Oh no... what do I do now?

[Dumpster 0]

PD also has a smoking demo program, too - Try a Spectre 170 for a couple weekends, and give a Sabre 2 a try for a couple weekends, too. I've got about 175 jumps on a Spectre 150 (loaded at 1.2-1.3:1, depending on my current pizza/beer ratio) and I'm still having lots of fun with it.

Borrow from your 401(k) before you ever take a distribution. You'll get cornholed big time by Uncle Sam and the IRS if you cash it in, losing alot of bucks, wether you actually earned it or not. Why throw away free money?

When at all possible, pay cash for skydiving toys. Monthly payments reduce your jump ticket fund. If you set your mind to saving aggressively, you'll be surprised how fast the cash piles up.

Easy Does It

[rehmwa 2]

Local types can tell you if you're being too aggressive, most of us can't from here. All I can say, is if you don't get hurt, you and your SO will come up eventually and jump with me. I'd hate to miss that.

Like buying anything, split the difference between now and 2 years - Put aside $$ from each paycheck for the next year and earn interest on it (instead of paying it) towards an eventual purchase. In the meantime, demo everything you can get your hands on. This will also let you work down to that size and not just lock in on the one model.

After only a couple hundred jumps, you likely still want a used transition canopy before you move a lot smaller and finally pay for that small hot custom color job you plan to jump for the next 5-6 years.....

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[PhreeZone 20]

Erica... unless I was really drunk when I met you and my memory is all fuzzy I have a hard time believing that you weigh more then 170. Remember to figure out wingloading take your body weight add to that your gear (rig, jump suit, weights, etc) and divide that by your sq footage.

Me at 180+22 / 136 = 1.48:1

Figure out your wingloading and let us know what it really is...

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[freeflir29 0]

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unless I was really drunk when I met you and my memory is all fuzzy

Ummm....you seem to say that like it isn't entirely possible......

[smooth 0]

Erica - Follow the poll ! ! !

Please don't borrow from your 401K, it's for your retirement. If you borrowing from it now you'll be starting a very bad habit!!

Now the canopy choice - that's an entirely different
subject. As an analogy, I love my Diablo when I'm in the air but when I get closer to the ground I remember that it can/will/has hurt me.

P.S. Have I ever given you any bad advice?

[EricaH 0]

Believe it or not Eric... I weigh 180, we'll call it muscle mass, strong German bones + soft rounding

I did talk w/ the 'pro canopy pilots' @ our dz before even attempting to go from the 169 to 149, I was scared shitless - shakes & all... but love it & loved the experience. the feeling is still w/ me almost 24 hrs later. I actually yelled out in flight, haven't done that since my 1st tandem jump.

Perhaps a 1.0 wingloaded Spectre could be aggressively flown in on landings, but that's not even what I'm looking for NOW. I liked that I can do nice simple straight in landings on this 149 w/ the chance of FUTURE hp landings. I like this canopy's in flight characteristics. Plus the possibility of getting back from a long spot due to forward motion is like a whole new world to me.

The concern is most def duely noted, perhaps I'll wait another 1/2 yr or so (till next season) & do the demo thing, trying lots of different canopys. Saving $$ is a good idea, no loans available (already have one outstanding ). But right now I hardly even want to strap on my gear now knowing what canopy flight can be like.

BB - that story is crazy horrible!! I haven't changed my mind, but it's not made up yet either. You input is very valued. But I bet your camera flier's not on a 1:1 wl either & therefore, like Lenny enjoys his 7-cell more than I am.

Bill - will def try my best to be able to get to MN & do a few.

Lenny - I'm sure the Spectre @ a 1.3 wl would be much more fun... just haven't tried it yet.

David - thank you for the re-direct. The wingloading/safty issue does make me wonder if now's the time to take a loan out though & so does have some pertenance.

There is no can't. Only lack of knowledge or fear. Only you can fix your fear.

PMS #227 (just like the TV show)

[Jimbo 0]

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but that's not even what I'm looking for NOW.

You think that you could land that canopy in a tight spot NOW? You said that in no wind that the landing was a bit hairy. How do you think you're going to land that canopy when you find yourself off the dropzone and can't tell what the wind is doing?

You've got 140 jumps right now, save money, get experience, and buy the hot-shit canopy next year.

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[chopchop 0]

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The concern is most def duely noted, perhaps I'll wait another 1/2 yr or so (till next season) & do the demo thing, trying lots of different canopys. Saving $$ is a good idea, no loans available (already have one outstanding ).

Yay!!! Jump the sh*t outta that Spectre in the meantime...

chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

[sarge 0]

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...but love it & loved the experience. the feeling is still w/ me almost 24 hrs later...

If I listened to all the people that told me, "you're crazy; jumping out of a perfectly good airplane...etc" I would have been living their fears ... not mine. I would never have ventured into a new reality of personal self-awareness that is what we know a soliatary journey.

Shame on you for asking such a question here!

Nobody can predict with reliable accuracy how your investments will fare. Nobody can predetermine your mortality beyond guestimation. We are a frail and a superstitious species trying to pigeon-hole our existence into a secure and safe status of understanding. We crave peace-of-mind, we long for the exhileration of wholeness and pursue dreams that inspire our intended identity.

