DanG

Each side of your line only has to support 1/2 of the weight. The strength of the line doesn't go up, but the load that each side has to hold goes down. Sum the forces (taking into account direction) so they equal zero. - Dan G

Great, because you are already flying a semi-elliptical ("tapered") wing. The Spectre is tapered per PD, so you don't have to go any father than your closet to find a great "entry-level elliptical". - Dan G

I disagree that students are being taught to jump up out of an Otter. At my dropzone they are being taught to jump sideways from inside the door and then arch, which when practiced on the ground, makes your head go up because there's ground in the way. On poised exits they are being taught to just let go and arch into the wind. I really doubt that there are people out there teaching students to put any upward thrust into their exits. I will admit, however, that I don't spend any time talking about tail strikes because it really isn't a concern in an Otter. As far as NEVER jump up goes, I think that people who fly point on 8-way teams or even outside center on 4-way teams might disagree. Finally, I think what matters is that people are taught why certain exits are done in certain circumstances. It is not enough to tell people NEVER jump up. Teach people what happens on exit and why and they will be able to apply that knowledge to unfamiliar circumstances. - Dan G

When was your Book of Revelations written? Must be a pretty recent revision to mention Islam. This whole thing is so ridiculous I can't believe anyone with more than a kindergarten education gives it any credence whatsoever. Sorry, but the only correct part of this post is, "Stupid is as stupid does." - Dan G

Sorry to hear about your siblings, but skydiving is WAY, WAY, WAY more dangerous than driving a car. Period. It's okay to tell people how safe skydiving is, but you should do a little research first and learn that it is actually not very safe at all compared to just about everything else. To the OP: get over yourself. The skydiving world did not suddenly change when you took the FJC like, two months ago. - Dan G

Yep. The terrorists have already won. An old dead guy once said, "Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." Some other old dead guy said, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." and, "It is more dangerous that even a guilty person should be punished without the forms of law than that he should escape." It is sad that their wisdom is being forgotton. - Dan G

That's awesome. Glad the hear it. The question still remains: How do they do it? Do they own the planes, the land, the fual farms, etc outright (i.e. no mortgage/lease)? Do they pay next to nothing to the pilots, instructors, packers, riggers? Do they get insurance at a much lower price that the rest of the industry? Are they A&P's and do all their own aircraft maintenance? At my DZ here is a quick tanden cost breakdown: $50 for two Otter slots, $35 to the tandem instructor, $18 to the packer. That is $103 before you start factoring in rig maintenance, property rent, insurance, electricity, water, etc. Admittedly, we pay staff better than most, so there is one place to save money. I'm not trying to bust anyone's balls. I would just like to get some insight into the business model that allows a DZ to keep afloat with $99 tandems as the main source of income (while at the same time buying a fleet of new rigs, overhauling multiple turbine engines, and giving away food). - Dan G

Reminds me of the old joke about losing $1 on each sale but making it up in volume. Still a mystery to me how it is possible without cutting some pretty big corners. - Dan G

I see this everywhere, but I can't wrap my brain around it. Is the DZO a trust funder? Do their planes run on water? How can the DZ break even with such low prices? What's the secret? Skydive Orange just had to go to $25 about a month ago. - Dan G

That's an excellent comparison, and I think it would be fine. If the bonus was administered by the STATE, not some private entity. I have no problem with someone donating money to the state to use as performance bonuses. It is the fact that a private entity decides who gets them based on their own metrics that is the problem. And even though strings may not be attached now, it's not hard to image them getting attached later. - Dan G

So the guys down at the DMV processes your driver's license application. In order to get him to do it a little faster, you give him $50. It's just a performance bonus, right? If you can't see how paying teachers to teach the way YOU want them to teach regardless of what the state wants is the same as a bribe, then there's no point in continuing. - Dan G

The teachers are government employees. A private entity giving money directly to government employees to encourage certain behavior is called bribery. It's illegal. This has nothing to do with union vs. non-union. I am staunchly anti-union and I can see that. - Dan G

He didn't die because he turned his Cypres off. He died because he failed to get a working canopy over his head before impact. You can't blame his death on the fact that he had an extra pound of non-functioning electronics in his pack tray. Now, if you're arguing that he sat there in freefall waiting for his Cypres to fire, then maybe having a Cypres contributed to his death, but I don't think anyone has ever made that argument. - Dan G

If you truly believe the things you've said here, you'd recognize that that man died to protect the freedom of his countrymen to protest their government. That's what America is about. If the right of the people to speak out is taken away, then that soldier, and the many thousands before him, have died in vain. - Dan G - Dan G

IMHO, body position has very little to do with hard openings (assuming your body position is reasonable). Body position does, however, have a huge influence on line twists, which can be a serious problem on an elliptical canopy. Packing (especially slider control) has a great deal to do with hard openings. You're right, I have never jumper a Pilot. I'm not sure how that negates my significant experience with Stilettos in most of the sizes (except the teeny-tiny). - Dan G

