dthames

It is still early. Keep a close eye on it, it might get better. If it does, you can't jump if you are not there. If it is just a bit too windy and others are jumping, it might be a good day to learn to pack. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I am new to this sport and not a young man. I was told I had a lazy arch. In fact I just can't hold it deep for very long. I have stretched for over 8 months, twice a day, and have worked on muscle tone. I am still rather flat. My biggest real trouble was in AFF, as I was wobbling and was slow to learn to be stable. Instructors needed to help (hold) me more than most students. This sort of hampered my ability to learn. I finished by going to static line where I could work my way up from 5, 10, 20 seconds of stable free fall. It was not long before I had the stability problem whipped. I still fall slow, but no problem other than that. You can do it. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

S/L - Oh shit! We're going higher on the next one? AFF - Oh shit! We're going lower on the next one? That cracks me up. Maybe I have a problem because I was never sure how I was trained. I had some problems in my early jumps, mixed some SL with AFF, then stopped AFF and went to SL only to get to solo status. Often, I have felt all of the problems I had were holding me back. But in retrospect I see I might have learned more because of my problems. I know my SL jumps made a big difference in the AFF jumps that I did after a few SL jumps. My exits were much better. About the 3rd SL exit something clicked that you arch right on exit, not 3 seconds later, when someone is banging their helmet into your kidney. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think really it depend if you want to be a casual jumper or a progressive skydiver. Even a casual jumper should still strive to stay current, for many reasons. I am still new and trying to gain experience. I try to jump as much as I can. Two weeks between jumps is a long time for me. 2 per Saturday (when I jump) is about the least I try to do. Driving 90 miles to the DZ costs gas money and it hate to pay as much for gas as jump costs. I am bleeding my savings right now. So, I might have to taper off at some point. I am aiming for 100 by the end of my first year in the sport. I had a rather slow start. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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

I have a Pilot 210 with 0.9 WL. I do a pro pack with the nose between my knees. I tuck the front stabilizer corner in round the cells, against the slider on each side. This opens very gently and does not seem to snivel a lot. But, the nose naturally gets pushed in a bit as I work on the pack job. I normally then grab the nose and pull it back out just a little before I bring the tail around. If I don't do that step, it seems to snivel more. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I too have found that to be helpful. You can leave the toggles all the way up, and still make minor corrections. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=696 More reading for you. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

After you read the SIM and know "what for". Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have a white Benny. I selected white, thinking it might be cooler. I have no issues with it being dirty, but I don't land on my head either. It is easy to see white, against the green/brown background. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I posted the original question a few months ago. I thought I had a fair understanding of what needed to happen but many people use different terms and also have different ideas of what is right and best. Here are some things I experienced as I am still trying to learn…. I did 2 solo tracking dives with a Flysight GPS unit and was listening to the tones for Glide Ratio mode. On the first jump I was very very shallow with a very low glide angle value and about 45 MPH horizontal ground speed. I was confused about what the tones were telling me and failed to adjust effectively. The second jump I knew more about what to do based on the tones. I went pretty steep at first and got up to about 127 MPH vertical, and 58 horizontal speed. I could tell I was too fast and swallowed it out. Then I slowly got steeper again. Close to the end of the dive I had settled into a vertical fall rate of about 106 MPH and a horizontal speed of 66 MPH. If you asked me if I was in a dive, I would have said Yes. But I was not in a high speed, steep angle dive. The way I have been tracking, I am not really in a dive. I did not take the wind into account on either jump. The horizontal numbers are strictly from the GPS numbers. I am sure I can do better with practice but what I have been doing with RW break off tracking needs to be more aggressive if I want to gain the best separation distance. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Welcome to the forum and the sky. I hope you get your wish. Keep after it. I have a friend in another hobby where we do much works with our hands. He lost his arm between the shoulder and the elbow when he was about 18. He can do the work that the rest of us do with both hands. It is amazing how he has adapted. If you can get the right people to help you figure out all the tools you need for one arm jumping, I am sure you will make it happen. I know such things often drive people harder than normal. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Great to hear you are better off than you were. Stay no track. I know how it feels to get that A after several months. That is good news as well. My local rigger was great to help me and others with their first rig. If you don't have someone helping you, ask around the DZ. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

