kat00

The TFX is a nice helmet. With the tightness of the new impact rated helmets, the opening of the front visor makes it a little easier to get on. You can just pull slightly at the ears to give a few millimeters more and it slides on wonderfully. Any helmet with the impact rating is a positive in my book though because there have been too many head injuries as of late. Actual head protection beats out any of the older non rated helmet options.

If you say no acro/flocking then I would suggest the Colugo 4. It's an introductory version of the race suit line essentially. That being said, the Freak 3 is close and more versatile with the back fly slots. People do a lot of xrw and cloud surfing with Freaks. I would suggest using the ATC2 and learning to max out the performance of that for time/distance runs with a flysight. Then if you like the ability to easily swap between group and performance go for a freak. Otherwise choose the C4. I tend to like the Freak3 for my performance training since I can do some runs with it and then go for some group jumps without the hassle.

Perris and Elsinore just closed to non military jumping. Skydive San Diego closed down last weekend.

Congratulations! If you see a tall girl with a purple and black Freak 3 wingsuit, feel free to say hi and ask questions. I'm usually there most weekends. Line twists are usually bad body position. Pull, go back to the basic position and arch so that you are symmetrical. Once the parachute starts to snivel you can put your hands on the risers to stop any twists that might happen during inflation. Everyone handles stress and adrenaline differently. You have two tandems and one jump in a fairly short time period I am guessing. So, that might have helped with the fear. Instructors also keep you somewhat busy in the plane asking about the ash check, important altitudes, dive flow etc. The talking and rehearsal helps ease the nerves a bit.

If you have 8-10k to blow why are you worried about the video price? Why don't you just crank out an A license over christmas or the winter? It doesn't sound like you do have the money which is why I originally mentioned you should wait. Take your time, the sky isn't going anywhere

Recurrency means you need to show you still maintain the skills you have learned. If you are on AFF jump 2 but you last did AFF1 over 30 days ago, then you need to demonstrate you have the AFF1 skills. Once through AFF, you have to do a jump with an instructor to show you still have the basic skills. I jump at perris and also learned there. I have seen a number of students go uncurrent and doing so during AFF is probably the worst We have nice weather here so there is no real reason to go uncurrent. If you don't have the time and money, I would just recommend waiting because it only hurts your development and costs you more in the end. Think of having enough to buy the A license package, helmet, altimeter, rental gear plus reserves in case you don't pass a level or need extra wind tunnel time. Plan your time and finances ahead of time before you decide to take the red pill and go down the rabbit hole of skydiving

You do need to jump every 30 days as a student to maintain currency. It's not a Perris rule, it's a USPA rule. So if you do AFF1 and then wait 30 days, you are doing aff1 again and probably an abbreviated FJC. If you start learning to jump, you need to be committed to seeing it through. Also, currency applies to everyone from 1 to 20k+ jumps. It just scales by experience with students needing to jump most often.

If I remember right, they do give you video of AFF3 onwards and the coach jumps. It's not the fancier camera flyer views but they are good for review. If you stick with it you will be part of many videos with perris organizers and eventually your own. If you are still in school and worried about money, I would suggest taking a hard look at skydiving. In skydiving, staying current is really important especially early on. Students need to jump every 30 days minimum to maintain currency. If you can't do that its a recurrency jump which essentially is like going back a level if still in AFF.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. In AFF, you have the parachute on your back on the ground to practice. You also spend a lot of time on the ground practicing everything. Then on the AFF jump you do 3 practice pulls while the instructor assists you in finding the pilot chute(not ripcord). AFF1 is largely about demonstrating a good falling position, altitude awareness and landing safely. I learned at perris and my instructors actually pulled for me at a higher than practiced altitude because we were slow at setting up and then drifting. I was frustrated when I landed because they pulled for me but then they explained it. If they pull for you it's a concern for next time but it isn't the end of the world.

There are none on the schedule currently. They used to do it twice a year but only did it once this past year. For night jumps, they usually put some cars on the end of the grass to signal landing direction and to light it up of course. I don't think it's hard to find since its next to the runway and jump run is parallel to the runway. If you have troubles from the air there is an S&TA in the plane to point it out as you jump.

Perris is awesome for beginners with the free organizing. You will find people at Perris still pay for coaching when you get into 4 way, free flying or wingsuiting. You can also improve a lot in the tunnel with a coach. The basics of turning points in the tunnel is the same as in the sky. Freefly is also good to learn in the tunnel where you can focus and refine skills really quick compared to flailing around in the sky. Generally, if you are stable in the tunnel doing static head down/up you likely won't be back sliding in the sky(if you are solo its still good to set up perpendicular to jump run though). Once you get the basics, europe has a lot of cool skills camps that take all skill levels. You will be in small groups where you can get feedback every jump as a group or some one on ones. Tora Tora puts on a few of these, there is angleweek lite for less experienced angle flying, and probably others. At your level, just keep jumping and get advice when you can or ask for feedback. As you start to gain experience and want to branch out into something like angles its best to pay for coaching. You get the one on one attention and learn it properly. Skydiving is an expensive sport and if you want to be good then coaching becomes one of those expenses.

There is stuff like March of the Penguins or Fin Flock in Europe which are WS specific. The bigger US boogies often have good organizers. I know the Big-O boogie had a really good list of WS organizers this past year. Next Level is run by the guys at Squirrel and has some camps throughout the year. I know at Perris there are a number of WS coaches hanging out in the fall/winter if you want some time coaching or people to fly with.

Skydive Perris gets a lot of people from all over the world. Military from all over also comes to Perris as well. So Cal can be a culture shock though if you are coming from the ME. Nice thing about perris is the planes keep going regardless the time of the year. Chicago runs a slightly different program to standard AFF but they all get you to the same place. Also, if you feel something is wrong then speak up or ask for help. Especially if they were watching tv then you should interrupt them. They will help you, you just have to speak up and ask the questions in a nice way.

I would just ask around at your dropzone or whichever DZ has the most healthy WS population. I wouldn't worry about brand just yet. I would recommend trying to find someone who can do your FFC but then also help you with your all around flying. You will want additional coaching to learn to back fly, fly fast, fly close, etc. I know there are a few squirrel/next level guys in northern italy but they do a lot of base so I'm not sure they would be tons of help but possibly worth an inquiry if you are really struggling to find someone.

I used world nomads while I was in europe skydiving(from the US). They were one of the few that allowed general skydiving. you have to look hard at exclusions and fine print because most travel policies do not cover higher risk activities.