spaceball!!! help me

[tobyiscool 0]

I really need some help it's my first year skydiving and ive already changed my entire life to jump i work and live at a cessna dropzone. the only time i get to jump is with loads that have students on them everyone that can really teach or help is left on the ground or with the student i really need to know how much a tennis ball needs to weigh to fall with me on my belly ive tried to use pennies but i need to know how many to fall at terminal

[indyz 1]

You should take this to one of the other forums, like Safety and Training. Although I suspect that you won't like the answer that they will give you.

[sangiro 26]

Moved to Safety and Training.

Safe swoops
Sangiro

[billvon 3,120]

>the only time i get to jump is with loads that have students on them
> everyone that can really teach or help is left on the ground . . .

A common problem at some smaller DZ's.

> i really need to know how much a tennis ball needs to weigh to
>fall with me on my belly . . .

Think about what you're asking here. You want to weight a tennis ball with enough weight so it falls at 120 miles an hour, then drop it out of a plane over a populated area, given that you are almost guaranteed to be unable to catch it?? That could kill someone. If it's your first year skydiving and you don't have much experience yet, you have neither the skill to retrieve the ball nor the ability to spot to absolutely guarantee that no one is beneath you. One of our AFF-JM's tried that a while back. He couldn't catch it (weighted it too much) and it smashed through the roof of a factory and landed next to some workers. Had it hit one the DZ would now be out of business. I suspect your skill level is somewhat lower than his.

To learn RW, you need a coach or a partner. Either find one at the DZ, lure one there with promises of beer or whatever, or find a DZ where you can jump with other people. A 'spaceball' is a very bad idea at your stage.

[Jimbo 0]

If only to reinforce the point, everything that Bill said about the dangers of a spaceball and your experience level are 100% accurate. Take that as a bit of information that might save the life of an innocent bystander, the business of the DZ, and a little personal or private property.

Quote

the only time i get to jump is with loads that have students on them everyone that can really teach or help is left on the ground or with the student i

How come you can only jump on loads with students? Have you considered changing dropzones?

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[rendezvous 0]

With the amount of experience I see you have I suggest you stop playing with that ball for now and gain some experience in other aspects of Skydiving. Playing with the ball with such little experience is like playing with a loaded gun. You might just land up hurting yourself or someone else. It's not time for it yet. Keep it for sometime later in the future.