AHoyThere

I wouldn't expect to have that much time. I would expect the balloon pilot to want all to leave within a fairly brief time. I've got 30+ balloon jumps over the last 4 years or so. A couple thoughts to add to what's be already said. The pilots generally like the balloon to be descending at around 400fpm more or less (depending on their preference) before anyone exits. The rate will depend on how big the balloon is and how many jumpers are going to be leaving at one time. Smaller balloons will only let one jumper leave at a time. Larger balloons can let up to 4 jumpers leave at a time. (And of course everywhere in between.) After the first set of jumpers leave, the pilot will be checking and adjusting the balloon's rate of descent to what he is comfortable with. Remember he just unloaded a bunch of weight so his descent rate will change because of that. Coordinate with your pilot for when he is ready for you to exit. Keep in mind that the balloon is drifting at the same speed as the wind. In an airplane, if you watch the first jumper leave, within seconds they are way, way behind the airplane. In a balloon, the first jumper will be very close to right directly beneath the balloon. If you are not the first to leave, you want to make sure the airspace below you is clear. If you are the first to leave, you want to make sure that those following you will make sure the airspace below them is clear. Fun jumpers go first. Tandems go last because they open higher (duh). If they are all fun jumpers, they may want to coordinate opening altitudes or be patient and wait for the first jumper to fly their canopy away to clear the airspace below the balloon. As you exit, use a 'step off' exit. Don't go diving off the edge of the basket (or step if it has one). Don't plant your feet on the edge and 'pivot' off the edge of the basket or step. You will flip over several times before gaining enough airspeed to stop the tumbling. Backing out, off of the edge of the basket is fun to see the balloon as you fall away. Remember again not to 'pivot' with your feet planted on the edge of your launch point. But stepping off forward is fun too. Especially if you have someone to take your picture. As stated before, very good canopy control is keen for landing into small tight spaces. Try to know the ground wind direction and use that if possible. (I know, goes without saying.) Hope that the chase vehicle is following along to pick you up. Carry a cell phone with you with the numbers of those in the chase vehicle. Enjoy.

I give regularly as well. The last two times was a 'double red cell' donation. This way I can go 16 weeks instead of 8 between donations. They remove a pint and pull off the red cells. Pump the other stuff back in and then draw another pint and repeat. I'm an 'O' neg / universal donor so if I miss, they start calling.

When we found out kids were on the way (twins), then I went out and bought a 20 year term policy that was large enough to provide for my family if I died. The cost of the policy was 4x more expensive because I skydive than it would have been if I didn't skydive. There are a lot of costs to skydiving. This is just one more part of the cost of skydiving. Maybe I should have called John's agent.

+1

Here is a picture exiting a Balloon that I took a couple of years ago.

You got a lot of good comments so far in this thread. I had been skydiving for about 15 years or so before we had kids. The twins are going to turn 13 soon. Skydiving has always been a big part of what I've done and continues to be a big part of what I do today. One thing that you should be prepared for is that a lot of people, mostly family and wuffos, are going to give you their opinion that you should quit. Just remember that it is your decision and not theirs. With kids, my wife switched to being a stay at home mom. Which left me to be the sole provider. So, because of that, I took what life insurance that I got from work, and supplemented that with a 20 year term policy that totaled an amount that I hoped they could all live on if I died. Another thing that I did... During the time from age 3 until about age 8 or 9, I cut my skydiving in half. Instead of jumping Sat and Sunday. I only jumped on Saturday unless there was some dire need by the DZO for help. But he rarely called on me for Sunday help. I called Sunday family day. Now I'm back to jumping on both Saturday and Sunday and my son comes with me to the DZ and works as my packer. But everyone needs to make their own decisions in this area. Good luck with yours.

Just a little change in the cause. What if the packer did not attach the drogue correctly? So when the TI threw the drogue, it acted like a pilot chute. And the main deployed right away. No fault of the TI. But the passenger still got almost no freefall and very almost no freefall video. Now what do you do?

Wow, that's the nicest 206 door I've ever seen. Good job.

Well done. Hope you have a lot of fun making another 20 years of solo jumps.

Gained a packer. Started teaching him around 10. He was packing for me at 11. All the other up jumpers started hiring him away from me as a 12 year old.

I think she should give the door a little kick while she's climbing into exit position. That'll show him. (Should we tell her the jumpsuit handles are called 'grippers'?)

If I recall correctly, a tandem pair fatality occurred in 1996 when during a normal main canopy deployment, a riser failure on the RSL side caused a main/reserve entanglement.

For what it's worth, I bought a LS suit a little over a year ago. Everything was top notch. The suit and the customer support. From my first experience with them, it is easy to give a high recommendation to Liquid Sky. Good luck with the move and all the pains of getting up to speed in a new location.

Edited to say... Hey, new chapter got posted today. Congrats on passing level 4!

I got the exact same note/inquiry from 'doo'. Thanks for the heads up.

I find that the more jumps I get... the more I realize that there is life outside of skydiving. At 100 jumps I thought anyone was crazy for wanting to do anything else. At 1000 jumps I I could leave the DZ for a really good reason. Now at 5000 jumps I sometimes have to drag myself to the DZ + 1

Signed it.

Helio Stallion - takeoff distance 320 ft. http://www.helioaircraft.com/ourplanes_stallion_stats.htm

Nice job.

Canon 20mm is the lens that I use the most with tandems. Been using it for a long time. http://consumer.usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/ef_lens_lineup/lens_wide_pro/ef_20mm_f_2_8_usm

Lot of good advice in here. The only thing that I didn't see that I really like is a flash rotator. This way the flash can stay above the lens quickly and easily when you are switching back and forth from landscape to portrait orientation. They also tend to lift the flash a bit higher above the camera to help eliminate red-eye issues. Good luck.

Could try one of the following. They might know of some service in the Western US. http://www.angelflight.org/ http://www.angelflightsoars.org/ http://www.airlifthope.org/ http://www.travelersdigest.com/health_flights.htm Good luck.

I put this out there a few years ago. This is what we do... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1492385;page=unread#unread

The use of the term 'sticks' jumped out at me. Haven't heard that before, where'd that come from?

Those straps look scary if someones foot slipped down into one. You can see in one of these pics (1205), a set of steps that we built. We've made a better set (version 2) since then. Upper step for the jumper(s), bottom step for the cameraman. Our balloon pilots always file a NOTAM for jumping. Usually they will give a 5 or 10 mile radius from our launch point. Sometimes they will carry a hand held aviation radio and communicate with the approach controller of the nearby Class C airspace. One time we launched and flew right over the top of it. That was kind of cool. All the balloon jumps that I've made have been either as cameraman or taking a tandem. I think there has only been one that was just for fun. (Okay, they're all fun.) Camera jumps are freaky because you're focused on the subject. And you can't see the ground. And when you leave with no-wind, the wind noise slowly gets louder, and Louder, and LOUDER, and you know the ground is behind you. And you know that you exited from a lower than normal altitude. And even though you know your buddy isn't going to take you too low and you know you've got an audible, it is still just about the most exciting (unnerving) jump a person can make knowing that ground is down there when focusing on the subject and listening to the speed increase. God I love balloon jumps!