dreamsville

I pack my rig most of the time. Towards the end of a day with a bunch of jumps I may ask a packer to do it. In this case, I am famliar with and trust the packers. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Agreed. Also, I don't know if you've had anyone tell you that they landed a torn canopy, yet didn't know it at the time. Someone I know said that they thought the canopy flew a little funny after opening, not spinning or diving, just not quite right. After landing, the person discovered tear(s) in the topskin that weren't evident from below. Needless to say, this canopy was pulled from service. I don't know if it was worth fixing. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

For anyone who's just getting into the sport reading this, just because some of us (like Conway and I) feel more comfortable flying wth booties in RW doesn't mean it's for everyone. Skybytch is probably a sky godess without booties. Flying style and body shape have something to do with it. People try it and find out what works for them. Sometimes the instructor may make a suggestion. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Besides separation between groups as the first precaution, as you watch other jumpers track in your formation you may find that you may be able to put a slight arc in your track that has you going closer to a line directly across jump run. You should only do this if you find you have developed significant separation between those to your sides, but because of the size of the formation and available altitude need to track a bit more. It's not often that I do this, but it's another way to try to avoid the other group. Obviously, if there's not enough room on either side of you, you have to keep going on the path that safely bisects the tracks of those around you. If you are slightly de-arched, toes pointed, you will have a bit more speed to track further. Keep in mind that on a 3 or 4 way, it can be unsafe to keep tracking a long way (maybe towards another group) if it's clearly not warranted. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I realize this deviates from the intent of the thread, but do you ever get bored after all those jumps? | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Another thing besides a pin check that can also help is to be as careful as you can to not sit down abruptly/lean back quickly against something. Also, when you are in the process of sitting down you may want to protect your handle (in my case BOC). This helps reduce the possibility that handles or pins will become loose or fouled. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I believe and have been told that R/W should be first, then sit/stand, then head-down. Having done all 3, I can tell you that, while it's difficult to master any one of these, difficulty in acquiring basic stable flying skills go in the order mentioned above. It takes a few weeks or months concentrating a lot on one skill. You can mix it up but, if you need to work on a chosen skill, do many jumps in your target skill for a while. Head-down may require weeks or months to get some stability, with more time required for basic movements. I am in this stage now with head-down so I can you that relaxation and practice are ESSENTIAL. It feels great when you are on a jump and you know you found it. R/W is fun and is an essential base skill. Sit is important even if your main objective is head-down, since you need a recovery position that maintains a fast fall rate. Lastly, it's easier if you can do at least a few hundred jumps a year if you want a broad skill set. Jump enough with free flyers and R/W types and they will probably accept you. However, in the short term you need to focus. That takes time. Get out your wallet. But in the end you'll be glad you worked on more than one thing and the people with whom you end up flying will be part of your reward. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

quote: yes you need to get bridal protection, once you do i'll take you on a FF jump cool. /quote Does that mean that he needs to get protection from his spouse if he stays out jumping for too long? | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

As long as none of your buddies end up tracking in your approximate direction afterwards and your track does not extend to another group's airspace. Of course, there are times when the situation dictates that it's time to go early (spot). | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

All 4 are Tony Suits. 1 free fly 2 R/W, one with booties and one without, but I don't use the one without booties (I learned it didn't work as well for me). 1 R/W camera suit I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I should start by saying that this an unscientific sample: Someone we jump with used to have an FXC in his own rig about 4 years ago. He had it set at about a grand or so, and usually pulled at about 3000 feet on most jumps. Nothing wrong there. Unfortunately, one day he was rolling along at just above 2000 ft. under canopy and the FXC fired. 2 weeks later, again while I was there, just about the same thing happened. While it clearly wasn't the way it was supposed to work, I have been suspicious of FXC ever since then. Roger: "Is that the first time you've had an AAD fire twice in two weeks?" FXC person: "I don't drink." | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I have seen 3 types of sliders, as far as collapsibility: 1) Draw strings with tabs that lock on the edge on the slider once they're pulled all the way out. 2) A velcro strip that sits on one side of the slider. It has to be released and wrapped around the slider and velcro'ed to itself. This is by far less convenient. 3) No collapse tool at all. Saw one of those last weekend. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I re-read that letter quickly. I can remember my first ground course with Dave Cicarelli. As good as he is, there was nothing like having my butt under canopy and in the air to simulate the real thing. Yeah, I was nervous all of a sudden on AFP 1. Yes, it's true that we take a chance on people who may get through tandems and the ground phase that maybe shouldn't be jumping. It's a risk, but sometimes instructors can't see it until after someone's in the air on AFF or AFP or static line. Since we can't read the future and peoples' makeups perfectly, we will always have a bit of this stuff for as long as we keep welcoming people to the sport. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I can remember about a month ago when we started to see dust devils at about 1-2pm on Saturday. It began right about the time Deguello was landing from a practice jump; we could see a pretty tall DD about 80-100 yards beyond the grass landing area in back of their landings. Philip and the rest of us stopped jumping as it was gusting up a bit as well. Someone else told me that she caught the edge of one a few weeks ago in the landing area, but fortunately slid off to the side and stopped safely after being carried along a bit by it near the ground. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

