dthames

For many years I have rested my eyes to kill time and to not be distracted by things around me. While not really asleep, I try to focus my thinking on something other than sitting crowded in the plane waiting for altitude. Even as a student, if I could close my eyes, think about the jump, and sort of doze off while doing it, that after a few minutes when I opened my eyes, I felt a LOT better and ready to get on with the business at hand. Recently I heard information from a study that showed that if you keep your eyes closed for 6 minutes or longer, it has a measured effect as if you had take nap, regarding relaxed and refreshed. I believe this completely. You can listen and be semi-alert while on the edge of being asleep. You might try to practice relaxing at home for 10 minutes or so and see if you can observe the affect. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

++ on the trailers. Staying at the DZ is nice. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

54 Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I had stability problems at first that I really felt like I could not overcome because I knew it was because I could not arch enough to be naturally stable. This led to problems being released long enough to learn. I took a break not knowing if I would be back or not. This was during the winter, so was really a perfect time. Twice a day I worked on stretching. After 10 weeks or so, the weather was better and I went back and requested SL/IAD training with the thought that I could learn the old slow way. Several things had changed, flexibility, determination, and type of training, so I am not sure what really tipped the scales. But I stayed after it because that is what I wanted. Only a few don't have to work at it. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was referring to the Parachute Landing Fall (PLF). While you might not be able to safely jump from 5 feet today, look up the Parachute Landing Fall and see what it is all about. It is about not putting shock on your legs but spreading it out to several points to protect your legs. There may be hope. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Using a new extended version of the Excel macro that Hellis wrote, I have added Closed Caption flight data to video on Youtube. The CC is a Youtube feature that Hellis can write a file out for. Here are some examples. Be sure to turn CC on. 7 way flock http://youtu.be/AGWU6M3JMQE Windy solo http://youtu.be/OWv2XXNIqbA 2 way GPS. GPS data from myself and MW as we tried to get together on one of her early flights. http://youtu.be/O29rpQoMcXA [inline cc-example-640x398.jpg] Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have heard this said before and I don’t understand why people think there is something wrong with you if you are not afraid. We plan to put on a piece of equipment and trust our lives with it and our ability to operate it. Is the design of the equipment sound? Is the equipment in good working condition? Is the training good enough that you are sure you can carry out your tasks? If you “believe” the answers to those three questions are Yes, then fear make no sense at all. Yes, there might be something wrong with me. But if someone says they trust the equipment, trust the training, and trust themselves but are afraid, I would be very puzzled as to what was going on in their head. Maybe is that person that has something wrong with them. Maybe they really don’t believe the answers are all Yes and they only "hope" the anwers are Yes. Fear in that situation is very understandable. It has nothing to do with logical thought or risk assessment. It's Darwin - those who don't risk life & limb tend to hang on the planet longer, have more offspring. Wanna extend your bloodline - don't die fast doing dumb shit. If one 'doesn't experience the fear' in the beginning, it's because they don't have a firm grasp of what's going on. HOWEVER ~ ~ !! Successful repetition of the risky behavior with positive results tends to condition out the fear reflex... That's why the cavemen with the balls to club a buffalo ate better, got bigger & stronger than the tree hugging bowling league counterparts - they 'did better' in competition for the hot babes. The cycle of evolution is still in process even today... The human male who lets fear control their behavior... regarding the mating ritual, spends much of his day working to procure shiny things that will distract a potential mate, in the hope that the female won't notice the attempt at being bred with inferior genes...that's why Porches & diamond earrings were invented. Conversely...the human males who have evolved within the realm of controlling one's fear - reap the benefits of mating with only the healthiest and vivacious of the females within the species. Of course as with any evolutionary model..there are degrees of 'success' if you will, even within the society subgroups...call it ranking for lack of a better term. There are several ways of showing the 'rank' one has achieved within the 'Fearless' culture set...but unquestionably the males with the highest possible 'fearless' ranking are the easiest to spot. They're with a redhead! Always a fountain of great wisdom. So the vasectomy 25 years ago, removed the chance of me continuing to spread my genes and made me not worry about getting killed early. Never thought of that. Thanks Jim. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Yes, I have been there with that question. But for me, it is not the same thing as fear. About jumps 7 through 20 I would think that on the way to the DZ, or maybe even in the plane. But as soon as the door was open, 'game on'. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have heard this said before and I don’t understand why people think there is something wrong with you if you are not afraid. We plan to put on a piece of equipment and trust our lives with it and our ability to operate it. Is the design of the equipment sound? Is the equipment in good working condition? Is the training good enough that you are sure you can carry out your tasks? If you “believe” the answers to those three questions are Yes, then fear make no sense at all. Yes, there might be something wrong with me. But if someone says they trust the equipment, trust the training, and trust themselves but are afraid, I would be very puzzled as to what was going on in their head. Maybe is that person that has something wrong with them. Maybe they really don’t believe the answers are all Yes and they only "hope" the anwers are Yes. Fear in that situation is very understandable. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

One of my deciding factors was age. The older I got, the more likely I would have more problems in many respects. I would think fear of flying the parachute and landing would be something totally different than the concern for injury due to existing conditions. Can you determine if it is really fear or just concern for your legs. Once you learn to flare and land properly, the shock and stress on your legs is not very much as long as a person stays inside certain boundries. In the beginning stages of learning a person needs to protect themselves by a controlled fall when they land hard. That is part of training, that you can always fall back on if you mess up. If you can't learn to jump from about 5 feet up, fall, and roll in such a way that you don't hurt your legs, maybe your legs don't need to be skydiving. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Detrimental how? (curious) Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

