LloydDobbler

Hey, Adam - [DISCLAIMER - Not a tunnel instructor, nor a coach. I've got ~3-1/2 hrs of freefall time, and ~5 hrs of tunnel time at Perris, AZ, and my new home-away-from-DZ, SkyVenture CO.] Couple of things: While Mark made some good points re: the tunnel, I think he's a little off on the 'hitting the top' part. Even if you cork, the air dissipates up towards the top of the tunnel (unless it's cranked up REALLY high), so it's a lot tougher to reach the top. The bigger danger lies in the walls that are surrounding you on all sides (and a lot closer than the ceiling). Combine that with the fact that sitflying/freeflying is a lot like flying a high-performance canopy - it's a lot more responsive. The faster the airspeed, the less input is needed to achieve a result. So in the tunnel, if you lean a little too much back, or overcompensate to make a correction, you find yourself moving towards the glass at a high rate of speed. In the sky, it doesn't look like much, especially in freeflying, because when you're starting out you don't have that many stable points of reference. But in the tunnel, every flaw is magnified thanks to the proximity. That's the biggest reason why they keep it slow. So that when you're first getting the feel for it, and then start to get unstable and put your feet down to stand up (which you'll do, in spite of all the times they warn you), and the next thing you know you're crashing into the glass as they're turning down the airspeed and the tunnel instructor tries to get ahold of you before you break a bone or two - basically, they keep the speed low so that that experience will only bruise, instead of break you. (And teach you a lesson). Think of it this way - VRW takes a LOT of time for someone to get good at, because it's precision work. The tunnel is like getting into VRW from moment one. Except the thing you're flying relative to has a lot less 'give' than a fleshy human body does when you careen into it in freefall. (Spoken from experience - learned that one the hard way.) Yep - like you're probably heard, you should be able to demonstrate proficiency on both your back and belly before switching over to sit. I know lots of people (myself included), though, who do a few rotations on their back, then move onto sitflying. Bad idea. (Again, hard-earned experience talking). My advice to you (you can thank me later): Get to where you really feel comfortable on your back before moving to sitflying. If you don't feel like you're really in CONTROL on your back (which is harder than it looks), don't move on just yet. Here's why: When you bail from a sit, your neutral position is your back. You want that to be a very comfortable place - otherwise, you can get a little tense while working on your sit for fear of 'losing it.' This dramatically steepens your learning curve. After trying to sit that way for a while, I went and did 30 more minutes on my back. It made all the difference in the world. Now I'm a lot more confident making adjustments to my sit (like trying to get my arms in and fly fro mmy core so I can take grips, for instance). If something screws up, I go to my back, then try again. No longer a big deal. (Not to mention, I now LOVE flying on my back. SO much fun!) It just makes you a much more confident flyer - and with good reason, because you're a safer flyer when you can fly well on your back. As for how much time to give it, it's different for each person. Suffice it to say, when you're comfortable on your back, can hang out in the middle of the tunnel on your back while maintaining heading/height, and can do stable turns without losing altitude, then you're definitely ready to move on. For a great drill, try having them turn up the air to sitfly speeds and fly on your back that way for a bit. That way, you'll know how little input you need to give when you bail from a sit. Again, it's all about confidence. Don't rush it - sit will be there, and everything else you do will help make your tunnel sitflying learning curve much less steep. It's like skydiving - you learn something on every jump. Good call. The tunnel will pay some serious dividends. You can count on that. (And like others have said, dollar for dollar, it's generally cheaper than skydiving, so that's a good way to rationalize it...). Anyway, apologies for the long post - If I had more time, I would've written a shorter one, but it's the weekend. Let us know how the tunnel goes for ya. Signatures are the new black.

