MikeTJumps

When your right hand goes to full extension with the cutaway handle in it, the left hand should follow with the reserve handle in it. That will be ample time unless there is a failure of one of the 3-ring mechanisms. Also remember that altitude AGL can allow you a time delay if you need it for stability but putting your feet on your but may help you slide down away from the main during the cutaway. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

I wear a PROTEC helmet. If you've ever gone over backwards when the ground crew couldn't be there to catch you on high wind days, you know that you'll need good protection. My helmet has kept me safe many a time. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Now that is hillarious! Of course, when dreaming and falling out of bed, I have been "Pulling" for deployment. That's when you know it is so totally ingrained in your being that it is automatic. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

That is an impressive first. I trust you all bought beer for it. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Happy Birthday to Linda! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

In answer to your second question, Gosh...its 25 plus years now and I could never think of going back to being normal! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

It is an all consuming passion that will take up most of your spare cash, spare time, and decrease your desire to do anything else! I've been at it for 25 plus years and I still can't get enough

Gig 'Em Aggies! You have a great wide-open DZ. Enjoy yourself there! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

1-when do you pull yourself from a load? When the weather looks like it will not allow a jump to be done within the parameters of the FARs. 2 What are your reasons? SAFETY!!! and the BIG QUESTION is 3if you are in the plane and you get a report of ground winds that you think may be too much, do you ride the plane down? You bet your sweet ass I do, and I've never regretted doing that too! 4-how much is too much? Anything gusting over 25 mph. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Every jump that you come down from with a smile on your face and having learned something, along with walking away from the landing area, is a GREAT jump. Even a bad day of jumping beats out a good day at the office! Welcome to our world! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

If you don't find the Spanish translation on Amazon.com, check with www.parapublishing.com, I imagine that Dan Poynter would have a few copies in Spanish around his office. Mike Turoff

Welcome to our world! You will enjoy yourself tremdnously in learning skydiving. FYI, the book listed in my signature was translated into Spanish many years ago, but by the look of your sentence structure, you can read English just as well as us natives. Your library should have copies of skydiving texts available for you to learn from prior to your courses. Avail yourself of all of the information you can get hold of! Enjoy! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Welcome to our world! You're now a part of it. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Educate yourself further in the sport by reading the texts commonly available. Get back with an instructor when you are ready and that person will help you overcome your fears. We all have them at one time or another! You're just one of us. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

You can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge of our sport by looking at the available introductory texts into the sport. Those are advertised many places. Go to your library and check under the subject heading "Skydiving" and you will find them. Your local skydiving center should also have books in their sale case. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

One sprained ankle from a stupid turn under a StarLite round, one dislocated toe from a Tandem student stepping hard on my foot during landing, and one sore knee (stressed ligaments) from trying to stop a Tandem student from falling down. Not bad for 25.7 years in the sport. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

The ISP is a block diagramed roadmap of pathways through all of the USPA's training programs with the goal of training you to be a safe, self-sufficient skydiver. There are four generic starting points: Tandem, Static Line, Instructor Assisted Deployment, and Accelerated Freefall. There are also several hybrid programs which is what the ISP was designed to accomodate. Regardless of what path you choose, all are generally safe when done with proper equipment and proper supervision. There are many resources available to you such as books, the USPA website (www.uspa.org), and knowlegable members of the instructional community. The choice of how to proceed is up to you and your wallet or credit limit. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

I'll sign that. This in and out fast business is ridiculous. Of course, so are the huge costs associated with anyone who has insurance. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

NO! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Good God! Are you trying to rupture your sinuses? Don't jump unless you are in good health! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Yes, despite the actuarial calculations, I agree that all of the unknowns in driving on the roads far outweigh the risks involved in our sport. Any moron can get a driver's license, and for that matter, unlicensed uninsured drivers are rampant. One of my co-workers just got her car back from the shop after it had been hit by such a person. Camaros don't take well to being hit by things. This was the third time her car was wrecked by such a type. Now if she took up skydiving....she would have less risks in the air but the same amount on the ground! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Good for you!!! I started picking up trash and packing. Now, 25 plus years later, I'm still involved as an instructor examiner, a jump pilot, and a book author! Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Yes, our sport is wonderfully addictive. I've been in it more than 25 years and I am still going hard. I refused to join "Skydiver's Anonymous" as I don't ever want to put my parachute away forever. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Long long ago, I was a graduate student in Analytical Chemistry at the Univ. of Houston. In the midst of studying for my Ph.D., I took up skydiving and found something far more rewarding than studying and research. I worked 5.5 years towards getting a Ph.D. but politics and priorities being what they were, I just couldn't please the powers that be to award me that degree. When one of the professors that liked me saw what happened, he asked me to work for him for a year or two and he would make sure I got my Ph.D. I told him something on the order of, "Y'know, I've worked hard on this for 5.5 years, and if the committee doesn't feel that what I've done is good enough, then I think they have their priorities wrong. I've got something more important to do with my life than be a perrenial student, an indentured research servant. I've got a life outside of the lab and a future to pursue. I've had enough of the education circus and I'm going to get on with doing things that are important to me." As such, I took a masters degree for my 5.5 years of effort and became an Instructor Examiner in our sport. That, by the way, has been far more satisfying to me than any Ph.D. would have been. Mike Turoff Instructor Examiner, USPA Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

Congratulations! Now go to a library and grab a copy of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook and/or JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy to learn more about our sport/passion.