axe96bam

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Posts posted by axe96bam

  3. I personally have a collapsable slider and once I stow it, I pull it down behind my neck. Never had a problem with it coming over my face coming undone or anything else [b[yet!
    Alex

  4. Well, as far as students hanging from the strut, I had a female student last summer who amazed me. It was not bad, just amazing and funny. She must have been no more than 95 lb and it was her first SL jump. well, I figured she would take a long time getting out so I had the door open early, put her feet out on the step and than had her start climbing out early as well. To my amazement she took a lot less than some experienced jumpers take to get all the way out. So I was happy that there was no wind and she would be able to get to the landing area easily. So she is hanging there and looks back at me for the signal to let go. I smiled and gave her 2 thumbs up. She smiled back at me, let go with her left hand and proceeded to wave at me and kept smiling. This whole thing lasted for a few seconds as I am saying loudly "go". I started walking out to get her other hand off the strut and the pilot banked the plane. He say her waving too. She had to let go because of the force of the turn. On the ground we laughed about it for a long time and she remembered waving at me but she thought she just waved for a split second before she fell off.
    I also saw a student climb out, hang and climb back into the plane. I was doing radio and we have the whole thing on video too. She was out of the plane on the strut for 2min and 38 sec.
    Alex

  5. Hook,
    I agree with you 100%. We, above all, should be professionals. I do not mind taking advice from from a more experienced instructor, but as long as it is not in front of students. I think that we have that working very well at our DZ. I have not seen disagreements between 2 JMs or Is in front of students. My biggest problem is that there are some 50 to 100 jump wonders walking around who think they know it all and go out giving advice to students on the ground or to recent graduates. My cry out is for all of you JMs, Is, and experienced jumpers to please watch out for such "know it all" low timers and do not let them give poor, bad, or wrong advice. Direct the students and new graduates to their JMs or to experienced and knowledgeable jumpers.
    Alex

  7. Work on containing it. Use all body parts available to hold the canopy in place. I use my knees and thighs as well as my hands and elbows when packing a new canopy. If it is a bigger size, you might need someone else to help you contain it before you put it in the bag. It gets easier after every jump.
    Alex

  10. Rap,
    I had in mind the plethora of people with under 200 jumps who have never thought a student or jumped anything loaded (as well as they should not be jumping anything heavily loaded). I usually looked at the full profiles of people and also at their posts. I am an instructor as well and I give very conservative advice to students. And yes, I would put a high priority on a comment made by a fellow instructor.
    Alex

  11. Hey Pammi, I agree with you that your JMs and DZO are better informed than most people on this thread. I personally listen to some and disregard other posters' advice. I made a thread in the "canopy control" section called "what do you fly" and if you go there you will see that most people here have very few jumps and limited canopy experience. There are those who have lots of experience though and their opinion should matter to you. I, for example, will put a lot of thought on something about canopies that Lisa or Chuck would say, but I would not get upset over a remark they make. They speak mostly about the average jumper. Take their opinion, share with your JMs and DZO and come up to a conclusion. I am 100% in agreement with you that the final decision is yours and no one else's. We just need to make sure we make good decisions and are good example for the new jumpers. what works for you might not work for others, just remember that. learning curves are different for different people.
    Alex

  17. That was funny, I enjoyed reading that I should have probably left it for tomorrow so I can get a good laugh when I am upset that I am not jumping.

  18. I had the same error come up a couple of days ago. I am glad to know that it is not my computer.
    Alex

  21. I have jumped the sigma 370 on my last 8 tandems. Here is what I saw. It opens nice and soft. Toggle pressure is very light. It turns like a sport canopy and if you pull the toggle down all the way you will swing out, get pinned in the harness and look down at teh canopy. It has a lot of glide and lift. I am short so I have been flaring it a little higher (depending on how tall the person in front was). it will give you a nice long swoop and than it will stop so you can step down. I think the most important thing on landing is not to let you student touch the ground before the canopy is stopped. I am sure you will love it.
    Alex

  22. Maybe instead of saying that us with small canopies need to think safer and jump bigger stuff, we should try to educate more people on canopy flight. That would also be an improvement in safety. I love my small canopy and would not want to jump anything different. I get as much out of the landing as I do out of the free fall. I do agree that too many go beyond their limits, but lets educate them, not criticize them.
    Alex

  23. Dude, don't have to be arched broken in half in order to be stable, but you need to be relaxed. You can fall completely flat and still be stable as long as you are relaxed. I am thinking you need to relax. Talk to your AFF JM and see what he/she has to say. Also, make sure you jump as often as possible - do not wait 30 days between jumps.
    Alex