hackish

I'm not at the point of waving before a pull yet. I think that's 2 more steps on the classic progression... I'm kinda anxious to go back and repeat my 20 sec delay to see if I can get a stable exit from the aircraft this time. I've been criticized a lot for wearing shorts so I'm going to bring long pants this time :) -Michael

Yes. I was actually disappointed that I hit it and it returned to 0 because I was going to make a "no time to pull yet" joke. Can anyone recommend for or against that new electronic altitrack? -Michael

Usually when things go wrong for me they go horribly wrong. I did 2 really nice dives to complete my 5 and 10 second freefalls in the classic progression. The altimeter functioned correctly on these 2 jumps. On the 3rd jump I ended up on my back out of the plane, then flipped over and began to spin. When I finally got the spin stopped I checked the altimeter. Said 5000. During my spin I had gone a little head down and I knew there wasn't any time to do the assigned 180 turns so I waited a few seconds and checked the altimeter again. Still said 5000. I stared at it for a second and the needle wasn't moving... however the ground was so I whipped out the PC. My coach tracked away - having just caught up to me but he later said I pulled at the assigned altitude. Good luck I guess. Upon landing my altimeter still said 5000 feet. Without thinking about it I tapped it a few times and it fell back to 0. This was a borrowed altimaster and I think I'd like to buy my own altimeter very very soon... Is this common? Seems like some scary equipment failure to me. -Michael

On the topic of coach ratings I would agree that it is necessary since it goes through the teaching methodology. Or does it? On the topic of paying someone is it not customary to pay for the coach's jump? Isn't that like getting to do a jump for free? Or maybe that isn't enough for the more experienced... -Michael

Caveat emptor. If I were interested in spending $2k of my hard earned money I'd like to think that I did some research to ensure it was being spent well. -Michael

Some people know things from their experience but by making these people coaches and going through the methods of teaching and coaching a student you can give them the procedures for correctly passing on their knowledge. What is obvious to the experienced may need to be explained thoroughly to a student or recent graduate. I think the coach rating is a good idea. -Michael

Is a reserve the sort of thing you really want your rigger to rush on? -Michael

I can take my cam to the DZ and try to get a pic of the situation he demonstrated. With the bridle tucked in very tightly I was able to life the entire rig up by the PC and the pin stayed in the closing loop. -Michael

Aha, right you are. I assumed since they called this progressive training and I knew what AFF is then what was doing was called PFF. You are correct - I started with IAD and have worked up to a 5 second delay. -Michael

The guy teaching me to pack is Andre Lemaire and he's been in the sport for a lot of years. I trust his judgement and he's very thorough. The thing I find interesting is that such a big problem can be caused by such an easy to overlook problem. A number of others had "showed" me how to check the gear and how they packed their stuff but nobody had ever mentioned this. I wonder if a modification such as sewing in a 1/2" piece of elastic material could make such a problem less likely. On just about every rig I've seen the velcro is falling apart. -Michael

Yeah there is a dick down there somewhere but he runs and hides from the cold prop blast :P One of the other instructors suggested wearing pants instead of shorts but that didn't seem to help the arch. Previously I was doing hanging exits and although they were mediocre they did get me to the 5 second delay part. My instructor may allow me to return to this type of exit next week. -Michael

I'm sure my instructor is frustrated too as he's offered all these suggestions and more. On my first 5 second delay he had me do a different exit (C182) I was to move forward and then go backward from the step. When I let go I forgot to look at the plane. Looking at the ground I did a complete and perfect front flip. Soon as I realised what was happening I forced myself to arch. I somehow screwed up my count and when I reached 5 I'd finally become stable. This displeased the instructor and rightly so as I had compromised pulling in favour of getting stable first. He said he counted 10 seconds before the opening. I was still open by 3400 but still not acceptable to move on. The previous week I had spent a lot of time practising the arch in front of the mirror. I'd arch looking up then reach and pull. So on my second try I focused on looking up. Unfortunately this triggered a bit of muscle memory and I did the arch reach pull thing. Soon as that happened I looked over at my hand thinking "oh crap I wasn't supposed to pull that out". After maybe 1 second like that I was like oh well f-it and tossed the PC to the air. At least it gave me lots of time to practise flat turns and such under canopy as I was open at 4000. This too was very much to the dislike of my instructor as he said he saw the bridle coming out and it could have becomg entangled in my arm. The instructor also observed me on my back facing the plane as I let go of the PC. Good thing these parachutes are reliable... I do feel very much like if there were sufficient time I'd be able to adjust myself and find the stable arch. Fortunately I've been fairly symmetrical and have never had problems turning or spinning in the air. (accidental forward flips and backward flips on exit excepted). The instructor feels that it's too dangerous to have a longer delay if I'm not stable within the first few seconds. He has the experience and I don't. Suggestions made to me so far... clench my ass cheeks. (sounds gay) act like I'm in mid-air-hump look at the airplane (that must be how I ended up on my back last jump) Point my toes to keep my legs from peddling This evening I spent about an hour watching solo videos posted on the nouvel air and guys with 7 jumps seem to hop out and get stable right away - albeit they're doing front flips out of a larger twin prop plane. -Michael

