FlyLikeARaven

Skydance and Skydive California both have these aerial photos prominently displayed and every new jumper at the DZ gets a thorough briefing at each. I started AFF at Skydance and took a long break from there, but when I went back for a Flight-1 course asked for, and got, a very detailed briefing of the LPs, despite the fact that everyone knows I started there. No one batted an eyelash at giving me a second briefing. Is this not common practice? I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

This is a great thing to bring up, honestly. I remember being even more newbie than I am now and not being able to get to the formation on 8-way RW jumps and feeling like shit for "ruining" someone else's jump and wasting their money. I still said yes when people invited me on jumps and paid attention to everything they said, and when I improved, they noticed and I think they took some small satisfaction in that. Other jumpers were too shy--I know a couple who kept doing solos because of the fear of "wasting" someone else's jump. At my level I don't feel comfortable giving much advice, but I do things within my comfort zone that will help. Like asking younger jumpers for gear checks--I've already checked everything (and in many cases had someone else check it too) so I lose nothing and the student gains some knowledge and good habits. Or, take them out on a two-way and help them work on their levels or just give them a point of reference so they're not falling aimlessly. Or, if they have a question, find someone who knows more than me and introduce them. Sometimes the best I can do is say "I don't know, but here's so and so and she's a rigger who can answer your question." Now they know a rigger and get their question answered reliably. Failing that, always bring beer. And smiles and high-fives never hurt. It can be a little isolating to be a student, and an encouraging smile and banter on the plane made me feel really included. Now that some of my mentors have joined me at my new home DZ, and they have electronic manifest, I can just ask manifest to throw their slot onto my account every so often. A lot of them are too generous to let me cover their slots, but I can go around them if I need to. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Where do you jump! I'm in silly valley too. Hope to see you out there soon! I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Coccyx, but yea (and holy shit that word is hard to spell). PLF PLF PLF. I was a shit canopy pilot up until a couple of months ago and finally got my timing right. PLF is what saved me from getting broken on some terrible high flares in no wind. If you can't PLF, go to a judo gym once or twice and have the instructor teach you how to fall. Pretty sure my background in martial arts is what gave me the ability to eat shit and hop right back up again. I'm still working on my canopy skills, and I'm getting better. But this winter had me eating it quite a bit. Edit: coxis is Spanish for coccyx. My bad! Thanks for teaching me a new word! I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

This is what I would do too. I spent so many of my solo jumps working on exit stability because I was afraid of hop & pops. So when I got to my coach jumps, I didn't have a lot of solos left to practice things I'd need for my coach jumps. It ended up taking me 29 jumps to get my license--not a bad number at all, but I certainly could have used a couple of my solo jumps a little more wisely. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Totally agree. I hear this a lot. "It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust other guys!" "So you think so-and-so would rape me." "What? No! I just--" and they can never finish the sentence. If you think you are skydiving with a bunch of rapists, you should really rethink socializing with those individuals altogether. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I think skydiving has saved a lot of people from destructive behaviors. A friend swears it kept her sane during her divorce, and it got me through a breakup and work stress as well. Whether it's heartache or headache, a day at the DZ erases all of my distracting, harmful thoughts, because I have to focus on the very important task ahead of me. Thanks for sharing your story--it made me choke up a bit. A handful of people at my DZ don't drink, and they bring in sodas, seltzer, or flat water for the staff when they owe "beer." No one complains and I think for a lot of people it's a nice change--let's face it, most DZs operate in hot areas during hot times of the year, and you can't hydrate with beer while you're jumping. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I had a little bit of confusion with this once, too--during AFF it was suggested that if I need to burn off altitude, a few gentle s-turns was the way to do it. I tried it a few months later and it was gently explained to me that while there was no harm (this time) since I knew I was the last one down, not to do that again--it's important to fly a predictable pattern in traffic to avoid collisions and confusing any jumpers behind me. I think the difference in my case was that in the first scenario I was landing in the vast student field and was being watched by an AFFI. I was also alone in the sky at this point. In the second scenario, I was a fun jumper landing in the main field. At any rate, lesson learned. While I do listen when people raise their voices when I make a mistake, the lesson is much better absorbed when people explain things calmly. I've seen many jumpers--new and experienced--turned off by a particularly vocal TI who had a habit of shaming people over the PA system. Some people shut their ears when you raise your voice. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Looks like a lot of us have had similar experiences. I'm still very new, and sometimes my landings have been a little ugly. A few months ago, I unwisely half-assed my landing on a still day, and while I'm a terrible canopy pilot I can nail a PLF like no one's business, but this one...it was bad. I PLFd, but rolled too far and ended up impacting on the back of my head. I looked at my helmet and saw an impact mark that I'm very glad was on my helmet and not on my head. A few hours in the ER (just to be safe) revealed that I only had a neck strain, whiplash, and a mild concussion, but had I not worn the helmet, it could have been much worse. Didn't meet any cute nurses though. :shrug: I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Sounds like you stayed calm and made an honest assessment of what you were capable of, and saved your own life. Congrats (and beer), and good job! Glad you were able to make four jumps after the cutaway, too. I know a guy who stopped jumping for a few weeks after a cutaway on jump 12 (he's got his A now and I jumped with him this weekend). Nothing at all wrong with that, but getting back in the sky right away works better for some people. Now you know you can handle it and stay calm. Good on ya. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

