dthames

I jumped at several places when I was a student. Not all by choice but if you want to jump, you do what you have to. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I like my Bev. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Nick, Thanks for posting. Great insight. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Twardo, was that a round main? If so, wow! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

regarding accidents.... If you carefully watch the skydiving accident reports (get the real facts) you will notice that many are caused by a problem that is then compounded by improper action on the part of the jumper. Even with good training, people can mess up with bad things happen. But at the same time I like what the risk video that our DZO has for all first timers. “…..when everything works right, you can still die skydiving.” That is something all of us have to understand. As a student I was visiting a large DZ. A jumper had a malfunction, didn’t address it properly at the correct altitude, cut away low, and died. The jumper had hundreds of jumps. That type of accident could happen at any DZ. I mean it should not be considered a bad mark on the DZ unless it was a result of bad training for such an emergency. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have a few line twists as a student and some afterwards as well. It seems your question has some concern or worry behind it. For me, flying a student rig, I would find myself hanging under a perfectly inflated and properly flying canopy. I would do a quick look around to see if there was someone headed for me. After I knew I was in the in clear, I knew I could relax a bit. Students should be open high enough that you have time to fix a line twist and still make it back to your landing area without a problem. Unless something else is also wrong, there is not a lot of reason to get excited about a line twist. You can kick your way out of a line twist and that is good practice. If you are flying straight without any spinning, if you just wait a few seconds, very often it will just untwist like you are on a twisted up swing. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

1)Whats your personal motivation behind jumping out of an airplane. I have always wanted to fly. The airplane is just a means to get up and out into the air. 2) What factor does adrenaline in YOUR own skydives. I am odd and just don’t get it. My level of concentration seems to supersede my level of excitement. I have noticed that after I land (sometimes) my heart is pounding a bit, but I don’t notice it while I am actively involved. 3)What factor does pushing your skills to the next level play in your time in the sky. There is a huge amount to learn and I love to take on new challenges and learn from them. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I'm always up for learning a new method. What have you got? The things Andy is suggesting to Vanessa. They are not new though. Andy is Popsjumper right? Do you mean this: "Get yourself away from that dependence on altitudes and references as quickly as you can. Develop your judgement using your eyes." How exactly do I do that? Is there a structured method involved or is it just trial and error and a shit load of (potentially dangerous) mistakes? While not experienced enough to say this is a good method, I can share what I have done. I took the canopy information taught in FJC to heart. I had read, “The Parachute And It’s Pilot” and the first part of the SIM, section 4 before I had my FJC. After I was jumping I also read what Brian Germain wrote in the articles “Saved ByThe Beep” and the one about the 4 leg landing pattern. I got an audible and turned the freefall alarms down to a very low volume level, as I still needed to be focused on the visual altimeter. Under canopy I had ground references when I first started. At some DZs, you can’t count of the wind being from the same direction every day. So, quickly those ground references need some other methods to help out. The audible with the canopy alarms set at 900, 600, and 300 helped me verify how the ground looked at those heights. After not very many jumps it was fairly common to hear the canopy beep and I would think, there was 900 but I am not where I want to be yet. But I could note I was paste 900 without any effort to look at my wrist altimeter or to take my eyes off of flying the canopy . If I found myself going past the altitude turn points that I had planned, I could note that for the jump. I jumped at 5 DZs while on student status and at most every DZ I was complimented for flying a good pattern. I have no special skills but just do as I was told or as I was taught. I think there is plenty of information available if it is properly applied. One thing I have found helpful and especially at a new DZ, go to Google Maps and print out an image of the landing area. Be sure to include the scale in the printed image. Then get a ruler and lay out a pattern using the scale and what you have determined your pattern legs need to be for a specific wind speed. Look at the size of the landing pattern on the field. By the time you have it all marked up, you should know the length of the pattern legs. Walk out on the field and step them off to get a better understanding of what you will be doing. Then go fly it and see what you learn. Some might think that is all silly and overkill. I will be the first to say I don’t fly precisely what I might plan out. But the plan serves as a tool to make me spend a good bit of time getting an understanding of what I want to do and how it lays on the field. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was trained to transfer the weight to my hands very gently and carefully. That might not be a solution but it does help reduce the peak load you have on your ability to hang on. It also keeps from jerking the plane around....if that matters to anyone. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I wonder why were so few able to survive. Were they not able to get out of the gear and work on water survival? Or was help just too long getting there? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Stop giving lousy advice! That MAY work out OK if a person is using a canopy that is really big and can't be stalled, but it is terrible advice if not. You mean like a student canopy? The kind a student might be flying? Even if you know someone is a student using a student canopy, you don't know whether they can stall it. The "punch it" part is also wrong. As a student with about 20 jumps I was visiting a DZ because our DZ had aircraft issue. I weigh about 170 and was on an older 280 size F111. I tested it by holding the toggles all the way down. No way it was going to stall. After about 10 full seconds it suddenly just folded up and down I went. It can happen. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

