May 2012

Brought to you by Axis Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

Photos by Niklas Daniel. more »

Coaches, instructors and drop zone owners are always trying to find ways to improve student training and save time during busy days at the drop zone. USPA provides a very inexpensive tool that accomplishes both of those things: the flight planner. more »

A rigger found this "repaired" line-stow band on the packed main canopy deployment bag of a used rig brought to him for inspection. The risk of a hard opening or malfunction from an out-of-sequence line deployment is probably not worth the miniscule savings from reusing worn stow bands. more »

The skydiving community has improved its safety record and reduced its number of fatalities over the past decade—mostly due to improved training and better equipment—but there is no such thing as a risk-free jump. Human nature being what it is, many people choose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that they will never be injured. But given the nature of the sport, it makes sense for skydivers to prepare—to have plans in place that will protect themselves and their loved ones—in case they are seriously injured or even killed. more »

by Paul Yeagley | D-29153
Bossier City, Louisiana more »

by Jessica Kniffen | A-35942 | Phoenix, Arizona

It all started on Christmas Day in 2002 when my mom gave my dad a gift certificate to make a tandem. Curiosity got the best of my mom and me, and in the summer of 2003, we also made a tandem. I made a second in the spring of 2004, and then in May of 2005, I decided I would do one AFF jump in order to say that I had gone skydiving. (I never felt that a tandem was skydiving.) After my first AFF, I was addicted. In August 2005, I earned my A license and before I knew it, I was at the drop zone every opportunity I had. more »