WorldWarIII

Comprehensive jump course? Jumping at the Ranch? Either way, welcome to the sport! I'm on a hiatus in my jumping now, but hope to get back at it soon. Congrats on keeping up with it! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

As a regular member of the USPA, should I be receiving Parachutist magazine in the mail every month? Or is there a separate subscription that I have to make on USPA.org? I paid my yearly $65 fee a few months back but I always assumed the magazine was included. Haven't received it yet. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

A few DZs even have combined tandem/IAF (instructor assisted freefall) and for me, that was a happy compromise. I used my first tandem to flush out the overload, and on my second jump I was in the zone enough to perform basic maneuvers without much prompting besides the dive flow. Everyone has their own preferred method. To put it into perspective, the first time I went out the door, my mind couldn't really adjust to it until a few seconds into freefall. Not something I'd want to happen on my first near-solo experience. Others might adjust differently. On the second jump I was much more familiar with the sensations the body experiences, and could replace the few seconds of "shock" with a few seconds of learning. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

The irony of all of this is that my car is completely and utterly beyond repair now, just a few days after my original post! Hello new car payment ! Broken rods are quite a nasty surprise. Luckily I'm not so far into AFF that a break from the sport would be detrimental. Maybe I can start learning some packing and rigging skills in the meantime. A student in my first jump course was looking to apply his Army Airborne credentials to that pursuit. Seems like a decent way to kill some spare time on the weekends. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

If only... "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

I'm just in post-college limbo waiting for the next big opening in my field of choice (government, comes once a year, think Christmas). Time I've got enough of, money just enough to fit in the hobbies with the bills. Truth be told it's far from being a balancing act (thank you overtime!). But thanks for the advice anyway! Ramen doesn't taste so bad So, in the interest of keeping this light hearted and back on topic, what kind of crappy jobs (full disclosure, mines crap but still fun) do some of you have? "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

I'm sitting at an airline ticket counter, midway through my third (of four) 12 hour shifts in a row. Outside the window is a cloudless, blue sky. I'm going crazy. ...but every 15 minutes I'm earning enough for about a second of AFF freefall! So, in honor of you floor mopping, window washing, food cooking, underappreciated bastards like myself, tell us a little about the lengths you go to pay for that next jump! (Sold grandma's dentures, pawned some bling, organ trade, etc.) P.S. If you're driving your BMW to the DZ, I won't hold it against you . But let's hear it for the folks pushing their rust-bucket jalopies to the limit to make it in time for the next load! MODS: Feel free to move to a more appropriate subforum, as you see fit. I got a little lost on my way to the bonfire... "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Well, I ended up getting 2 cases of root beer. Dropped one off at manifest first thing in the morning. Left the other in the packing area. Needless to say just about every other jumper had one in their hand by noon on a busy Sunday. I'm thinking brownies or cookies next week. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

I was just hitting my solo cross country stage of private pilot flight school, when I plotted out a nice course across upstate New York. Chugging along in a little Cessna 152, with the sky just about all to myself, I thought "This is about as exciting as driving down the interstate. What would it be like if I jumped out of this thing?" I finished school, glad to be a pilot and controller, but something was still missing from the equation. One day on a whim I called up the DZ and put myself down for a tandem, mentioning that I might be interested in progressing to a license. Well, I did my tandem and got incredible tips and instruction on what I thought was going to be a mindless entertainment sort of jump. Needless to say I was back again just a week later for a first jump course, and should be on my first full fledged AFF jump next week! I never have more than $100 in my bank account after a weekend of jumping, but I love every minute of it. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Thanks! You know, reviewing the footage from my first tandem, a red solo cup made it's exit right before my instructor and I. Must be some kind of symbolism there. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

I may be perpetually broke, but I can probably manage some ice cream sundays! I like it! And I'll see if I can memorize beer protocol before I move on to the next stage. That is, unless it's already covered in the curriculum. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Thanks! My friends and family think I'm crazy, but thats half the fun! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

So, I begin my Tandem/AFF training tomorrow morning, and I'd really like to treat the DZ to something good. I can't buy beer for another 3 months (missing all of my "firsts" haha), but I'm looking for alternatives. My first tandem, I didn't tip my instructor since I'm doing this on a pretty bare bones budget until I graduate AFF. However, the least I can do is buy a pizza for the staff and whoever else is hanging around. Thoughts? If these guys and gals are going to be watching out for me for the next 3 months, they deserve something in return. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Seems to be the way The Ranch's progression goes. I'm comfortable with the tandems right off the bat since I do have a bit more questions about canopy flight than I do about freefall. Just from my own comparisons it seems like it doesn't up the cost unreasonably. My next step is a ground course followed by a second tandem tomorrow morning (provided it doesn't get as gusty as it was this afternoon). Looking forward to it for sure! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