...definitely not Perris or Elsinore. Not Cal City either. Looks like the mountains near Calico. As for the bike, its a 1981 Maico 490, two stroke air hammer. That bike could haul some freight. Cool pics, thanx for posting. I dunno, Dean-O - First off, I think Sparky would know (he's got a little more time up at Cal City than either of us) , and second, those mountains probably look a lot closer just due to the framing of the shot. I'd venture to say that they're the ones out west of the 14, and Jimmy wasn't too close to the person shooting. There could be 6-10 miles between him and the background. Signatures are the new black.

I agree with what Allison said. As someone with small hands (and therefore wrists), I found the wrist strap was much less secure than having a mount with a finger loop. The point Andy made about the other mount and gloves is also a good one to consider, if you jump somewhere besides Florida or Hawaii. As for type of altimeter, you're not getting a lot of responses because this question has been gone over before a number of times, so you can search and get more info. I'd also recommend the Altimaster Galaxy, because it's a workhorse that you'll be able to hang onto it/use forever. That was my first altimeter - I've since upgraded to a Neptune (digital altimeter), but when its batteries died the other day when I was on a 5 minute call, I just pulled out my Galaxy and headed to the mock-up. It's nice like that. (Also, FYI, the Suunto's display is a little small, so I wouldn't recommend it for a low-time jumper). Signatures are the new black.

You might notice i was asking the question if the A.D. license was a rule, not actually saying that IT IS because Olav said so. Hey, Bigway - To my knowledge, there aren't really any "global rules" in skydiving - there are some common threads, but nothing that you'll find in the regulation books everywhere. (I know you have more experience than me - I just wanted to put that out there for others to read/consider. Things in your own country aren't always the same for other countries). Here in the U.S., as far as I know, the "Atmospheric Dolphin license" is more akin to the SCR/SCS - if you have it, people know you can freefly on all axes proficiently. But it's really not a 'license', as it's not issued by any governing body, and therefore has no authority when it comes to rulebooks. It's more of an 'Award'. You're actually only the second person I've heard ever mention the AD. The first person was a newer jumper who had been reading about it on the internet. I looked into it, thought it sounded interesting...but ridiculous (both in the name, and in the concept). If an official governing body wanted to do that sort of proficiency training, sure, go for it. But an independent (for profit) body declaring themselves the grantor of 'licenses'? It makes sense to me that it's more 'bragging rights' than anything else. The AD doesn't make a difference in what you can/can't do at most U.S. DZ's, unless the DZO is a good friend of Olav's and therefore requires it (none do, to my knowledge). Safe use of a skyball also depends on location - it was different at my old DZ, which had uninhabited desert for 5 miles+ in all directions and doesn't rely on GPS spotting, than at Elsinore or Mile-Hi (surrounded by civilization). And as for it being only for freefly(TM)ing , I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the idea of passing things back and forth been around since close to the start of RW? Signatures are the new black.

Sonny and Cher. (To get the scale a little closer to realistic, he can kneel and strap shoes to his knees). Signatures are the new black.

why would you think that shorter bridles are the desired effect or are safer ? Also not a rigger, but it's my understanding that the BOC came around after several incidents of misrouting going from the main closing pin to the pouch on the belly-band (of course, that involved velcro, etc, etc). There were also some issues with the Rear-of-Leg mount, but I can't quite remember the details. Again, I think it involved misrouting). Back to the OP, in a nutshell, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If the path from closing pin to the pilot chute "bundle" is shorter, there's less opportunity to misroute it, and thus less of an opportunity to find yourself at 1500 feet (or wherever they pulled back in "those days") and not be able to get your main out. So in that case, though the person you responded to may have minced his words, yes, a "shorter bridle" is safer. Not that it's *actually* shorter, but it just has less ground to cover. The less distance it has to cover from closing pin to pilot chute, the better. Signatures are the new black.

I hear that their marketing dept. is looking at that. They're considering changing it to the "Crater". Excellent! That will TOTALLY match my new Widowmaker canopy... Signatures are the new black.

Oceans are definitely pretty, but there's no place like Moab... Signatures are the new black.

