FrenchyDiver

As B said it's a nickname for Patrick. It stands for
McNamara Of The US, hence MOTUS

KING AIR $23.00 the ticket

As far as student goes, definitely a ground refresher, such as EPs, alti awareness, and a skills from the previous dive. As for the jump itself well, it will depend on how long, it was since the last jump. I usually refer these questions to the AFFIs.

With regards to licensed jumpers, I was in that case, so I will tell you what I did. I took a 10 year break. I had 100+ jumps at that time.

When I decided to jump again, I attended a FJC then did an AFF type jump with two instructors. Goals were stability, alti awareness, practice pulls, 90 degree turns. Afterwards, a few coached jumps to work on basic group freefall skills (Fall rates, forward & redocks, tracking and the likes). Once cleared, I stuck with small group dives (2 or 3 ways) til I got back to the level I was at 10 years before. That was worked for me. For others it will vary, of course you will find that every person is different (but you already knew that, right ?)
For some it will be like riding a bike, for others, like myself, it will take a little more than one jump to get back to a safe level.

As already mentionned, the "I still know everything and besides you were still wearing diapers when I quit types" are the ones who tend to be more problematic

As a matter of fact Skydive Orand and Skydive Virginia are the closest. Further down south West Point.

Just heard from TI/AFF instructor I know. The ad is legit not a scam. Seller is reportedly a great guy.

I will. I e-mailed a few friends who were regulars at that DZ and will report to you and the original poster whether it is a scam or not.
Thanks

JM

PM on its way

Hartwood shut down a couple of years ago. The DZ is no longer in business.
Many of the people that jumped there are still in the area.

Back to the original question :)

BlueTracks were introduced in 1989 in three sizes BT60 BT50 and BT40, I had a BT60 for many years and it was a 175sqft, the BT40 is a 150ish.

In late 92 early 93 PdF introduced the BT Serie Pro. The only difference between the two series was the square footage. The Series Pro were smaller versions the the regular BTs. Also the tandem version is the BT-80.

All are elliptical BTW. One of the posters said there must be a reson as to why they are cheap. Well of course, it is because by today standards they are an old design.

The BTs were the first fully elliptical canopy to hit the market and were the cutting edge of that time. A year or so later came the first stillletos.

It was a great canopy. I still jump mine from time to time

Hello all,

I am the jumper DJL refers to. He is absolutely right when he says I have misinterpreted the manufacturer's instructions. I have contacted the manufacturer for clarification and he confirms that the correct point of attachement of the wing is the buckle of the leg strap and not the hip ring. Furthermore, he recommends not to attach the RSL shackle directly to the buckle but rather to a small connecting loop with a ring (both were provided BTW) that can go around the leg strap or buckle, as pointed out by Quade.
The RSL shackle is sewn to the tip of each wing and comes with a 3" piece of tape that enables an easy grab and pull to disconnect the wings. I haven't jumped that suit yet. I will after I have the attachement points properly taken care of.
Thank you all for having provided your advise (and hopefully more will be posted), it is highly appreciated.

JM

HAHAHAHAHA Something like that Doug See you tomorrow

Also,
In addition to those above

Skydive Virginia, about same distance than Orange and further South Skydive West Point. Also in Virginia, about 3.5 hours from DC, is Skydive Suffolk.

Worth the trip for a weekend out of DC are Cross Keys in NJ, about 3 to 4 hours North and CSS four hours south in NC.

Many places worth a visit :)

You will find plenty of good people in any of these. Do take this internship and bring your rig.

You have been given good advise. A coach is also expected to be able remember what happened during the freefall and being able to provide the relevant feedback to the student. It means that the coach is expected to focus more on the student than on his/her own flying skills. A good way to achieve this flying skills is by doing simple two way dives with people that just got their A license. It will force you to work out more to fly your slot.

Also, talk to the instructors and coaches at your DZ. I am sure they will gladly give you excellent advise about what you should work on to get a coach rating. They know your abilities and will definitely work with you to get you ready.

As for the IRM you can purchase one through the USPA website.

Teaching is very rewarding. The smile on the student's face after a sucessful exercise is woth a million.

Thanks Skytash

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I would like to try some RW with others but due to my experience level, it's tough to do without paying for a coach. Tunnel time is out of the question for now.

According to your profile you are in VA Beach. Come to Skydive Virginia in Louisa County near Lake Anna (about halfway between Fredericksburg and Richmond). There are a fairly amount of RW experienced jumpers to jump with you for free. That includes our AAFIs and Coaches. We will be glad to be of assistance.

