Islandcool

I think I should have phrased the question differently. Do materials and fit make that much of a difference in freefall? In stabilty? Rate? I'm assuming the answer is yes but would like to get more input.

So before the skies let out the tears this morning I got in one jump and tried out my new jumpsuit. I picked up a bev suit with booties from square 1. Ok so I didn't use the booties because it felt funny. Jumped out the door and man did it feel good. I did some simple 360s, backfilps, tracking and a brief sit. Everything felt solid. I haven't used a jumpsuit since I got off student status 27 jumps ago. I've been jumping in jeans and t-shirts. Someone had told me a jumpsuit would make a difference but I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. So...was it the jumpsuit or was I just having a good day. Blue Skies Ed

Yeah that does blow but in the long run it will work out. I had a Gastric Bypass a little over a year and a half ago and my diet has changed BIG time. Of course it was my own doing that brought me to that severity in the first place for not taking care of my health. I'm glad to see your taking care of yours. Take care bro...happy is wasn't something more severe. Ed

I cork so much Dom Perignon is going to sponsor me. Ed

Many thanks. I try to do charity work when I can. Kepps me humble..god knows I need it. I'm usually sitting in a blue fold out chair in front of the packing area near the mock up. This weekend I'll be trying to do some RW with Phil or steve. I'll keep an eye out for you. Ed

Damn...this sounds a little too good to pass up. I'm in. I'm a Boogie virgin so take it easy on me. ED

OK I'm shaving my head for childhood cancer. trying to get some people to sponsor me. It will be on April 11th. Click on the link and foll directions. Yes I know skydivers are always broke but donate $5 and pack your own rig one time. Better yet tell your packer that you donated your $5 to help childhood cancer and I'm sure they'll pack your main for free. I also know skydiver ALWAYS step up for charities and are very generous souls. Thanks in advance and of course if you want to come and watch it will be at "the field" irish pub in downtown San Diego and hey we can jump the next day. http://www.stbaldricks.org/shavees_search.asp#results Take care and blue skies...Don't forget it's for the kids. Ed

Hell yes...nice black bev suit with blue grips. Nice fit. My first jumsuit too. Crap...the guys at my DZ will probably want beer for that too. Ed

I'm going to start some RW this weekend and it was suggested I get a jumpsuit. I drove from San Diego this morning to Perris in hopes of finding one. It turned out to be much more of a trip than I thought. I get there at 8am. No one is really there so I go looking around. I've only jumped in San Diego and I've been to Elsinore but something about Perris hit me. I see all the packing areas, the offices, the planes and I'm beginning to feel a little anxious and my palms are sweating. Although it is slow this morning this place must really get humming on busy days. I stop in Square 1 and I meet frank...He's a nice guy and the woman was equally as nice but I didn't catch her name. Frank cracks a joke but I really don't respond...I am a little overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions. I tell them I was feeling a little intimidated by the size of the place but they assure me it is not that bad. It was more than that. I was in the bomb shelter and looking at all the photos on the wall. Photos of friendship, joy, achievement, silliness, remembrance, mortality, immortality, charity, history, celebrity and so on. It showed my how much Perris has played a part in the sport. Perris shows it age with the multiple coats of paint and years of wear but that is part of it's charm. It's warm, comfortable, and friendly looking. I began to feel like I was in the Mecca of skydiving. It wasn't that I was intimidated...it was like being in the presence of something great. I'm planning to jump there next month. I hope to get to meet some of the locals there. That's a wonderful dropzone you have there. Can't wait to visit and stay a while. Blue Skies Ed

Hi Phil. I'll be there on Sat. 9:00 right? I think I'm going to have to borrow one of the student jumpsuits. I'm going to try to run to perris or elsinore this week and see if I can get a used one. See you on Sat. Ed

Ok so I've been practicing some sit flying on solo jumps. It's been going ok but not great..but that's another forum. The manager of my DZ and a friend of his ask me if I want to do a 3 way with them. I'm hesitant and want to back out because I've only done two 2 ways and I'm intimidated by their experience level. I suck it up and tell them ok. He tells me what we're going to do. Just some simple stuff. Since I know nothing about RW verbage I will just say that we were going to dock facing each other and rotate so I would grab someone's side and rotate back. And repeat with the other person. (geee can you tell I'm a newbie). Anyway things went ok..not great but ok. We docked missed the first side grab rotated and got the second. I was surprised how much I needed to drive with my legs to keep in position. I was jumping in jeans and a t-shit (gotta love san diego) and they were wearing jumpsuits. I did have a tough time keeping up with their fall rate. So I guess if their is a question here it would be. Where on the web can I find some docs about basic RW fundamentals? I've found a bunch of freefly stuff but not much rw. Can't wait do do more RW. Blue Skies Ed

I have to agree. Thanks Lisa. Hey and when I get too confident and cocky about my abilites make sure you kick me in the ass and bring me back to the real world. LOL Ed

