jumpervali

"And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth." - Revelations 14:03

I would have a non-skydiving FAA certified rigger pack a reserve for me anyday. Just because they may not be a jumper doesn't mean they won't do a good job. You would be surprised at the number of people who build the parachutes that are not jumpers. I listened to a story from a parachute manufacturer who took some of his sewing staff to the DZ for an observer ride so they could see the importance of his quality demands. They had a much better understanding of the downstream customer needs after that. jumpervali

Mine was a Fury 220. I jumped that canopy from jump #16 till well into my 600s. At 155lbs that big 7 cell was a target shooting machine. I got my pro rating on the first attempted 10 jumps required. When it got tired it was replaced with a brand new one, but It isn't my everyday canopy now, I just break it out for demos and freshen up jumps. jumpervali

Dolphin rigs are good rigs for the money, and there is a lot to be said for having black as the prime color of your rig. The only draw back I've seen of a dolphin is the container flaps are made of a lower denier fabric than most of the other manufactures. I've seen scuffs from bad landings burn through their flaps. Wings are good heavy fabric containers, but I like Javelins. I own 6 myself. You can make a Dolphin look like a Javelin by closing the reserve flaps the same way, but you still got thinner fabric container flaps. Take your time look at other peoples stuff and buy when the cold sets in, they all go on sell then. jumpervali

It takes me less than 5 min. to pack my 105. A 290 student canopy about 7 min. I used to help the old DZO with all the packing and I still have a lot more pack jobs than skydives. jumpervali 2700+ jumps

2700:3 jumpervali

1. Tandem Instructors, do you wear a helmet on tandem jumps? yes 2. Why or why not? A riser can slap your ear off, a bad landing can finish up with you on your head. 3. If yes, what type of helmet? rigid protec 4. Do you have your passenger wear a helmet? I let them choose, if they wear over glasses goggles I strongly advise one. 6. If yes, what type? soft leather, better for the TM's keeping a nice smile 7. Have you changed your helmet policy for tandems? n/a 9. What rigs are you rated on? Strong 10. How many tandem jumps do you have? 700+ I've only jumped without some type of head protection 2 times out of 2700 jumps, but thats just me. jumpervali

It looks to me like contact between the valve pieces and piston did the major damage, but this may have been after the primary event though. Your photo shows valve failure happened leaving the valve stem in the closed position. It shows the top end (rockers) were still doing their job correctly because the spring only was compressed due to the valve stem jamming in the closed position. More than likely if the other pistons show no damage then the timing stayed true. If the timing had caused the valve to make contact with the piston there would be more than only 1 piston and valve damaged. The damage to the piston may have happened due to the end of the valve breaking off and the piston beating on it like a half dollar in your cylinder. even 1 or 2 strokes will do serious damage. If you noticed a miss fire before power lose (even for a second) that was the valve failing. The piston damage happened after the valve failed is what I see. jumpervali

My story: In 1957 a teenage Hungarian attending a student/workers rally was sent fleeing for his life as the Soviet Union tanks rolled into his hometown. "The revolt was squelched" but there was to be a high price to pay for being involved. Knowing this the US allowed 26,000 to enter the country as refugees. My father was one of them. My grandmother was jailed for 6 months and the rest of my remaining family were interrogated. The cold war raged and we would see the relations with communism rise and fall knowing our family would suffer if things got out of control. It was a very strange time in our house. It is hard to get over the hate I have for the soviet government for holding my remaining family hostage for decades. I grew up that way. Why am I proud to be American? I know we may not have a perfect system, but we do have the best. What happened there would never happen here because we truly are the freest nation on earth. People have fought and died to keep us that way. People have fought and died also just for the chance to be here. I'm grateful for the sacrifice made by my family for the chance to live free....free for them. jumpervali

1st jump January 1995, a tandem. Now over 2700 jumps later I still get the same excitement from it. jumpervali

Pulling main parachute attempt #1. 1 try at clearing p/c from a limb is try #2. Attempt #3 is cutting away and deploying reserve. If you've opened the main pack always cut away and deploy. Students are trained though below 1K just deploy and do not cutaway. One big key is to mentally review your decisions like in this topic and try to consider others too. Like exit altitudes for emergencies "which canopy to open" etc. It could provide you with the few seconds of time that saves lives. jumpervali aff-i-03

I get nice openings from my 2 viper 105's. Only 1 time in 2700 jumps my slider on my 105 was left stowed during the repack (I didn't pack it). That was the hardest opening I've ever had! I always thought seeing stars was a cartoon thing, but you really do see flickering lights. jumpervali

There isn't enough fabric in the pack tray to cause the closing loop to be tight on the pin. the pin comes out without a p/c throw, horseshoe. jumpervali

