PolluxSJ

I figure the listing for SDSB needs an update. Notable changes as of 1/2011: -AADs are required for jumpers with less then 1000 jumps -Jump price is $26 to 13k -They're flying a Pac 750 now instead of the Caravan. The staff were all very friendly. I got wavered early and then hung around talking with instructors and staff for a couple hours waiting for the weather to clear. I watched a load go up and I checked out the landing area. The experienced landing area is small and mostly pea gravel; but it's surrounded by trees. The student landing area is in a (mostly) dry river bed. Trees line both sides of the river bed, and there's a few bits of debris laying around. It's worth checking out before you make your first jump here. Both landing areas are about 1/4 mile from the hanger, and a van provides transport. The view was AWESOME once the clouds cleared. The winds were light and the Pac turned loads until about 2pm when the clouds came back in... Don't come expecting to find load organizers and a ton of people to jump with; even on a weekend. This is most decidedly a tandem factory but that's OK; the folks who are there are totally stoked to be jumping. They accommodate fun jumpers just fine and they're happy to do so. No attitude from anyone. Come early though because when the tandems stop coming in, there probably won't be enough fun jumpers to keep the plane flying. I'll be back for sure!

You know... I think I have every single component of that setup already. Thanks for the heads up! I'll be trying this shortly.

I actually have the same problem. I've got a stout on tap, a cider that's just about ready to go on the taps, and I just picked up all the ingredients for an IPA that I'll probably brew up tomorrow. I need to pick up a counter-pressure bottle filler so I can bring bottles of brew to Elsinore on the weekends... but they cost as much as three jumps

13 jumps over 4 days of jumping. for first jump on a my own rig, first big-way for Emily's 100th, applying for my B license, first sunset tracking dive, and first cross-country.

Here's video of the test but it's not great quality. To better see what's going on, there's also this nice animation.

I thought I heard there was video evidence...

I'll be out at Elsinore this week and I'll do some RW jumps with you if you're around. I'll be there Wednesday for sure, Thursday if I can swing it, and Saturday morning for a little while. There's usually LOs at Elsinore Thursday - Sunday I think.

Really great stuff! I really learned a lot. Thank you so much for taking the time to not only make the presentation, but then to edit it all into a video for everyone who couldn't be there.

Confetti maybe... if it were thick enough. But I think glitter is too fine. You'd NEVER get it all out of the canopy, or the container fabric though. I suspect that unless you had some means of staging the confetti deployment, it would largely disperse before the canopy inflated. Maybe if you placed it on the slider? ...someone out there has to have done this. Multiple times even.

Word travels fast Congrats again K!

My RW suit is a little long for the tunnel too... it's fine with a rig on, but in the tunnel I just have to pull it up a little. I just grab the fabric at the waist and cinch it up right before I launch onto my belly in the tunnel. If I keep my legs bent, it works ok... the heels of my booties flap around some, but the toes still seem to engage. I'm a new enough flyer that I don't notice a whole lot of difference though. I've seen one of the tunnel instructors at Perris wearing a simple nylon belt over his FF jumpsuit. I've considered trying a belt or even just some tape in the future.

I wish I'd made it to Safety Day at Elsinore to hear more about how to avoid canopy collisions. I had a sorta close call the other day and could have used some more knowledge on the subject... 2 jumps for me. Both really bad attempts at 5-way stars that never came together. But it's still fun to chase friends around the sky

Congrats! I'll see you around the wind tunnel / DZ... one of these weekends when I'm able to make it out there again.

I was wondering how well that might work... I've seen some people testing throat mics in the tunnel, and how well they function seems to be based largely on the quality ($$$) of the mic. I was actually just about to start looking up the legality of operating at altitude. It's been a while since I took the exam, but I thought there was an altitude limit... I've had a couple projects in mind... I'm mostly one of those VFH/UHF (...and higher) hams, so most of my projects will be things like APRS and ATV. 73s

Rained out on Saturday, but I got 6 jumps in on Sunday. One two-way, and three attempts at a three-way. We still can't get that exit right, but we at least built a star before running out of altitude. Then I did two hop-n-pops before a session in the tunnel that night. It was a loooooong day.

Nick, I'm just down the hill from you over by the community college. If you need a hand moving stuff or sandbagging, drop me a PM. I've got a jeep that could reach you in all but the worst of mudslides.

Surf Nazis Must Die is an AWESOME flick! Better: Step Into Liquid Also: some spots on the California Central Coast may see 50+ footers tomorrow.

Don't take advice from skydivers or you're likely to end up with a wardrobe of all bright shiny colors. Check out the blog Put This On. That should get you started with casual and dressy mens fashions.

Yup... 11 jumps. 20 total minutes of prior tunnel time. This next session will be all about getting checked out to make sure I'm safe to get back in the air. I'll ask my instructors about mantis...

Belly flying... just getting back in the air after a 6 month layoff. I'm still a student so this is mostly training for me... and a chance for my instructors to check me out before I jump. I'll ask about changing up the rotation time... the first time I did 15 minutes, I was the only flyer in the tunnel so I got 2:30 sessions and only got 30 second breaks in between. The second time I went, I shared the tunnel with two first time flyers and it was MUCH easier on me. So, here's hoping I'll have some company this next time

Several years ago I injured my right shoulder in a bicycle accident. Now, whenever I fly in the tunnel for extended periods, it makes my shoulder extremely sore for about a week; so sore I don't feel safe jumping because of the limited range of motion. I've got a 15 minute session coming up at Perris and I'd be interested to hear some advice regarding preventative measures... Can you wrap or brace a shoulder like you would a knee or elbow that's having soreness issues? Or if I have some Ibuprofen before the tunnel session will it help me avoid additional soreness?

I tried to stick with the same instructor through AFF. It came down to communication for me. After AFF1 I felt like I had my instructor "wired". When I tried jumping with two different instructors, the communication got all confusing. So I went back to the original instructor and stuck with him through the rest of the program. Unfortunately, in doing so I missed out on some instruction. I realized that later... I think I just got complacent and didn't ask as many questions.

I went up to the same place I was yesterday to take an updated picture. Crazyness. People are just standing around taking pictures, and fire support aircraft are circling overhead.

Fires around California get names, usually related to where they started... The local Morris fire started near Morris Dam. The "Station" Fire actually started about 1 mile away from a fire station up in the hills. It's actually a really unfortunate name... Try googling "Station Fire California" and you'll get a ton of hits about "Fire Stations in California".

...and I was JUST telling my roommates that I didn't trust the local news because they're to sensationalist! LAist seems to have pretty good fire coverage. They've been on the phone with LACFD for the past day... I'm also following @LAFD, @LACFD, and @LATimesFires on twitter. InciWeb also has a page about the fire, but they're really slow to update. Though, it did JUST get updated, so at least it's current now.