So, if the slider is down past the brakes, obviously the toggles will be over and outside of the rear of the slider (otherwise the toggles couldn't return to full flight all the way up to the rings). My only concern about this is if I have my top-mount Hanson camera helmet on (I may be getting a side mount), maybe I've got the back of the camera or the back of the helmet with those clamp closings rubbing against the slider as I check for traffic. Maybe it's a personal thing, but in that mode I am more comfortable leaving the slider up and not worrying so much about performance. Since the line wear at the slink point seems to be the remaining issue, I guess that's all right if it's done on a limited basis. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

How did the brake lines break? That sounds pretty serious. I mean no harm, just asking in case there is an example of stuff we can try to avoid. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Yes, Skyhook is probably something you don't need to worry about now, but it may be demo'ed at your DZ sometime. The manufacturer is sending a test rig to certain DZs currently, and instructors are going up with 3 chutes and performing intentional cutaways. Unfortunately, one of the videos was shorter than intended, as the main had an actual malfunction right off the bat. Nevertheless, Skyhook worked as advertised. I have no idea when they will be selling Skyhook (maybe they are now). | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

If the straps don't fit you in some way, they may slide around a little bit to an unnatural position that could change at opening time. This can cause some of the marks. When you get your own gear, see if you want to have a bungee put in between the leg straps to better hold them in place. This will be more imporrtant in free-flying, but almost always will help the harness stay in the right spot. Check it out. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Did Tecumseh buy 220EA? I'm pretty sure that's the aircraft, and it's a gem that rivals the Frankenotter. 10 min to 15,000 half loaded at Palm Beach Xtreme this winter. I just wanted to know, since my family is over in Grosse Pointe, cause then I'll be likely to show up and jump if you'll share some quality (air) time with me. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

"Picture this -- someone handing out skydiving literature at a church! " Yeah, picture that. We are trying to get the choir of a major Presbyterian cathedral in Chicago to jump this summer. At least two are interested. The current skydiving choir member might want to file her report on how this is coming if she sees this thread. I am glad to help also. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

It's fun to mark down whether there was video and who took it. If I took it, I can go back and look for the tape. I don't throw any away or overwrite them. Here's why: my first vow to have my own video was in ZHills in winter 1999, on a sunset load where Steve Lapp had organized our 5 way. In my slot, the setting sun and Gulf of Mexico made a silhouette (sp?) of the rest of the formation. I decided that I needed to capture stuff like that and save it because it was too wonderful to let it fade. Once in a while I'll pull out a log book and flip back through it, remembering friends or stumbling upon a jump where "how on Earth could I have done that?" comes to mind. Log books can be signatures and notes and memories. I know people with 3000-4000 jumps that STILL log them. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

I don't know about a skyball license, although I believe SD Arizona banned them for a time. Thereafter, they may screen who will be allowed to lead a ball jump, and they have a specific area off to one uninhabited corner of the DZ where they will allow you to exit with the ball. Liability and risk to those on the ground is just too great if it's not done carefully. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

The nervousness WILL abate, but you will still have healthy caution (or should), and that's good. There may be good psychological reasons why I should not suggest a jump number when the nervousness will subside, but I can tell you that I was very nervous for a while. My main reason for replying is to advise CURRENCY, CURRENCY! The more jumps in a given time period (of course, quality counts), the more relaxed and competent you'll feel. If you are at a northern DZ, TRY TO JUMP IN THE WINTER if it's available. It does help, though some people think I'm nuts on this last point. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

Consult your local rigger, but consider the condition of your pilot chute and bridle, and was it properly cocked? My guess is if the bag was out, the pilot chute was out of the burble by then (you didn't mention a horseshoe). Have your rigger also check the way you/whoever packed it are stowing the lines. The last thing that comes to mind is, if stows are too large, one stow can lock within the loop of another. I don't know whether that happened and then it freed itself. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143

One thought: if you have doubts about the pack job (think you missed something, mussed it up too much) redo it! I didn't like the way I forced it in the bag one time, since I thought I'd messed up the tail around the slider when putting it in. We'll never know if I would have been slammed on that opening. | I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143