moonglo

That option was not given to me, though I would have the same concerns about first flight students getting off course and flying up jump run. The load was on a 10 minute call and I was starting to gear up, the manager/pilot had manifest remove me from the load, THEN he came to tell me what was going on. My options were to get out low or get on loads without tandems. Apparently there was a staff meeting that morning that no one informed me (or Luminous) of, and this was discussed.....

Apparently that's what the TM's are complaining of, but I've never seen any intentional tandem swooping, nor have I been a part of it, nor have I been informed it was going on at the time it happened. I do know most of the jumpers I've flocked with in Waller will break early and deploy high rather than risk getting another "stay away from tandems" lecture from the manager, and we don't want to be that close to any canopy with a student holding the steering toggles either! CRW dogs with a flight plan are fun though!

...at Skydive Houston in Waller, TX if there are any Tandems on the load. I found out about this yesterday at the 10 minute call for load 1 as I was gearing up for a wingsuit solo. I was told by the manager (and pilot), Virgilio, that (at least) one of the Tandem Masters complained and that my only options were to wingsuit on loads without tandems or to get out low. I checked with manifest and there were tandems on every load they were manifesting for. So we packed our gear and went to Spaceland and jumped. I have no problems with getting out low (5K to 7K), assuming the pilot is letting me out low enough or taking enough time to get to altitude to keep me safe from freefallers, and assuming I'm getting a discount on my lift ticket for doing so, but I don't think that that's a safe option for first flight students (waving off at 5K or just below). A bit of history: I did AFF in Waller in January 2002, and it has been my home ever since. I started packing there in spring of 2004, worked weekday manifest for about a year (until I was asked to leave by the same manager), started flying wingsuits there in August of 2004 (not the first one to do so), and I'm the only Wingsuit Instructor in Houston. I have brought out a few tandems and students, and many many fun jumpers from other Houston DZs who were interested in wingsuiting. I was asked to give a short presentation on safety day about wingsuits and how we affect non-wingsuit jumpers, i.e. our flight plan, traffic avoidance, and canopy stuff. Unfortunately I was cut from safety day for "time constraints" and after 2 hours of mostly informative presentations safety day was over and we played with the kites since it was too windy/cloudy to jump. We have had a few minor problems with wingsuits at SDH in the past. There was one incident a year ago where a visiting wingsuit pilot pulled at 2K' and had line twists, and was in traffic with an AFF student. We discussed this and the solution was a go-around of at least 180 after the last tandems got out to give extra separation, and one of the S&TAs asked if we would open at 3K' to keep us a bit further from traffic (not a problem since most of us are comfortable pulling at 3.5K or above). Lately I've been denied this extra go-around when I asked for it (most recently last weekend with a first flight student). There were a few other times TM's complained, but since I usually heard about it a weekend after it happened, we were never able to figure out who the offender was or how close they actually were or what we could do to make everyone happy. One TM/S&TA suggested that wingsuits should get out after freefallers but before tandems.For the most part we are very conservative and will break our flock extra high to avoid being anywhere near any open canopy. There were only 2 wingsuit loads this year I was not on. Anyways this is getting long, so I'll just say my apologies to those I jumped with and packed for and drink beer with at SDH for my quick departure yesterday, I will really miss the jumpers there! For those of you who fly wingsuits or want to learn, let me know which of Aggieland or Spaceland you prefer (or I can recommend two great instructors I'll be visiting at SanMarcos) and we'll work out a nomad schedule or something! Walt-does this make it easier for you to finally finish the course and fly? I look forward to being able to return to Skydive Houston someday and make a wingsuit jump in the same conservative manner I've been doing for the last year and a half.

I always either pull the handles myself or let a newbie pull my handles while an AFF instructor observes (since they don't usually have a rig of their own yet to do so) just before handing it to my rigger. I like to give the newbies a chance to practice their EP's on a rig that they will actually pull the cutaway cables and reserve pin on, not just a pillow and a handle as on the practice rigs. I've had 3 cutaways in the last 2 years, so I'm comfortable with practicing my EP's without pulling every time I board the plane, but I like to see my reserve p/c come out every 120 days because I did have a reserve total (rigger error) on the ground early in my skydiving career.

Gonna Be There 4WayXena boinky ccowden Gemini moonglo nbblood popsjumper PsychoBob scaryshari Sharimcm Skip stitch Trent upndownshop Waltappel wmw999 Pretty Sure chaoskitty Maybe CSpenceFLY ladyskydiver lauraliscious mnealtx

I started jumping less than a year after graduating college, and have been laid off 3 times since. After making my first 2 jumps I moved into a smaller apartment and got a roommate, I stopped going out to eat or to bars and clubs, and I asked for and got a raise at work. Then I did AFF. Later on I also learned to pack and I worked manifest. It's all about priorities! I can drink and party at the DZ, and since I wasn't home much it didn't matter that I no longer had a nice apartment to myself. Edited to add: what AggieDave said about locals taking pity and loaning you gear is true and good, but I packed for a rigger/dealer and got a really nice deal on a used set up instead and a few free jumps to use it.

