wceviper

I went to do my level 3 today. Everything was cool, I was thinking about the skydive, going through the dive flow in my head. After Being there for 3hrs I finally got geared up. I was Excited, Ready to go. The plane was the King Air, 14k! After Everyone climbed out, My 2 JMs and I approached the door. Wasn't that hard to get on the step this time, I was pretty comfortable. The exit went well, I did my COA's, Then my only PRPC. Then it got interesting. They let go! I started a clock-wise spin which was slow at first, but got a little faster everytime I went around! I was trying to correct with zero luck. My Reserve side flew in and got me stable, then gave me the relax sign. I did, till he let me go again. Started the right turn, this time I slowed it down for second, but then started going faster than before. I wasn't too scared of the spinning, It was when I fell a little faster than my JM's. Then I couldn't even look at them every revolution! My reserve side came back in at about 7500 feet. I also felt my main side dock too. I was ready to pull, But stuck it out till 5500. I had a good pull, kept the ripcord. Today was the first time I had line twists, Got outta those fast only to notice end cell closer. After all that was taken care of, I went strait for the DZ. I had a good standup landing. The whole time I was under canopy I was trying to figure out what I did wrong. It was the first thing I asked when I found my Main side jm. One of my legs was higher than the other, I also wasn't relaxed enough. All in all, it was a fun, but scary jump. Time to save more money for another L3. Anyway, Thanks for reading! -Jason

AIM - WCEViper thats all I use.

Where did this information come from? Please send a link -Jason

Where Was I? Well, Being that I live in California, I usually sleep till about 8-9am PST(11-12 EST). That morning my Aunt called me at 6:30 and said 2 things. 1. Happy Birthday 2. Then, You should turn on the TV, something terrible has happened. Well, I turned on the TV, and then watched it all day. Couldn't believe it, I kept thinking I'll wake up soon. Of course that didn't happen. Anyway, I decided not to go out and party, and just stay home and get more info on what happened. The thing that pisses me off the most is the Media. They kept saying it was a "Highly Sophisticated" crime and that the terrorists are "Very Intelligent". Which in my opinion is COMPLETE Bullshit! It just sucks that something like this had to happen. I used to tell all my friends (The ones who forget my b-day) to just remember 911, that’s it! I don't think it will be easy to say that anymore. -Jason

Cool pictures, thanks for sharing!

1:1:0 Yeah, I know. Not much, but at least I can finally put a jump number in there :) :) :)

Got level 2 outta the way today, the wind finally came down I got to jump! Everything went well, now I just have to go back for 3, The release dive. Probably gonna do that next weekend. Anyway, WOOOOHHOOOOOO. :) -Jason

Well, once again got winded out! Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer! Going back at 9am to try try again! -Jason

Everything looks great! Awesome Job!

I went to Byron this morning, I had my AFF L2 jump scheduled for 9am. On the way out there it was very windy. I got there at about 8:45am, The wind metter was saying anywhere from 22-35mph. I stayed till around 1:30 before giving up! Anyway, going back tomorrow afternoon :) Hopefully conditions will be better. -Jason

that is going to be awesome! I can't wait to see it!

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Maybe the Beer moved towords the plastic cup? Would that make it more or less freaky? Think about it, maybe the beer was sittin there getting warm, It wanted to be downed before it was too late and tried to get closer to your hand! A warm beer is considered alcohol abuse right? lol -Jason

Whats up, I live in castro valley. I am taking AFF in byron. Cleared level 1 yesterday, going for level 2 tomorrow. -Jason

