schon267

so mr. moderator and other very experienced jumpers, I seem to remember when i went through aff that the aad was suppose to fire at 1,200'. Im old and may be mistaken, I do know it started higher and because of the 2 out scenario they lowered altitude that the aad's fired. but 750" seems way to stinking low to me, like another said , thats 4 seconds away from being a pancake. I know I'm out of the mainstream loop, cuz I don't jump as much as I would like too, somebody said this was, or still is a big topic of conversation or has big differences of opinions. thanks again for you guys insight. just trying to learn.

thanks for the replies! I trained at zhills, my instructor on aff jumps told me right away that pulling is job 1 and he wasnt chasing me below his hard deck. I dont blame him either. its my responsability to pull at correct altitude. we all know that being skydivers. I thought aads pulled reserves higher then 750'. I seem to have thought it was 1,200'? obviously maybe the fear of having 2 out made that number go lower. just wnt to learn from any tragedy, sorry to the families and friends of these 2 jumpers. hopefuly we can find out details an learn from this accident. blue skies everyone

I know this involves the tragedy in zhills last week with the 2 icelanders. but can someone answer my question regarding the aads in their rigs. I realize the aad is last ditch to save your life and altitude awarness was lost by the student in this tragedy.the mains werent deployed, but the aad fired on both mens rigs. but the news is the reserves didn't inflate in time to save these 2 skydivers. if the aad did its job and cut the reserve loose, why didn't they deploy in time like they were designed??? did the aad fire too low??? what altitude is the aad suppose to cut reserve loose? why didnt the aad/reserve system save these 2 men?

thanks so much for the advise, this will be my 1st rig. love the sport and people in it. u guys n gals are great!

I have seen a complete system on classified I like, talked to owner via email, reached a price, my question is the payment part, I'm a little leery about sending someone almost $2000, without guarantee of him sending rig. this person said something about sending me a paypal invoice? what's that mean? I know what paypal is , just not that. help please from anyone who has been through this? thnks

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hey everybody, I've been stuck working on cell phone towers in nj since last oct., can anybody give me any info about hte sussex dropzone? good place to jump? is it open now, or when it will open? I'm jonesing to make some jumps and will not be heading home to fla until may, plus I'll be back up here until the end of the year. thanks for the help, steve

first, I was mistaken about the 30 days, evidently it's 60 as posted above. one of the instructors asked me if it had been more then 30 days. uspa must have changed this, I don't have this years sim, rest assured, I will get it also, I only do solos because I don't get to the dropzone that often and I really don't know anyone around my level. I don't do or have ever done a 4-way, or 3-way, wait I did do a 3-way once, it was great fun even know the clouds we're an issue. I do know my skill level and limitations, and would not do anything I wasn't ready to do, plus, I am very very aware of my surroundings under canopy, even know my landings suck, I just can't get the stand-up every time. another story though. botoom line, I refuse to endanger myself or others until I'm sure of what I'm doing!!!! but 60 days is o.k with me, skydiving is not the cheapest of sports and I just can't get their more then I do, believe me, if I could I would be up their every weekend, and would have my B license!! and experience night jumps and high altitude jumps.

I know I'm an infant in this great sport, but to me the 30 day rule regarding having to do a coach jump is too short. I don't get a chance to get to the dropzone as often as I would like, sometimes 6 weeks may elapse. but I also know with the thorough training I had, I'm not gonna forget anything to do with staying stable in freefall, ep's, when to pull, (4000' for me), flying my landing pattern, and most of all watching for other traffic on the way down. I don't ever let 2 months go by without doing some jumps, and I usually always do solos, so I'm not endangering anyone else, all that being said, I would think 3 months would be a better time frame to make people do a retrain coach jump, unless obviously you felt you needed too. 30 days just seems way to short to have to retrain, life and finances just doesn't let me get to the dropzone as often as I would like too.

thanks for all the advise, I will start packing some sudefed in my gear bag to help. thanks again people, blue skies

I did 2 jumps last sunday and during the 1st jump when I was under canopy at about 2000' , the middle of my right eyebrow started throbbing real bad, to the point of feeling like it was going to bust out of my head. when I got down, I tried to clear my ears and that seemed to help. so I went back up, but this time at about 5000' during freefall, both eyebrows started hurting the same way. I only have 69 jumps(I like this #, hahaha), so I need the seasoned peoples help, has this happened to anybody? and is it just a pressure equalizing thing? and what can I do to correct it, if possible? by the way, I wasn't congested or anything either. thanks for the insight, steve

you guys are great, I take all the advise in stride. thanks for the opinions. you know, I am a 5 time fl state eight ball champion at pool and have done everything I've got into above average, I guess that's why not executing these landings is giving me the proverbial red ass!!! thanks again, steve