Mostly in order.... -babysitter -library check out/reshelve -sound operator for local blackbox theatre -Spencer Gifts -college dining hall -college library -summerstock theatre carpenter/load in/strike in MA and ME -college library and receptionist in London -carpentry intern at Royal Nat'l Theatre, London -light operator/master electrician for London theatre over a pub

Repost!! John Rich beat you to it

I've had the pants part of a prodigy come undone in flight, and it was not a problem since it was held up by the arm wing snaps. By putting my legs together I was able to collapse the pants and hold on to them for a normal deployment. Even undone I don't think there was any way it could have interfered with my reserve if something funky did happen and they somehow got in the way of my boc. What other "interesting situation" were you thinking of?

I was thinking the same thing while watching olympic ski jumpers

As much as I love the idea of adding another aircraft to my logbook, what would bringing in a C-130 do to the already high boogie fee?

You are Walt!! Now when you gonna get your butt back out here and finish that wingsuit class?

I've had 2, both in my 2004 GTi Flatspin #1: Side by side rodeos, I was in the back of the door, less experienced wingsuiter in front with experienced rider. Clean exit for both of us and flying side by side for the first second or so til we open our wings together. My rider stuck her right foot out and we started spinning really fast belly to earth. The spinning stopped as soon as she was thrown off. In the video (other rider's perspective) we're a blur of color (my rider likes tiedye) then she flies back out of frame and I fly straight up. I was able to recover my heading quickly but didn't quite get back to the other pair before the other rider bailed. cause: unsymetrical rider after good rodeo exit spin time: about 5 seconds per video cutaway wings?: no disoriented/dizzy?: a bit dizzy after recovering from this one Flatspin #2 Solo working on back flying. I was at about 6k' and on my belly checking for student traffic before rolling onto my back again. I'm not quite sure if I had sideways momentum or didn't quite collapse my wings right for the roll but I ended up on my back spinning. This one was just like everyone else said- like someone picked me up by my legwing and was swinging me around their head! Balled up and recovered after about 500', deployed normally. cause: bad barrel roll from belly to back spin time: only 2-3 seconds, tried to get out of it immediately but took some doing to get my legwing in, felt like much longer cutaway?: no disoriented/dizzy?: no I noticed after this one that my Neptune graph of the jump showed about a 60mph fallrate while spinning, and I was slowing down. My AAD would not have saved me if I didn't recover.

I have a used Vector 3 from '97 and the only differences I can see from the newer 3M is no little pocket for the reserve pin tip (and they're already broken in so they're more comfortable and easier to pack). They appear to be just as secure and freefly friendly as the newer Vector 3M. I bet if you asked Bill Booth he could tell you all the wonderful upgrades that were made between those versions of the rig.

concession obsession, but it went the way of my 2nd favorite, rainforest crunch

My DZ has a posted weight limit for AFF of 240lbs, but have a converted Racer Tandem rig they'll let "big boys" jump up to about 260lbs. Those few students usually spend a lot more time on the ground waiting for the few instructors who can safely jump with you at meat missile speeds. Just because someone is within the weight limit doesn't mean they can safely skydive, they have to be athletic and flexible too. That also goes for tandem students; they won't let someone who's under the 225lb weight limit jump if they're not in good enough shape to lift their legs and hold them up for landing.

Knew a S. African guy that had around 3000 without a cutaway then had 3 in one week (or was it one weekend?) Also met a lady that had more than 3000 jumps without a reserve ride when I was bringing my parts back from #3 (jump 432)

Mixie

Skydive Houston (Waller, TX) 2-3 regular flyers (up to 10 experienced flyers when they all show up the same weekend) Instruction and Prodigy Demos available most own GTi's and Classics

All of the local Skydive Houston female experienced wingsuit pilots have birthdays in between those dates, come join us for a flocking good party! (We're closer than Spaceland!!)

Then you may want to call ahead if going to SDH, their AFF program is 18 levels and they may want you to make a few coach jumps which are not as cheap. Also may have to consider recurrency if it's been more than 30 days, again it'll cost a bit. They will also require you to rent student gear unless you have an RSL and AAD and docile canopy loaded at less than 1:1. I think corpus christi is about 5 hours from Houston, anyone know if any of the little southern coastal DZs are open this time of year?

Since you put fun as #1 I would say Skydive Houston. Both Houston DZs have $20 jumps, but if your profile is up to date you may want to call and see about the prices and student training types at both. SDH does AFF and Spaceland does AFP or tandem progression I believe.

At my home DZ there is no charge for radio, but you can't graduate AFF Level 7 unless you can land yourself well with no radio assistance (but can still have one on "just in case"). Coaches aren't allowed to have students on radio. Makes sense to me, how can you be expected to make a safe solo skydive if you can't land by yourself?

Voodew1 (TX) Professor (TX) FlyinBob (TX) Buried (IL) The111 (LOCAL!) Skyflyingbecca (FL) Moonglo (TX) Luminous (TX) Yay, I'm so glad all y'all Texas folk are coming, I couldn't pack enough Shiner in my truck last year!