I did ground school almost 30 days ago. I changed my mind about doing the SL course and decided to do AFF. I choose Byron because it was close to home, And I heard good things about the place. I went to the DZ on July 4th, I wanted to watch them jump, and I also wanted to commit myself to a day for ground school. My good buddy and me went to the DZ and signed up! Cool, now I had myself and my friend committed! No way to keep putting it off now! So we did ground school on July 5th, and I was soooo ready to jump that day. The winds kicked up about 15 minutes after class. I was bummed, but there was nothing I could do. I had called the DZ a few times over the next few days, Winds were too high. Then I planned to go out there during the week, on Wednesday or Thursday. Then Tuesday night I layed my motorcycle down going 10mph around a corner. Thank god I had all my gear on. I felt fine, rode my bike to a friends house to inspect the damage to my body and my bike. First I checked out the area's that felt a little pain. Nothing to bad, but I bruised my right shoulder. I was nervous for 2 reasons: 1, would I be able to Pull? And 2, would opening shock make it worse? Then I told myself, When I heal, I jump! Well, after a week of waiting I started to feel good and comfortable with the idea of jumping. So I called and scheduled an appointment for a Wednesday morning. Cool I was ready to go now! I decided to stay the night in Tracy on Tuesday, this way I would only be only 10 minutes from the DZ. I had scheduled for 9am. I got up and ready at 8, had something to eat. Then My cell phone range, The DZ called to say I couldn't jump that day, all the JM's went to a boogie! That set me back another week, all that weekend I had plans. I tried to get out of them, but couldn't. Today I went to the DZ, everything was perfect! The winds were low, 3-5mph!They managed to get me on manifest. Then I met Mike, My main side JM. We went over a few things, I was quizzed on hand signals. Then I went through the dive flow! After all that he looked over at me and said, "Lets go skydive!" Here is what got to me, I had all that time to think about jumping. That was the worst thing! Fear was starting to get to me. So I kicked fears ass last night before I went to bed. And got all the nervous stuff out of my system. I woke up feeling ready, got on my bike, and headed strait to the DZ. Back to the skydive part :) I got into a jumpsuit, and my JM grabbed a rig for me. Student gear is so heavy! I was jumping a 260 square foot parachute! I put my left arm into the rig first, then my right, something I was taught in class. Then we did another gear check, this time on me. I got my helmet, goggles and altimeter next! woohoo! My JM and RJM and I walked to the waiting area. Now we are getting on the plane, a C-206. They sit me right by the door! My JM closed and locked the door. During the climb to altitude, I kept going through the dive flow in my head. Every thousand feet I would look out and see what that altitude looked like. On the way up my JM pointed out that my RJM was taking a catnap. I started laughing to myself. I can't wait to be that comfortable on the plane. We finally made it too 11,000 feet. Then my JM opened the door, what a rush that was! I was watching him direct the pilot. Then he stepped out to the wing, and then it was my turn. WOW that wind is tough! I moved my feet slow onto that step, then grabbed onto the wing strut. Did the Check in an out routine. Then we stepped away from the plane! I arched hard, we got stable and I did the COA! Got thumbs up from both JM's. Then started my PRPC, the first time I felt the handle with the top of my hand, them my JM moved my hand towards it. The second one was good, got a nice grip, and then let go. Then the 3rd, Felt good, after number 3 I knew I could pull at pull time! I finished everything at 8.5k then did my second COA, got a thumbs up from the RJM, Looked to my main JM and he told me to put my legs out. I did that right away. The 6k came up. Time to relax and pull. Gave the 5-5 and waved off, I reached back, grabbed the handle and gave it a strong smooth pull. I looked over my right should, I seen the pilot shoot go up. Then I checked over my left, Now I know the air burble is gone! Over my head was this awesome blue parachute. Big and square, slider more than half way down, and yes, flying straight! I reached for the toggles and did the controllability check. Good canopy, no need to chop it! It feels so good up here, so peaceful, so natural. I just keep telling myself I'll be up here again soon. Now I can see the DZ, I turn my parachute towards it and then I see the parachutes of my JM and RJM. They Are Spiraling down, racing to the ground. At about 4,000 feet I hear my JM on the radio, but it is hard to hear him. The radio is breaking up, So I go to the area over the DZ that the JM talked to me about, I hung out (No pun intended) there until I could hear him better. At about 3,000 the radio is clear and The JM is asking me to do turns. I am doing everything he says. Then 1,000 feet is here and I start my downwind leg, I am watching the altimeter and at 500 feet I turn onto the base leg. It is amazing how much ground you cover under canopy, I couldn't believe how fast I went from one side of the landing area (Which is Huge) to the other. Now I turn onto final approach and the ground is starting to get big quick! I hear my JM telling me to put my arms all the way up, now I am in full flight and approaching the ground a little faster. The ground is almost here and I can hear my JM over the radio, saying "Flare, Flare, Flare!" I pull the toggles down in a smooth motion. Then I realize I am pulling them a little too fast and a stop for just a split second and then pull the toggles all the way and I am on the ground with my feet again! I grab 1 toggle and race around the side of the canopy to collapse it. Now I am gathering the lines and the canopy. I make sure I am not dragging anything on the ground and head for the hanger. Debriefing went very well. I need to work on keeping my legs out during freefall. Overall the entire jump went great! I kicked Level 1's ass and it felt good. So I purchased my Level 2 jump ticket before I left the DZ. I will be going back this weekend! What an awesome feeling it is! What is this big rock I just landed on? oh yeah! Earth! -Jason

I will be out that way tomorrow! Gonna hang out and watch for the day.

