AFFI

** *** ** ** **** ** *** ** **** ** I take these statements back – I did not mean it to come out this way. I apologize for attacking your character. What irked me was that everything seemed la-ti-da so to speak without regard to knowing what you were supposed to do and not following through. The point I was really trying to drive home is that there may be extenuating circumstances that warrant action that seemed to be considered with a lackadaisical attitude. Plus there is specific training to release dive to prepare the student in the event of a loss of control and a unintentional transition to the back. Which is vital prior to a release dive. AFF Instructors have to really prove themselves to get their rating in a 9 day course many say is as mentally tough as boot camp. Even at its current state, it is not easy. Point is, it is important to adhere to the recommendations made to students by their instructors for safety reasons not apparent to students. All the safety protocols are in place for a reason. That being said: Having a level 2 student that that can fall stable, monitor altitude and deploy on time is very rare. By this account you must be a very talented individual, what we would call a “NATURAL”. So congratulations of all that you not only did correctly, but preformed at a superior level. Again, my apologies…. Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

No worries... And I am sorry for using such strong language. In fact, sent a PM's a few friends to see if they thought my language was too strong. I am known at my DZ as the Drill Sergeant because I instruct with an Iron Fist, was raised by a DI and often times my methods can be a little overpowering, but I am told, very effective. I have 5 years of full time instructing and almost 500 student jumps, so I am not terribly experienced as an instructor and love to see students do well in freefall and take care of their business like champs, in fact little in life means more to me. So a large part of me feels very proud of you - at the same time I wanted to drive home the fact is that the methods of instruction and the way it is taught is in place for reason that were developed by the millions of skydives that came before us and they are intended to create skydivers that are safe and not a hazard to themselves and others around them. It is my sincerest hope that you become a safe competent skydiver. Humility paves the way there quicker than feeding tubes... Blue skies, and feel free to PM me anytime... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Precisely. When I was learning to pack i was somewhat intimidated since my packing quality could have implications for the next user. Sometimes if I asked a question about my lines or said "does this look right" a skygod would say "who cares...you should see some of the abortions i've packed" or in one case " well if it malfunctions then you will know you fucked up". As a new jumper I did not find these remarks to be confidence inspiring. Some seem to enjoy the one-upmanship of acting like a condescending professor shooting down the foolish student. If they are not willing to give quality advice they should at least then refrain from comment (unless it is a safety issue). **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** I strongly suspect that if they looked at your pack and saw something wrong that would cause issues then they would have alerted you. Some people do not communicate as well as others, or perhaps they had something going on in their personal lives that had them in a bad mood or so preoccupied with worry that it was causing them grief to the point that is was affecting their communication skills at that moment. Maybe the person thought that a rating holder was more qualified to give direction. Then again, there are just assholes in the world and some even put of the facade to build walls around themselves to keep others away because the molestations from their uncle left them anti-social as an adult... Point is, before we jump to the gallows consider that the other person might have issues that are preventing them from performing at the level some might expect. I have found that overall, skydivers in general were always more helpful than hurtful and more often than not more than willing to share information often times so much so that one has to be careful which advice to take to heart or with a grain of salt. - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Hot is Hot and Cold is Cold... Right now it is freaking COLD!

And if you do use one, you are going to die.

Nice shots Steve...

What did your JM's have to say on your debrief?

Beautiful pic's! Make me wish I was not afraid to fly!!!

Looks like a great arch and alti check - good job! Fun, isnt it? Then you keep asking yourself, how can this possibly get better - and then it keeps getting better! Enjoy! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Douglass Adams - Hitchhikers Guide... Whoops, wrong thread!

Yup... In retrospect it is clear that the weapons did not exist, although they had in the past, and Hussein had used them against his enemies. But what is also clear is that President Bush had every reason to believe they still existed at the time he launched the military campaign in Iraq. Not only did US and allied intelligence agencies assert that the weapons were there, but Hussein himself played a dangerous game of convincing enemies such as Iran, and even his own generals, that he had such weapons, while protesting to United Nations inspectors that he did not. The Bush critics can argue that the president was too gullible in accepting the conclusion of his intelligence agencies. But the evidence does not suggest that he knowingly lied to the American public about the existence of WMD. ****************************** The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html ********************************* It's all a conspiracy man! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

One time I was training this really heads up student and when we got to the canopy flying portion of the training he told me not to worry about needing to train him how to fly, that he has landed on aircraft carriers at night and had more hours at the yoke then I could imagine. Needless to say, after his first landing under a parachute he was ready to go into more detail concerning canopy piloting… I cannot comment about being a pilot because I am not one, but from what I understand it is a little different eh? - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

I am not going to comment on anything other than this point - From what I have read so far - You did not do what you were supposed to do if you were being trained in accordance with USPA guidelines, which it sounds like you were. Your training did direct you to immediately deploy if you were alone in freefall, which you DID NOT do. Skydiving is a lot more than what you are alluding to - a HUGE aspect of it is about being able to count on one another (those in the group) to do their (your) best to dive the plan that was set forth in the ground training. You took it upon yourself to do what you want, to do things your own way and that just tells me that at this point you do not understand that you can not be counted on by those you are diving with to stick to the plan. I would not pat you on the back for falling stable and all that jazz, because you did not dive the plan. What if the situation was a little different and something was added into the equitation that was unplanned, necessitating an early deployment that you could have not been aware of? Open parachute below you and BAM! You go through it killing yourself and the other person, or an airplane flying into your airspace or a long spot that needed a little more altitude under canopy to make it back to your intended landing area. What you did was selfish, irresponsible and a safety hazard to yourself and everyone else in the sky around you. Glad everything worked out for the better this time... I am not commenting on your account of what your instructors did or did not do because you have illustrated a total lack of credibility. Grow up and be more responsible... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

You are bored under a Pilot loaded at 1.17? Being in the 100 jump range you most likely have not even had the oppoutrunity to learn how to fly it at a proficcient level yet... I got a pretty nice surf under a loghtly loaded Pilot test jumping a friends who thought he may have a line trim problem... Seems like a pretty nice canopy... - Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

It is... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

This must be a guy's way of coming out of the clauset. Cumming out of da Santa clauset?

Well then, sounds like skydiving is for you then… Have fun making your first solo and welcome to the sky! P.S. I road raced for many years and lost a lot of friends during the process too - sell your bike and buy a good rig. Skydiving is as much of if not more than the 2 wheel rush and way way WAY safer... As an instructor, bike riders are really easy to transition to freefall, cuz you already are accustomed to relaxing in high intensity situations, just have to fix dem hips! Have fun!!! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

"Should I apply for a job filming porn? " Is this a trick question???

Tunnel helps with landings? Wow, maybe I need to go to a tunnel then, might help my crappy landings! Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Huked un phunix rully werked fer me...

Go to your local USPA DZ and make a tanedm skydive, this is the quickest and easiest way to experience parachuting. This will give you a good indicator if skydiving is going to be for you or not. Believe it or not, many who think they want to get into the sport make their initial jump and find that it is not really for them. Good luck... Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

Honeymoon? Don't want to sound neg - but if you are about to get married you would do much better moneywise working at Wall Mart - unless of course you both just wanna be skydive Gypsies...

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2615658#2615658

My money is that he is a TROLL... Not an attack, just siding with the majority...