dayle

I have been licensed in both sports for over 10 years - however I do hvae much more experience skydiving then diving. I have always maintained the Scuba is far more dangerous then skydiving. In general - the only time that you get hurt skydiving is when you impact the ground - with or without a parachute. I can always breath while jumping. With diving there are far more hazzards - the most obvious is breathing, but there is decompression sickness (bends) air embolisms, getting snagged in a wreck etc etc. The last and biggest point IMHO is wildlife. In the ocean there are so many types of animals that can cause you harm and you don't have that exposure in skydiving. As I've said to some of my scuba buddies - there is nothing in the air that is going to eat me. Dayle

I saw the post about you flying a 135 Stiletto at 140 jumps and just wanted to say I don't see a problem with that - but realize you have increased the danger factor. I started jumping my 135 Stiletto at 40 jumps - yes 40 jumps and I never hurt myself on it. I always did a basic landing pattern and came straight it. I found the additional flare power of the Stiletto awesome. FYI I was loading it at around 1.1. I kept this canopy and didn't even start doing carving turns to land until I had another 400 jumps. I may have just been "lucky" but I don't think so. It's just common sense and remembering two main points - DONT TURN LOW & STUFF HAPPENS FASTER. If you made a mistake in your set up, you need to realize that at 3 or 4 hundred feet, not 50 and try to correct. You have to do what you are comfortable with and make sure to take and listen to the advice of the experienced canopy pilots around where you jump. If they tell you that you are going to hurt yourself, you better listen. Blue ones!

My copy of the original festival has been borrowed/walked away. I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get another copy as I really miss a number of the shorts. Thanks,

I don't think it's politically incorrect to say go to Burnaby. It takes a little longer, and I am a little biased as it is my home DZ. However for a first time experience the scenery is unbeatable - being on the shore of lake Erie and I personally love the twin otter we have. Burnaby also has the ability if necessarry to jump up to 5 tandems at a time - all with video so even on a busy day - we have the lift capacity. Go to www.skydiveburnaby.com for pictures. Enjoy

These numbers are gonna kill your guys. 14K - twin otter $33.00 Canadian 5.5K - twin otter hop & pop $26.50 11K - 182 Cessna $29.00 (i think) 4.5K - 182 Cessna $21.00 or $22.00 2.5K - 182 Cessna $19.00 (i think) we have alot of extra tax on our fuel here. Dayle

In order to swoop, start with the basics and start high. I really recomend some sort of canopy control course. Brian's book is an amazing resource that backs up his course but if you can't make it to the course its still worth while reading. Barring that, if you start high, practice your 90's. Look at your alti and see how much altitude you are losing. Do the same with 180's and 270's. Learn the differences as you shift your weight. Do all these things at altitude. (high hop and pops) When you learn the altitudes, start coming straight in on double fronts. Than move up the degree of turn. I don't think you should worry so much about your accuracy at this point. Concentrate on your Initialization point. For ex, for a 90 front riser, say you figured out you want to start from 200 feet. Do your standard left pattern, leave lots of space on your final leg and when you hit 200 (and have clear space below you) do the riser turn. Always remember to leave yourself an out, you can always stop the turn and stop the dive. Most of all, hopefully you are at a DZ where there are competent swoopers who can guide you. Listen to them. I cannot stress enough the importance of taking proper instruction. Go see Brian Germain, or Scott Miller. Your body will thank you for it. You will f*&% up while swooping, the information you get from the course can mean the difference between a bruise/sprain and the hospital/morgue. I know Brian's course has saved my ass on more than one occasion. good luck

Brento completed the competition, and the chow really wasn't THAT hard, it looked alot worse than it was. (as it usually does, LOL) and yes, John is still doing his 270's

Hey all, my canopy got dunked in the pond and is now smelling a little funky, partly because due to competition, I continued to jump it and didn't clean it right away. So the question is, does anyone have any sugestions as to what I can do to 1) wash the canopy or 2) get rid of the smell. I tried rinsing it with fresh water which helped a little but the smell is still there. Thanks,

Same as a "license". CoP stands for "certificate of proficiency" When I went to the US, (and had my A) I had no problems getting on big ways etc. It does depend on your skill level and ability. Just because the boss doesn't stop you from joining a dive, you should be able to determine yourself if it's over your head or not. Dayle

Hi Brian, when you come up to Burnaby(Ontario/Canada) are you just doing the basic flight course. (Great course, I took the first one you did here) I'm curious, I was thinking of taking the course again but I think at this point I'd be better off taking your advanced course. Thanks and Blue Skies! Dayle

Well, I think my one of my favourite videos is an oldie but a goodie. Get Good Stuff, no question the best all around skydiving video. IMHO. dayle

I have heard a story and I'm sure it just can't be true of a pilot who was flying a twin otter, left the controls, walked to the back of the plane and closed the door. Now I'm sure no self respecting pilot would take this kind of a chance, it must be just idle gossip. Dayle

I saw that too as I was flicking around, it was the only thing that caught my attention. that and she was hot! Anyone know who it was?

As usual Brian a great and informative post! Thanks for posting, it may save someones ass one day! And by the way, your course already saved my ass once! (or should I say my tib/fib, lol) Dayle

Hello Anvar, welcome back to the sport! I personally jump at Skydive Burnaby which is located near Pt. Colbourne. We have a full time otter in the summer which usually arrives in May and leaves in October. Although jumping is pretty much over for the year I'm sure you can contact them and ask what would be required to get current again. Gananoque is NOT an hour away from Toronto, however there are a number of DZ's in the area. Skydive Niagara (dunnville) Skydive Swoop(hamilton) Skydive Toronto (alliston, I think) and there are one or two others. Skydive Niagara has a King air, all others as far as I know are Cessna DZ's. Check them out come April and talk with the instructors. They should be able to put together some sort of hybrid recurrency for you to make sure you are safe coming back to the air. Dayle