Jeth

Of course you pick a place on the completely opposite side of the country to me! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

It was this day in 2004 that I did my first jump, on my birthday.

Okay, I've got a 4-day weekend for the 4th of July. Thinking of hitting a boogie I haven't been to before. Any suggestions? "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Hi there, I saw in the dz directory that SDSD has RV hookups, but I don't see anything about that on their web site, and I don't remember seeing any when I was there. So can someone tell me? Do they? Does anyone stay there? Thanks!

I have been jumping a Pilot 168 for about 200 jumps. I have always liked my canopy, but I am under-loading it and decided it was time for me to experience a higher wing-loading. Wow, it is fabulous!! I went down to a Pilot 140, and am in love with it!! The responsiveness I am getting at the higher WL is awesome. The turns are so much quicker, and with less input. The flares are awesome! I am having better landings with less input. I landed it in fairly high winds with no problem, and also on a no-wind day I got a great flare and ran it out. On the bigger canopy I did not get very good penetration into the wind. What a difference on the 140! I am able to get much better drive, and I actually get some penetration on final instead of coming straight down. Another thing I really like is that it recovers really quickly from turns. I can whip a 180 and it comes back up really quick - it's so much fun! I demo'd some other 150's (Safire 2 and Pulse), and those were totally sluggish in comparison. A half flare on the Pilot was way better than a full flare on the Safire. The Pilot is truly a great canopy. The openings are always on-heading and quick, but still soft (the way I like it). At a low WL, it is very easy to fly and forgiving. And now at a higher WL, I am really getting some sweet performance out of it that is really fun. (And I am still very conservative at 1:1.2. I imagine it only gets better as you increase.) This canopy rocks!!

I recently demoed a Safire 2 149. I was looking to downsize from my Pilot 168, which I've jumped for about 200 jumps. I found that the Safire was not what I was looking for. People say that the openings are super soft. For me - that means way too long and no feedback. I like to pitch and feel the tension in the risers right away, and I did not get that with the Safire. It also sniveled way too long for me. There is a difference between quick and hard. I like a quick opening which is still soft. The canopy also didn't really perform like I wanted. The Safire was sluggish in turns, and I had to bury the toggles all the way down to get a good flare. I previously demoed a Pilot 150 and it was much more responsive. I was previously under-loaded, and was looking for better performance at about a 1.2 wing-loading. I did not get that with the Safire. I think this canopy would be great for beginners, or possibly at a much higher wing-loading. But for WL around 1:1, looking for a little more performance, it did not deliver.

OMG that is some serious hardware in your leg! I just got inducted into the heavy metal club on Monday. I now have 3 screws and 1 plate in my ankle. Wish I would've turned to avoid that tree a little sooner... "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I agree with you. I already said it was my fault. However, not necessarily the part about knowing the surroundings 5 miles away. I have never gone out that far, so I wouldn't know. But I was aware I wouldn't be able to spot, so thats why I trusted the organizer to get us into a good spot. At least the right direction. On my normal skydives, I always spot the load. I don't just trust the guy in the door. (Even if he is my teammate. ) But this was a "special" jump, and I was expecting to trust that it was organized and executed correctly. But as I mentioned, I had a feeling that it wasn't organized and executed correctly, so then I should've pulled off. I am definitely more familiar with the surroundings 3 miles to the southeast now! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Good job on saving your life!!

Yes, well said. This is exactly what I was getting at. I think the overall message here is that for WHATEVER reason, if you have a strong feeling that you should ride the plane down, then ride the plane down. I know I will next time. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

LOL nice! But ya, yours doesn't count. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Hey this guy U are dissing for not jumping without an alti has barely 100 jumps. He just graduated AFP like 2 month ago. He has not been jumping long enough to be able to judge altitude with his eyes alone. I think he definitely made the right call riding the plane down. Yes, of course, someday his alti could fail and he'd have to land without one. But for him to put himself in that situation when he has a choice - that sounds stupid to me. Skittles - good job on deciding to ride the plane down.

Nick - that was another part of the problem. All of the people near the door were not from this dz. There should've been someone near the door who could spot that load. As a matter of fact - at the last second the organizer asked a local jumper to spot the load, but as we were all loading, she ended up in the back, so there was no spotter. Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement and for also sharing your stories. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has thought of riding the plane down. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Thank you, that is excellent advice. I might've gotten to a better out if I hadn't been fighting the wind the whole way. I think I was concerned that we were already several miles away, and didn't want to get even farther in case they had to come look for me. But I definitely would've taken a bigger landing area over being closer. Another lesson learned. (I know - "land safe, not close". ) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Yup. That was the exact rule that my friend quoted to me when I told him what happened. Definitely hard to follow sometimes. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site