As I recall from the interview, it was a 6 or 8 way hybrid that did not come together correctly. The original break off plan was not possible and there was not secondary plan. The two jumpers did not pull at the same altitude but one sniveled a long way, putting her on the level with the other jumper. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Those early tethered and free fall SL jumps really taught me basic exit stability. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Close to a quote from a previous thread, made by someone other than myself but seems to be the best answer overall....... So I can open the parachute, fly it to a landing, and do it all again. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Congratulations. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Yes, after it was shipped to my rigger, I tried it on for fit, the rigger fully inspected it, and said it was good. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

It might be worth looking at taking Viagra (gentlemen only) before you jump. Certainly holds more potential benifit than aspirin. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/10_25_05.html Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I don't think I could make it to the weekend without DZ.com. What a pool of.........talent! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I started last year (age 54) after viewing many wing suit clips and remembering how many times in my life I wished about skydiving. The pivotal moment was when my 77 year old mother said, “Life is getting a lot harder. If there is something you want to do, do it while you still feel healthy enough to enjoy it.” I was booking my first jump course soon after that day. I am a bit of a thrill seeker but surprisingly skydiving is not all that “thrilling” for me. Maybe as a younger person it might have been. It is focus, do a good job, learn, and have fun. Maybe I ran out of WoooHooos some years ago. Free fall is loud. Seeing clouds "from both sides now" changes your view of the sky. Canopy flight is where you can really enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. I do expect that when the day comes, my first wing suit jump will be full of excitement. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

That is all rather surprising to me (the skin stuff). I spend a lot of time while I was growing up, practicing holding my breath. Maybe it was also part genetic but I got to where I could hold my breath much longer than the average person. Mostly by practice. The ambient temperature, person’s excitement level, and activity level all contribute to how much oxygen is used by the body. I don’t think the skin absorption is as much of a factor as some think it is. To blow gently while exhaling will cause an increase in the oxygen you absorb out of the air. That might help. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

In response to Trae’s post on 8 Jul, You hit the nail on the head with your comments and what I am trying to figure out (what exactly to do?). I started skydiving because I want to fly a wingsuit someday. My interest was peaked when I saw the movie, The Gypsy Moths, back in the late 70s. So, I have been waiting a while to get started. I am working toward my B license and I am doing mostly RW jumps, trying to learn not to totally suck at RW. I want to be better and learn to be a good skydiver but there is no specific excitement in RW belly flying that I have found, yet. I am trying to keep an open mind. I break it up and (for the entertainment value) about every 4th jump I will exit on my back and try to stay stable on my back, like a sitting position on your back. That often ends in a spinning contest, which is sort of entertaining. I have been trying to get involved with people that can lead and coach me on tracking dives but at our small DZ the only person that might do that is busy working as an instructor or videographer most of the time. I visit a larger DZ from time to time and I hope to do some tracking dives there but that is also a good place to work on the RW jumps. So far RW has won out. I don’t want to run out and rack up 200 jumps as fast as I can, learn next to nothing, and then say, “Bring on the wingsuit”. I want to be well rounded but also I want to start trying to learn the “translatable skills” related to flying a wingsuit. So, here I am on this thread still scratching my head as to what to do and when to do it. Until I get over 100 jumps I plan to just stay on the same track that I am today, working on RW and trying to learn a few additions things as I go. But after that, what then? I would like to know the “what then” answers in order to best map out a plan. I like to know where I am going and why. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Congratulations! This is an easy time to let your guard down a bit. Be safe. Be vigilant. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I haved always been grateful for our combat veterans. On the 50th anniversary of D-Day, Public Television aired a 3 hour documentary made by a WWII fighter pilot. It touched me and changed my thinking in a way I didn’t think possible. My VHS PBS broadcast recording of the show was poor and after a few years I purchased the DVD. It is a story of one man's part in a very large battle, starting on D-Day for this pilot. You can see some of his story at this web site but it is far short of what the video contains. A salute to our combat veterans and their families. http://quentinaanenson.com/ Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”