Like so many said, it's an economical plane. Take a look at Gemini's post above, and consider that one of the reasons a King Air costs so little is that it costs so much to maintain. Otters have more capacity, but also higher maintenance costs. The cost-saving benefits of having a single engine turbine are tough to beat, which is why the PAC has been a hit with a lot of DZO's. However, like many others, I didn't like the PAC. Well, okay - I liked the view out of the big picture windows on the way up. But overall, not so much. My main issue was the cramped interior (I HATE straddle-bench seating), and the door - even trying to launch 4-way out of it was NOT fun. (And we're a SMALL team, that floats like ping-pong balls). There was one flying relief at Elsinore during Chicks Rock - we manifested for one load, then avoided it the rest of the time after that one experience. Once you travel a bit, get a few more jumps, you might turn into a snob about aircraft (like, apparently, so many of us). The PAC's better than some...but worse than a lot. Signatures are the new black.

Congrats on the new canopy! Why is it that the cool stuff always has to have a catch somewhere, eh? If you want to *cheat*, you can psycho pack it for about 50-75 jumps or so, then switch back to pro-packing. Much easier to keep things under control, and can help to get it to that semi-worn-in state. That's what I did when I got my Sabre2 with 35 jumps on it. Made things much easier. (Oh, and I had 2 broken wrists at the time.) If you're not cool with that option, then yeah, check out that other thread. Do the reverse-S-fold thing. And don't put your full weight on it. (And when you're ready to say 'fuck it' and shred the thing, just remember: 'that which does not kill us makes us stronger....') Signatures are the new black.

Don't be surprised if the 'door monster' rears its ugly head again...it can happen (and does for a lot of people). But it may not, and definitely gets better over time. If it DOES mess with you, just remember that once you're outside in the breeze, it's all good from there. And of COURSE it's confidence-inspiring. You've faced fear head-on and told it to go f*ck itself. If that isn't deserving of confidence, I don't know what is. Have a great jump!

I always love that 'Ah-ha!' moment. For me, it happened when I was on the end of the bench in an Otter, and at 2000 feet we unbuckled and moved to sit on the floor. Next to the door. (Which was promptly opened.) It freaked me the hell out, until I thought about it and realized the same thing your instructor told you. And now, 200+ jumps later, I find myself more afraid of everyday heights than I used to be. I'm happy as a clam sitting in an open door at 1000', but something about standing on the observation deck of a tall building without a rig on my back just gives me the willies... Signatures are the new black.

Well said. In another time, it would be considered common sense that "If you throw yourself out of an airplane, you're taking a risk." Now, sadly, thanks to the U.S. judicial system, people expect ANY and ALL risks - with ANYTHING they do - to be footed by someone else. Personal responsibility is a last resort. I blame the system...but I do *also* blame the lawyers. Like the guy above who advises his friends on it not being whether you can sue (answer: you can sue anyone, anytime), but rather how much you can get them to settle for. Who signs the waiver while scoffing at it, looking for ways he could attack it in court. I saw no mention of him questioning the moral implications of such a way of thinking. It's a very Machiavellian attitude, to think only "What can I get?" without also asking "What should I get?" But sadly, that's the M.O. of our times. That's my issue with lawyers (as a whole, though I'm sure there are some exceptions). --- In response to those who are discussing how much one could get out of a settlement, I'd point out the following to you: A lot of dropzones, gear manufacturers, etc are uninsured. In fact, UPT (who makes Vector rigs) used to be incorporated as "The Uninsured Relative Workshop." So if you have an attorney, you'd best hope they're willing to work for cheap, because oftentimes a DZ's assets aren't quite worth the money you'd spend on legal fees. It's sad...but it's a necessary precaution for many. Heck, we might not even have planes to jump out of if the government hadn't gotten involved and added some liability protections for aircraft manufacturers, who were getting sued right and left back in the day when pilots kept flying themselves and their 25 year-old planes into mountains.... Signatures are the new black.

