pateverson

Very misleading information about the Vigil. The author implies that Vigils take the exit altitude, calculate a time that it expects you to reach activation altitude and then will fire at that time. The website talks about how it takes a time measurement, but it's recalculated 8 times per second. In practice, that's essentially no different than every other AAD since it is measuring your speed constantly based on changing air pressure, directly in opposition to the statement that the Vigil is "unlike its competitors." This description in the article leads me to question the qualification of the writer. Decent article, but misleading to new jumpers.

Alright, maybe I'm crazy here, but I could have sworn I saw this video quite awhile ago. Anyone else think this is an old video suddenly getting prominence or have an idea of what similar video I'm thinking of?

alright, mildly embarassing, so I have to ask...was that paragraph there all along? Because apparently I skipped the intro when I read it haha. That aside, I find it confusing the way you use coach/ing and instructor/ing interchangeably. They are fundamentally different concepts, especially in skydiving. Able bodied flight is requisite to any skydive, and a coach in any discipline should be able to put themselves where they want to be with ease. In non-wingsuit freefall, I'm comfortable being within arms reach of a student because their motion is very predictable. Tracking, I increase that distance because slight body changes can translate to very abrupt motion that could lead to a collision. Wingsuiting is tracking, but magnified by the material. On the first couple wingsuit flights, students on the low end of the learning curve make large movements, and are not stable enough for a coach to safely be in a tight position (inside one body length). The most valuable role of the wingsuit coach on the first 1-2 flights is providing effective video to debrief on the ground. And unfortunately, the best video position is slightly above and abeam to view the overall body position, which places the coach outside view of their student. Once a student can achieve a stable body position, the coach is able to get into a relative position that allows more in-air communication. And realistically, what unstable student is looking for handsignals? No argument that the most effective coaching is done on the ground. Once you get in the air, you're just finding out if you already did your job as the coach.

DSE, I think you found excellent examples of poor WINGSUIT specific coaching. I would politely suggest you rename this article, as it does not pertain to the vast majority of skydive coaching (which the title "Coaching in the World of Skydiving" implies. I don't have a stat to back up my claim, but I certainly would guess that the majority (but at least a plurality) of coach skydives are for true student, unlicensed, belly skydivers. The primary requirement for such a coach is not to chase a student, but provide them with a stable platform to work off of and learn their own body in freefall. While a coach absolutely needs to stay in SIGHT of their student, and close enough to provide in-air feedback, if you are chasing a student, and they are working less than you are, then you are (in my opinion) no longer coaching so much as instructing. Seemed like a point that should be clarified for new USPA coaches working with unlicensed students who are reading this article.

Check out alaskaskysports.com they jump most weekends with decent weather. They're located near wasilla.

I recently stayed for a week at this DZ and it was an incredible time. I was able to get in over 50 jumps in 8 days thanks to the great organization and incredible prices. Buying the pack of 50 tickets is the way to go, you definitely can't beat $13 to 13k, although the Otter usually stopped a little over 12k, but at that price you really can't complain. $5 hop and pops from 3k is also a steal, and some of my favorite memories from this trip are from the Cessna loads. I was with a group of about 20 people and after the DZO, Bill Dause, saw how much we wanted to jump, he helped us get close to 20 loads out of the Cessna after the bulk of his business had already left. Much thanks also goes to the pilot, Randy, who flew some pretty long days just because he was happy to see us all having a good time. Even some of the locals stayed late for a couple more jumps. The people here are definitely what makes Lodi tick. Without Bill, the DZ wouldn't be nearly as affordable, and certainly a lot less fun. That said, he's not a guy to mess around with; he wants to make sure you have a good time, but if you give him lip, or argue, he won't hesitate to ask you to leave. All the other guys are great too. The camera fliers were always up for a good time, and made our entire group feel right at home. The tandem instructors were a little more busy, but when they had time, and on the ride to altitude, they always made sure everyone was having a good time, especially the tandem students. Aircraft were somewhat limited during the week, but on one weekend there were two Otters and a Cessna running non-stop to take care of all the fun-jumpers and tandems. Weekdays were generally limited to a King Air, with occasional Cessna loads if there was enough interest. The hangar is a pretty big place, and there is plenty of room for even a weekend crowd, but I can't imagine how the DZ functions when they're doing 200+ tandems per day during the summer. I never had a problem finding a place to pack, and surprisingly the dogs do a great job of staying out of the way. A couple of complaints I saw on here prior to getting to Lodi were about the cleanliness of the hangar and bathrooms. I have to say that's all from wuffos; for any skydiver, the place is a palace with plenty of couches to stretch out on and a bathroom that gets washed daily. The dog hair is probably going to be an issue if you have allergies, but the air outside is fresh and there isn't much dog hair at all, even my rig never got any on it. Bill was kind enough to open the hangar up for my group at night and we all were able to sleep on couches, which may be old, but are clean and comfortable. I can't say that it's the most pretty place to jump, but at altitude, prior to exit, the view of the mountains all the way to the Pacific is at least impressive. One night we had a group that did a high pull and I could see the Golden Gate Bridge which was particularly cool. The only thing to worry about for location is that if you decide to disregard the rules and choose to fly over the highway or grape vines below 1000', you can be in for a world of hurt. Altitude, wind, and geographical awareness are all paramount to a safe landing. Overall, I've got to say this was a great DZ for a lot of relatively inexperienced (sub 200, some still on student status) to jump and learn with a very cool crowd. Two thumbs up!