Reginald

Hi I’m Ron and I’m an addict. I have 1 hour in the Orlando tunnel and 4 in the Perris tunnel. It’s been just over a month since my last binge. I hit another low this week when I told my boss I needed to take yet another business trip to San Diego in about a month. Of course I’ll stay over Saturday night to get the discounted airfare, ‘cause I’m a dedicated company man. Sure all my meal receipts I turn into the company for reimbursement will read “The Bombshelter” across the top of them. Is that wrong? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Call Elsinore! Skydive Elsinore 20701 Cereal Street Lake Elsinore, CA. 92530 Tel: (951) 245 9939 Elsinore, is one of my favorite DZ’s and they have an excellent staff. One way or another I’m sure they can help you. I do not think Elsinore is a SDU DZ however, although I don't know you need an SDU DZ. Call The DZ! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I check my alti before I unstow my brakes (in case something goes bad I know my altitude). I then use it to initiate my landing pattern, and also use it when, on my downwind leg, I pass the spot I want to land. I then use it to switch to my base but I never use it to turn to final. I find the couple of reference points, particularly at the point I’m passing where I want to land on my downwind help tremendously with my accuracy. In general I can put my canopy down within 10 or 15 feet of where I want to be every time IF I use my alti to set up my pattern. If not I end up 50 feet from where I want to land. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Anyone that has questions about booties on a jump suit, I highly suggest you call the manufacturer and ask them for advice. I recently ordered a Bev suit (it came in today!…yeah for me!) and the information I got from Bev was different than the discussion I heard other places. In this thread alone I’ve seen several comments that are probably misleading or incorrect. The manufactures can tell you all you need to know and help tailor a suit to your needs. And the best part is they are all happy to spend time on the phone with you talking about it! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Quotewouldn't it make sense to install good spotting skills to avoid a few more of those?Quote I agree with this. I jump at a large turbine DZ with world class pilots that spot very accurately using GPS. Even with that said I stick my head out the door when possible and check the spot myself. I’m inside center on my 4-way team and when doing 4 way I literally can’t spot so I rely on the video guy and OC to do it. I see FAR too many people simply jump when the green light is on though. Many of them don’t even pretend to look out the door. I know for a fact that all of them have been trained to spot though. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Some interesting talk in this thread. I’ve heard that the AFFI standards have been lowered but could someone give me a quick recap of what was changed? Personally, I’m interested in getting my AFFI but I have a great deal of respect for the air skills it takes to do the job properly. I am going to wait until I have more than enough skills to go for the AFFI. Ultimately, the question is “am I comfortable risking someone else’s life on my flying skills?” The AFFI’s at my DZ are some of the most talented flyers I’ve ever seen and average 7,000 plus jumps I know they can do the job, but could I at 400 or 700 or 900 jumps? (Rhetorical question) I believe I could get the rating before I had the skills (in my opinion) to truly do the job. That is something I won’t risk and have no desire to do. And that is the core issue many of you are discussing, people getting the rating before they can do the job in all circumstances. What for the average AFFI is the number of jumps that they really have the skills to do the job? (I know it depends on a lot of things but let’s talk generalities) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

It’s been touched on here but a few points I would like to reiterate. 1. Team Gear Checks – it’s not just a good idea, it’s a good example. I know some people recently off student status that don’t think they need them, particularly in the plane. I think it is too reminiscent of being on student status and having the instructors check your gear and they now want to be “big” skydivers. I think the teams doing gear checks sets a damn good example. When I’m doing jumps with newly licensed people I always make a point of talking about gear checks and I like to be able to point to the big time teams doing them too. 2. Wind limits – again it is both a good idea and a good example. Not only should they be set but also they should be respected; if anyone sits down the whole team should sit down. Again it is a good example to other skydivers. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Congratulations!

So I managed 10 jumps by 2:00 on Saturday which tops my previous record. I’m just wondering how that stacks up against other people. If you’ve got some crazy number of jumps in a day tell us why? Was it team training, a contest, or shear exuberance! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

LOL, I'm gonna go get me some grippers that are so big they will be wider than the lapels on a 1970's pimp suit!

