danielcroft

The hardest friends to lose are the ones you still like, at least these people are nice enough to remove that barrier for you. Sorry to be adult about it but maybe you could talk to them about it, probably one at a time, and find out what the problem is and how to deal with it. If that doesn't work, there's always the human flesh angle...

Looks like I'll be joining you guys.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sofpidarf/

1. Power 2. Control 3. Safety

LOL - Someone have a chat with you huh? We all say bonehead stuff from time to time. The Ranch is a great place to jump, lots of planes, lots of people. Don't be a wallflower though, you'll get along much better if you reach out to people. Make sure you get a good briefing (when you sign the waiver at manifest, they'll get someone to give you a briefing) and really pay attention because the Ranch really isn't the largest LZ in the world. We agree landing direction in the loading area and repeat on the plane. If you don't hear it, ask.

Oh, right, good point. I had another friend who's visor had that issue. Kirk Verner was out at my DZ for a 4 way camp this past weekend, he has a bunch of holes cut out of his G2 visor around the edges to stop the fogging on opening. I have fogging on opening too but cleared really quick and not a visibility issue for me.

The other issue they had with the G2 was the visor popping open about an inch. Apparently due to a weaker spring in the locking mechanism. I haven't had any major fogging issues or a problem with the visor but I know people who have.

Just because the screen is broken doesn't mean the whole thing is fried. But yes, log.

I'll be jumping Saturday for sure, have the free fly league. Come say hi at least. :)

Step off mate, you really are wrong on this one and making a fool of yourself. Good work by Aviacom.

I think the only universal signal is actually tracking away. I've seen people do a quick wave and then track (I've done that myself). Realistically, your best bet is to follow your dive plan and bail when it's time to bail. If you're jumping with other low timers, don't rely on or feel obligated to give a signal.

I'm looking at getting one but for increased visibility. I don't think I'll ever need to worry about drag enough to need a removable slider...

Well, I swore a lot, I'm sure that helped.

I thought that was the case but I don't see it in the SIM.

An-28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-28

Exactly how I had my first cutaway on jump #12.

I honestly don't care what people call it. The semantics are of little value in the overall discussion about what's possible in freefall. Who invented it and when is really of no concern to me, just as who invented head down and when doesn't really concern me either. The discussion about free fall (it's falling guys, we're not flying) techniques is really interesting and has a lot of value but please stop getting hung up on the names. When I say "Trace" you can substitute "Atmonauti" in its place because they're the same thing to me. The only difference is "Atmonauti" has a bunch of stigma attached to it (in some parts of the world) because of the way it's sold to people as the second coming where as "Tracing" does not. To clarify, I'm just as happy to go on an Atmonauti jump as a Tracing jump because they're the same thing *as far as I'm concerned*.

What a great thread. I lead back tracking jumps and have done some tracing jumps with Francesco (FCipollo) who's a friend of mine. It is different to tracking and it is different to freeflying. As a concept "free flying" can encapsulate everything, including belly (all orientations remember) but the vast majority of people use the term to describe head down, sit and stand. To me, the Atmo crowd spreads a message that sounds like scientology but in reality what they seem to be into is angled flight and for several good reasons. They seem to get sidetracked on convincing everyone of amazing benefits and features of autmonauti and it seems to me that they should be focussing on the main benefit: it's fun. I think as far as the general understanding of freeflying goes, you can be on a head down jump and flip to a sit or a stand without too much trouble, you can't suddenly flip to an angle and expect people to follow along unless you've planned that or talked about it. In a tracing jump you can go head down and it's fine. That says nothing about the definitions of the words at all but more the concepts that people hold in their heads which is really what Francesco is talking about and I understand and agree with him on that. I'm no huge tracing advocate, it's just another fun type of jump that I can do with friends.

Nelson Blue - Wednesday night. Or you could just start jumping with us...

2 reasons: 1. I'm swooping (poorly ) so my speed can make my eyes water sometimes (or maybe I'm crying because my landing sucks again?) 2. Bugs, foreign objects - I don't want them in my eyes while I'm negotiating traffic and trying to land safely. I don't have any issues with the visor changing my vision - I've been riding motorcycles for a while so maybe I got used to a visor. The visor on the G2 is meant to be similar quality to motorcycle visor which means that the visual distortion factor is meant to be very limited.

I have a G2 and a few of my friends do too. Lots of people complain that they fog which they do. Mine doesn't fog in freefall, it does under canopy so I open the visor until I'm in the pattern (well, just before actually). I've had some friends whose G2s have had the visor open about an inch in free fall and in the tunnel. There seems to be a bit of an issue with the mechanism QA process. Mine's never opened on me and I don't think it will (very solid) but I believe Cookie are looking into this problem. For me, the G2 mechanism is totally awesome, very solid and works very well. I tried on the Phantom (haven't jumped it) and thought that the release for the visor (has a quick release) was a really good idea but the mechanism doesn't feel as solid as the G2. The G2 is also very good for visibility and people being able to see your face (unless you have a dark visor like me...) you also get the D3O material in the G2 which is a big plus for me. The G2 is pretty expensive though. I think trying them on is a good idea to see which fits you better. Demoing them (if you can) is even better so that you can get an idea of what each helmet is like. Ultimately, it's a very subjective decision.

I was trained in my coach course to track away at an angle (120deg not 180) and continue to watch the student in this scenario. The reasoning was specifically for an off heading track or any other issues. I plan to follow this procedure if I'm presented with an unresponsive student at break off. Yes, it's harder to give feedback to the student on what's going on but I feel it's a good compromise.

There are plenty of people out in the skydiving community who don't need a coach rating to be able to help new jumpers. There are also plenty of people out there who would be doing these new jumpers a disservice. It amuses me that on one hand we complain about new jumpers not getting the training they need and on the other we disparage the USPA's attempt to add some structure and professionalism to the process. If your DZO signs you off to jump with students, it's fine. If you're a relatively new jumper