SHAWANGUNK! FLY, BABY, FLY! So there I was... wearing the world's bluest jumpsuit, inches away from 6 other adrenaline junkies in an old Pilatus reconnaissance plane. Surrounded by fun jumpers and wide eyed with excitement, a thousand thoughts ran through my head at once. We're taking off now, crossing the Rubicon. My hands are trembling. This is going to be good. An hour early for my very first tandem, I had expected to hang out at the drop zone, taking it all in while I calmed my nerves on the first real warm day of spring. I was finished with manifest, pacing back and forth, checking my phone every 5 seconds when the owner, Joe, walked up with a clipboard and put me down for the first load of the day. Oh boy. Am I ready for this? I'm led back to the packing area where I meet Scott, the man who will be saving my life this morning. Scott and I discussed the day's plan and instantly I was relieved. Him and the other staff are the epitome of laid back professionalism. There are no egos to intimidate you at The Ranch, and the staff are experts at turning nervous energy into productive focus. It was time to get down to business. I suited up, found a comfortable harness, and after going over some do's and don'ts, it was time to jump. On the way to the plane I met Adam, my videographer for the day and another chill personality. Gathered around the vintage PC-6, I had a brief ambush style interview from Adam and my mind was spinning. Like sardines, we hopped in by jump order, and taxied down the runway for the shortest takeoff I'd ever witnessed. Flash forward to 4,000ft or so. Looking out the window, I spotted some landmarks from my days in flight school. There was Stewart Airport. Poughkeepsie next to the Hudson. I talked with the other jumpers on board about flying and caught a few of them shooting some smiles my way. "You're gonna love this, man." Scott hooked me up to his harness, and the door opened. "We aren't so high," I thought to myself, when WHOOSH the first jumper went out the door. Too much in awe to be nervous anymore, I watched him sail off into the blue, a shrinking black dot below. 9,500ft later, and we reached our jump altitude. Some friends jumped out locked together. "ARE YOU READY TO SKYDIVE?" I think I nodded "yes", but it's all a blur. Before I knew it, I was hanging out of the side of the aircraft, laughing into the camera. It's an odd feeling. Sometime during our climb the nerves went away. It was cold up there, but comfortable in a way. I don't think I'd ever been so at peace. And suddenly, we were out. I knew there wouldn't be a falling sensation, but the floating feeling was just as unexpected. There was no perception of time. The moment was everything. I looked below and there was Adam, sit flying with a huge grin as Scott and I entered a close formation. I couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of it all. The brief eternity of freefall came to a quick halt when our main parachute deployed without a hitch. The rush of wind disappeared and like a cloud, we started our lazy drift back to the DZ. It was my first canopy ride, and Scott used the opportunity to discuss pattern altitude/direction, canopy control, and wind adjustments as we descended. I made a few turns, practiced breaking and flaring, and I was instantly hooked. Earlier I mentioned my interest in pursuing IAF/AFF (accelerated free fall) training. When we landed the first thing I did was sign up. Adam walked over with the camera as we slid to a halt, and said "you're gonna love this world". And he's absolutely right. I'll remember this first jump for the rest of my life, and thanks to Skydive the Ranch for fueling this new addiction! Looking forward to beginning IAF less than a week after my first jump!

I didn't make it in this year's round of hiring, but I'm still in the game for sure. I've been working for Cape Air in the meantime and I love the airline world. The pay isn't great, but flight benefits are probably the best job perk in the world! I got to fly round trip to Costa Rica for around $130 last December. In fact, I cancelled a round trip JFK-Tokyo ticket (only $372 for me!) and used that towards my tandem. And with Southwest Airlines flights being completely free for me, I pretty much have access to every major DZ in the country now! My next step with skydiving is to sign up for The Ranch's Jump Course, knock out two more tandems, and move on to IAF/AFF. I was really impressed by the professionalism there, and conversations with the instructors on the ground and fun jumpers in the air made me feel like I've known them for years. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Well, in a way, this is sort of a reintroduction. I first made a Dropzone.com account over a year ago when I started researching the sport for school paper and out of curiosity. Well, tandem #1 is in the books folks! Had a great time at Skydive the Ranch today, and it was everything I dreamed of and more. Somehow the nervousness I had when I walked up to manifest for the first time was completely gone by the time the tandem master and I jumped! I didn't think skydiving could be so zen, but it really is. I get it now, and I think I've landed on a hobby for a lifetime. Hope to see you all around the DZ! Had a hell of a time, and can't wait to start AFF. 1 jump down, a million more to go! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