Imperial Overlord? Or we could go with That Guy. Simple. To the point. (Given Jay's background, am I the only one who keeps thinking of that old saying about how you can throw a rock out of a plane 1000 times? I haven't figured out anywhere clever to go with it yet...)

Let's not forget "slippery as hell". (Because the harder you have to work at something, the more you value it.) Signatures are the new black.

Yeah, we were talking about that on the plane the other day. They've become 'hand-me-down' gear...not only because they look cool, but also that they take a beating and last forEVER. The guy next to me had on a pair that had been passed down through 3 people (all tandem instructors) before him. They were just starting to look a little frayed.

In relation to this & your post about someone else breezing through AFF, I can understand. I had to re-do a couple of levels myself. (And my girlfriend had to re-do her release dive 3 times - passed it on try #4, then sailed through the rest). Just keep in mind, this is a personal challenge. Everyone is different, and everyone moves at different speeds. Don't focus on anyone else. Focus on yourself. And know that each jump is a valuable one - whether you advance to the next level or not. You're building your skills exponentially every time, so don't look at it as a total loss. Think of the journey, not the destination.

What he said. When I invite someone just off of student status to go make a jump, I don't expect to turn 13 points on the way down. I do it because it's a blast for them, and it's a blast for me. Brings back memories of my first jumps after my A, and how much I realized I had to learn. (Side note - get used to that feeling. I don't know that it ever goes away. Which is a great thing about this sport).

Yep. Here in the US, the TSA has the authority to open your checked bags if they feel there's a good reason. They then are required to insert a little note saying, 'We opened this. If you have issues, visit our website.' Every time I've left my weight belt in my checked baggage, I've arrived to find one of those notes waiting for me in the bag. Signatures are the new black.

I normally just pack the lead in with my checked bags. It's usually opened and searched - no biggie. Does mean that I have to be extra-cognizant of the bag weight, though, and forces me to pack light.

Okay, just to shorten the back-and-forth, I'll bite. Keep in mind, standard disclaimer about me not being an instructor (so someone rated for IAD might want to chime in), but here's some info (from the other thread and from my own understanding of the process). A few reasons to go with IAD over S/L: 1) An in-sequence deployment. The pilot chute goes downwind of the student, pulling the pin in a way resembling a normal freefall deployment. No D-Bag hitting the student, no off-balance snatch force from the S/L (leading to line twists, etc). 2) #1 also helps with students learning practice pulls, because their body position isn't affected from the static line's off-balance snatch force. 3) No "snake's nest" tangle of lines on the floor of the plane. No reeling lines back in after students are deployed. 4) No need to change over rigs. Static line needs a spring-loaded PC, and needs to be rigged appropriately. IAD rigs don't require changeover when students get to freefall. 5) Less wear on gear. -- Each method has pros and cons. There are other advantages to S/L over IAD, and I'm sure some stuff that I've missed here. Anyone else, feel free to add to/correct me if I'm off-base. Signatures are the new black.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of 'Congrats!' Seriously, it's been really cool reading your posts, and watching your progression from a distance. Seems like you've had the right attitude from the start. (And given the delays, I imagine it was that much more sweet when you finally got that last signature). Congrats. You've earned it. Can't wait to hear what's next. Signatures are the new black.

Anyone with said PACER access care to post a summary of the latest? (Betsy, I'm sure you can't go into it too much...but anyone else? Inquiring minds & all...)

Though I can't post a link (don't know of one) and can't claim to be a rigger, I've had two separate master riggers demonstrate to me that said pouch is the place to stow the RSL excess on my Micron. The end of the RSL (right next to the shackle that attaches to the riser) is more stiff than the rest of the RSL - I was told/shown to simply push it into the pouch, so that the remainder of the RSL slack comes out the same opening. This secures the excess and places your RSL shackle right next to the attachment point on the risers. Signatures are the new black.

...and for those of you not in the know, Rosa's jelly shots are NOT to be missed. (Though you may miss a thing or two after having one...) Highly recommended...