heavydude

I think you may need a bigger rig. When I did AFF at Perris I used a Nav280 to start and an MC4 container, and at the time I was at 230 LB. I am thinking that an MC4 and a small tandem chute would be better for you. When you are starting AFF you want a real slow landing canopy as that will be a handful. After the first couple of jumps you can go to the 300 in my opinion. My first AFF jumps I had standup landings which were nice, followed by many PLFs. When I started solo jumps I went to a Triathlon 260, even that in no wind landings was fast ! Take advantage of the biggest canopy that you can. 200 jumps later I am glad I was very conservative in canopy size. As a larger person I think it is really good to master the PLF. Allot of people comment that you should just lose weight, we know how that works,,, at my lightest I was doing Triathlons and half marathons at 225 Lbs. Good luck and remember Skydiving is all about having fun and being safe, all you gottat do is survive the landings. Oh and by the way get a jumpsuit designed for your mass, it will make a real difference in your fall rate. If you can go to a wind tunnel to practise falling slow. I really felt sorry for my AFF instructors having to wear big weight belts, yours will too ! Of course Im not an Instructor so its just an opinion.

Real similar to other commercial operations such as Dive Boats in terms of dealing with crazy customers, liability issues etc. I can only imagine it must be stressfull to run a DZ. I for one are really grateful to DZOs in Southern California for providing the service and variety of facilities. I havnt jumped outside of California much,but I know some states have very few Drop Zones.

Get a Paragear and a Square One catalog, you can compare features real easy on stuff.

From the looks of the video that dude is a real experienced Paraglider pilot. I looked into the training process at Torrey pines and techniques are considerably above what a skydiver learns in terms of launching, etc. I am going to take the paragliding lessons eventually when I get the cash !

OOPs sorry, read that latest rig is using a drouge, should have read all the posts !

What about breaking altitude record but falling slower w/ a drogue chute like a tandem ? That 600 mph sounds scary !

I would still go to it but it would still take me a while to get there. I still want to get to that Mariners Museum in Va that has the Monitor artifacts(dove on the monitor several times) and Chris Craft collection. I like all kinds of old stuff.

I feel better after reading this that other people use B-12s, I thought I was the only person out there with a rig, Javelin that still had them. I dont know about others but I always check em with my fingers, in the plane several times... Im extra paranoid.

Sounds neat but.... dont you think it would make more sense having something like this at a major drop zone where at least you have a steady stream of interested vistors... Perris, Deland, Etc ? I dont know much about Va but other than USPA HQ is there much jumping there ? I dont think many people outside of skydiving are really interested about its History. As an example the only Scuba/Deep Sea diving museums are in FL Keys, areas that have dive populations. EAA at Oshkosh would also be a good location...

The FAA rigger manual(availible free online from FAA) has a similar procedure. Also has procedure on treating container with scotchgard. Did this on a used Racer that I bought as a backup rig.

Mechanical Engineer, work on variety of Life Support stuff. I think Skymama is cute.

Why would anyone jump from a perfectly good airplane? The only obvious answer.... Hot Chicks dig skydivers, saw that on TV too.

Brand new parichutes for every DZ.commer ! Dreamin !

simple one from U2-rattle &hum "Rock and Roll stops the traffic"

What I really hate about ebay: find weird cool old shit that only I would bid on....next thing some joker bids 4X my max. If I only was rich. Can get some good deals though..sometimes

Im curious because Im about ready to order a new main; How does dacron compare in # of jumps. I have read lots of threads about more elongation/better for heavy jumpers. My old main has dacron, but its trashed.

I am real similar to your profile; when I got off student status at perris I went from Nav 280 to Triathlon 260. Triathlon 260 is a nice chute, always opens nice. I also use a PD253 as a reserve chute. As a old dude I am not really worried about downsizing, just keeping knees from wearing out during ocassional crappy landing.

I would rigger roll the canopies for storage w/ harness disconnected. Canopies folded loose in a big bag to keep bugs, debri away. Reserves dont take a set like mains but if your past a repack cycle it may be better rigger rolled also. I store canopies this way I am not using with bags inside a plastic box for additional protection. Cool area storage is good as well as placing all stuff in a big Pelican box.

I took the kids for some time a year ago and they loved it. (ages 9&10) Would do it some more but it cuts deep into the recreational fund. Problem is that skydiving even in a tunnel is expensive.... I will do it again but probably not on a regular basis. I need a new main and stuff, etc, etc,. However when they are 18 and if they are motivated (and can prove motivation by hard physical labor) I will gladly pay for FJC and tunnel time>

I havnt really seen any of that in the CA dropzones I visit. As far as instructors I may have been really lucky but I have not ever ran into a drunk or doped one during daytime hours. I dont think at the major drop zones you could ever get away with it. Tandem customers seem to be the worse ones for drinking...then they dont get to jump. Also its a image thing like surfers, etc..... you always drank more than ever before..right before surfing the hugest wave.....lots of fish stories.

I am not complaining but mine took about 2 months after I renewed. The reason I remember was I was getting desperate for Skydiving reading after demise of "Skydiving" magazine. I really miss lunchtime with that.

Saw some of those at the Square 1 in Perris before, dont know if they still have them or not now....

When I was taught to pack we used a ceiling hook while learning like many places do w/ tandem rigs. Works real good with large canopies, just hang a hook from whatever you find, packing shed ceiling, etc. Fairly easy transition later to regular propack over the shoulder deal.

Made one jump with my glasses, next 99 with contacts. Never had a problem jumping with contacts but I prefer glasses for office work during the week.

Theres more stuff on that movie on Skydivingmovies.com including a making of movie which is hilarious; wingsuit w/ metal rods, one bad landing and yur a shikobobee. Thank god for those french guys inventing the ram air canopy.