dthames

The skydive is more like the motorcycle than the roller coaster. If you don't like the ride, reach back with your right hand and put on the brake. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I love the cat picture. I am alert and on task but it does seem rather weird, just floating in the air for a bit. I am happy you are getting to jump. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Stian gave a good outline of a typical SL course. I did several AFF jumps and found I had problems learning to be stable. I lacked the flexability and strength to maintain a good arch for very long. In a SL program I have been moving slower while also working on my issues. So, SL fits me better. My feeling is that performance pressure (one puts on him/herself) tends to be less in SL jumps. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Yes, putting your foot on the step is a pre-climbout move that is done while sitting on your butt, waiting on the spot. I was not suggesting checking after climbout nor in exit position. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

This is mainly for newer jumpers. We are all told what to do to be safe. Knowing what to do is one thing. Developing a plan to carry it out is another. I told my kids to learn from the mistakes of others and don’t repeat them. Some time ago on one the DZ.com forums someone posted a link to a video Dirty Jobs Safety Third clip. The point of the clip is that it is YOUR job to make yourself safe. We are taught “check your handles”, over and over. Most of us do check our handles and feel we are safer for it. But looking at myself, I see I was missing something. Saturday I got a nice little lesson. I was doing a less than good job at developing a safety plan for me. Was I being “safe”? I would have said Yes. But…… I have been doing short freefalls from a C-182. On some exits I start from being on my knees at the door. On my knees it is easy to check my handles, legs straps, and chest straps before exit. But Saturday I was on my butt and moved up from the position behind the pilot to the position beside the pilot and facing the rear of the aircraft. In doing so, I must have pushed the plastic cylinder handle up in my BOC pouch a bit. When I reached for it in free fall, I was not able to grab it. But somehow when I grabbed I found that I had a finger inside the end of the pull. It was not a problem to pull out, grab, and throw. But it took longer than if things were right. It could have easily went to a reserve ride. What I was missing and urge others to do, is to make up a sequence of steps that you own. I mean if someone tells me to do 4 things before I exit, I can learn to do them. But if I take ownership and have my own 4 or 5 or 6 things I do to enhance MY safety there is a very good chance I will follow my rules over someone else’s. My rules I agree with for good reason…they are mine. I don’t mean ignore what you are taught, but take ownership of what you know. Until it changes your behavior, you have not learned the lesson. So next time I am exit like that, when I put my feet out on the step, my right hand will go into that pull and check it. No matter if I checked it 20 seconds before, the moving of the feet to the step will be followed by the checking of the pull. Now I am looking for other things that I may not have taken ownership on. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Wooo Hoo for you. Now the hard part, the waiting. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Thanks for sharing the video. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

My first jump was my first AFF jump. It went very well from a technical point of view. However, I took zero time for sight seeing. I enjoyed the experience but there was not the freedom to enjoy the moment. I mean my focus was to do the jump as trained. I am not looking back and wishing I started with a tandem. But I can see where a person might get more fun by starting with a tandem. Do you want to see the earth coming up to meet you? I really didn't see the ground until I was under canopy. I was too focused on the tasks at hand to bother looking during freefall. Dan Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

You pretend/practice in the first jump course. Then you do it. Sometimes it is better than others. After a while you learn to be more precise. A beginneer (me) running out a landing is not advised. PFL Parachute Landing Fall, unless you are perfectly sat down on your feet. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Weeks before my first jump I visited the DZ and telked to some instructors. One told me, "Start stretching your back right now", and described some things to do. I did some of that, but didn't take it all that seriously. I am an older "new jumper". I had problems and discovered that the lack of flexibility in my back and lack of strength in my back limited how deeply and for how long I could hold a good arch. When those facts became clear to me, I took some time off and worked on my physical issues for a couple of months. I started jumping again a few weeks ago on static line program so that I can continue to work my way up in strength and flexibility. I am doing short free falls at this time and things are going much better for me. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I would guess that if the same thing happens on the next jump that you would recover sooner. If you agree this is the case, use that to bolster your confidence. There is an article in one of the recent Parachutist magazines about the mental battle to deal with experiences like this. Reading it and practicing what is suggested might also help. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I did some AFF jumps and some S/L jumps, sort of mixed for some unusual reasons. But now I am fully a S/L student. My DZ has been closed most weeks lately so I went over to Pegasus yesterday. Go there and spend a day. That is the best advice I can give. A lot of places offer S/L or IAD training. Pegasus "teaches" S/L. You have to be there to understand what I mean. I have jumped at 4 DZs, two large ones and two small one. That is funny with my grand total of 16 jumps, I know. I is not my home DZ but you can bet it will be my home away from home. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

