orbitjunkie

I agree with LO you need to jump with more expierienced skydivers. find some friends with over 200 or so and do some 2 3 4 ways. Remember this when you have 1000 jumps and promote the more exp jumpers helping out others

ok folks I think it is time to set some things straight. First..I started this thread to get some facts and ideas about the the crossfire and the wingloading and have appreciated some of the RATIONAL comments on the canopy/exp level. I am not mr canopy expert but I felt this situation was into the high risk area. second Iwas in no way shape manner or form trying to personnaly attack an individual merely address a situation third our DZ is not unsafe.. and neither is mr bryant! just because nothing was said right off the bat doesn't mean anything. any of us go go out and get an hp canopy and get a few jumps on it before any questions came up. nothing was said before this forum because the situation was not in the light. once in the light I think we all arrived at a fine safe INFORMED decision. lets put a couple hundred more jumps under our belt then tackle the hp decision. I did compliment mr bryant on a fine landing 'hey man good landing what ya got there?..'now I am a coach so when I got the response a red flag went up in my head..uh oh I started this forum to help you (mr bryant) arrive at your own..RATIONAL decision..which you did and denotes maturity. a note on myself here..I work offshore and spend 3 to 5 weeks out at any one time and then a partial weekend in..so I raised the "red flag" at the instant I had knowledge of this. This makes it a SAFE DZ we WE ARE WATCHING. Lastly I have 700+ jumps and fly a Diablo 150 @ 1.34 with about 100 jumps on it (would like to know what you guru's think of that wing loading) I feel that that is about an average progression. I am smart enough to I am too old and slow a learner to fly the crossfire 129 right now perhaps one day, but for now lets master the canopies we have (and 100 jumps is not enough) and when we have done that..then move down, but move down with the skills, knowledge and attitude required to acheive the next level Incidently I recently aquired a coupla pd 190's and have a few jumps on them each. you'd be suprised how difficult it is to go from 150 tapered 7 cell zp to 190 f111 9 cell..I have a long way to go to master the pd 190 Orbitjunkie

ok guys I have a friend who is 195 out the door with a whopping 150 jumps under his belt who is now on an icarus crossfire 129 I am no canopy guru but am concerned..what do ya'll think?

Hey Folks, I just talked to Leanne and I heard a couple people out there are without vehicles. When I go offshore, which may be soon, my van will sit in a parking lot for a long time ( 3 wks min ) so if anyone needs it all ya gotta do is let me know and be willing to drop me off at the heliport/port I go out and pick me up when I come back in. Craig

Diane Berkshire is from slidell she is unknown..Kevin Zeller and family are in Baton rouge they are fine and house has moderate dammage

Laurel you can add me to the homeless list and I suspect there is a lot more of us that are just now being able to contact ya...Laurel you are 1 class A lady every time there is some sort of crisis you keep us together in the know on dz.com Craig C

Dear addict, What you percieve as negitivity is not. Listen to these people that are giving you great advice. And listen to mine. I was about your age when I ran off and joined the army..a bit younger but who's counting. so I understand your zeal.I went airborne for the first few years but I did not start skydiving till I was 35. You will be a better skydiver than I can ever hope to be. you have the eyes, ears and reflexes etc. etc. Skydiving will always be there, you will always be a skydiver, but the choices you make now will affect your finances for life. use these peak years to make your mark, skydive every weekend if ya can, but focus on a future. skydivers are poor enough because of thier addiction, so get back in school, work harder and keep your eye on the prize orbit

Ron so you edify me dude..if you think I am going to fast what do you think about the others. I was trying to say that it takes alot to really max a canopy if you tell me it is more than I think then i will listen and take your advice and I will be here along time. Edited for PA. Consider this the one warning.

I have to agree with Bill, the fact is that swooping and flying smaller canopies is "cool" and everyone wants to look cool. But it is a dangerous trend, and I hate to say it but I see it mostly in the younger age groups.I started skydiving at 36 so by then knew I was not invincible. I am a low timer myself with 260 jumps and jump a semi elip at 1:1 and am still capable of making a mistake and getting a good whack. I am not a slow learner either, at least average or better. Yet I see alot of jumpers with less jumps than me flying smaller canopies, and trying high performance stuff when they have not mastered all of the basics. I have more than 200 jumps on my canopy and am just now really learning how to max it out and still land safely ( and still whack ocassionally) the last 50 or so jumps I have been litterly trying to wear my canopy out and have figured out almost all of it's characteristics and extremes. Flat turns, riser dives, brakes the whole nine yards..this is what we (you guys) should be teaching us to master before we get on something that a comman mistake..which we all make..becomes lethal Craig

Reg, I love the night jumps..my last one was at eoly @ midnight dec 31 out of the DC 3. That was one way cool jump. the best part was the entire new years eve party, about 400 skydivers, lined the landing area and cheered as each skydiver landed. Then still geared up me and my buddy poped our champagne and ploped on top our chute to kill the wine. Don't be too concerned about the new DZ..it is mandantory to have a briefing from the S&TA. They should discuss lighting of the Dz and some sort of spotting/guiding lights. They will also probably pull cars out to the landing area if necessary. Do ensure you walk the landing area with no lights on to try to identify landmakes such as lit bridges, and towers etc so you can use them to gauge your location if you cannot spot the dz after opening. on the ride up..ask the pilot to make a tight circular climb and keep your eyes on the dz as much as possible..this will help greatly. and lastly have a great time Craig

hey Gus, consider yourself lucky, 90% of my skydiving dreams involve some sort of malfunction. Usually though they involve some sort of mal that cannot actually occur..like my parachute actually flying upside down. Or a streamer which I am able to safely land; wierd stuff like that. I understand your dreams could easily be related to your weekend and I think that is a normal reaction. Wonder whats going on in my head? craig

well, looks like this forum got back on the funny note. Glad to see that. Geez jen relax Funny story mfrese. craig

Emerald coast skydiving center in alabama does this on a regular basis from what they have told me ( I have not actually seen it) might wanna give them a call to find out what kind of equipment they use and how. And I do not think you asked a stupid question. There were some really good answers on here as to why it should not be tried and that is the purpose of this forum. it allows us to learn without the ouch! I personally have never consider doing this and now never will thanx gang craig

welcome to the forums..starting so young thats cool where did ya jump? what are your plans? craig

Degenerative?..as in degenerative dick disease oops I meant disk..ha ha gonna leave that there though so you guys can laugh. Well welcome back to skydiving. I would like to hear more about your back if it is DDD cause it runs in my family craig