It is a pain, but I have a feeling it won't last very long in its current form. They could easily fix it by changing the weight of responses around. That way "I am a Control Tower Operator" counts more than "I would rather live in a tree house than a cave", logically. With the FAA's current logic, the two previous classes that graduated before me (all licensed controllers) were not accepted. Yet two current students without any certifications made it. And one is repeating a year after failing his CTO evaluation! I'm happy for them since they're two of the hardest working people in the class right now, but some of those previous grads are getting close to that age-31 deadline. Government logic is... interesting. I'm glad that the FAA is at least hiring after the sequester chaos last year. If it wasn't for the questionnaire, I would be pretty content with the changes they made. Having one pool of applicants to draw from makes much more sense than having veterans compete against veterans, CTI against CTI, and off-the-street against off-the-street. If I get the Air Traffic Assistant position in Palmdale, that would be ideal. I'm so used to the whacked out weather here in NY, that a quasi-ATC position in Cali sounds pretty good. I'm sure there's an abundance of jump-worthy weather and DZs to choose from in SoCal. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

I'm actually not CTI, but rather from one of the few programs that offered a CTO. My second year of the degree has me training in position at a county-owned tower. There's a few other programs I know of that offer a similar experience, but they are for-profit and insanely expensive. I go to a state school only 20 minutes from my house and will have my tower ratings and pilot's license for a fraction of the cost. As for the February bid that the FAA opened up, I myself did not make it past the new questionnaire that was added. However, two of my classmates (in a class of 7) did. It's frustrating that the questionnaire more or less reduced the process to a lottery, but there's nothing to do but adapt. I certainly know I have the aptitude to control, and consistently score the highest in evals in my class, so it's not something I'll be giving up on until I age out. I actually applied about a week ago for an Air Traffic Assistant position just to get my foot in the door with the agency for the time being. It's a waiting game for sure, I just need to kill the time until I'm selected. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Thanks for the welcome! I had a good laugh a few weeks ago talking to a Gulfstream G650 pilot who couldn't wait to get out of the corporate flying routine. I almost wanted to stop him right there, look him in the eyes and say "BUT YOU FLY A G650!" A job is a job is a job I suppose. I know I'd love to work for the FAA one day, and the opportunities that Mr. Mitchell described are hard to find in any other career. Every time a new opening to go to the Academy in OKC pops up, I'll be first in line to apply. Working traffic (even at the small airport I receive my college training at) is something satisfying I find hard to describe to others. I'm sure you all can relate when you're confronted with the "perfectly good airplane" cliche. It's one thing to feel like I've hit a roadblock, but occasionally I need that reminder that I'm still 19. I've got nothing but time at this point (something I'm quick to forget, as in my first post), and your posts are really the pep talk I needed. So, I'll be hitting the local DZ in the next few months, but if I do get that golden ticket to Oklahoma City, I'd be happy to fly with you any time! And if any of you find yourselves in some sleepy Class Delta airspace in New York, tell your pilot to say hi on the freqs! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate the unique perspective. The FAA is always throwing me for a curve with their constant changes to the hiring process, but with your example, I'd be a fool to pass it up. I absolutely love my training, and every controller I've talked to loves what they do. Applying and getting denied for the time being is a great introduction to the "hurry up and wait" I've been hearing about from the agency, but I'll use that free time to my advantage to at least get my A-license. I'm sure I sound really eager to get the ball rolling, but for an outsider like me, this stuff is exciting as hell! "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely going to get into it for fun. But if I did start jumping regularly, I would love to help out beginners. I've always admired the work that my flight instructors and controller trainers have put in to see others succeed. Everyone knows ATC is an insanely lucrative career to get into, but while I'm going to school in the meantime, I'd rather have a gas-money type of job that I'd actually enjoy. "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

Hey everyone! I'm an Air Traffic Control student/trainee in upstate NY, looking to begin jumping later in the year. At school I've received my Private Pilot's Certificate and will be a Control Tower Operator in May. Skydiving has fascinated me for years, and I've now begun to take a very serious look into licensing and beyond. For whatever reason, I've grown increasingly dissatisfied with the hiring process for Air Traffic Controllers. On top of that, I have wanderlust like you wouldn't believe, and cannot for a second see myself settling down. While I'm young enough (19 at present), I want to enjoy life for what it is. So that's why I'm here. I'm sure some of you have been at this crossroads before, where you aren't quite sure what path to take. Yet to me, it's almost like I'm being irreversibly drawn down the path of a career jumper. I don't seek riches or fame, just memories and new perspectives. Well anyway, I'm glad to be here, and look forward to learning as much as I can and more! Regards, WW3 "Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."