In most Static-line programs the student is required to have a minimum of 5 jumps before doing their clear & pull. That's 2 jumps for exit only training, 3 for exit and pull training. That's 5 parachute flights before even jumping into the clear & pull. They are usually off needing a radio well before ever doing a c&p. So their canopy skills are or should be as good a a student doing an AFF level 6 right. How low are the average AFF level 6 students pulling? I hope their not still pulling at 5k. AFF is a great program, but some Dz.'s are not teaching students who are near graduating AFF that it is also dangerous to pull too high. One of the reasons for the required AFF clear & pull is to teach students that an exit at the altitude that static-line started out at is safe and not beyond their skills. It was a concern to a lot of people that AFF was causing a generation of jumpers that were altitude dependent. 40 or 50 jumps and still pulling at 5k is a dangerous thing in a large group. jumpervali aff-i/sl-i 03

The willingness to help and be considerate is a very understanding gesture on you guys part. I do know from my own experience though, us drunks know or think we know what to say or do to make people go over the hill for us one more time. It takes the help of another drunk to really make it work. Let your friend do some leg work in finding and coming to terms with his illness. He will find the right time to inform others of his choice to stop, it's all in the steps to recovery. We can all see a person slipping into a problem, but until they see it will it be delt with. Sad to think though for some it is only when their freedom or life is lost. jumpervali 8 years in august

The most time consuming portion of the training is the first jump course. You need to expect to spend 4-6 hrs training. The last few hrs. may be physically demanding so don't try to get in multiple jumps in the same day as the FJC. If your jumps are going well on your next day you will only need to physically train for the next skydiving level. Many students are good for 3 or 4 jumps a day. Success breads success so try to follow your good jumps with another jump. If you do encounter a challenge on one of your jumps try not to get that "hell bent to get this one right" mentality and over extend yourself physically and mentally. Take time to decompress and then try again if needed. Your going to recall your training with fond memories later so try to take time during your trip to smell the roses. Enjoy! jumpervali

In 1997 after a 20 something point 4 way we funneled around 4k. It was a sunset load and I was tracking into the sun. This caused glare on my factory diver shield and I did not see one of my team mates under me at his pull time. I slammed into an inflating canopy. Trust me on this a canopy is like a brick wall. I managed to pull and land uneventfully, but my jumpsuit was ripped up and I had my entire right side turn blue and purple by the next morning. I got very lucky. jumpervali

As an AFF instructor I find for "me" AFF #4 from Tandem progression is sometimes the most challenging. But thats for me "the instructor." It seems the student though may be having a blast on the skydive. It's always fun though! jumpervali

Dave is right, relax, arch, and just keep an eye on your heading. Try not to micro manage your body. It will soon be like riding a bike you won't have to think about it at all. jumpervali

Wear cut off gym pants under your jeans. The idea is to get more padding around your thighs. jumpervali

I got my elliptical 105 at around 2100 jumps. I still have to admit my 1st zp canopy flight was at my strong tandem certification course. My partner for the jump was a hotrod canopy pilot from Florida, we surfed it in for a nice standup landing. I was scared to death! I still love my big 220 but my ellipticals loaded at 1.65 are fun too, I was just a late bloomer. jumperval

have fun and learn the equipment operating procedures. Stick to your learned procedures. Continue to follow their procedures. Oh did I mention procedures? If you ingrain them you'll always provide the safest and most enjoyable skydive for your student. jumpervali

We had a large group of guys come out for an AFF first jump class last summer. They all were really pumped, like a bunch of sports bar dudes watching their team win a ball game. We were using a porter so they had to go up 1 at a time, it was funny to see how they acted away from their buddies. Most were having a great ride to altitude, except the kinda leader of the group. At about 4k he said "this aint going to happen" so me and the other jm started talking him through it. During the dialog he was asked what are the other guys going to think when we land with you still onboard? He said "OK I'm jumping, but when I land I'm kinking both your a$$es!" Boy I'm glad he had a wonderful time on the skydive because he was a big ol boy. jumpervali

In 1995 I was on my 15 sec. delay static-line training jump. Needles to say I was a typical nervous student. We got to my exit altitude opened the door and there were some clouds over the exit point. My jm wanted to do a slow go around to give them time to pass. We closed he door and flew for about 10 minutes. That was the most nerve racking 10 minutes of my life, and I do admit that I began to wish they wouldn't pass so I'd have a way out of jumping. I then realized where I was allowing my mind to go and focused on the climbout, dive flow, and my landing pattern. It really helped because I did have a good satisfactory jump. I have rode the plane down sense, but it was due to my student not being able to use this method to overcome the same anxieties that I have had also. Jumpervali sl, tandem, aff-i

Get a uspa group membership. I strongly advise you to incorporate. Get the wavers for jumpers. File a notem. jump. There are all kinds of things to work out pertaining to leasing land/building and aircraft. jumpervali