First jump, i was taught some landmarks to set up my pattern for winds from the south. I was also taught to rotate the pattern based on the direction of the ground wind. Not hard to understand, right? I noticed this weekend that some students might have some difficulty mentally picturing the rotated pattern where to hold, where to enter the pattern, etc. A simulator might help some visualize what the new pattern footprint might look like if it were rotated for winds at 240 degrees. Picture is worth a thousand words, I hear. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

There are training programs that start out with "working tandems" where you have specific tasks to do other than just hanging on for the ride. The correct answer for your first question varies. If you can find the DZ where you want to train, talk to the instructors there. They should be able to help you decide. They might have concerns different than you do, suggesting what they think is best for you. You will end up with some type of relationship with the instructors. It is not too early to start learning from them, if you are serious. $4000 USD for used gear would/should get you operational, when the time comes.....ballpark figure. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Don't ever look at me and ask about bent elbows. After my first flight, video review, it was suggested I straighten out my arms more. With my elbows locked, I am about 15 degrees from my arms being straight. No way can I make my arms straight. I fly with my shoulders rolled forward a little and my palms to the sky, which gives me an anhedral profile if viewed from the front, with my arms less than straight. It seems to work okay, but I often worry if it is challenging me i ways I have not noticed. So all my flying is with bent elbows :) I had to show my elbow issue to my drill sergeant too, who yelled, "Straighten out those arms" and thought I was ignoring him. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

If I have any measurable tracking skills it is because I did do a lot of solo tracking. I don’t think a person can easily learn to track well by doing it in 6 second bursts. There are some things that you can feel only after a longer period and some playing around with body position. Yes, also work on all of the planning and skills to avoid others jump space. The better you get at tracking, the easier it is (if you go the wrong direction) to get into someone else's space. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Yes, nice to have that reverence without looking at my altimeter, as I normally have my eyes glued on the ground and other canopies. http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Canopy_Control/Saved_By_The_Beep_754.html Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I thought you were going to say, "He would make a good one". Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I am posting this for some of the would be and beginning WS pilots that are hungry for anything related to wingsuiting that might be helpful. Saturday was pretty windy and I only made one flight, which was a solo. I fly a lightly loaded main, so on windy days I need to deploy well upwind of the landing area. The uppers were 40+ as well, so this would be "fun". The wind in the morning was something like 35+ all the way down to 200 feet. Even with better conditions in the afternoon, I was still concerned about the winds in the 1500-3500 foot range. My navigation was not "textbook", partly because of the strong upper winds from the west. But I did deploy where I had planned and stayed well away from the other jumpers. I selected my deployment point on the map and picked a place that I could spot easily. Before exit, I made sure I knew where we were relative to the landing area. Here are my notes and data. Report with ground track and notes http://pyrodan.privatedata.com/skydive/wingsuit/windy-wingsuit-flight.pdf Goggle Earth file of GPS data http://pyrodan.privatedata.com/skydive/wingsuit/21-27-57.kml Boring video http://youtu.be/OWv2XXNIqbA Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Aside from repetition, how does one prevent that de-arch on exit. I'm notorious with it. That "hollow stomach" feeling overcomes me and I stay balled up a little like that... the overload and such. Is it just experience and comfort? As a kid we had a little game we called the belly buster contest. We would jump off of the diving board and see who could land with a big fat/flat PLOP on the service of the water, spread out, belly first. It hurt and stung a lot. Only those a bit touched would win, because it hurt to do it right. If the plane was headed straight down and would hit the surface of the ocean one second after you exited, your instructor might say, “Here is a chance to make one last splash in life. See how good a belly buster you can do”. Your task would be to exit perpendicular with the relative wind, coming from the direction of the aircraft flight and smack the water squarely. That is the proper orientation to the relative wind. If you exit with the correct orientation to the wind, then your body posture, your arch is the second thing. Tightening your butt muscles help some. Watching the plane as you fall away works wonders. It keeps your head back, which causes you to naturally arch as you track the plane with your head. It is hard to describe how helpful watching the plane is until you do it and see for yourself. In static line progression, this is the jump where it really clicked for me. If you can stop it on 16 seconds, you can see I am still giving the plane a good look and continue to do so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phvG7wwaHBw “Cleared for solo practice to the top” is what my log book shows. What a happy day. That is the same is getting off of AFF. I had really struggled with stability up until this point. Then it all started to make sense. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I go a Pilot when I had 20 jumps. I jumped it 3 times and then was visiting a DZ while on vacation and rented a Pulse, the same size. Wing loading is 0.93:1. I didn't see any difference that I could detect at the time worth mentioning. Both were easy to fly and land. That Pilot is still my main, 300+ jumps later. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Did you really watch the plane? Practice and it will come. Then it will seem like such a long time ago when things were different. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Obviously not much, but noobs jump at drop zones and drop zones have instructors & DZO's for them to lean on for guidance. I bought my rig when I had 20 jumps and after jumping student gear at more than one DZ, no one had to tell me I wanted a rig that fit. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I had some tell me not to watch videos. But prior to learning to jump I watched many AFF videos. One thing I got a laugh out of was someone getting unstable and reaching for a handle in the sky, that was not there. On one of my early release jumps, I dropped a shoulder and started toward a head down, roll over. I almost reached for that sky handle, but because of the videos I knew right away it would not help me. I quickly went with what was happening and did my first barrel roll...sort of. To me the videos have some value as to what you might see or experience, properly taken with a grain of salt. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

No change to the aircraft flight that I have noticed jumping at Skydive Dallas. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Not mention wingsuits......right! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”