MikeJD

That does sound like an awesome weekend - nice one! I've only ridden in a Stearman once, but your trip sounds way better. I just got one loop, and one and a half rolls. I missed the end of the second roll because I got tipped out.

It's when you catch yourself trying to start your car wih a carton of milk that you really want to worry.

If I had a fridge like that? I'd put everything in it, just because I could. I'd put my car keys in there, so I could always see where they were!

Looks like an accident waiting to happen. Guy goes to grab a pineapple, gets sucked in. Found a month later, looking just like Han Solo frozen in carbonite, dead but perfectly preserved.

Hi, and welcome! Regarding UK winter jumping, people do it but of course it's more likely that you'll get weathered out, and there are fewer daylight hours in which to jump - and it will almost certainly be colder. Realistically you probably wouldn't notice the temperature so much with everything else assaulting your senses, but it's much more fun to sit around a dropzone on a spring or summer day when it's warm out and there's lots of other jumping going on to keep you entertained while you wait. Bottom line - I think you're right to wait for the warmer weather. Regarding hanging out in the meantime - at the vast majority of UK DZs that wouldn't be a problem, since they're completely open and many tandem students have friends and family come along to watch. Just be sure to observe all the signage and stick to the public areas, because airfields in general and dropzones in particular can be dangerous places to wander around. I can only think of one DZ (Netheravon) where you might have a problem just turning up, since it's military and therefore guarded. Unless you're an experienced jumper, I'm not sure that you can get in without prior notice. Whereabouts in the UK are you?

You might want to reconsider this choice of words. Seriously, welcome. Glad you're having fun!

For flips (which I think are what I'd call 'backloops') - and to a lesser extent barrel rolls - I'd say it probably is a reasonable place to practise. Unlike the more common skydiving techniques where you're relying on deflecting air moving past your body, it seems like these are more gymnastic maneouvres where you're 'throwing' your body and then pushing against the 'stiffened' air in much the same way as you do against water resistance. Be interested to hear others' take on it.

Nervousness is one of those things that lessens with experience. Not the answer you want to hear, and not much consolation right now! I remember being quite nervous on each of my AFF jumps, but that was more to do with the pressure to pass than fear of getting hurt. Of course there's a vicious circle at work too, since you will skydive best when you're alert but relaxed, and better skydives would in turn make you more confident. Sounds like you have the reverse effect at the moment. Have you spent any time in a wind tunnel? That would allow you to build up your freefall skills in a no-pressure environment, and then having that confidence in your flying ability would give you one less thing to worry about when it's time to leave the plane. You might want to check out Brian Germain's book too. I haven't read it, but it seems to come highly recommended and might help you. Meanwhile I'd say you need to look at the positives as well, since at the moment you seem to be beating yourself up unneccesarily. You did get stable. You did complete your turns. You did have a good canopy ride. Hey, when it comes down to it you did jump out of an aeroplane. What's not to like?

Every balloon jump I've done has resulted in an off-landing. In addition to being aware of hazards, make sure you know the landing direction in relation to something (like the sun!) that you can still see when you're well away from the DZ. Chances are there'll be nothing to indicate the wind on the ground once you get under canopy, and it may well be different from the direction of the balloon drift. Assuming you have a chase vehicle, the balloon pilot might indicate to you a good place to land so that you can be picked up easily, but remember that your prime objective is to land safely. There are often high tension lines running alongside roads, for example. Speaking of pilots, I've no idea whether there's training or qualification involved in being able to drop jumpers. Certainly in the UK you'd need something like a demo license for people to deliberately exit away from the regular PLA and it surely isn't trivial for a balloon pilot to have people leaving the basket in mid-flight. Aside from any stability issues, losing that weight will make the balloon go up - I think it's normal for an experienced pilot to put it into a gradual descent just before jumpers exit. Don't forget to have a good look around for air traffic before you exit. There's still plenty of opportunity for an aircraft to get between you and the ground, especially if you're lucky enough to leave at 5K or more as I normally have. And away from the PLA, the last thing another pilot will be expecting from a balloon is for people to fall out of it! Watch your handles when you're climbing in, climbing out and moving around mid-flight. If you're not wearing a helmet then take a hat to wear on the flight, because the heat from the burner is, well, hot! Um, that's about all I can think of. Hope you get to do it at some point, and have fun. It's a truly intense, exhilarating experience! Edited to add: you'll almost certainly feel apprehensive about exiting into still, quiet air. Just remember that within a few seconds everything will be business as usual!

Oh, I doubt it

Say it ain't so!

Tragic to us - not tragic to those who only hear it as a news report, and might even see something funny in it. Look at the kick most of us get out of reading 'Darwin Award' stories. There are some groups of people, including skydivers, who are popularly thought to 'have it coming to them.' And by the way, it cuts both ways.

Agree with everyone else here. Dummy pulls are highly artificial - not only are you expected to arch for exit and find and pull your handle, but while doing the latter you're already being tossed around by the actual opening. Can't think of any way around that though (other than maybe a 100-foot static line .)

Once more in English, please? Seriously, that's a sweet looking car. Great project!

I don't think that's weird. When you look out across the ceiling you can see how high up but you are, but you also have less sense of the structure that's supporting you. I guess you're kind of projecting yourself into that exposed space. For me the worst thing is to be at the top of something tall and look up rather than down. That's guaranteed to make me giddy, as if I'm already falling. It's like turning your back on a threat - once you know it's there, you feel safer if you can keep it in view and it's not getting any closer. I've always had a fear of heights but I do think skydiving has reduced it a little. Also preparedness and intent make a lot of difference. On my first Bridge Day trip, I felt physically sick looking over a long drop while out hiking in the gorge - but much better standing on the exit ramp with a BASE rig on, knowing that I was about to jump deliberately.

I was fairly solid on the whole - but I already posted on Namowal's blog about the AFF level I finished spinning on my back, and having to pull that way. I remember a riser hooked one of my legs on opening. That hurt!

I had a friend who made the mistake of putting the Nair next to the hair mousse. She got away with it, but she had rubbed it in before she realised. And washed it out again in a hurry!

What he said. You want a Hollywood persecution complex, try being European - especially British. When we're not having our military victories stolen from under our noses we're busy being ruthless criminal masterminds. Regarding Die Hard - 1 and 2 are great, I think. They really should have left it there.

What a great post - beautifully written. I hope you keep on skydiving. But even if you don't, I hope you'll keep posting!

I was half-teasing about the space business - but flat packers do use up a lot of room in a crowded packing hall, and once you've practised a few times then I don't think there's anything less 'safe' about pro-packing. I doubt it's possible to do an objective comparison of packing technique versus cutaways, since most flat packers would be students and I'm guessing they're more prone to malfunctions because of body position and just general inexperience. And they probably take fewer chances with potentially recoverable mals. In terms of how I'm doing, about 2,300 jumps and two malfunctions so far - and those mals were nearly 2,000 jumps apart - so not too bad (touch wood). Also, I think the first of those mals was from a flat pack job!

Haven't seen one of these in awhile Me neither. I've always been bemused by them.

Use that to your advantage. Next time you post, draw gigantic fluffy marshallows all over the landing area. Edited to add: I don't think my mother's too keen either. She asks me about it now and again, but she refers to it as my 'hobby'. I always want to get on my high horse and say it's not a 'hobby'... but then I think if it helps her feel better to describe it as such, maybe I should leave well alone!

Where's the Skydivers option?

Space hog!

Bigger suit = slower fall rate and more room for winter layers. Problem(s) solved. Seems like a no-brainer to me .