pinkfairy

I recommend nothing bigger than 2-ways when you jump with people right off student status. I sometimes do that, and it's fun and challenging for me: I incorporate things that I need to work on, while giving the new jumper the impression that he plans the jump. I let them choose their exit, then I walk through some turns and stuff with them, and set a breakoff altitude. Newer people have a tendency to lose arch when they get stressed out, so anticipate a quite slow fallrate, and they will also float around quite a bit. You'll really get to fly. When I jump with them, I handle all the level issues, that's why it's better to do 2-ways, because that way we can turn some points. Don't plan anything too ambitious, keep it simple, if you're unsure about how it will work with levels, make a good breakoff plan: like "at 5k we go across the runway in opposite directions, in case we get separated a LOT I turn and track towards the inland, and you turn and track towards the sea" Inform each other of pull altitudes, and should be good safety-wise. Maybe you'll find some friends who will be on a team with you or will keep jumping with you when they're more experienced. Good luck and have fun!

If you are all alone, then by all means, barrel roll all you want.

The norwegian skydiving association's mag is great: It's got pictures of ME in it! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Wingsuiters want something that will keep flying straight in case of line twists. 7-cells, such as the Spectre do that, but also many 9-cells as long as they aren't too elliptical. my first Wingsuit deployment was interesting: still a lot of forward speed resulted in me seeing my legwing on opening, and having multiple linetwists to kick out, good thing my Pilot kept flying straight. I'm a bigway formation skydiver, so I want something that opens on heading. BTW I can't imagine ANY type of skydive where I would want bad openings: I always jump with other people, and I want to keep flying away from them after deployment. I can't swoop, except double fronts, so swooping characteristics are unimportant to me. I like to hang on half brakes, so a canopy that "floats" well is good, and it should be easy to land. That's it, really. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Why is everyone still so shitty.....isn't this a new day and should be a new word? Not for me, it isn't: I've had this day going for a while, I'm GMT -1, and I'm bored beyond belief because even though the PAIN in my tonsils is gone, I'm still too sick to do anything... So, yes, I'll keep using the word. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Turn away from the center of the formation if you're on a bigger one, or across the jumprun if you're on a smaller one without losing too much altitude. Start your track by stretching your legs, then de-arch your hips and bring your arms back. Roll your shoulders forward. Tucking your chin in somewhat helps, but you should at all times see where you're going, and if you can't do that with your chin tucked in, don't do it. Things happen around you and you should prioritize looking out. Most of what decides if you go far or not is not the track position itself, it is what you do in the beginning of the track and what angle you get. If you sink through a lot in the turn and then get a steep angle, you won't get far, you'll just get low. It's not a bad idea to get someone to coach you in the air and with video. They can tell you what's really going on when you track.

Maybe some people would like to regulate, because every incident involving an idiot burning in on a too small canopy creates bad publicity that we don't need, and regulating this would not stop us ordinary skydivers from enjoying the sport. After all, flying Katanas wingloaded at 1.5:1 at 200 jumps is a very marginal activity. And we can't just look away either, because when it happens, someone has to deal with it. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Nah, they will not understand it until it's too late. I meet these guys at my home DZ who want to go jump mountains and go on about how they feel ready, after all they have like 63 skydives and have MAD SKILLZ! The truth is that they are scary in the air and can't track. And those people who get a Katana 135 wingloaded at 1.5 at 200 jumps? There's a reason there's wingload recommendations, and that some countries' parachute organizations have rules that regulate wingloadings. He has a very good chance of surviving with his current choice canopy, but he's increasing the risk a lot, much like that 63 jump wonder who jumps off a bridge. Both swooping and BASE jumping are risky activities, but there are ways of significantly reducing the risk, so they can keep doing it. And there is no use arguing with people like that, you can't get through. As they say: "Never argue with an idiot, they drag you down on their level and beat you with experience!" Interesting thing that I discovered about skydiving: I feel that the part of the jump that I've improved most in my close to 500 jumps is the canopy part. I'm not saying that I'm a great canopy pilot, just that experience pays off for everyone. What's with those people who don't get the recommended jump numbers to jump a canopy, wingloading or object? did they spend all their money on gear so they can't afford to jump? OK, end of rant. That felt good. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I have to warn you against this: Small women may be cute, but they're also loud and bossy to compensate for their small size. We are, however, great cooks, and are good at cleaning houses and repairing jumpsuits.