If you were to live this day as it was your last; knowing it was your last day to live ... would you, with all presence of mind, want to kill yourself?

If there was a possibility that there might be a tomorrow; would you take the same chances today?

Being mindful of ones mortality comes through lessons learned by those who survive the trials and tribunals of our desires and experiments.

There are those among us who live as though there is no tomorrow, they are not to be heard; but seen. Observe the spectacle of their indulgence and beware the foreboding of their reckless abandon, should it not become ours as well.

The challenges are not those that life sets before us but rather those which we set before ourself. Endowed we are with the ability to overcome with rationialization and with all discerning reasoning any obstacle that offers affront to our sensibilities.

Place before yourself the goals, plan the accomplishment of those goals, rely on yourself to maintain your focus on those goals and finally resist the temptation to quit before you reach your goal!!

OH!!!! .... and please demo some nine cells

--
I'm done with the personally meaningful and philosophical sigs!!

[BlueEyedMonster 0]

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So to buy a used canopy, do I take a withdrawal on my 401K plan, pay a 20% tax & a 10% penalty or do I suck it up?!?!
It's not a loan & doesn't have to be paid back...

See if your 401(k) plan offers loans, many do. You will borrow money from yourself (your 401k) and repay to yourself (through payroll deductions) with interest (that ends up in your 401k).

I did this earlier this year to pay a doctor bill, No loss, I pay interest to myself, and in the end, the money is all still in my 401K account.

[nathaniel 0]

uhm...Erica, I jump a 150!

If you want something snappier than your spectre get something intermediate and used. save your femurs and your 401k.

edit to add:
think of it this way, would you feel OK landing it crosswind on the side of the west road? (ie, the side w/o the power lines)

I had to do that saturday.

nathaniel

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[jmpnkramer 0]

Girlie All I have to say is that

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"YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE"

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GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laters,

KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The REAL KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!

"HESITATION CAUSES DEATH!!!"
"Be Slow to Fall into Friendship; but when Thou Art in, Continue Firm & Constant." - SOCRATES

[Flygator 0]

EricaH, you can borrow against your 401K and pay yourself back interest. What you wind up with is a 5% loan to yourself. Go to your HR person and request a loan on it and they will give you a contact number and you will handle it from there. It takes about a week to get the check. It's alot better to do that and there are no penalties or taxes! Do it girl!!!

[MissMae 0]

I think that everyone is giving you excellent advice, but you seem like you have your mind made up. If you do, please please be careful.

I'm just now at about 1.3:1 (I'm guessing kind of), and I'm at 450+ jumps. Granted everyone goes at different speeds with things but I haven't even come close to "maxing" my canopy out, and I probably never will, but it is fun, and pretty fast. I'm jumping a Vengeance 135 and went to that from a Sabre 150 and let me tell you, HUGE DIFFERENCE, especially when I had my first off downwind landing. And you really have to think about everything when someone is doing huge S turns in front of you and they don't see you till last minute because they are coming right at you, you need to KNOW that you'll react in a cautious manner because in a high stress situation that canopy will spank you very easily. Can you say pucker factor?

I'm with you borrowing and testing the water for a bit, save up your cash and if you can get it for yourself by Christmas or Easter or soemthing you have a nice little gift from you to you.

But whatever you do decide, just be careful, even those of us who don't know you still care about your safety.

take the time to appreciate the people around you.

[AndyMan 7]

A couple of things....

A higher wingloading will not help you get back from a long spot. A canopy is said to descend on a glide path - think of it as the angle the canopy flies at. Going to a higher wingloading does not change the glide path - going to a higher wingloading only increases the speed you fly down that path. IE, at a higher wingloading you will go forward faster, but you will also go down faster.

The way you change your glide path is by buying a different shaped wing. This is why you noticed getting back easier, it's because of the better glide of the 9 cell over the sink of the 7 cell. Your ability to get back had nothing to do with the wingloading.

I took a Crossfire 139 out for a spin Saturday... pulled at 4.5, and didn't make it back. To make matters worse, I ended up having to put it into a really tight spot near the farmhouse to the west. The landing was dificult, and it wasn't pretty. After walking back I promptly handed the canopy back to Icarus, because the thought of having to do another landing that tight scared the crap outta me. We need to judge our ability to fly a canopy by what happens when things go wrong, not when things go right.

If you are downwind, a higher wingloading will help you penetrate the wind. However, when we're on a long spot we're usually upwind, not downwind. When upwind, a higher wingloading will actually DECREASE your ability to get back. Remember that the canopy is flying down faster just as much as flying forward faster. What this means is that you're suspended in the wind for a shorter amount of time. Someone under a higher loading is at a disadvantage over someone with a lighter loading. Remember, wingloading does not affect the glide path - only the speed you fly down that path.