Ok that's it...no more solo jumps if I can help it. I will never turn down anyone who ask me if I would like to jump with them. My lame ass excuse of geee I'm just a newbie and I'd rather jump alone is done. I will take every opportunity I can get to jump with others. Geeezzz That sounds a little strong but that's the commitment. And I would be honored to jump with you. Cool...all of a sudden I'm really looking forward this. Thanks Everyone Blue skies Ed

lol..me too. It wasn't a tandem but I remember being close to the door on one of the early AFF jumps and I got real sketchy about it. I remember kinda holding on to the bench and saying to myself man I hope I don't get sucked out. LOL I crack up everytime I think about it. Ed

I was hanging out between loads and started talking to another skydiver. He asked me how many jumps I had done and what I was working on. I told him I had 35 and I was practicing freeflying. He gave me some advice and his point were valid. He told me I should do RW and get comfortable being on my belly first. Jumping with other people would widen my scope of awareness and I would be a safer skydiver and after about 100 jumps I should try freeflying. My flying skills would be better I would have more awarness which in turn would in turn reduce risk. I listened as I always do. I got a little nerveous because I start feeling a little more comfortable and someting comes up that reminds me I can always be a safer skydiver. I then talked to one of the freeflyers at the DZ. He is experienced and I respect his opinion. I had told him what the other guy had said and he stated he had heard that before. He said that the important part is that you jump with people. They can help critique your jump, let you know what you may be doing wrong and give you a point of reference. He asked me if I wanted to jump with him. I went and I blew it. I was nervous about jumping with someone and I couldn't even get into a decent sit. I wasn't relaxed at all. On the ground I told him how nervous I was about jumping with someone and how I had just forgot some basics about sit flying. He said he could tell I was nervous and that just meant I had to keep jumping with people. Both gentlemen made a similar point...jump with people. After flubbing that jump with him I couldn't agree more. I talked to the organizer about starting so RW and he was really cool and I'll be starting that after this weekend(canopy control clinic this weekend). Anyone have more light to shed on this. Thanks Blue skies... Ed

Thanks for the invite. I'd like to do a few more solos first. I'm not real comfortable with my sit yet. A few more pracice jumps and I'll be up for it. Ed

Were you jumping with Chuck that day? I thick we were on the same load. Great day until the clouds rolled in. See you there this weekend if this weather clears. Ed

That is a bonus.. I don't do any hook turns. I'm still too much of a newbie but I can see the benefit on any approach. I'll look into it. Thanks Ed

Altitude of course. What I meant was there was probably a better way to get into position to look at my alti. Thanks for looking out for me tho. Always apprciated. Ed

Thanks for the link. That article was great. Ed

Finally I had a good sit today. Well decent? or probably looked crappy but was cool for me! Ok so I've been working of this for about 7 jumps and the best I could do was hold it for about 10 seconds then I would start spinning. I've been talking to the freeflyers down at the DZ and they help me out one problem at a time. The last thing to work on was the arms. One of the guys suggested making sure my arms were swept back and I was "digging air" to help me get stable. Blew it the first time trying to get in position but at just under 11k I got it and I was stable...I was expecting to loose it but it just wasn't happening. It felt good. The funny part was it seemed like I was holding it for a while and I said to myself hmmm I wonder what my alt is...LOL Of course couldn't see my alti because my arms were swept back. Like an idiot I move my arm forward so I could see it and was sent tumbling. What a knuckle head. LOL I recovered quickly and I was just under just under 6k. I held it for almost 5k. That was cool. I did my first skydive on jan 11. I've done 32 jumps so far and I can't wait to do it again next week. Clouds came in and we were grounded for the rest of the day. What a great weekend. Life is good. Also special thanks to the gents that gave their time and experience to help a newbie. Blue skies Ed

I have to agree. Of course I've never been to Perris. I have been to lake Elsinore but I didn't jump there. San Diego is laid back and feels very personal. Instructors are great. It does lack a few things like a fully stocked gear shop and advanced classes but for your first jump it's a great place. I only have 30 jumps and the other skydivers are always looking out for me and give me tips when I need it. They're upgrading the place and it looks like it's going to happen rather quickly. They have started a small gear shop and they are making improvements. I'm sure thay Perris and Lake Elsinore are great places and I'll Probably make make some jumps there in the near future. Welcome and Blue Skies! Ed

Thanks for the advice guys. I made a couple of jumps today and applied the techniques offered. Much better! I relaxed and didn't fixate on the ground. I though I wasn't before but after today I can definitely tell I was. I work on it more tomorrow. Thanks Ed

OK I have 28 jumps as of today but I'm still having difficulty landing. I read a doc that was being passed around that talked about some survival canopy skills. That was great. I used what I learned and feel pretty confident I can land on the DZ within a safe and reasonable distance of my target area. The problem is still landing on my feet. It's pretty much hit and miss. Sometimes the flare is a little early and sometimes a little late. If it's windy of course that comes into play too. It's never really that terrible but I would really like to feel more confident with my flaring. I can feel myself anticipating the landing and getting tense and this is probably not helping. Does anyone have any advice on being more consistent? If it matters I have a triathlon 190 loaded at 1:1 Blue skies and thanks Ed

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! Ain't it cool! Ed