SIM 5-3 K. b. Gloves are essential when the jump altitude temperature is lower than 40° F. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

“…..enough ram left over to adapt…” About 3 weeks ago, I was driving to the DZ in the dark at 75 MPH, suddenly deer in both lanes and no way to slow enough. I was able to hit the shoulder and miss them. That got my heart pounding way more than any skydive to date. I let out a yell of success and thought how funny that the drive to the DZ was “high risk”. I agree about the car and danger. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Note that at time index 00:31 the audible is sounding as the canopy inflates. Nice touch! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Where are you doing your First Jump Course and have you made that first jump yet? I am curious how things worked out. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think it is great to put your family before yourself. A fair number of new jumpers are empty nest adults. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I gave up the audible on trackng jumps so I could listen to my Flysight. The suggestion to practice judging alt by eyeball is something that is pretty easy and a good thing to practice on a tracking jump. It is a good challange as well. I did get a chest mount recently. It is one of those 45 deg jobs that hangs on the mudflap. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

And that clearly illustrates the problem with giving advise over the Internet. This 'body pilot' progression topic has been discussed before...because YOU didn't understand the conventional wisdom you stated an opinion going against it. Often though hard to do, it's best not to give ANY advise as opposed to giving some that differs from that which is 'commonly' put forth. The phrase ~ 'You don't even know what all you don't know' has been around for quite a while. No trying to be condescending, but your opinions in another area of progression were also against conventional wisdom. It took you a while to see some validity in that and step it down a notch. Going off 'ready fire, aim' maybe isn't the best procedure when giving skydiving advise to people that possibly don't understand - YOU don't understand. With about 8 times as many jumps & over 7 times the time in this sport ~ if I've learned anything, it's to go with the conventional wisdom with regard to being safe and trying to survive. So far so good. Airtwardo, Thanks! What a great model of how to teach on the Internet. Like it or not, many of us rely on this forum to help shape our understanding and to help us in our efforts. Not everyone has direct access to full time instructors and a 365 day a year DZ. To communicate, “Slow down, listen, and learn” instead of “Shut up and listen, dummy or you will prove you are a hardhead” is very nice to hear. In my first few months on DZ.com it was easy to identify several regular posters that have a huge amount to teach new comers. But when people are slow to listen and tempers flare, learning often stops. I think by the act of gearing up we are all sort of hard headed. If we didn’t think we had at least some level of “IT” figured out, we have no business jumping. Confidence to jump must breed some level of being hard headed. Love you guys/gals that take the time to temper the message so it can soak in. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Here you go. While maybe not the perfect arch, the student appears to be a seasoned jumper. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD09C169E443160D6&feature=plcp Not everyone has the same form. Your instuctors will help you in freefall if your form sucks. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

About renting a car in Tampa. We did that last year. Some of the agencies have more than one rental location in the city. Renting a car at the airport was more expensive than one from an office that was not at the airport. You might have to have a taxi take you to the car place but if you are renting for a week or more, gettng the daily cost down would help. Are you going in late Dec by any chance? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was born in 1957 and knew people just a few years older than me that had Polio. I was always so thankful. That the vaccine was available when I came along. In a leadership class at work about 3 weeks ago the teacher asked who was familar with Jonas Salk. I was the only person in the room that knew what he had done. How quickly we forget. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

The simple advice I got was, "Don't let yourself be dependent on it". Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I heard he made huge bucks as a cart-loader. Don That was a GREAT job...paid an arm & a leg!! "I'm not dead yet." Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was dead set against them for the first few years of my adult life. In the National Guard age 26-37 I was forced to take them. After a few years I noticed I did not have a cold hardly ever. I don't know if it was related to the shots or not, but I still get them. One theory about age and viruses is that you have been sick or exposed to more and more of what is common as you get older. So your odds of running into something you have not seen before, it less. The result is you are naturally less likely to get sick. So those shots might not be helping me, but 50-something. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”