Yeah! Let us know how it goes! On top of the other great advice in this thread, I humbly suggest you poop before getting on the plane. I pooped before every AFF jump and was very glad for a mostly empty ladies' room when I was training. And don't fart on the plane--you're going to want to--and it's going to smell terrible. Nervous farts are the WORST. Clench those cheeks. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I'm so sorry about your brother. When the time comes, you will have no trouble finding fellow wingsuiters to join your ash dive. Hell, if I'm wingsuiting by then and in your area, I'd be thrilled to join. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

I get this question a lot, and I never know how to answer it. Why does anyone start doing something they love? I don't know, I have always been drawn to it. I started later in life, but I can't even begin to explain the attraction. No, my boyfriend didn't convince me to do it. I just like being in the air. I do like hearing other people's reasons, though. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

That's an excellent point, and I should have been clearer. Absolutely look to your instructors above all else. And you're right that even if you're looking to lower jump number skydivers for emotional support only, it's very easy for technical advice to bleed into that. I retract what I said. While younger jumpers may empathize with your nervousness more so than instructors and experienced jumpers, you can slide down a slippery slope when you ask one of us for advice on how to handle fear and end up getting technical advice. I'm careful to always say "you should really talk to an instructor about that" when I get questions, but even at my low jump number it's tempting to give them my point of view, which may not always help and may end up confusing them. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

You could just do what I did, and develop moderate claustrophobia. After sitting for ten minutes in a cramped plane with someone's rig on my lap and sitting on someone else's balls, all I wanted to do was jump. (My claustrophobia has been cured after several jumps out of a C206 with five other people, legs and arms akimbo. But it really did help get me out the door for the first 20 jumps or so.) Seriously, though. Deep breathing and visualizing the jump on the plane worked wonders for me. Another thing that helped was smiling. I remember on my last AFF jump, panicking, and having a very bored AFFI ask me specifically what I was concerned about. I gave him specific concerns and he asked me what I would do in such situations if I ran into trouble. It all ends up going back to your basic EPs, honestly. Really asking yourself what you're worried about, and drilling yourself on the solutions to common problems helps you own your role in the sport, so you don't feel so helpless. Being able to remember your EPs shows that you do indeed know what you're doing and can get out of almost any situation you get into--it's very rare in this sport to get hurt if you're doing everything as you were taught. Mentally, one thing that helped me as a student was talking to people with lower jump numbers. Your instructors have been in the sport for so long that they may not remember what it's like to be so scared or lose confidence, but that newly-minted A license holder probably remembers it like it was yesterday. Talk to them, not for technical advice, but for mental reassurance. Very experienced skydivers can be a little smug sometimes, and don't always have the humility of younger jumpers. It's nice to know that you're not alone in your fear or insecurity. I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.