NewGuy

If you are after stats try surfing around. Here are some I found... Check out the bottom of : http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/stats.html. I can sympathize with you - the family found it hard to take. Here I am, having the best time of my life and my folks were losing their hair (Well, maybe that's part of the fun...) Anyhow, once they saw the skydiving is now safer than scuba, they felt more comfortable... they are both scuba divers! Cheers, NewGuy Edited by NewGuy on 6/4/01 05:48 PM.

Oh yeah, very painful - the rapid slapping (spanking?) Next time I'm going to wear a helmet, bloody hard on the head (hmmm)... This video is in the dropzone.com video vault if anyone is interested. Cheers, NewGuy

I haven't sky dived in Micronesia; however, I can vouch for the incredible scuba diving in Chuuk. If you're into wrecks, this is a absolute must. If you do find a good spot to jump it would be good to know. I'll definately be back, and this time with a skydiving licence! Cheers, NewGuy

Thanks Adam, Pretty neat web site! I can see it was the force of air resistance that I didn't really think through. Guess those physics classes are deep in the abyss of my memory! Cheers, NewGuy

I'm going to go our on the limb here and as a new guy kindof question: What is the purpose of skydiving with weights? This part I learned from High School... Weight doesn't make you fall faster. So, I'm puzzled... Cheers, NewGuy

Hey Skreamer, I've found the text on the site : Darwin Award in Very poor taste Does anyone know if the details are accurate? Even so, this is a very poor taste to make this a Darwin Award and honorable mention. NewGuy Edited by NewGuy on 4/10/01 08:17 PM.

You might be able to find them listed under http://www.primeline.com/~highwind/whp_home.html. Cheers, NewGuy

Hey Yooper, Sounds like a lot of fun. If I'm ever out your way perhaps we can hook up and do a few jumps on old gear, have a few beer and a friendly game of Russian Roulette... Cheers, NewGuy

Someone abseiling into a giant sequoia at Yosemite? Just a wild guess...

Alas, some good news about foot and mouth... http://www.satirewire.com/news/0103/outlook.shtml

Congrats!

Good one freaksister! I know what to get my wife for our 9th Anniversary this year!

Hey Doasfu, That's right - keep them priorities straight! She'll always have another birthday next year :-)

FYI... Pommi = Native Englander(poor and unfortunate because they are 'Prisones Of the Mother land', Pommi) Pommi Land = England Kiwi = a funny looking bird; a type of fruit; or someone from New Zealand, where there are LOTS of sheep. That's the little island chain off Australia (not to be confused with Tasmania). Kiwi's and sheep jokes go hand in hand. Pommi's and sheep jokes are OK... if you're an Aussie or a Kiwi (pommies and any jokes for that matter!) But Australians and sheep jokes just don't make sense... Australians and beer jokes, footy jokes, and the rest - just no wild or domesticated animals... Oh, I can feel a flame comming on here...

Sorry Mate, you got that wrong :p It seems that BSC and all these other horrible things come from Pommi land (UK) not Oz. That, including the weather, must be a downer. But hey, were just having fun too! ;-) Cheers!

I'm just north of you MC280B, in a city of the same name. It it only rains 2 times a week here: once three days in a row and then once four days in a row. Growing Gills in Vancouver, NewGuy

Rent the move 'Cut Away'...

Although I've never done a tandum, I doubt that I'd remember on a first tandum having a woman's appendages firmly placed in my back. Sad to say, but True. You can always imagine it though... Come on guys, if it came down to the same ability in JM's would you honestly go with a guy? Who would want to be strapped in that close to a guy if they had a choice of a woman? Not me! :-P The real question is - how do you figure out the ability of the JM...? Cheers, NewGuy

I've completed Level 4 on an AFF course 2 years ago in Austrilia and wasn't able to pick it up again until recently. I'm in Canada now where the progression seems slightly different. Before starting AFF again (I believe they call it PFF in most places here) I had to complete two Instructor Assisted Dives (zero delay and instructor throws the pilot chute for you). So my alternatives now are to jump into the PFF program or go through the Standard Course (Increasing altitude and delay with each jump). Daemons seem to be controlling the weather here and I'll probably be able to get more jumping in now by doing the Standard Progression as they have low altitude jumps to start. Therefore I'm tending towards this as a better way to go to keep the momentum going (I don't want to wait weeks between jumps). It also appears like a comfortable way to progress. So, my question is: Are there any preferences or recommendations towards AFF or Standard progression? Anything I should keep in mind? Cheers, NewGuy

Yup - Not only is that the place, but that's also the instructor we had! We wore the same suits as the guy in blue. Any of our guys that were the size of the guy in blue spent their time on the wire mesh as well. According to my log we were there July 17, 1999 - some time back. I believe we were the first clients they had. Good to hear they are open again - hopefully all is working well now.

