AndyMan

Ummm... Lamb. Roasted or Barbequed? _Am

I don't want to hear about it. It's even going to be 60 degrees in Chicago on the weekend. I don't have a canopy. Doh! _Am

I have jumped at small DZ's in Upstate NY and Canada. AerOhio near Cleveland Chicagoland, Skydive Illinois and Skydive Chicago. I'm at the fire every night. The pilots are sometimes there on Sunday. _Am

My current DZ has a base price of $50, with discounts for bulk. 15 jumps is $38/jump. All prices include two jump tickets - one for you, one for the coach. If there's any DZ's in your neighbourhood that offer a structured coaching program, like Skydive Univeristy, or even the extended AFF programs like at Skydive Chicago, I highly recomend these. I did about 10 jumps of extensive coaching at Aerohio near Cleveland, the change in just a few jumps was absolutely incredible. At 80 jumps I was doing 20+ big ways. _Am

My RW suit is from Air Wear by Wendy. Quality is excellent. It's stood up to three hundred jumps so far without any sign of wear. Wendy's prices are great, RW suits start at $170. http://www.airwear-by-wendy.com/ My freefly suit is from Merlin. Again, the quality was excellent, the fit was a bit off. They did free alterations, to I'm not complaining. Double layer, "pancake vercro"... all the things you look for in a freefly suit. Prices start at 170 again. http://www.merlinsuits.com/ Both jumpsuits I've bought on the recomendation of the DZ I was at when I ordered it. _Am

The biggest one I saw was trying to be an 80 way, I think 58 got in. The biggest one I've been in was a 32 way. Formation load with an Otter and Caravan. WooHoo! _Am

That would make a great article for the Safety screen. Thanks. This is exactly the response I hadn't found elsewhere. _Am

Alan, I disagree. I don't think the topic has ever been addressed properly, either here or in wreck.skydiving. This is why I asked. R00tj00se's anecdote was a great anecdote of the risks, but left little in terms of opinion. When I searched google I found a bunch of people recomending not to use one on an elipticals. I didn't find anyone actually recomending one. The closest is Bill Von, who always talks about the risks of not using one. Bill, do you use one your elipticals? Do you actually recomend them, or do you just want people to know the risks? And when I said "Their logic is that an RSL deployment from a spinning eliptical is a greater risk then no pull, or late pull." I thought it was clear that I meant the odds of it happening rather then the risk from the outcome. It's obvious that bouncing from a no-pull is worse then an RSL pull while spinning. I just don't think the former is a real risk, for me. USPA also commented that "it's a choice you have to make after hearing both sides". At both SDC and Hinckley, people tell me matter-of-factly, that I'd be a fool not to get rid of it. Is there no other opinion? Or, is it a no-bainer like everyone I speak to tells me? _Am

me leaving the chopper 2 seconds later In the balloon with friends. I'm on the right

I would be very concerned. Never, in all the dropzones I've been to, have I see a pilot even drink beer the night before flying. Pilots need to be on the ball when flying skydivers, I have no tolerance for pilots being hung-over. I can't imagine them taking stronger drugs like 'e'. The same goes for instructors. _Am

There are no dissenting opinions? I'm surprised. Cool. _Am

Since I've missed most of these, I'll recap. From Toronto. Living in Chicago. Frist jump at Frontier, in upstate NY. Currently 27. Started at 25.

Yeah he does. I'm not the one flaming him. I usually jump at Hinckley though.. Oops, my bad. People used to flame him when he was the first DZ to put students under squares, too... _Am

Skydive Chicago experimented with putting students under lightly loaded Stilettos. Suffice it to say the experiment failed. They replaced the Stilettos with Safires, and have just replaced the Safires with Sabre 2's. _Am

I'm awaiting delivery of my new Stiletto, which I'll be loading around 1.45. The people who I respect at my DZ are recomending that I remove my RSL when I install the Stiletto. Their logic is that an RSL deployment from a spinning eliptical is a greater risk then no pull, or late pull. I've had one cuttaway, but it was a slow speed mal. I'm confident that I could deal with a high speed mal, but have never experienced one. Despite the common advice at my DZ to ditch the dope rope, I suspect there's gonna be a few people here who think otherwise... I have a cypres, but am not under the delusion they accomplish the same thing. _Am

The reserve opens extremely quick. There's a post on here somewhere claiming that they open in about 50 feet... Ouch! _Am

The triathlon is a great canopy, but it was never designed to be highly loaded. All of the jumpers I know that highly load their triathlons hate it, and admit buying one at that wing loading was a mistake. As you add weight to the triathlon you notice it sinks badly, so get used to landing out. My personal opinion is you probably don't want to load a triathlon much over 1.1 It's perfectly safe to load a triathlon, I just don't think you want to. It's just not that much fun. I did over 300 jumps on a triathlon loaded a 1.1 and loved it. It was a great first canopy. I bought it when I had about 50 jumps. The whole point of upping the wingloading is to get more performance out of the canopy. If YOU want to opt for a bit more performance in your first rig, then I would suggest you maybe consider the Sabre 2 by PD, or the Icarus Saphire. Both are called moderately eliptical, or sometimes tapered. Both are becoming popular as student canopies at some of the more advanced dropzones. Both fly great at light wing loadings. If you're looking for a canopy that's a bit more fun to fly, then you might try one of these.

Flame bait people... let it rest, she's been warned, nothing else to do here... _Am

Is that documented/explained on paper/web somewhere?

True air speed is literally that, it is the exact airspeed as measured by the instruments in the unit. Skydiver airspeed is a compromise meant to normalize for different air preasures. Skydivers want a base comparison. We want to know how fast we're going at the Ranch, in New York, and compare that to how fast we're going when jumping in Colorado, some 5,000 feet higher. We want this to be a fair comparison, regardless of the differences in air preasure. Skydiver airspeed also normalises through the jump. Because the air is so much thinner at 13 grand, you'd go much faster. A graph of TAS from 13 grand through deployment would point downward. Since SAS is normalized for air preasure, the graph is theoretically straight given a constant body position. How's that for a brain noodle? _Am

I think the biggest value would be on those long spots, the one's where you're hanging off the rear risers from opening until landing. I know my hands usually feel like they're about to fall off... I guess this is balanced by those that would use them during swoops, and it seems that would be a bad thing... _Am

You most certainly still need to use a visual altimeter. An audible is not a replacement for a visual altimeter. Audible altimeters are battery powered electronics devices. Batteries fail. So do electronic devices. Audibles do make good backups, and are handy reminders. _Am

I would never check my rig as most airlines have a $500 maximum liability waiver for checked baggage. I've carried my rig on my big through o'hare, kenedy, and logan before Sept 11. I've carried my rig in a gear bag through many airports after Sept 11. I've never had a problem. _Am

Enjoy the wait. I've been waiting for my new stiletto all winter. _Am

I did an interesting exit back in the fall, but it was a 4 way. Three of us in the door looking facing the fuselage. On the count of three, we each pushed back, going into backloops. We did three consecutive backloops, side by side. At the same time, our camera dude was left the camera step. He's not doing backloops, but what I'd call handstand flips. Somehow, he managed to keep the three of us in frame, too. Wild. Dangerous, but wild. Anyways, my point? Jump out of the friggin plane! Jump forwards, jump backwards, jump into front flips, jump into back flips. Squat in the door with your back to the air and gently fall out with your eyes closed. Do the same frontwards... My second tandem we exited by doing front flips out the door. My third tandem we did back flips out the door. Yes - I did a tandem training progression... _Am