hardarch 1 #1 July 30, 2005 Did my first jump at New River Valley Airport VA back in October 1975. Did my last one at Hartwood, VA 1982, or there abouts. Sold my gear off at various points during the recession and oil embargo...rides to 7500 got expensive. And then there was careers girls marriage etc. (Got my girlfriend at the time to jump in '82). Well, looks like somethings have changed. Square reserves, tandem extended freefall and squares on first jump? The stuff I used to jump and/or own is vintage now. (Black North American rig w/ T-28' rounds, American Papillon w/POD bag and a Paraplane Cloud) Looking to talk to you that remember the "old days" and especially you current folks about how one would go about taking the plunge one more time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slotperfect 7 #2 July 30, 2005 Welcome to the forums, and back to the skydiver fold! I think you would enjoy the Skydiving History and Trivia Forum immensely. I suggest you fill out your profile completely so we can get to know you better. You will also get more of your questions answered - like the one about where you can "take the plunge" again. We don't know where you live?!?!Arrive Safely John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #3 July 30, 2005 Welcome to the forums! 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardarch 1 #4 July 31, 2005 Interesting read ... I'm in central Virginia...left DC in '97. Did my jumps while a student (VaTech) so was low on bucks but big in interest... The way it used to be.... Cessna 172, with four guys (inc. Jumpmastr/spotter) stuffed in (and a pilot usually helped). I had never been in an airplane before. So my first flight I was just getting used to the ride when the door opened and "in the door called out"... I jumped a little late..what a rush. Stayed with the sport and interestingly enough never landed in an airplane until I took a jet flight to Chicago several years later (LOL) Had the one day course, static lines, a few dummy RC pulls. Demo you had it together and then it was freefall time. I packed my own T28 for that first freefall...what an experience. Got maybe 30 jumps, freefalls to 10 sec, no RW, but had my jumpmaster chase me out the door once in a tight frog. I was open and unstowing the toggles watching him fall below and open a jetblack Paracommander. that was cool. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardarch 1 #5 July 31, 2005 But a "Skymama" is definitely cool. I wish they had tandems years ago... I think I would have learned a lot quicker. Tandem ...hey if George Bush can do it at his age. I coincidently found out my brother in law did a tandem several years back after his divorce and he is a pretty big fella...200 +. Someone had to carry that load...LOL. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #6 July 31, 2005 Quote I've heard of Soccer moms.. Oh, I'm a soccer mom too. I have to schedule my skydiving around the soccer games!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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
377 22 #7 August 1, 2005 I was exactly in the same situation about 5 yrs ago in 1999. Hadnt jumped since the 80s. Got the bug again, found a sympathetic DZ that gave me free ground school and two single jumpmaster AFF jumps at a discounted price. I was stable after a couple of jumps, trained in the new emergency procedures and learned the basics of flying a landing a ram air. Don't waste bucks on a tandem, at least thats my opinion. If you stay with it, buy a lightly loaded conservative canopy (I recomend the Triathlon highly) and don't do high performance landings, EVER. Leave those to the hotshots. That formula has worked well for me. Buy Brian Germains book about flying the canopy. It is a bit wordy in places but has info you may never have learned from your jumpmasters that can help you understand the dynamics of flying a ram air chute and how to stay out of trouble. The new gear is waaaay better than the old round stuff and early squares. If you fly conservatively and stay on the ground when it gets real windy, you can count on soft standup landings almost every time. I never had a standup until I had about 100 round surplus (old and porous as hell) canopy jumps. Someone took pity on me and lent me a PC. Stood it up every time. I am having way more fun jumping now than I did in the old days. Those bone crunching round canopy landings are fun to reminisce about about, but in reality they were risky and painful. Welcome back and hope it works out well.2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardarch 1 #8 August 2, 2005 Yeah...the "good old days"..I can still feel them in my left knee and ball joints sometimes. When I sold my Papillon I was both sad and happy...the DZ in Maryland that I dropped by that afternoon to sell the Pap was preparing a student load...they were all flying squares on their first jump! I felt like a dinosaur. When I was actively jumping, the Strato Star was the "hot" new canopy and you had to have like a hundred hi-performance round jumps on a lifting canopy like a PC before they would let you jump a square. I just had to get a square - they were so cool. Got a great price on a used Paraplane Cloud (there were a few burns from the ringed reefing device on the top...) with all the intention of working my way up to a ram air!... But I eventually flipped it to a guy that just had to have a square too, and he was doing better than me - so I sold it. (needed the bucks for school and some jumps to stay current...oh, those days as a college student). He had the DZ rigger get rid of the rings and rope and modify it to a Strato Cloud with one of those "new" slider deals... Looked great. Thanks for the tip on the Ram Air book...(I still have owners manuals for the Strato Star and Cloud...they need to be in a Parachuting museum). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1888 0 #9 August 2, 2005 If you want it, go for it I made 297 jumps from 61 - 63 while in the USMC (all sport jumps), on 28' surplus military rounds that we modified ourselves. I got out of the sport for 26 years before coming back in 92. Now have 2700 and still going strong. I can tell you that the first few the second time around were scarier than when I was 19, as I now was smarter than the parachute, but I got over it. If you want to start again find a good DZ nearby, talk to the DZO or the S&TA, and explain your situation. If you call USPA you could get a recommendation and possibly a contact person at the DZ. You could do a tandem or an AFF, depending on how you feel. I opted for the AFF & didn't regret it. Many Long Leaps & Light Landings Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bart13 0 #10 August 2, 2005 There are a couple of DZ's in central VA. I'm new to the sport and the only place I've jumped is Skydive Orange. In, of course, Orange, VA. I can tell you that from where I live there are closer DZ's, but I found the energy and enthusiasm there was worth the drive. They have a nice Super Otter and usually a Cessna, also. Phone number there is 877 DIVESKY, also check skydiveorange.com. Blue skies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eule 0 #11 August 3, 2005 Quote Looking to talk to you that remember the "old days" and especially you current folks about how one would go about taking the plunge one more time. At the DZ I go to, there's a young guy who just got his A-license. His dad is also a skydiver, but was more active back in the day instead of recently. His dad still has a rig and has jumped a few times with his son. I don't know exactly what he had to do; I _think_ the rigger (possibly assisted by the DZO) did an unpack/inspect/repack on his rig to make sure all was well. I don't think he had to go through a complete class again, because the chutes in the rig are the same ones he jumped back in the day. Something to consider: there's more than one DZ. I don't mean you should shop for the answer you want to hear - if you tell your story to five places and they all want you to go through the complete class again, that's a clue. But if the first place doesn't seem interested, try another. The DZ I go to is 45 minutes further away than the closer alternative, because I didn't feel comfortable at the closer one. One thing that I know has changed: since '82, the gravity bill has gone up a lot, and prices have risen to compensate. The dropzone owners will tell you that the fees are for paying instructors and pilots and buying avgas, but don't let that fool you... it's really for the gravity. If the DZO didn't pay the gravity bill, freefall times could extend into hours - basically you just have to not look down. (See the excellent training videos directed by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng.) There are complicated insurance issues for this, though, so most of them opt to keep the gravity turned on. EulePLF does not stand for Please Land on Face. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
