CanuckInUSA

LOL ...

That's a scary statement dude. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's always nice to occasionally do some sort of sport with someone who is better than you to help you improve (assuming you don't slow them down too much). But it's also important to do the sport with people your own calibre. I can't help but think of skiing or hockey when I think of this analogy. I surely don't want to ski with a novice skier when I can ski black and double blacks just as I don't want to play hockey with ankle bitters when I've played hockey at the college level. So now that I'm a newbie to skydiving, I must assume that there will be times when I can't jump with the ultra-experienced folks. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

derweasel ... For what it's worth, I did my AFF Level IV jump yesterday and did not perform the way I would have liked to. I was lucky enough to have passed, but it was a wake up call for me when I jump next, which is hopefully this coming Friday though I haven't told the boss yet that I won't be at work. Anyway I was surprised at how fast I rotated on my turns with the amount of arm and shoulder movements that I applied. My first left turn rotated at least 135 degrees (if not more) as I was too abrupt with the body. I believe my second turn was much better. But then on the forward motion maneuver, I was once again too abrupt with my legs and never did dock with my instructor. But for some reason I passed. My instructor basically told me during the debriefing this was because I never really let myself get too out of control. But I was flustered and not happy with the jump. In retrospective I must tell myself to not get down (there's that have fun theme again). But I know I'll need to do better the next time. Good luck with your training ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Sunshine I'd like to try and entertain you one day on IM, except that I'm not all that big with IM. But I am a licensed private pilot, hence my disappointment when I was not referred to as the best pilot . But now that I'm getting into skydiving, I fear that I will fly even less than I was before I got into skydiving (something about having only a finite about of time and money). I still love being in the left seat flying over the beautiful mountains of Colorado, but jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is just too cool to pass up. Happy flying ... and for the daring ... Happy skydiving ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wolf I did turns and forward movement during my Level II jump as well. But the difference was that there were two jump masters holding on to me. In the Level IV jump, there is only one jump master and he/she is not holding on to you. It makes a huge difference when nobody is hanging on. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My home drop zone (Mile-Hi Skydiving in Longmont CO) is reasonable cheap. I believe it has a decent safety record and it has lots of experience jumpers. But the cost of living in Colorado isn't cheap. So that would likely eliminate it from your list of places to go. But if you like mountains, Colorado is a great place to be what with it's awesome weather (you don't want to jump somewhere that is constantly dealing with bad weather) and beautiful scenery. So it's just something to think about. I would think that somewhere like Arizona might be a great place to jump due to it's sunny dry weather conditions throughout the entire year. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wolf You might want to talk with your JMs about turns and forward tracking before your Level III jump. But at least the AFF syllabus my drop zone has been following, the turns and forward tracking are done in Level IV. So you'll be doing them very soon. Also, a word of warning about turns and forward motion. They occur much easier than one might think. So be subtle concerning your arm, shoulder and leg movements. On my Level IV jump, my first left handed 90 degree turn turn out to be more like a 135 degree turn because I was too abrupt with my body movements. And my forward tracking also was a similar experience. I was surprised when my JM told me that I had passed the jump but he said this was because I never really lost control. I was just too abrupt with my manuevers (something I will have to remember next weekend when I continue with my Level V and up jumps). As far as your landings are concerned, you're not the only one who is wondering how a student can get better. Definitely each landing I've made has progressively gotten better. But I have plenty of room for improvement and I'm thinking that two things are in my way as far as getting better is concerned. The first one would be, that I'm still in the PLF mindset that my first ground school JM put me in. I've got my feet and knees well out in front of me on short final, but I think my weight is aft and I'm not in the mind set yet of at the very last second shifting it slightly forward and running/walking with the landing. The second issue I believe I have is that I'm not a small student (I weigh about 210 lbs without any gear) and while my student canopy is plenty large, I've seen fellow students who weigh a good 40-80 lbs less than me just float to the ground while I don't float very much on short final. But I know I'm going to have to start greasing my landings using my student 290 canopy before I can even think about using a canopy somewhere in the 210 size range (a size I believe that will be good for some one my weight once I gain a little more experience). Well I've got to run and at least make an effort to get some work done (though my mind is still out at the DZ). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'd be happy to jump with two hotties Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wolf I can understand you going through the shakes if you're having jumpers withdrawl (I'm having withdrawls right now and I jumped twice yesterday). But if the shakes are related to your Level III jump, don't fret. I did my Level III & IV jumps yesterday and the Level III jump is one of the easier jumps you will do in your AFF training. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Bummer ... and I thought I was the best pilot. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wow three successfull AFF jumps in one day. Good job. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey Patrick (aka hawkbit) I don't know when you'll get this, but I'm back at work after my Level IV jump and I think I got lucky on passing this level (more on that later). But I hope you're Level III went well and that you got to jump in a reasonable time. On my Level IV jump the weather was looking very iffy and I thought I might not get to jump due to the winds (also thinking that the rest off the AFF students wouldn't get to jump as well). But once again I got lucky as the winds calmed down by the time my load was on the jump run and it looks like the weather will cooperate for your jump. My free fall on the Level IV jump wasn't that long though as the airplaned only climbed to 10500 AGL thanks to a low cloud ceiling. But my AFF instructor told me that we were high and safe enough to execute the Level IV jump and like most of my other jumps to date, I was done with all of my manuevers by about 7000 AGL. Now for my word of warning but at the same time my word of encouragement concerning the Level IV jump (for when it's your turn to do it). It doesn't take very much arm and shoulder movement to get the turns going. On my first left turn, I was too abrupt and I rotated way past the 90 degree turn I was supposed to execute (but the instructor said it wasn't a bad thing because I controlled it). The second turn wasn't as bad, but a similar situation happened with my forward movement skill and I was too abrupt again. So after I opened and I floated back to mother earth (hey I came within 15-20 yards of the pea pod on my landing), I was thinking, well you blew that jump and like many others, I'll likely have to repeat my Level IV. But I guess the skydiving gods like me today and the AFF instructors aren't looking for perfection. So Scott passed me despite my aggressive turn and forward motion (likely because I never really got out of control). Anyway, weather permitting I'm hoping to pass my Level V (and if I get lucky my Level VI) this coming Friday and if all of the moons are aligned and I don't mess up, I'll be back at the DZ next Sunday for my Level VII graduation jump. Late dude ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Nasty crash. One second the airplane looks stable as it pulls out of a shallow dive, then all of a sudden the plane rolls to the pilot's left and plunges into the tarmac. I'm surprised the pilot has time to eject. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm surprised that you're using a rig with a rip cord. One would think that the use of a pilot chute would be somewhat standard in today's world (at least on a student's rig). I'm only a student, but it's my understanding that one of the first things we need to do after initiating the canopy opening sequence is to have our hands on the rear risers just in case we need to do a quick maneuver to avoid some other jumper. Then you go through your canopy control check, find the drop zone, pay attention to the winds, etc, etc, etc. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I may or may not see you there on Sunday what with my 8:00 am slot and your noon slot. I hate to say this, but with all of the weekend tandems you'll be lucky to jump anytime near your scheduled time. But you never know. You could get lucky. The level three jump should be easy (pretty much a straight fall besides the JMs letting go of us). But things appear to get trickier starting on the level four jump. But I am looking forward to level four as we'll only require one JM (should be a whole lot easier to schedule). Well I've got to run (signing off now). If I don't see you Sunday, have a good jump. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey Patrick, it's Steve (one of your Mile-Hi Student peers) Bummer about your luck (with the jump, your boss and your credit card), but hopefully we can all learn about our mistakes. I know I need to slow down my thinking process on my jumps. So when are scheduled next? I'll be there Sunday morning for my Level Three and I'm hoping to take one day off next week for the Level Four jump (I got suckered into having to work this weekend, but I'll still do my jump on Sunday, weather permitting of course). Later dude ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for the info and when the time is right, the first place I will look is what's available locally (preferrably used). But hopefully these URLs will help educate myself. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As a student/novice skydiver I am in no position right now to be seriously thinking about buying my own rig. But I would like to try and educate myself as to what is available, who makes what, and who sells what, and for how much. Thanks to DropZone, I have been able to educate myself a little as to what Canopies and Containers may be good for myself as well as who some of the manufactors are, but none of the listed dealers seem to have web sites? So can anyone recommend any good web sites where one can browse the products and get an idea of pricing? Of course when the time does come when/if I become serious about buying a rig, I will have to investigate what's available on the new and used markets and hopefully talking to people at my drop zone will also help. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You've got your regs mixed up. The pilot in command must make oxygen available to all the passengers (in an unpressurized aircraft of course) about 15k, but the passengers aren't required to use it it they choose not to. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Some of us unfortunate souls work for a living (though I am looking forward to the day that I can afford to cutaway from the rat race). Besides, I have an even more expensive habit than skydiving and that's being a licensed private pilot. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Glad to see I'm not the only one taking a bath on Nortel. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

1) I have the house (in Calgary, not here in Colorado though)

I'm a micro-brew beer drinker ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think it's safe to assume that she likes here beer, just the kind of girl who would get along with a beer loving Canadian. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over