TEB6363

Working for the State of CA, it seems like I would have more posts.

Here's another post just trying to get rid of the newbie status.

Un-stow the breaks and keep pressure on the rear risers. This will flatten your glide slope and give you the maximum distance per foot of descent. Remember to try this early and learn the stall characteristics of your canopy.

"I’ve read about toe taps, and haven’t had the inkling to try them out while in free fall, " It is interesting that your instructor did not have you doing toe taps in level III. The video is a good idea and just take the couple of seconds to add the toe taps into your jump. Pretty soon you will start to realize that you do have legs in freefall and they can be a big help.

Bill, There might be a mis-interpretation of what I was trying to say. I do wear a helmet in order to keep myself in the best health and hopefully conscious during FF. However, I see it as a convenience because I get tired of bumps on the head, fat lips, black eyes, and other things that are not life threatening. The difference I was meaning to point out is that a hard enough impact to any helmet may leave you unconscious. In that case the cypress is nice to have (e.g., during the real problems).

I have the 1/2 Protec and it will not wrap around the back of your head as much as the Gath and will feel like it is "lifting up" a little. If you are going for sit/freeflying, you will probably want the full Protec. The Gath is a little more aerodynamic; however, it is more than twice the price.

I keep a vest on-hand to keep up with a fast fall rate when needed. I think the vest feels better than the belt. You should aim for a fall rate that you can still work and not waist all your effort in a max arch. Borrow an 8 lb vest and see what you think. Then try to borrow a 6-10 lb belt and you will soon know which one you feel most comfortable with. The most I ever wore was 15 lbs doing CRW under a 165 main with short lines. In that case, yes the weights did effect the performance and landing of the parachute (it sucked for landing). However, you are going to be a long way off with a medium size sport parachute and only moderate weights.

I have a ProTec to wear in the summer and protect against bumps and minor hits. Mostly from the door or the hand rail. I wear a leather frap hat in the winter to keep my ears warm because there is no need to get sick during the winter months. I just think that head protection is for the convenience. The Cypress is for the real problems.

Lisa, Good to hear from you girl. Thanks for being there while I was getting ready for the AFFCC, you can't beat good gear. Josh was the slow fall, Jess was the fast student and I also jumped with Jeff L. and Jay S. I don't think that any one was especially hard to deal with, they each had different "things" they wanted to see you do/handle with the "student."

As Bill noted, make a bunch of practice jumps. Do attend a pre-course if it is available and jump with the evaluators that will be at the AFFCC. I made about 50 prep jumps before the AFFCC. They were not all AFF practice, some were RW coach dives, some were following/watching real AFF jumps. You don't have to have thousands of jumps, you have to be ready to pass the AFF evaluation jumps. Hey Sab - I thought you were the shit-hot jumper at our AFFCC, at least that is what you told me .