First of all, allow me to congratulate you on such a positive attitude. Not many people I know would react as you do. Your fears/concerns are very legitimate, asfter all you do care for her . Since you already started to educate yourself about this sport, many of your questions will be answered within time.
Many other posters have already given you very good advise, such as spend time at the dropzone, sit on your spouse training, talk to her instructors ect...
I will thus only answer to the part about non-skydiving spouses. In our couple, I jump, she does not and will probably never jump. She had very much the same concerns as you do when I decided to resume jumping again. I did my best to introduce her to this sport as well as to other skydivers with whom she could talk to. Within time, she was able to get a better understanding about skydiving and how to manage risks. We did have many long chats about the risk factor, and such. We also agreed on ways to better manage those risks. Her fears never went away, and never will. She knows that maybe one day, she will get a call from the DZ, a call that she doesn't want to receive. Nevertheless, she is still supportive. The key, at list in ou case, is keeping a good balance in our quality time, and me not taking unnecessary risks (such as doing things for wich I have no skills). My skydiving time will never superseed our family time.
I don't know were you are located, but if you are in the NoVA-DC area, feel free to get in touch.

Regards

JM

Awsome story.Thanks for sharing.

I agree with you Mark, 100%. However I am not sure how a TSA would evaluate this though.

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The overall point in this situation that I want to convey is that the TSA super was not educated well enough to deal with the situation and did not want to look up the procedure as we evident by his 'first hand knowledge' of AADs having an explosive device in them.

Now, although I highly doubt that this TSA super had ever read a Cypres User's guide, he/she might very well be proven right if he/she had . Out of curiosity, I went and checked it and guess what? Well, according to the diagram attached, there is is an explosive charge in the cutter assembly. Doesn't matter how big or small it is. Just that there is one in the unit and the super would have been proven right in his/her "First Hand knowledge" from "back in the days", that would have sucked even more

From the TSA letter with regards to rigs permitted as carry on luggage.

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However, TSA screeners have a duty to thoroughly inspect any item that raises suspicion. then the owner of the rig must be present and will be allowed to assist.

The way I read this letter, is that they can open a reserve if they want to. Nowhere it does says that reserves cannot be opened. But I agree, this is not fun.

Also, as others have already mentionned, I'd rather go through this inconvenience rather than having rigs banned from air travel because a terrorist sees an opportunity to use a rig to put explosives on a plane . IMO it's a small price to pay. TSA has a job to do, too.

For those that have not seen or saved a copy of the TSA letter, here's a copy attached.

Sorry you had to open your reserve, but they are entitled to.

Blues.

(edited for spelling )

Jack,

Being a father myself I cannot imagine what you and your family are going through. You and yours are in our thoughts and prayers.
I don't know you but by your post I can say that you have my upmost respect. If, God forbid, such a loss ever happens to me, I will remember your words and pray that I have just a little bit or your wisdom.

Respectfully,

JM

As a few others replied, I have to disagree with you. Many DZs have integrated the tandem jumps as part of the ISP. That is the case of my home DZ. The 2first jumps are tandems. The first one is as usual oriented to people who want to try skydiving, but the passenger is trained with the perspective that he/she might very well continue. So most of the first tandem jumps are conducted as a working tandem jump. More so the second tandem jump. Afterwards it's the AFF program and so forth.

Regards

Hi Chris,

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I'm assuming that means for example if I complete Level 1 (do everything correctly and pass to the next leve), this counts as 1 jump. Though if I make my Level 2 jump and need to redo it because I didn't complete all the objectives of that dive, then I have to take it again and it won't count as a dive towards the 25 until I complete Level 2.

My tandem would count as a dive also even though there aren't really any objectives in a tandem?

Is that right?

Absolutely, a dive is a dive

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But then again it looks like most people here are saying everything counts as a jump if it's a jump. So even though I need to repeat Level 2 and I've made 1 tandem (1 Tandem, 2 AFF jumps, but need to repeat Level 2) that means I still have 3 jumps counted towards my 25.

Which one is right? :P

Yes that's right, every jump, no matter what kind of jump it is, does count towards the minimum of 25 required.

As per your example,
- 1 tandem without any particular objective to achieve = 1 jump
- Level 1 = 1 jump
- Repeat Level 2 = 2 jumps

Total jumps to date = 4 jumps
Remaining towards your license = 21 jumps

However, yes, you will have to achieve sucessfully the required objectives. Which means that if you have to repeat several levels several times you would obtain your license with more than the minimum 25. It could be after 30 or 40 jumps or whatever the number of jumps it will take you to achieve the learning objectives.

Not exactly. All jumps count, including any number of tandem jumps. What counts towards the A license is achieving the TLOs (Targeted Learning Objectives, as specified on the first page of each level in the case of the USPA SIM manual) for each level. No matter how many jumps (of any type) the student has. In the US, the minimum required is 25, and there is no maximum number of jumps.
Blues

Frenchy

Yeah right... Why don't you go watch a good Ole western, such as

Once Upon a Time in the Vagina