President

We do support him - I'm actually gonna vote for him very soon, but...still like my brains better

?????????..... Must be a american thing....O It's a reference to one Darwn Award nominee. Look it up on google - quite funny.

Is it Danish ? Sorry, don't speak it.. Cool, these are good ones too ! Man, I can't believe you're trying to insult me that bad !

Yes, my profile is accurate, and NO, I'm not gonna rush and do it right away - need to get my A license first. Wind reference is easy - I bought huge Stars and Stripes - it should do it. Obstacles should of course be evaluated before jumping. Yeah that's a very very good point, altho one of our planes has doors with removable hinges, so it might work. Muchos gracias !

Thanks a lot, Tom ! Good information. Reading...

Buon Giorno, BigWay ! no, I'm too old to be a college student (33), nor am I a reporter

Opps, the "dude" is a girl ! Sorry

Aha, I see. So my backyard is a no-go, but outside of "congested areas" is still fine. Cool, thanks !

Just a thought (NOT a troll!) Besides skydiving I'm also working towards getting my private pilot license. Naturally, I have pilot- friends. Now: I don't see anything in the FAA regulations that prevents me from jumping out of my buddy's plane over my town and land onto my backyard. I did some research online and haven't found anything that says "no". Pros: free, no restrictions, allows to do some really interesting/unusual skydives. Cons: ...... ?? Any thoughts ?

Dude, this discussion has kind of ended naturally - re-read the thread, all my answers are there. As well as opinions of the gurus. Oh, and this was off-topic anyways. Not sure what the "Btw the red handle is not the oh shit bar!" statement was supposed to mean.

Nah, better not do it - they will post your photo here - check out "Tandem Exit Photos" thread

Oh, sorry, I guess you misunderstood - that was a joke of course. The reason that wording was chosen, as I explained in that same posting, was because I used to have my own baby strapped on my chest in that "kangaroo pouch" harness and when I first saw a tandem I immediatly thought of that :)

Dude, you surely got big balls ! I'm scared even to think of being a playdoll for a "new tandem instructor". Skydiving is pretty relaxing anyway - the only mandatory actions are pull and flare - and technically speaking even pull isn't that mandatory (Warning - the last sentence *is* a troll)

The reason I called it "more real" is because a) I have my own rig and b) I land it myself. And yes, the idea of not being in control scares the living daylights out of me - that's why I find tandems scary. I'm one of those guys who hates being driven in a car by someone else - again because of the control issue.

Point taken, apology accepted, let's just get along. Skydiving seems to be pretty small world, who knows we may bump onto each other, and I'd prefer to have you as a friend, not foe. As to my "bad attitude" I think I explained myself in previous posting where I made an analogy with a car. My point was just that I don't think it matters to me because well, I won't be able to tell the difference anyway. I can't help jumping different equipment every time - our DZ gets busy at times and I just take what's available - they're all Nav's after all, just different sizes. I never noticed any difference in the way it flies - just because with 8 jumps I don't feel it yet. But if this is what I have to change - Okay, point taken, thanks ! Next time (this Sat) I'll go and get all the info I can from my JMs.

BigWay, the least thing I want from this forum is flames. And you are the only one so far who keeps calling me names - "troll", "president of trolls", "tosser". What else ? What are you trying to achieve ? It is my impression it is YOU who's trying to get reaction. All I'm doing here is asking questions - in case you didn't noticed I am a VERY INEXPERIENCED STUDENT. I don't need morales from you, I don't need you to tell if this sport is for me or not, Okay ? Just look around and see how ppl with way more jumps than you respond - cool professional answer or none. If you can't do this, don't say anything. ---end of rant

Okay, point taken, will do. I just didn't worry about too much because, you know, it's like explaining an 16 y.o. all about combustion engines while they just learn to tell clutch from brakes. But I see your point, AndyMan, thanks !

Hello, Bigway, HELLO !!! Anybody home ? Tell me how is your posting any relevant to AFF vs Tandem ??? I don't think with my 8 jumps knowing exactly how many square feet my canopy is makes any difference to me. With either size this canopy is very benign and easy to navigate, that's all I care about at this point. Plus, there's no guarantee I get the same size each time I jump - I just grab whatever's available. When I buy my own I'll know what I have. Now when I put the rig on nobody even knows exactly what color it is, to say nothing about size. And I couldn't care less - all I care about is that it is a student rig, period. I'll handle it whatever size it happens to be. As to logbook entries - student logbook doesn't have an entry for size, plus my JMs never fill the equipment line anyway, only harness size (M,S or L) The only really important info in a student logbook is progression - so next time instructor doesn't have to guess who you are. As to safety: again, tell me how knowing my reserve size change anything in the emergency procedures ? I don't give a damn how big it is - I know my handles, I know it is there and I checked the FAA seal, that's it.

Yes, I saw the label several times when putting my stuff together after landing. As to the size - this is what I was told by our manifest girl today (when I called). Okay, I'll check it personally on Sat. But you're right - just checked on pd.com - Nav's only come in even sizes.

Speaking of which - where do I get a good skydiving t-shirt ? My dropzone offers rather lame white t-shirts with the name of the dropzone on it - unlikely to ignite any interest.

Relax, bigway - don't attack me too seriously. You made good points, still it is not absolute truth. If starting with tandem was absolutely the only right way to go, USPA wouldn't let anyone do what I did. So - both ways have their pros and cons. I happen to like shock therapy - that was the way my dad tought me to swim (knocked me off a boat when I was 4) and the same they did to us in the Army. I again want to thank everyone for their input - I now better see both sides of the equation. Now I can be even more cunning in persuading my g.f. to do it

You made me doubt. Just called my DZ - it turns out I'm jumping Navigator 210 - I thought it was 290. OK then, it's even better. Now I see why there was a talk of a tandem size canopy

Yeah, but in AFF (first three levels) you have TWO people to take care of you, and people-to-rigs ratio is 1/1 vs. 2/1 in tandem

Really ? How do they handle big guys then ? My friend's 235 - combined with JM's 200 it's 435. Isn't it too high of a w.l. for a tandem ?

Hey, does anyone have a problem with my nick ? (BTW: I got it while in the military and it is very valuable to me, I'm not changing it !) 2BigWay: of course students jump 270-290 mains and tandems use something closer to 500. It was a mildly sarcastic comment because I guess he thought I was doing macho talk.