Tonto

I don't know. I have all I need. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah. Even the English wish they could jump in England... t It's the year of the Pig.

It's perfect. I've reached the stage that I prefer people NOT thinking I'm a skydiver when they meet me. Better to discover that later! t It's the year of the Pig.

Climb. or Read if its raining. t It's the year of the Pig.

6:4 and the Monaco GP! t It's the year of the Pig.

12, and 17 (but I never used the Tandem rig for AFF or fun. 14 Tandems, 2 AFF's and a fun dive) t It's the year of the Pig.

I don't give a damn. She's good at what she does, and I'm sure she does the right thing when she needs to. What's the point of getting off student status if someone is always going to bug you? I already have a mom. t It's the year of the Pig.

See. I do read your posts! You've been here a while! t It's the year of the Pig.

Go. The fact you're thinking about it means you want to. If you have the $1000 and the 2 weeks... what have you got to lose? t It's the year of the Pig.

I try and use "learning oportunities" to demonstrate that the person asking the questions needs other answers too. Example - When do I start to flair when I get off front risers? Possible questions from you... Depends on how fast you're going. How fast? Really? How do you know? How did you get that fast? How high? What's your technique for retaining the toggles? How do you check for traffic on a downwind approach? What are your outs if you abort? What do you do if you're in the corner? Dude replies... Err, Ahh, yeah well I aproach err. At this point they're usually thinking - I'm not sure, by turning a bit - in my hands? Yeah - traffic... downwind? Out? Out of what? Corner? Jump on the brakes? FUCK! There is a whole lot of info feeding into the brain that makes a good swoop. I wonder if you wrote a program for it - what kind of CPU you'd need to run it realtime.... I run a lottery at my DZ, and we spread the word about who's "most likely to be next" They tend to calm down after that. t It's the year of the Pig.

www.blueskies.co.za t It's the year of the Pig.

They work great. Had one for 10 years (still have it in fact) and changed batteries only twice! Cool tool. t It's the year of the Pig.

The Skymaster is ZP. Has been since 1996 or there about, and was a hybrid before that. Either your DZ is using very old gear, or you're mistaken. t It's the year of the Pig.

At our DZ, we check out the students. That's law. Jumpers on their own gear are encouraged to check each other, and my AFF grads seem to stick to the habit and have me check pins and routing on their gear. (Even though some have over 1000 dives now.) I'll check before I gear up, and ask someone I trust to check if I bump something, which is very rare. I've found misroutes bridles, uncocked pilot chutes, chest straps on velcro only, incorrectly assembled 3 rings, tucked away cut away puffs, cypresses off, incorrectly routed RSL's, Alti's WAY off (We're 5000 ASL so the coasties get caught) no goggles, wrong gear etc. In the kite I keep a roving eye if I'm not JM, and have spotted stuff there too. Closed plenty flaps in the door too... t We have no formal sign off. It's the year of the Pig.

Well, I went to India to find myself and failed. I don't want to "find myself" in freefall at any altitude. I prefer to know where I am, and mostly, I do. I may be out by a second or so some days when distracted by stuff. I do mainly AFF and pull soon after depending on the issue. My deployment altitudes range from 4500 to 2000 ft, but tend to be on the higher side. I'd never go straight for silver. (I have a puff) Pulling your main is a habit, and the longer you jump - the harder it is to break habits. I'd prefer to start early and go through the process. (and perhaps my Cypres will intervene one day - but it hasn't in the last 10 years.) t It's the year of the Pig.

I think you need to check with your I's or the APF. AFF is slightly different all over the world. I first did the USPA course with Don Yarling in 1992, and then the PASA course later. Our program goes something like this. L1 - 3 double I levels L4 - 7 single I levels L8 (3 jumps, the last a hop and pop from 4500ft) then... 2 throw-out pilot chute conversions (Our AFF gear is ripcord - speak to PASA about this, not me. A 7 jump "relativity" program, culminating in a student capable of flat flying with others at their level. Total is 19 jumps - Our A licence is 15 jumps but is set to change to 25 shortly. Beyond this point licences are disipline specific. Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

You should be worried. I'm an AFF I with around 4000 dives of which about 1200 are AFF. Here (in South Africa) if it's been over 1 month you need to repeat the last level you passed. We also have a similar program where the last 3 dives are solo's and the final one a hop and pop from 4500. Stay current - you can't read a book for 4 or 5 min over 10 months and find your place, let alone skydive. Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

Mmm. I understand your predicament - but as CI of my Club, being on the committee etc, I probably run over that by quite a bit. I agree on the number of addresses, as I send to groups - Committee group, Instructor Group - Skydiver Group. In a pinch I could always just reply from another address.... so yes. 15/6 is OK. Lets keep this clean. Thanks for the site! Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

Ahh. OK. Here's a pic of a Tandem I did last weekend. Pax seems happy! t It's the year of the Pig.

OK. So it's not "technical" from a climbing point of view. Few of the big ones are. I did Kilimanjaro last year, highest in Africa at 19340ft, over 6 days, but also higher than Mt Kenya, which requires significant technical skill. I don't know many smokers who perform well above 15000ft - climbing, that is. Even youth has little defense against altitude. The average age for summiting Everest is 46 for men and 42 for women. Thanks for the info. t It's the year of the Pig.

Some things to consider, 210lbs fat or 210lbs muscle or somewhere in between? The canopy won't discriminate, but the ground will if he needs to run it off. Surface elevation, humidity and tempreture make a difference too. At 50 skydives, and at near sea level, he should be around 1.1. Maybe a 230? Any higher or hotter and he should consider a 250. t It's the year of the Pig.

How high is Mt Whitney? (I'm in Africa) t It's the year of the Pig.

17 chops, 19 reserve rides - I think. Starting to blur now. 3850 dives, 7 from Wraps/entanglements, 7 from Tandems. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, they're still making lots of money out of me...

Well when you're doing your research about customer service, you can find out from L&B why when I bought one of the 1st Pro Dytters and it popped out of its holder I was told "that's never happened before," and got nothing, while they now hand them out willy nilly to everyone. See my review under Gear reviews. I'm still pissed off about that, and it must be 4 years since then. (And yes, Skreamer, I'm waiting for your response.) t It's the year of the Pig.