This thread has become the chronicle of my endeavor to become a skydiver. I had hoped to share a glowing report after a trip to the wind tunnel and AFF work back in early January. But the pattern of things not being easy for me, continued. Higher up in this tread are some stories of my struggles so far. I have considered just being done with it all, but I don’t want to stop now and wish I had continued at some later date. It is “do” or “not do” time for me. If I stop, I won’t be back. So I plod on. First week of Janurary 2012 and I made a trip to Florida to continue AFF. 7, 2 minute turns in the wind tunnel must have helped me some but it did not make me a person that could manage stable free fall. The next day after the wind tunnel I did 2 more AFF jumps (not released) and then 2 released jumps 3 days later. Winds had caused the delay. After my second release jump I was upset with my performance and so totally fed up, that decided to quit. For sure to quit AFF. I think someone said AFF is like trying to drink from a fire hose. Well, my belly was full. Nothing wrong except me. Some might say I needed a different instructor. But I just didn’t have the desire to continue down this path. Skydiving does not give me an instant emotional thrill like it does some people. To me it is learning something new and overcoming things that I need to overcome that give me some pleasure. But the hill is too steep or the water too fast to take this route. I decided that if the sky called me back, it would be on the old static line. I had done some S/L jumps and enjoyed them. Way less pressure to preform and a repeat jump is much easier to swallow. And for me, there is just something better about being by myself in the sky. I am not sure why. My local DZ was closed when I felt it was time to continue, a few weeks later. Finally about 4 weeks ago I was able to start on S/L progression. I have continued to use the prescription “Transderm Scop” patch behind my ear to combat the motion sickness under canopy. I am down to only using half a patch. On one of my tether jumps I was perfectly fine on exit and sick by full canopy inflation. Instantly the thought of never skydiving again was a comforting thought. 90 seconds later the sickness was gone and I was back in the saddle. Since being on this medicine I had not had any sick feelings, so why now? The instructor helmet video of my exit told the tale. I didn’t go for my practice pull when I first exited but went for form (by habit). Then suddenly remembered if I didn’t get the practice pull device I would have to repeat the jump. In my hast to get it before being jerked around by deployment I put myself in bad form. I had on white shoe and you can see them spinning in about 3 quick circles as the canopy opens. In those 2 or 3 seconds that motion made me sick. So, don’t do that again! But knowing the cause made me feel better. People talk about fear and skydiving. I am afraid of getting sick, because it flips on the “skydiving sucks” switch for me. What a laugh, to have that as my fear. Yesterday I completed my 3rd and very successful 5 second delay freefall and now move on to 10 second delays. I am excited to continue and there is fun in place of struggle. It still may take me more than 25 jumps to get my A. But hope is out there. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Benton, Congradulations on your first jump! Old dogs can be taught new tricks. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

The pilot rushed by the 3 passengers with a parachute rig, and stated, “The plane is going down and the only option is to jump. We are one rig short…..sorry.”. The pilot went out the door. The 3 looked at each other. The first one to move was an engineer. He said, "I can contribute to all mankind with my skills, so I need to survive". As quick as he could, he was geared up, and out the door. This left a boy scout and an older preacher on the plane staring at each other. The old preacher took the lead and said, “Young man, if you will promise to give your life to God, serve Him all of you days, and take over where I am leaving off, you can take that last parachute and save your life. I have lived a good life and I am ready to be with the Lord”. The boy scout said, “Preacher, no need for that. That engineering just jumped out with my backpack”. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have been looking for a first rig and I think the upsizing craze started by this thread has largely depleted the available rigs of normal size. Only tiny stuff out there or everyone is clammering over the few for sale. No less than 6 people said they wanted a 210 rig that came up for sale yesterday. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

From my current student standing, I would define “line twist” as having the lines twisted under a fully inflated and straight flying canopy. In that case a “line twist” is something that just needs some correction, as long as you were under canopy at the proper altitude and not wasting time since then. “Twisted lines” would be what I think of a condition that might be a line twist or a malfunction, depending on what all else was happening. So, if you are under a fully inflated straight flying canopy, well above 2500 feet, I would claim, “line twist” and go to work fixing it. Are there any corrections needed in that thinking? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

My favorite was the 6 Browning .50 caliber machine guns most American planes carried. The P-47 carried 8 of those bad boys. In 1994, as part of the 50th anniversary of D-Day, PBS aired a 3-1/2 hour show called A Fighter Pilot’s Story. I recorded it to VHS but later purchased a cleaner copy on DVD. It is a wonderful and painful story by a P-47 pilot about his training and combat experience. It is narrated by the pilot and his wife (or female voice) as they go over his journal, letters home, and thoughts. The video is still images and some gun camera film. http://quentinaanenson.com/ Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I don't know about the "funny" part but I think a conscientious student would welcome a chance for new experience and learning. I had a couple of minor twists but then to learn how to kick out of a real twist did give me some feeling of accomplishment. Not that it was a big deal, but that I then knew how to do it. Another student said he was worried how he would react when he had his first twist, and it happened on that very jump. Later he felt good it was not something to be worried about. Maybe some small rite of passage or something. Buy everyone beer and they will enjoy it too! Dan Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Aviation history is filled with planes that delivered the required duty at the right moment of need. It is somewhat silly to me to single one out and say IT was THE one of greatest importance. I would concede the Wright Flier might be an exception, as it set the stage for aviation to be considered possible. I love combat aircraft but the DC-3 might be one of the most important aircraft ever, but in rarely gets special notice. How many planes have been in service for decades as some we see today. To me that is pretty impressive for something to fly 40 or 50 years and still be relied on. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I didn't look at anyone's response before I looked at the photo and I caught it. The pilot chute is not open, or not cocked. Without knowing to look for a problem I would not have picked up on it. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I did my initial training in a leaning harness and as previouly stated, many, many times did we practice. But the first time I got to get in a hanging harness, I was pleased to have the chance to find out what the feel of pulling the cable with weight in it was like. I feel both have a place. Dan Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think you will find that if you drop (from altitude) 2 objects with similar drag coefficients and have the 2 objects at different weights, you will find they land with the lighter object further downwind than the heavier object. That fact should shed some light on this specific point. (if an agreement can be reached on that happening) You can easily test that one. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was kinda curious how people were going to receive that part... BG Kids are pretty amazing. I was taking note of your son studying the holds close to the top. You could see the little gears turning, trying to figure out the path to take. Teens are scary (just wait). Take a strong mind that can spend 90% of their time trying to out fox Mom and Dad, who are worried about 20 things while the teen is only worried about how to get away with something. That is scary. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think some people get real busy and eat less. Others get real busy and eat more junkfood in place of normal (good) meals. I gained some pounds with the years, then lost them, and kept them off. Since I started jumping it has been easier to keep my weight down without the type of restrictions I had faced shortly before. Somehting is a little different. But I can't agree with the article based on my experience. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”