I voted no, but I wish there had been a choice without the exclamation point. Nice way to put thoughts in people's minds. I voted no because the Purple Heart is only awarded for wounds arising directly from enemy action. It is very hard to define an immediate cause for PTSD in many cases, although enemy action is certainly a very common cause. When I was at Walter Reed I met some guys who had both physical and mental wounds. In some cases the mental wounds were far worse. One of the men I was wounded with lost a eye and an ear, and when I talked to him the problem he complained about was the nightmares. It was like he could brush off the physical wounds because he knew how they would heal (or not heal), but the mental anguish might never go away. It's easy to dismiss mental trauma by equating it with mild fear. It is also complete bullshit. I lost an arm to enemy action, thus "earning" my Purple Heart. Losing the arm sucks, but I'm constantly thankful that my mind remained intact. - Dan G

I've got about 250 jumps on Stiletto 190's, and about 600 on smaller Stilettos, mostly 135's. They are known far and wide as one of the softest opening canopies out there. That and the very flat glide are one of the reasons they are so popular with camera flyers. Saying they will slam the shit out of you and then go into spinning line twists is not exactly accurate. Just because you had a bad opening on one does not make it true for the breed as a whole. That being said, I would absolutely NOT recommend a Stiletto of any size to the OP. Your body position does have to be solid on deployment, and you do need to be on top of things if a twist starts to develop. The Stiletto is an advanced canopy for advanced pilots. It may not be a Velocity, but it still needs respect. I think a SabreII would be a better choice for the OP. - Dan G

For groups larger than two is is very difficult to avoid having someone track either generally up jumprun, or generally down jumprun. Separation with people in your own group is more important than separation with other groups. At 75 jumps, the OP should concentrate on turning 180 from the center of their own group and tracking straight. That being said, Tom is right on as usual about keeping the direction of jumprun and location of other groups in the back of your mind. You still need to ensure adequate separation from your own group, but you can do things to minimize issues with other groups. For instance, if breakoff puts me tracking up jumprun, I will often not track as far as if I were tracking perpendicular. I don't recommend that to newer jumpers since they usually have enough to think about, but I find it can work for me. - Dan G

I think both dropzones are great, and I'm more than a little biased

I'm still having trouble figuring out how it matters that much as long as everyone is restrained with a seatbelt. Do I want someone pushing on me from 45 degrees to the side, or the front? Why is one inherently safer? If straddle benches are so dangerous, why are they so popular? They are certainly more comfortable. - Dan G

We've been using that chart at Skydive Orange taped next to the Otter door for a number of years and it has worked quite well. All the pilot has to do is yell back the ground speed on jumprun and let the spotter determine the separation. Thanks for the chart, we love it. - Dan G

Another issue that you might want to consider is the fact that you were unsupervised in the plane and forced to make that decision yourself. At most dropzones it is standard to have a rating holder supervise all non-licensed jumpers up to and including exit. In other words, at many dropzones you would have been able to turn to a more experienced jumper and say, "What should I do?" (not implying that you'll always get the right answer, but at least you should have the chance to ask). If you are uncomfortable with being left unassisted in the plane, let your instructor know. I'm not harshing on your DZ. Everyone does things a little differently, but it seems to me a bad idea to have students (self-supervised or not) spotting for themselves in even the best conditions. - Dan G

Oh, I totally agree. I think students should practice riser turns with toggles stowed and unstowed. However, if the toggles are already unstowed, I advise them to keep them in their hands unless they need to cutaway. When I run across a student that is letting go of their toggles after unstowing them, I make sure they know the disadvantages, which to answer the OP are: 1. It may be difficult, especially with velcroless toggles or when wearing gloves, to get your hands back in. 2. If you find yourself in a potential collision situation you do not have access to the turning technique you are most familiar with. 3. If you encounter turbulence you may wish to use toggle input to reinflate a partially collasped wing. There may be other disadvantages. Some people may disagree with these. The OP asked what is being taught. If someone can convince me that other factors need to be considered, then I'm certainly open to looking at it from another perspective. - Dan G

I think I'm the one that first mentioned the toggle issue in the other thread. Nowhere did I say "never" let go of the toggles. I did say that I thought it was ill advised at 39 jumps to let go of the toggles to deal with a slider. I don't have a problem with people letting go of their toggles after release, but I wouldn't teach a student that it is the prefered method. In response to someone else, I don't agree that you should teach student that riser maneuvers are done with toggles out of your hands. The rear riser turns that may save you are probably going to happen at a low altitude where letting go of the toggles is frankly stupid (yes, unless you are doing a freestyle swoop, nitpickers). And I've run into more than one student who thought they were supposed to let go of the toggles when doing riser turns. Again, not a good idea. Sure, let go of your toggles if you need to, I just don't generally see the need. - Dan G

Holy shit people, have any of you actually gone to the classified page? There are two links there, in red letters, that discuss buyer scams and seller scams. If someone isn't going to click on them, what makes you think they'll click on another link in red letters that says "scams"? WTF? - Dan G