brianfry713

The tunnel in Perris isn't too far away, and it's a lot of fun. It'll help teach you how to fly much better in a short amount of time. It's cheaper per minute of body flight than skydiving. If you want to make the drive and spend the money on it, go for it. I would guess that most of us went through AFF without any tunnel time. Talk to the staff at SB to see if it's required, but I doubt it. It could help save you money on repeat jumps if you're having any problems.

I haven't been too many places, but Skydive Monterey Bay in CA has a nice view when the weather is good.

My audible in my Pro Tec is actually harder to hear than in my FF2. The wind passing through all the holes in it makes a lot of noise. I duck taped it all up and put some padding in the ear hole so that the audible is right next to my ear and I still don't always hear it.

From the article: It's called the Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped walkway that will jut from the canyon's lip and offer the kind of straight-down, vertigo-inducing views that had previously been available only to the likes of Wile E. Coyote. I've had those kind of views.

I think that guy stalled it about 30 feet high. Ouch. I was pre-order #1 and I got my copy last week. My girlfriend and I enjoyed watching it. All 4 of my jumps, and my friends jumps made it in. Jimmy's video from the exit point is great. I also like the freefall shots from the LZ.

This sport is expensive, and so is the gear. If you don't think so, then buy me jumps and everything on my wish list. Luckily I have a decent job, but I still keep playing until I'm broke. Now I'm taking airplane flying lessons as well, that's way more expensive than skydiving. Where I'm going it's $95 an hour for the plane (1981 Cessna 172), $50 per hour for the instructor, and 40-70+ hours to get a license. Plus around $100k if you want to buy a decent used plane.

I've heard that with a D you can sign them yourself, but I don't see that specifically in the SIM. After you get a D, the only reason you'd need a logbook is to get a rating, award, or to verify currency. I usually just have them signed a bunch at a time, either by a friend or my roomate. I'll have my girlfriend sign them in the future though. I haven't seen anyone refuse to sign because they didn't actually witness the jump. I'll sign a bunch of yours if you want, because I like writing my name and license number.

If you're worried about your reserve handle getting pulled accidentally, get a soft pillow handle. Personally, I'm more worried about it coming out on a group freefly jump than on the ground. I usually try to carry my rig on, but I've always had a bag or stuff sack to put it in. I did take out my altimeter a few times for fun, but I tried to be discrete about it. I've never had a problem when I forgot to take off my hook knife, but they did make me check my Triax T-stake (long sharp metal BASE packing aid). We've learned in BASE at least 2 times this last year and 3 times total that you shouldn't do anything to your rig, handles, or pilot chute that if you forget to undo could kill you.

Go to the Parachute Center in Lodi, CA, USA and do $5 hop and pops from 3,000 feet. Just roll/dive out the door and don't jump up.

Yikes. Sounds scary. Of course, on my 9th jump, I got stuck on my back unstable for about 20 seconds after attempting a barrel roll. I kept an eye on my altimeter even while I was tossing about and still pulled on time after recovering. I knew that if I reached my pull altitude, I would have to pull unstable. It took me a while to realize that I was on my back, and that arching was only making the potato chipping worse, and that I needed to roll over to get belly to earth. Go ahead and practice tracking solo or with a coach/instructor. Make sure you get some advice first and after you're done return to a normal stable freefall position. If you start to spin, turn the other way, relax, and make sure your legs, arms, and hips are even and symmetrical. Make sure you track perpendicular to the jump run, and don't get so far off you can't make it back to the LZ. You can turn 180 degrees and track back the way you came. You should avoid doing anything radical towards the end of your skydive, in case you get unstable and need time to recover. You should be able to find your ripcord even if you are unstable. Practice touching it. Remember the priorities of the skydive are pull, pull on time, and then pull stable. Don't spend the rest of your life fighting to get stable. Next off, you shouldn't be free falling close to other canopies. You either didn't give adequate separation to the group(s) in front of you, or moved towards them in freefall. Luck has nothing to do with it. Finally, even after pulling low, unless you had no other outs within range, you should have been able to find a better place to land then a fence. Another reason for pulling higher. At 2,000 feet or higher, you need to know where you're going to land, and fly a pattern to land in the center of a big open field. If you're not sure you can make it back to the LZ, find another spot right away. Talk to your instructors, study the SIM. Learn all you can while you're healing. Have fun when you get back in the sky.

option D) see if the rig will fit a 210 Look in the classified and see if you can find a used entry level canopy like the Sabre 2, Pilot, Safire 2, or similar. Then check with someone at Skydance and/or the rig manufacturer to see if it'll fit in the rig. I used to weigh about 205 without gear, and put my first 250 jumps on a 215 sq. ft. main. Of course, the reserve should also be an adequate size. If you want you could try and sell the Stiletto. Personally, I put a few jumps on a Stiletto and found it a fun canopy to fly but not the best for swooping since the front riser pressure is very high and the recovery arc is short. It is very twichy and responsive to input, and demands more attention during opening. But some people still like them. Have fun, be safe. Land conservatively, especially after downsizing. If you're not bored and comfortable on your current size canopy, you're probably not ready to downsize. Rental $ adds up quick, so find something you're ready to jump soon. If you own it, you're going to want to jump it now.