What's this Safety Shit? I'd give you a practical demonstration if you weren't halfway around the globe! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

No, SAFETY first, as always! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Go try Perris too! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Yeah, Norway has 4 C-130J, each seats 110, but plan to deploy two to operations abroad. And do you know what the weather is like here in Norway? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

What about resolving this outside of Dropzone.com? You have a common goal, and I thought you were friends. The P3 has done a lot to recruit new bigway formation skidivers: they let people like me be on their bigway camps, and thanks to them, I got a complete 100-way in my logbook before I had 500 jumps. And no, their events aren't prohibitively expensive, not to someone who is used to paying for her own jumps. I think the P3s use of civilean aircraft and DZs makes more predictability, which is what normal skydivers with normal jobs need. We borrow the military C-130s, if they are needed elsewhere, we lose them. Most of us have to plan and take time off work to go skydiving, and then it would suck to suddenly stand there with no planes. I'm not on the World Team, but I'm a dedicated bigway formation skydiver and would like to see a new world record. I hope you are airworthy again, BJ, you weren't on some of my best 100-ways.

I LOVE Perris. My favourite place. Great Load organizers and nice, nice, nice facilities. But I'm sure Elsinore is good too, I'm planning a trip there this fall.

Aerodyne Pilot! I've owned 3 in different sizes, and love them.

People who whine about not being invited on jumps instead of actually building skills and experience to get on those jumps. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Open parachute while checking for traffic, check parachute, find suitable landing area, land, while still looking out for traffic, THEN worry about how to get home. I can't pull high with the groups that I'm on, so that's not an option. When I've landed off, I usually just gather up my gear and start walking. Weights and nylon suit and all. Us small RW women are TOUGH! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Perris has many other attractions, like the 3 Twin Otters and Skyvan, pilots who fly formation loads all the time and world class organizers. I don't think they think it's worthwhile spending all the money it costs to get the jet airworthy again, when it's not a useful every day plane. Just what I think, and what I heard.

Many very experienced jumpers don't like how the Pilot lands. It's a personal preference, and if you're used to PD canopies, you might not like the Pilot. My last 350 jumps have been on different sizes of Pilot, and my ZPX Pilot 111 that I have 120 jumps on is by far the best canopy I've ever jumped. There is nothing wrong with how it holds cell pressure and flares. It flares just like my previous pilots, except it's got a little more power because it's smaller and faster. My point is that you don't make a very convincing argument for why ZPX isn't as good as traditional ZP. Several jumpers at TØFSK have Senseis, so you might be able to try one here in Norway. Not as much dive in it as the velo, is what they say, so if you're used to the velo you might prefer that.

Newer Pilots come with uncoated HMA 500, my old Pilot had uncoated HMA 800. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Are you sure those aren't the characteristics of the Sensei compared to what you're used to? Or inexperienced jumpers pounding in without flaring properly? I jump a ZPX Pilot 111 for the last 120 jumps, and it flies and lands EXACTLY like my previous ZP Pilots. No difference whatsoever, except it's faster and packs smaller. I do find that I have to take a little more care in getting it neatly in the bag in order to avoid off heading openings, but that might just be due to the D-bag being too small. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Fear not: Participation in the program is volontary: If you don't take beer from other people's beer cases, then you don't need to buy your own cases.

didn't you jump the Beech 99 ? Nope, we need to fix that. I've got a quite extensive list of jumpships, so I should have the Beech. I might get the chance to jump the DC-3, which would be quite exotic, and some more russian planes would be fun too.

I've jumped at normal DZs over the last 4 years: Antonov AN-28 (russian plane, looks like a TO with a tailgate) Twin Otter (different models, including Super Twin Otter) C-182 C-175 Skylark C-206 Cessna Grand Caravan (an old, ugly, noisy one, and for some reason the pilots would cut the engine for a moment at 4k, which made everyone just put on their helmets and check their gear. Every time.) Pilatus Porter (Several, including the almost factory new G-BYI) Dornier G92 Short Skyvan (Including the PINK ones!) Pac 750 XL Tupolev LET 410 C-130J (Belongs to the king. We love the king!) Bell AS 350 Heli Balloon