Good point! Statistics speak loudly to me. Rationalizing would be interpreting the statistics such that scuba is safer than sky diving. The way I look at it, is that the more the risks are managable the more comfortable I am with the activity. I'm sure you know what you could have done to manage the reverse block you encountered - a managable thing. Not only that, because it wasn't dealt before getting in the water, you still knew how to deal with it. Albeit, I'm sure a scary thing when your air is low. Such risk management should be practiced in any 'high risk' activity. Your wife may be right with one thing - if she feels it skydiving is more dangerous than an activity she participates in - I'd personally believe it is more of a risk for her. Sorry for the tangent... Cheers, New Guy

Thanks everyone - that gives me a better idea of what to expect. I purposely omitted the name as I didn't want to slag off a wind tunnel just because of my inability. However, it does look like they need to fine tune some stuff. It was: Terminal Velocity Stoke on Trent, UK sales@terminalvelocity.co.uk Tel: 01782 765440 I heard rumors they had some problems that day and were worried that the drive shaft had warped - or something like that. So maybe they were keeping it low. I also heard they closed their doors at least once due to the neighbours complaint of noise. (Obviously the neighbours were not sky divers!) Sounds like they were having a tough go of it. Too bad - wind tunnels being so rare, I hate to see any troubles. If I do make it back that way, I will go again (if they still exist). But before paying my $$ (or pounds that is) just make sure that any lack of lift isn't due to the power of the fan. Cheers, NewGuy

I went to a *new* Wind Tunnel with the hopes to gain confidence and correct a problem encountered at level 4. I brought along 8 co-workers with the intention of them giving a taste. Because the wind tunnel was new and had ‘teething’ problems I only got one 4 minute session and wasn’t able to go again before leaving town. I weigh approx 190 lbs. None of us who weighed over 140lbs were able to get any lift. The instructor, who looked like he was about 140lbs, was getting great lift. Most of us spent the entire 3-4 minutes with two instructors holding our ankles while we had our faces in the wire mesh that protects participants from the fan. I was one of the few that weigh over 140lbs who could get a tiny amount of lift by using the ‘two instructors at the ankles technique’ combined with a lot of strength ‘cupping an imaginary ball’ with my body (as in what I understand may be a ‘slow fall’ body position). I had the impression from wind tunnels in the movies (e.g. Cut Away) and my imagination that a tunnel would have enough power to support a relaxed, ‘fast fall’ position. I’m trying to learn to relax, not tense up! Normally do wind tunnels have enough power to do this, or is it ‘normal’ to have to do a cupping, tense, ‘fast fall’ position to get any lift? From everything I’ve heard about how wind tunnels are great training tools, I’d love to get into one again – but this time with the correct expectations. What should these be? (e.g. How many classes to be able to get lift and be able to maintain a heading?) Cheers, NewGuy (not to be confused with NudeGuy)

Check out some stats at : http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/stats.html. This is also interesting but, does not mean much as it doesn't show the total number of participants (e.g. Many more people boat than skydive): http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/stats.html You can poke around the web by doing a search for "skydive + statistics" I'm just a greener at this with only 7 jumps under my belt - so I'm certainly not the voice of wisdom when it comes to jumping. However, I was pretty much in the same boat as you are. I think everyone is before they decide to go ahead and jump or continue jumping. Plus, I'm not a risk taker unless the odds are extremely in favour of safety. My personal conclusion after researching stats, jumping and putting a lot of thought into it and the preventative measures that can be taken is that the risk very reasonable. Very. I'm more than happy to jump. I worry now more about my trip to and from the DZ - and that's no joke. Being an avid scuba diver I noticed the risks are even higher for scuba diving. So that in part did a great deal to ease my mind. You've probably heard this from everyone and will continue to hear it: It's something you've got to be comfortable with and don't let anyone talk you into it. You are the one jumping so you have to be 110% sure you know what is at stake and are willing to live with the odds. Take a look at the numbers - it might help you. Also take a poke around the forums to see what sort of things result in fatalities and how risks can be reduced. Oh yeah, one more thing... when they say sky diving is better than sex... that's no joke either. But don't tell your girlfriend that! Good Luck!

What are the current stats for mals? I mean, what's the average numberof jumps before the first mal? Between mals? (Hey, I'm the new guy...)