I would like to get a job at a DZ, it would be nice. I am sooooo sick of computers. been doing it for 5yrs now. I like to be outside, in the sun. I worked in a brick building with no windows. Hated it everytime it was nice. there was only windows in the front and back of the building, not on the sides. Got sick of indoors real quick. Anyway, Any DZ's hiring in the bay area, CA? -Jason

Well, Lets start with the bad news. Got laid off today from my job, Another Dot-com startup thats dieing. Had to close down 2 offices and lay off 50% (around 5 people) from the home office. Well, I was one of those 5 people. Ok, Well. It may seem like bad news, but I am being optimistic about it :-D. I have been socking my money away for about 4 months now (Good thing I did). I wanted to have 3 months of living expensises put away in case somthing like this happened. Here is the Good News. I got laid off!(Yeah, your thinking I am crazy or stupid) I can collect unemployment for a few weeks, or maybe months. Its hard to find a job in the bay area right now... So, including money saved, And final my final checks. Vacation, plus they were on a 2 week lag in payroll. I got 5 weeks pay. We add the un-employment and I can survive for EVER! (Just kidding) I can afford to take a little much needed time off (Haven't taken longer than a day off in almost 3 years). With my newly found and forced vacation. I have decided to take my AFF courses while I am searching for a job. Sure, I sound like a bum! But I wanna work the system instead of the system working me! Anyway, going to hang out at the DZ and do an AFF this week if they get enough people to go in the class. I might have another ex-co-worker who got axed too, join me in the classes! Can't wait. Been going through it in my head forever now! So, There you have it. That wasn't so bad! -Jason

ok, Did a little research, Got bored at work. anyway, here is the Definition of a lemming behavior according to britannica. Lemmings hesitate to enter water and generally try to avoid swimming across rivers and other bodies of water, seeking land crossings whenever possible. They do not, as is popularly supposed, plunge into the sea in a deliberate, suicidal death march. Once-uffos is good. Defined as some who would jump out of a plane and then say somthing along the lines "Why the would I want to jump out of a plane again!" Obviously they wouldn't "Get It!" There can be 2 kinds of once-uffos. 1. Person who doesn't care to do it again. 2. Person who "Gets It" but chooses/ or can not do it again for various reasons. I.e. money or whyffos! -Jason

That clears things up alot, Its kinda scary knowing that no matter what people do, it can become a comparable statistic! Great job on the formulas! I guess the only other thing to do would be to break them down by skydiving activity. I am sure Low turns would have the majority of deaths vs. everything else(Skyboarding, wingsuits). -Viper

My first jump was a tandem from 14.7k. My TM and I rode in the front of the plane, Besides my camera man, we were the last people out of the plane. The second tandem I (for the first jump i booked 25 people to jump and paid 25 deposits at Montereybay. 1 person flaked so I used there deposit for the my second jump later that week) did was from a little over 14.3k. The plane was empty on the ride up, me, my buddie who was hooked after jump 1. 2 TMs and 2 solo jumpers. once again I was the last person out. Now I am just waiting for Ground school to jump solo. -Viper

There is one thing missing from all statistics posted. People are just posting the number of deaths each year per event/sport. The real comparison happens when you compare the number of deaths vs. the number of events that would cause a death. I don't explain things very well; so let me make it a little simpler. I.E. Out of over 2 million skydives per year an average of 30 deaths occur. out of "X" number of lighting strikes per year an average of "X" number of deaths occur. Out of "X" number of miles driving per year an average of "X" number of deaths occur. For example, if there are 50 million bolts of lighting that strike each year and 50 people die. That puts your odds at 1 in a million. You would probably be able to stand in the middle of a thunderstorm and only get rained on (Don't try that at home :-P). If you compare stats like this, 30 out of 35,000 skydivers have fatal accidents each, that doesn't say much. Granted the more people that skydive the higher that number could climb. If you compare that number to 2000 of 35 million people die in fatal accidents every year in California. The more people that get their license, the higher that number goes. But once again, it should be based on miles driven. In conclusion, for true stats, you should compare the number of X (Deaths) vs. the number of X (Events) that happens each year. That should give you more accurate stats to discuss with your wuffo friends. Any other opinions or views? That’s just my 2 cents. -WCE Viper P.S. I just added Wuffo as a word in my dictionary so my computer would quit spell checking it! :-D

Tomorrow will be the longest day of the year in north america. Probably a great idea for people to get to gether after work and go jumpin! since there will be plenty of daylight! This is the time schedual in my local area(Castro Valley, CA). Begin civil twilight 5:16 a.m. Sunrise 5:47 a.m. Sun transit 1:10 p.m. Sunset 8:34 p.m. End civil twilight 9:05 p.m. Anyway, just another good reason to jump! -viper

Thanks, I didn't relize that the forum was different from the My dropzone options. Thanks again!

I use a video card with a built in capture card made by asus. Asus makes awesome video cards, The capture card they add-on is great. They use a specific codec for capturing, which can be d/l on their site. But you can convert it to whatever format you wish with other programs such as Adobe Preimer. -Viper

I wanted to update my profile and put in my ICQ number. However, there is no option in the profile edit pages to enter an ICQ number. Maybe I am blind, if so, please point me in the right direction! Have a nice day. -Viper