I'm still having problems arching on my 5 second delay. Had to repeat it twice so far and still haven't passed. My problem seems to be an unstable exit from the plane and not enough time to regain stability. From what I've heard the AFF people seem to have problems with the lower jumps but not the higher ones since there is lots of time. The IAD for me went OK but I still had problems with arching properly. Someone has suggested that I go find a DZ with AFF and just do one AFF jump to see if I can get things figured out that way then continue my PFF. From what I can gather from the old-timers it's just one of those things few people have naturally but damn-it this is getting frustrating. -Michael

At my DZ in Quebec, Canada they occasionally do a January jump, but normally the DZ shuts down in October or November... Someone told me that I'd need a C license to do a winter jump. I don't quite know why but since I'm not even solo yet it's still a way off. -Michael

I'm not so up to date on American laws but from what I know it's really the USPA that needs to do something about the misuse of their name. From there injunctions can be filed to prevent skyride from making the association with their name. -Michael

I've been progressing through my packing course. My instructor has been in the sport for many years and has a lot of experience. He has pointed out a few things to me about packing a chute - main thing I found surprising is that if you pack the bridle (on the bag side) under the closing flap so it's doesn't have any slack for the pin to loop around and come out of the closing loop then you can end up with a malfunction. He demonstrated it to me and it does make sense. That is also why many bridles have velcro on themselves or on the top flap. It seems to me that someone not well instructed could easily miss something like this. Common problem or not? Is it just a low probability that it will cause a mal? I guess I'll add that to my equipment checking routine. Comments? -Michael

I flew an eclipse all the way down and it wasn't hard. How do they compare with required toggle pressure? I'll see how the risers go this weekend if the instructor says yes. -Michael

Thanks for the extra info. After reading an article on canopy control I'm chomping at the bit to try the flat turns and such while I'm still at altitude. Something I don't quite get is all these people going on about how hard tandem toggles are and how hard this and that will be on your muscles. I'm not in perfect shape by any means but I have yet to find these hard to move toggles or difficult to manipulate parts. Perhaps it's the equipment? -Michael

With 285' of canopy and probably a 220lb exit weight (I'm flying a 9 cell student rig) I sort of expected that the results would be somewhat equipment specific. If my instructor has no canopy tasks for me this weekend I'll ask him if I can try playing with the rear risers a little. Those of you with lots of canopy experience do you think a beginner would even notice the difference between pulling the rears and using the brakes? I mean is it just a very subtle difference? -Michael

Maybe I'm a minority but my swimming is very borderline. I can swim very well underwater but as soon as my head is above the water and my feet are unable to touch the time before I drown is counting down very quickly. Call it a phobia or whatever and I've been trying to work on it but it's unlikely that I'd be able to swim 50' before drowning. How does someone in my situation eventually qualify for the higher licenses that require a water landing??? -Michael

That depends entirely on whether you're in France or quebec. Here it is pronounced mard (technically I think it's spelled marde). Back on topic, does anyone have detailed photos or diagrams of the skyhook system? I tried googling it and the best I could find was a wiki entry but it had no visual details. -Michael

Please do tell more! The thought of being blown over water scares the hell out of me as I'm a non-swimmer. Fortunately there isn't much water around my DZ... Landing 2 miles out at sea! How did you get home? -Michael

I've been following this thread a little educating myself about it. The skyhook system looks like a lot of extra stuff on the rig - all the same when I get to the point of buying equipment I think I will go that route. PS: MARD in french means "shit". -Michael

I read that most canopies, especially student gear is "detuned" to a more agressive slope to make them more difficult to stall. I've also read that flying with 1/4 brakes can also improve your glide distance. I'm wondering if pulling slightly on the rear risers would allow a more efficient glide than using brakes as in theory it should allow a more shallow glide without adding the wind resistance of the brakes. Or do the brakes make the airfoil slightly "fatter" for a more lift efficient wing? What would be more efficient? -Michael

If this sort of thing is not acceptable and poses a safety risk I wonder if the people at the DZ should be at your throat for talking about it or should they accept that in fact something improper or unsafe was done and that they may have gotten THEMSELVES in trouble doing it? -Michael