If you want to open low, and the country allows it (or you don't care about breaking the law), you'd be better off ditching the reserve. You'll also get more tolerable, but still brisk openings using a 36" F111 or 32" ZP P/C and direct control with a fine mesh slider. Then you might as well push it below 500 feet.

Have fun. Try to sober up enough at one point to make a jump over the weekend, or just keep drinking.

Were you jumping naked? That might affect your fall rate and what you consider to be a comfortable opening. BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

At least they didn't burn a BASE object. That happens way too often with suicides.

A new Cypres 2 will cost you around $1,325 + $160 * 2 - $80 = $1,565 total considering maintenance and the trade in after 12 years. That's $130.42 per year, or $133.75 including shipping during maintenance. A used Cypres will cost you whatever you paid for it, plus $160 for a 4 year or 8 year service, plus $85 for a battery every 2 years or 500 jumps or as necessary, minus $80 trade in. This is assuming you never need to buy a new cutter, you're using the 1-pin version, and does not including shipping and insurance, and doesn't include anything your rigger would charge to deal with the servicing or battery changing. I'm assuming shipping is about $20 each service for me. So, if all you care about is cost per year, buy the new one or find a used one for a better value. Otherwise buy whatever you can afford. Calculate value per year of a used one as above.

Either give the court a call or go there in person and ask. I think it might depend on the county if it's 12 or 18 months, and what kind of traffic school is available. I've got a speeding ticket from Calaveras County sitting at home, I'm hoping it says I'm eligible for traffic school. If you ask for a court date, first you will have to show up and plead not guilty, guilty, or traffic school. If you plead not guilty, you'll get another court date where you and the officer have to show up. You will most likely not be able to take traffic school after that point. I'm not sure if they'll give you traffic school or not if you initially ask for it, given it's been less than 18 months, but you could try. It all depends on whether going to court or trying to fight it is worth it to you, or if you'd rather just pay it and be done with it. I've gone to court and gotten out of tickets because the officer didn't show up, and I've had them stick. This should be around my 5th traffic school. BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

I drive a blue '04 Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and I replaced the exhaust and ECU, among other things. It's fast, I've gotten almost the maximum allowable tickets and points, and I pay around $300 a month for insurance. I thought about getting the gold wheels, but the first one off of the truck/ship that I got didn't have them. BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

From the end of the article, in case you missed it: "Gary now plans to jump from a plane one mile up with no parachute. He hopes to land safely using only a wingsuit - a specially made jumpsuit which contains wings - a feat that has never been attempted before. He is now looking for sponsorship to make the attempt possible, and hopes an aviation company will back him." BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

In BASE, our number one priority after opening is heading. You said you ignored it during the entire minor control system malfunction. So in BASE, since we don't normally having cutting away as an option, priorities after opening are: heading, place to land, and do I have a good canopy. In skydiving they should probably be something like: do I have a good canopy, is my airspace clear, where am I (you should really already know), point towards the DZ, deal with any housekeeping while still pointed at the DZ, where am I going to land. Landing out is dangerous, especially at night. It also sounds like the outs were tricky. A controllability check consists of turning left, right, and flaring. If you feel you couldn't land the canopy safely, then chop it. You didn't get hurt, so you made the right decision for you. Lots of people will argue with your decisions on this site, but it's your life on the line. Thanks for sharing.

Responding to some of the old posts: FAR 91.17 Alcohol or drugs. (a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft— (1) Within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage; (2) While under the influence of alcohol; (3) While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety; or (4) While having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater in a blood or breath specimen. Alcohol concentration means grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. FAR Sec. 105.7 Use of alcohol and drugs No person may conduct a parachute operation, and no pilot in command of an aircraft may allow a person to conduct a parachute operation from that aircraft, if that person is or appears to be under the influence of-- (a) Alcohol, or (b) Any drug that affects that person's faculties in any way contrary to safety. As long as the pilot didn't get drunk, they won't be at .04 BAC after 8 hours. Use one of those charts to figure out your BAC after 8 hours according to weight and how much you drank. A few beers the night before isn't going to affect most people the next day.

http://www.paragear.com/canopyspecs/canopysizing.PDF This lists the PD-170 at 391 cu in. http://www.paragear.com/templates/parachute.asp?group=35&t2parent=2&parent=9&level=3 This lists the Sabre2 170 at 364 cu in. Of course, YMMV. PD doesn't believe in publishing packing volumes. See this: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/packvol.pdf Your best bet is to ask the container manufacturer. My guess is it'll probably fit, but keep in mind the PD-170 is F111 and the Sabre2 is ZP. Keep in mind you don't want to load the PD-170 over 1:1, and make sure the reserve and container will work for you.