Secondly, nobody is suggesting that you start doing 270 hooks on your spectre, that'd be rediculous. I do think you'll find that if you get dive loops installed, you can start playing with your front risers, try landing in double fronts, and adding small 45 degree front riser turns onto final - you'll be having a hell of a lot of fun. I suspect that you'll even be having more fun then you did under the 140. Even better, you'll be learning craploads about the aerodynamics of canopy flight.

Phreezone's point about wingloadings was that Icarus uses a non-standard method for measuring their safires. If I understand it correctly, it means that if you measured it by standard methods it will measure out 10 feet smaller, ie, 139 square feet. Use that number when calculating the wing load.

Thirdly, when it comes time to downsize, I do hope you don't do it at the end of the season. Currency is key, and you're about to take a few monthes off. I also hope that you won't do it first thing in the spring, either. I know that I fly like crap in the spring when I've had 4 monthes off.

Don't keep dissing your spectre. You CAN have a hell of a lot of fun with it, just get front riser dive loops installed and you will be having more fun then you can handle. Trust me, they make a HUGE difference. Not only that, you won't need to touch your 401K.

Don't take this as me dissing your abilities, either. That's not at all what I'm trying to say. I think youi've succesfully kept yourself out of trouble to the degree that I ACTUALLY think you know what you're doing. You've certainly got more skill then some of the other jumpers at the DZ. I just want you to think about taking small steps, one at a time and don't get ahead of yourself.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[mjosparky 4]

Why are you doing a poll. You know in the back of your mind that the decision has been made. A case of beer the canopy with be on order within 2 weeks.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[lazyfrog 0]

Yes, it's much more fun, Yes it's very responsive... but you can learn how to really give speed to your spectre... Maybe try and get some smaller spectre, do some Canopy Flying course... What I learnt during this course was incredible... Things I would never have tried on my own... And my old Sabre 150 gave me a big amount of emotion and speed... Could have kept it a few 100 jumps more, but I already ordered my saphire2 139. For sure it's a great pleasure, YES I want to downsize again, YES I feel like I can handle a smaller faster canopy, and YES I know that the risk to impact is much greater... So I will wait, wait and wait... Even if I dream of a smaller faster baby..
Going from a Spectre 190 to a saphire 149 is a huge step. The final choice is yours. Just take care when you make your choice.

----------
Fumer tue, péter pue
-------------
ourson #10, Mosquito Uno, CBT 579

[BlueEyedMonster 0]

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A couple of things....

Yikes...way to many words to actually read.

[skymama 37]

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Girlie All I have to say is that

"YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE"

GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, now why don't you tell her about all the times you've had accidents and have really cheated death with that attitude.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[sunshine 2]

Not bothering with canopy advice. Your real question is how to finance the new canopy. Save up the money. If borrowing against your 401K costs interest or penalties, it's not worth it.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[RevJim 0]

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Not bothering with canopy advice. Your real question is how to finance the new canopy. Save up the money. If borrowing against your 401K costs interest or penalties, it's not worth it.

I couldn't agree more with that statement.

Save, save, save, then save a little more. By that time, you'll really be ready for a smaller canopy.

Now Sunshine, if you keep making these rational, intelligent sounding posts, you will need to change your avitar to Blossom!

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[skybytch 273]

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OH!!!! .... and please demo some nine cells

Nine cells are bad. 7CP #2 representing for the 7 Cell Posse!!!

Seriously, my vote would be to keep learning on what you've got and save up for something smaller later. You can make that Volvo do a lot, and it won't spank you nearly as hard when shit happens.

[EricaH 0]

Thank you all for so many perspectives!! I've made my decision, I will end up on a 150ish something by late next spring.
In the mean time I'll save as much as possible, then borrow the rest when the right used canopy comes up for sale.
Also in the mean time, I'll demo everything available, starting w/ a Spectre, Saber2 & anything else I get my hands on in a 170 for a bit then the one's that have the most fun flight characteristics @ 150.

I'll keep my big safe canopy for currency re-training in early spring - moving to the new one asap.

I know there are huge flight differences between teh canopies. That's one of the reasons I decided against trying the more eliptical higher performing Crossfire. It's also why I was glad for the no wind landing oppertunity (yes, oppertunity... scary, but educational) - It wasn't 'hairy' I put my knees down. I know there's a load to learn every time you jump. That's why I purposly have done cross & down wind landings, it's also why I practice manuvers many times up high, to learn the sweet points of each input item.

So... how much do dive loops cost to have put on risers & will it by chance increase the value of the canopy?

There is no can't. Only lack of knowledge or fear. Only you can fix your fear.

PMS #227 (just like the TV show)

[Jessica 0]

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So... how much do dive loops cost to have put on risers & will it by chance increase the value of the canopy?

Risers are part of the harness/container system. They're generally not sold with the canopy.

As for cost, I'm not sure -- probably not much.

Skydiving is for cool people only

[AndyMan 7]

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So... how much do dive loops cost to have put on risers & will it by chance increase the value of the canopy?

Brigitte should be able to do it for about $15 (if she ever comes back....). Most risers come with them already now. They won't help the value of the canopy... because they're not on your canopy. Risers are part of your container, not your canopy. They won't help the value of your container very much, either.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.