shaken up i would stand down on my own. imo, all this talk about standing down for MONTHS is rediculous! death is an unfortunate part of the sport but it happens. unless the deceasd was a friend, if you feel you need weeks or months off of jumping because someone died doing what they love, knowing full well that death is a very real possibility in our sport, then you should take a look at yourself and rethink if skydiving is right for you. name one other sport that closes down when a participant dies. i tried and cant think of one. a guy died in my gym playing raquetball just the other day, the same court was being used by the time i was hitting the showers an hour later. golfers die all the time, no one closes the coarse. the local race track has many fatalitiies each season. they resume racing as soon as the debrit is cleared from the track. why should we be any different? >

dont know about the other coarse directors because i had billy rhodes. but i will say this' other than getting my rating, my aff coarse with billy was a collasal waste of time! it sucked and i feel like i had to listen more about his retarded veiws of glenn bangs and the uspa, and why he was the best director and everyone else is a hack, than learn about aff! dont take his coarse if you can avoid it. although i did well and stayed off his radar i really dont have anything good to say other than i got my rating. it was the most boring and frustrating 8 days of my jumping carrer!!!! id rather go through 3 months of marine corp basic training again than sit in a room and listen to that jack off rant and rave for i more min! that guy is a lunatic and gets off on his little tiny bit of power. the canidates and EVALUATORS where treated like shit and the coarse went on and on for 8 days. there were ony 4 of us for chist sakes! i really cant believe that guy still has a job! did anyone else have a bad experirence with billy rhodes ? >

im glad you decided to re think leaving spaceland. your post reminded me of the first fatality i was around for when i was a newbie myself. i felt the exact same way you do right now. i thought it was totaly fucked up they sent more loads that day. years later and many jumps, i feel much different as im guessing you will to. your current views comes from a good kind place and there is nothing wrong with that. you are completly entitled to your opinion, but i encourage you to allow others to have their's. i myself would and have jumped the same day of a fatality. i dont feel guilty or ashamed of that. you may choose to as well some day. if not, thats ok too. you just need to live and let live. i wont get into a long speech about why i chose to jump. you will understand why on your own after more time in the sport. ask yourself this; "if i died doing what i loved, would i want people to stop doing what they love just because im gone?' pm me if you need to talk. i know these forums can be really harsh when you speak your mind. death is part of this sport, but it still hurts. i understand that so dont hesitate to reach out if your hurting right now. k. get back in the air asap. its important. blue skies jeff >

hey yall, anyone who has either organized or helped organize a money meet please post, pm, or email me. we are trying to put together a ffly meet. but since its never been done in this area i have a lot of questions in regards to organizing a fun, safe, and succesful event. some of my questions are; 1. how to set up the event to include all skill levels while keeping it challenging and fun whether you have 200 jumps or thousands of freefly skydives. 2.is there any info on line about judging this type of event? 3.how to get manufactures and dealers interested in donating prizes and giveaways. 4.information about dive flows and compulsery moves. 5. event costs and prize money's these are'nt all my questions just an idea of what im looking for in case anyone knows where to obtain this info on line ext... thanks for your help folks, jeff tarinelli [email protected] >

unless you over 7 feet tall i dont see how a container holding over 500 sq/ft of parachutes could possibly be that far up on your back, regardless of harness size. these student rigs are huge and long, some close to 3 feet in length. you know you did some succesful handle touches on the ground, correct? other than a past shoulder injury, i can see no physical reason you wouldnt have been able to reach the hackey in the air! sounds more like mental pressure and performance anxiety to me. ive heard it all from some students that ive pulled for. its never THEIR fault in their eye's. i dont want to start a debate on your inablility to pull on those student jumps, but what you posted just doesnt make any sense and is bordering on accusations of neglegance by your affi. if you some how truly couldnt touch the bottom of the container, that should and would have been addressed before you got in the air. if not by your affI then you should have said something or decided on your own to not jump that rig! maybe you are that tall who knows... >

good advice! i like that making the student smile once per skydive. im gonna use that one on my students, thanks >

i do to, but the cursor on the neoxs looks really easy to use. l&b are a great company. ive heard some negative stuff about parasport italia but i like to check out things on my own. thanks for posting >

im looking to buy either the optima or the neoxs from para sport italia and would appreciate some info on the neoxs. ive heard some negative feedback from one person about the neoxs, anyone have any prob's with theirs. do you find them easy to operate? tha nks jeff >

i think i just came in my pants! sweet shot, jumpers are such aviation geeks, its like porn for us! >

i had 250 jumps my first visit to sdaz. standing at the loading area alone a guy came up and asked if i wanted to do a 2 way. being new to fflying and taught to be carefull who you freefly with my response was, "are you any good, how many jumps do you have" the guy was very cool in his reply, "some think im o.k" it was Mike Ortiz! lol >

dude, 1st off dont be hard on yourself!!! it will ONLY make things much worse. i am an affI and really enjoy working with the hard cases. you dont sound like one to me. ok, lets put this perspective. youve had a whole 3 exits off an aircraft, screwed some up. i know jumpers with a 100 jumps that still dip a shoulder and end up flipping around. it will come when you can relax enough to feel whats going on in the air. so dude, CHILL!!! its all good! i was a horrible student!!! repeats galore, ext... heres a lil fact for you. how you are as a student has absolutly nothing to do with what kind of skydiver you can and will be if your determined!!! i know world class freeflyers and canopy pilots that rode the plane down a dozen times, froze up ,went fetal, repeated every level at least once. but they STUck with it and one day they just relaxed and it all starts to make sense. your body will start doing shit in the air your not even aware of that corrects things like funnled exits, ext.... i repeat, this will not determine how you will be as a lisc skydiver. all these jumps will mean are what kind of student you were. period. and ya know what the shittyest students make some of the best damn affI i know of because we know how to get through to you!!! your doing exactly how your suppose to be doing. your learning curve is uniqluely yours and you can not change that, you can only accept it, relax and enjoy the jump as much as possible and things will; get better. i promise. dont fucking quit!!! now get out there and make another jump!!! pm me if you need to talk vent scream laugh cry whatever. but you better help some newbies out when your a shit hot skydiver. dont forget what it was like, >

jarrett, you should talk to jj from sdo. he's got an fx has at least 1000 jumps on it and shreds the piss out of it. ive never flown anything xb exept my velo but from years of reading and talking to others the fx seems to be its own animal. some love em some hate em, just depends on what your looking for i would guess. but that fluttering description say's to me theres something not right. this may sound stupid but have you checked your attachment points at the risers. ive seen slinks hooked up incorrectly, (one pass through the lines instead of 2), that extra inch or two of length on the fronts would flatten out the trim more than it was designed, which could make the rears stall quicker.. i doubt you would fuck up slinks but it happens way more than it should. its also a handy trick for GL steep canopy's like the velo. just add another link to the fronts and PRESTO new trim. >