siddacious

Wow, very nice. The shot "thomas500th-Kopie.jpg " could be a contest winner. Agreed. That picture is frackin' sweet! A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Welcome to DZ.com, the illustrious sport of skydiving, and the NorCal skydiving community! A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Being a responsible family man is overrated. If you want to keep skydiving for the rest of your life, why not? Plus with modern medical advances extending life expectancy, no reason why you gotta have kids at 30ish. To answer the question you did as, as opposed to lecturing you on life choices, not going broke while skydiving is twofold. I'm largely echoing what Skymama said: Save money by buying used wherever possible. There is safe used gear available for just about everything you'll need. Getting a custom suit is a fair place to spend a little extra money to be sure that it is of the correct size and type to suit(har har) your body and fallrate. Having an appropriate suit is KEY and will keep you from beating yourself up about 'going low' and 'being floaty', and will allow you to enjoy participating in the skydive rather than worring about your fallrate (read: I ran into this problem and a borrowed suit had a magical effect on my skydiving. PM me if you want more details on this subject) Other than cutting costs with used gear, saving money outside of skydiving helps. Cook at home. Take lunch to work. Drive less. Rent movies instead of going out to them. Keep in mind that if you spend 20 bucks a day on food eating out, thats 600ish bucks a month! Also, coming up with some extra income can help. Get a part time job in the evening, or learn how to pack and make some extra money at the DZ. Participate in medical experiments. Sell your precious bodily fluids. Whatever. Where there is a will, there is a way. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Congratulations, and welcome to the NorCal skydiving community! Davis is a great DZ; lots of cool people there. By all means participate in the 4-way scrambles when they come around next (I think 8-way is next month). They're a great learning experience. Also feel free to visit us in Byron (Bay Area Skydiving) if you get a chance. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Hey Ben, I read that article a while back and wanted to say "thanks!" It's been quite helpful 'bigger picture' to go along with the excellent airspeed articles. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

When thinking about downsizing, you might also consider things other than your landings, such as how you're doing with accuracy, getting back from long spots, and landing in strange wind conditions (no wind, cross wind, down wind). You should have a firm grip on these things before downsizing, as well as other important maneuvers such as flare turns and flat turns. FWIW, you're about 100 jumps shy of the recommended experience for a 1.2 wing loading. Feel free to weigh this against your and other people's honest assessment of your canopy skills. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Warm up techniques and drills are useful. I still use one I learned from a Kirk Hammett article in GW to this day. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I stand corrected, however your attempt to be snarky("That's very basic") is not appreciated. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Mine went relatively well. It was my first jump from the Cessna, so climbing onto the step was a bit nerve wracking, as was getting out so low. Went well though. 5 second delay (longest 5 seconds EVER) and an uneventful deployment. Good times. Reading this thread has made me think I should start doing more HnP's. When I do them I usually do them from 14k; never done them low from the King Air. I'll have to give 'em a try. Need to work on my accuracy for my C license anyways. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

your firm adhesion to the literal definition of the word 'suspended' despite that clearly not being what is discussed is what I mean why I say you're being glib. This straw man BS about a balloon is a bit glib as well, as evidenced by your use of a smiley. I'm not sure I agree with this. Sure, a dragon canopy would probably be shite for swooping, but I'm sure you could make one that could return one safely to the ground. The forces that keep kites aloft are the same ones that keep us from falling out of the sky. The only difference is scale. I must be missing some point you're trying to make. There is nothing wrong with not understanding something. Feel bad or be annoyed when you stop asking questions. Wrong. You're contradicting yourself: First you say canopies need forward motion to create lift. Then you say they can create lift (pick you up off the ground while kiting) if there are winds high enough. While flying a kite, box, dragon shaped, parafoil or whatever, you the human standing on the ground are doing the same thing to the structure of the kite as a parachutist hanging in his harness does to his canopy. This force, acting against the lift created by the kite keeps it in the air. This is the same thing as suspended weight. The fact that you're not hanging from the kite does not change that. Were the kite big enough, the forces generated by the wind would overcome your weight and you would be literally suspended. You tell me! You're the one who seems to think that the basic mechanics involved in both are drastically different. Perhaps my above explanation will help. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Ummm.... if you were suspended, nothing would keep the kite from flying away That's the point. Since you aren't suspended, the kite can't fly away. You're anchoring the kite. In other words, the kite is suspended from you, not the other way around. I disagree. If you were to kite a skydiving canopy, with your feet never leaving the ground do you suddenly become something different? You are still the suspended weight, regardless of weather or not the kite or canopy is holding you off of the ground. My point exactly. I think Ms. Labrys is either being intentionally glib or doesn't fully understand the mechanics involved. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

If you are not 'suspended', what is keeping the kite from flying away? A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I'm currently "meh" about the risers on my wings. The top toggle stow tab isn't stitched all the way down to the grommet, so it seems like it's developing a bit of a set where the toggle goes through the cats eye. I originally disliked the tight elastic stow, until a brilliant local rigger pointed out a trick to stow the excess. Simply stow the excess before inserting the bottom toggle keeper, so that the riser remains flexible enough to bend lengthwise creating slack in the elastic. Once he pointed this out, I liked the stowing method more than others because it seems more secure. Infinity risers are generally well regarded from what I've heard. They seem well made, and have an interesting toggle where the keeper tabs are just a piece of the toggle webbing doubled up and folded, so that when you remove the toggles from the stows, the keepers disappear, I believe to keep stuff from getting snagged on them. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Nice! *shakes fist at rain* A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

They should get them up and running and have a demolition derby! A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

12k(ish) hop&pops are great! I always do one for my first jump on a new canopy, when I've re-attached my risers, or just feel like getting some canopy practice. I don't see others at my DZ doing them much though. I love getting myself all stowed away, pointing away from jump run, and just cruising for a minute or two, checking out the scenery. Then I go into "let's see what this baby can do" mode. Good times! In fact, talking about this makes me want to do another. High H&P's are an excellent time to try stalling your canopy, as well. Doing so with mine gave me a lot more confidence in the slow flight capabilities of my canopy. Have fun, and if you're every at Byron, find me and I'll jump with you. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I'll be using a recient bonus to help finance a new canopy. I"m thinking Safire 2 169. That or buy a friend's Saber2 170. I'm also looking at getting another michigan suits RW suit and perhaps a freefly suit for good measure. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I ran into the prices at Perris a few weekends ago. Pricey, however they have excellent facilities. My Local DZ went up to $22 to 14k $12 for a hop&pop. On the up side, they've recently purchased 4 new rigs for the DZ. With the increase in gas prices, I wasn't surprised at all by the increase, nor do I mind all that much. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Ive got an Optima in my helmet and a Neptune on my hand. Love them both. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I believe we are in agreement. Left turn == left leg out and up and right knee down and out. Isn't that what I said? edit: Ok, I said up and out for the knee, but it's all relative, isn't it? A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I would work on giving it more legs on your turns. Extend the leg for the direction you want to turn (left leg to turn left) and bring the other knee up and out to the side. This makes for more centered turns which are invaluable for staying in your slot. Otherwise, not a shabby job. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

Watch out Eliana Rodriguez! A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

lol! I just laughed my ass off. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I've enjoyed the times I've flown in the Skydance PAC, and from what I hear it's pretty cheap to run. Ray Farrell should be able to point you to one. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.

I'll be sure to check you guys out if I'm ever in the area. A dolor netus non dui aliquet, sagittis felis sodales, dolor sociis mauris, vel eu libero cras. Interdum at. Eget habitasse elementum est.