Shadowplay

Im in a line of work that places special emphasis on my hearing. So naturally I'm a little concerned about all the wind noise I encounter when I jump (I'm on AFF Level 7). Of course the only helmets I've used so far have been pretty basic. I was wondering if the motorcycle helmets help cut down on the surrounding noise. If not, any suggestions?

When does student status end? Is it at the end of AFF or is it until you get your A license? I overshot on my level 5 yesterday and landed on the runway .

I did my AFF levels five and six yesterday. I was going to turn this into another self serving "YEAH I'm ONE LEVEL AWAY" post but I have a real question. This was the first time I've ever done more than one jump in a day, actually I did them on consecutive loads. Today I am pretty sore throughout my shoulders and back. I'm guessing this is a normal? Oh yeah, and this muscle that is on my left arm that connect to my shoulder, I don't know what it's called by I seemed to have tweaked it. I can't really move my arm above my head real easily. Is all this stuff normal? Just wondering. Backflips are fun...

No offense but I wouldn't count on the Navy straightening this kid out. He's gonna have to want to change because if he doesn't, believe me there is a sizeable criminal underground in the Navy that he could find without much difficulty. I hope he chooses the right path....but it's gonna be up to him.

I'm a little drunk right now. So I wanted to send one to the sky for any DZs that are in the wake of the hurricane. I hope no one gets hurt and I hope the damage is kept to a minimum. I love my DZ (AFF Student..I am) and I want to see no harm to it or the wonderful people that run it.

Dude, I have been doing AFF for over two months now. I had four weeks between 3-4. I was sooooo terrified that I really thought I was hyperventilating in the plane. Once I got out though...I don't know...I just forgot all about what the hell I was scared about and nailed it! Believe me, once you get out of the plane, you'll be fine. Survival instincts come out, and it's been ANOTHER four weeks before I can get back out to the DZ to do level five. Now I don't recommend waiting, but I can't wait to get out there. Trust your JMs. I told mine that I was scared and they said I had been rock solid up unto now so there was no reason for me to stop now. I know everyones different. I wrote something similar to this after my level two. I couldn't get an arch for the first 10 seconds or so and I thought I wasn't cut our for this stuff. If you really want it, it won't be a problem.

I filled out my forms and paid my cash at my DZ two and a half weeks ago after completing lvl 4 to join USPA. Since then I haven't received anything in the mail or gotten any type of email confirming my membership purchase. Do they send out a "welcome" package or something or an email saying congrats? I was just wondering becuase if I go back to the DZ this weekend to do my lvl 5, will they not let me jump because I don't have my membership card? Just curious....

This is just for future reference but are reservists acceptable material?

Dude, I feel your pain and I'm only halfway through AFF. I'm sitting here typing out documentation for a load of crappy IT software that I'm supposed to be learning how to use but instead it's 1am and I'm browsing the forums looking for any useful info while jamming to the RHCP. I have to be up in four hours to go running. I can't tell you how much I want to just freaking LIVE since I started jumping this summer!!!

I am a student as well, I'm up to level five but haven't jumped it yet..I always think that it's easier to flare early than late (duh I know). I'm flying a 300 and I figure I don't have to worry about flaring so hard that I tip the canopy over.

So the fact my hairy back resembles a troll probably doesn't help my cause either eh? Oh well....at least we'll always have Paris...

I just pulled out my first grey nose hair. I'm 29....life is over...

My first AFF jump, I had to ride the plane down because clouds came in wayyyy to fast. I got to the ground and I could just feel peoples eyes on me thinking I freaked out up there. Of course that was just my paranoia....I think. Anyway I'm up to lvl 5 now but I missed the chance to do my first jump out of a CASA. That sux...but it's better than screwing up my first jump and ending up as scrambled eggs.

Are there any skydiving mags available at a local newsstand in the US? I've looked all over for some and although I can find stuff on snowboarding, surfing, scuba, and even hangliding, nothing on Skydiving. I just joined USPA so I'll start to get their pub soon, but is there nothing else out there?

Can you go to these canopy control classes without owning your own rig? I'm not planning on buying my first rig until next Spring and I've never been to a canopy class but I want to go as soon as I'm done with AFF. I'm not even sure what the class entails..

I'm curious how much I can look forward to annoying leg burn on the insides of my legs after every jump? I'm still in AFF (completed level 4) and after every jump I'm walking around like I just spent 4 hours on a horsie. I'm wondering if tightening my leg straps would help or letting them stay a little looser would help. My student rig is a 300 (I weigh about 210, do you think that's too big?) and someone told me that with those types of rigs it's unavoidable. If that's the case can someone recommend something to alleviate the pain? I usually jump with a pair of exercise pants that are pretty comfortable to lounge around in on the ground while I'm waiting for the blasted weather to clear up (as well as all the tandems to go home...). Thanks!

I have a moderate head cold today and I really want to go jumping tomorrow. I'm wondering what other more experienced (I'm at AFF level 4 right now) jumpers think about it...is it a good idea? Any problems that might arise? What are the solutions? Besides getting healthy.

I'm on level three and so far have used...I think 230 canopy size. I don't know much about this subject, but my question is will the canopy size stay the same during all my student jumps, is it a preference thing, and what is the first thing I'll notice when I go down in size?

It was a Twin Otter I believe. It was the same kind of plane that I did my lvl one on but a lot faster I guess with a lot more prop blast. I didn't think I had any trouble getting in the door or anything, it's just that everytime I started going into an arch I started kicking my legs for some reason... Thanks for the words of encouragement by the way..

I did my level two today and had a lot harder time stablizing myself in freefall than I did on level one. Sure it was a 5-7 seconds delay at most but I've been walking around with a nervous feeling ever since and thought maybe if I wrote some crap down I might feel better. My JMs said the rest of the dive went fine, they just couldn't figure out why my exit was so crappy especially since I had no problem on level one. I thought maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was a different, faster plane or that I had driven for 14 hours from Tennessee and probably wasn't as focused as I should have been because of that. Then maybe I started wondering if I'm always going to have this problem now and evil doubts started creeping into my head. I guess I'm stressing about this because I'm such a perfectionist. I know I probably shouldn't worry about it, I mean the rest of the jump went fine but it continues to linger in my head- why the f*ck couldn't I get a good arch out the door this time? The clouds rolled in so I wasn't able to jump again, but at the very least the whole thing taught me a lesson. Try to end the day on a good jump. ~SP

Today I completed level two. It was me, my usual JM and a guy who I like but had not jumped with before. I gave him ten bucks and he told me thanks but don't do it again. He said he'd rather see me punch out my jumps than give him tips. I thought that was really cool. I guess the theme at my DZ is after your first AFF, tipping is welcome but not very encouraged.

Hi, I finally got to do my AFF Level one this weekend at Delmarva in Delaware. I'm down in Tennessee this weekend because of a family emergency. I've thought about going to a DZ in the smokies to do level 2 this weekend. My quesion, is it good practice to jump from DZ to DZ when doing my student jumps? CW would tell me that it isn't, get comfortable with one group of JMs and one DZ before going to other places...I'm just wondering what other people have to say about it. It may not matter since the weather isn't really cooperating. Eric