thanks for everyones help!! one note though, I don't look at my feet when I'm coming in to land, I do look out in front of me. like I said before, I think I'm paranoid about flaring too early. don't ask me why, I guess because if I did flare too early, I think I would still be 10' off the ground or something? question, if you did flare a tad to early, and ended up say 8' off the ground at the end of your flare, would you just gently float the rest of the way down?? I watch people land all the time, trying to pick up techniques, sometimes a person looks like they flare to soon, but they just float the last few feet down. thanks for all the help, I will take another canopy class, or have someone work with me personally. oh, I've been jumping mostly student gear, but the last few times I've been, I've ented demo gear with zp canopys. thanks again, steve

thanks, sounds like a good trick, you jump pretty close to the same size canopy, are you figuring on about 12' high to start your flare?

I need to pick everybody's brains!! I can't seem to be consistent landing on my feet. it's really frustating to execute a landing great one time, then the next time I'm sliding in to second base!! I am 192lbs jumping a 210 or 220 sq.ft main. which I've been jumping for probably 40 jumps. (I have 68 total jumps) I feel comfortable with the canopy. the thing I think I am is paranoid about is flaring to early, so consequently I may flare a tad to late, which leads to the sliding into second base thing . I have talked with all the instructors I had at z-hills and their all outstanding people! I've taken a canopy class too with martin and sally, but something is just not clicking? did anybody else go through this problem, and if you did, what set you straight? I have no desire to be a daredevil when landing, and I do not turn hard when low, nice soft 1/2 brake turns, but I just need to be consistent at standing up my landings!! help please, thanks, steve

thanks for the opinions, it means alot to me!! just trying to negotiate my way through this awsome sport!!

vector 1 v-4, dom 2/88--- how long are these good and airworthy?? and I'm doing mostly relative work (62 jumps), but I like to try and sit and do some freeflying. will this container be o.k with all that?? precision aerodynamics falcoln 215 main? dom 1/89 what about this main?? how long is it good for using? ravenII 218 reserve dom 1/89?? same questions 500 total jumps on this set up, no mals and it says rigger owned and maintained before this person put 18 jumps on it. I'm 5-7 , 200lbs, I think the container is the right size for my build, any help is appreciated, I'm sorry it will take a long answer, but I'm a newbie who doesn't know enough to make an informed decision on his own about buying a rig?? especially a used one?? thanks for the help, steve

I don't have a lot of jumps , but I was scared to death about doing the hop n pop from 3,000' it wasn't bad at all though, just got to have a good exit and get stable. I did a canopy class with sally and martin @ z-hills, which was great. we jumped from 5,000, but on one jump, we could only get to 2,500. another girl and I declined to go at that low an alt. but according to the sim, we have to pull by 3,000 anyway for our experience level. they did reimburse our jump though, z-hills is great, I love that place!!!

thanks for the help people!!! I appreciate it! I didn't look in the sim, but I also like to hear from people who have done things too. hearing different experiences can be worth a lot. thanks again

I have a question regarding a jump from 18,000' do you need oxygen for that jump or not?? and what about 15,000'?? I saw an add for a dropzone on the spacecoast of florida for doing tandums from 18,000', but you can also do reg. jumps from that alt. I'm still a baby in this sport and still trying to learn, can someone explain this to me?? thanks a lot

bill is one hell of a nice guy!!!! he did a coach jump with me and always helps me every time I'm at z-hills. he also took my wife on a tandem a few weeks ago. great guy, can't say enough about him and all the staff at z-hills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! steve

I know now, I read bryan burkes take on it, thank's for the help

I'm a low time jumper with a question about exit order. pretty much every load i've been on during my short jumping time has been this order: big groups first, small ways, solo's, aff, tandems, wingsuits, high hop n pops. I think this has pretty much been the order? everybody is always good about communicating with each other before getting on the plane, plus the instructors help organize orders. my question is about free flyers? the last load I did, me and another guy we're doing a 2-way, there was a gruop of free flyers that said we should go first? before them. I would think that since my 2-way was a belly fall, that they would go before us? because to me they will be falling faster. is there a difference of opinions with you guys with a lot of jumps about this exit order? free flyers before belly fallers or vice a versa? just trying to understand what's best??? thanks for the help!! just got my A license, only took me 40 jumps lol (it was the packing that delayed it)

I've been jumping a 9-cell

I just made my 37th jump last week and want to start looking around for a rig, I will buy used, but as far as canopys go, what's the difference between a 7 cell and a 9 cell?? is it just the glide? which one should I probably be looking at getting? any help would be appreciated, I'm 218 out the door, I think I want to start at a 210 or 220 sq ft main. my canopy work is good, I've been jumping a 240 sq ft for the last 14 dives only plf-ing 3 times. thanks,