LOL

My highest alt. is 20K. Honestly, I didn't like it all that much. Having to worry about the oxygen on the way up on the long plane ride, the thin air which does mean little control until you get down lower, all for an extra 35 seconds of free fall. Fun to do once, but unless I have a compelling reason to do it again it’s not something I’m jumping to do (for give my pun). "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

In my opinion jumping once a week while trying to get your A is fine. If you said you could only afford it once a month that is a different story. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I've had two Sabre2's, a 190 and now a 170. I've really enjoyed both. I do have some off heading openings but I can trace most of those back to packing. I can get a nice on heading opening, if I pack it slowly and properly. (those of you that know me know how rarely that is) If I stuff it in the bag or pay a packer to stuff it in the bag I WILL get off heading openings. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hmm, my handles are in the same spot in free fall as they are on the ground. They are in a very different spot under canopy however. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

You were honest with him about the value. HE choose to take the fast cash instead of taking the time to sell it for full value. He understood he was getting a lower price for a fast turnaround. A fair deal all around. In business dealing with people in general but particularly friends, the only way to be is open and honest and let the other party make an informed decision. You should not feel guilty in anyway, shape or form. If you felt charitable you could send him a portion of the excess funds from the eventual sale but remember you financed the deal, you took the time and effort to sell the components, etc. You should receive something for your time, effort and money you put into handling this. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

"Following the Asian tsunami, scientists struggled to explain reports that primitive aboriginal tribesmen had somehow sensed the impending danger in time to join wild animals in a life-saving flight to higher ground. " LOL! So the "primitive tribsmen" saw all the animals runing for higher ground and decided to go with them. I'd just call that observent. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Gross Margin is a specific financial term that excludes any of the things you mentioned above, which are all SG&A. The only one that is relevant to calculating the tandem vs. fun jumper breakeven calculation is Advertising. The others are all “fixed” and occur with fun jumpers or tandems. Seriously, here guys the point is that the Gross Margin for a tandem is very high compared to a fun jump, we can debate the magnitude of that difference but not it's existance. In my personal opinion they are both important parts of the overall revenue stream of a DZ, properly run. Ron, CPA (Did I tell you I was Willy Nelson's Accountant before I moved on to Enron?) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Okay guys, I’ll bite. First, revenue without costs is irrelevant. It’s not revenue or costs alone that is the point it is the interaction of the two. Revenue: Tandem $199 Video $80 Total Revenue $279 Costs: Tandem Slot $12 Instructor Slot $12 Instructor Pay $30 Video Slot $12 Video Pay $25 Gear Depreciation $5 ($5000 over 1,000 jumps) Gross Margin $188 Fun Jumper Revenue $20 Costs: Slot $12 Gross Margin $8 So it takes 23 fun jumps to equal 1 tandem. Okay, there are a lot of variables but you get the idea. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

LOL, sounds like you are talking about my first hop n pop! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

My 2 bits (which you knew you would get one way or another) is that a live drill in the air is not a good option for a number of reasons. I do strongly support ground training on the issue! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

No it dosen't make you a wimp. Do what you are comfortable with. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I think that's a good thing for your team to do! You don't want to be in intermediate anyway. you want the challange of Advanced. I mean what a meaningless victory to sweep Intermediate when you KNOW you should have been in advanced. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

This seems to be a common thought in this thread from the more experienced crowd. Honestly, I’m disappointed in all of you. The USPA does have currency requirements for ALL skydivers including D licenses. It is not only acceptable but is effectively mandatory for a USPA DZ to request proof of currency. I’m sorry you guys don’t like to fill out your logbooks, who does, but there are a lot of reasons for it beyond obtaining licenses, for example proof of currency! I’m shocked that respected members of the skydiving community with thousands of jumps are getting pissy about playing by the rules, “I’ve got X thousands of jumps over X years and a D license, why should I have to show currency at a DZ where they don’t know me?” is not the kind of attitude that highly experienced jumpers should be demonstrating. It sets a bad precedent for lower timers. Come on guys, what it would take 5 minutes to at least partially update you log book before visiting a new DZ? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Ouch, 2x min. wage. But the 50 hours of tunel time is worth about $32K. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP