LittleOne

I watched the whole thing happen from my office. It was the single worst day of my life. I could not summon the courage to visit for two years. It is now one of the most popular tourist sites in NY. On every anniversary, I watch the ceremony on TV. This year, I watched it until I heard the last of my perished friends' names. Then, I went skydiving. At the dropzone, it was just another lovely autumn day, as a September 11 in NY/NJ should always be. At first, I felt guilty for going skydiving but then I realized that time does heal wounds and "life goes on". We all have to cope in our own way and skydiving has helped me in that respect.

No because it is physically too demanding. I prefer to save the energy for jumping and consider the $5 fee to be the best value in the world. I will never (or as close to never as one can possibly be) be more than a weekend fun jumper and can afford to pay the packers. Besides, it gives them revenue.

On my first tandem, I was terrified of the exit. We get to the door: Ready, Set, oh dear we're over the jump line, come back inside, go around. Ready Set Go. Two days later, the clouds never rolled out after completing my FJC. Next day, I went back to the dz on a perfect day. After the refresher, clouds rolled in so I was told that if I wanted to jump from 9,500, they could try. I agreed. On the ride up, we kept going past 9,500 to 13.5 so I'm thinking Great! Then the clouds rolled in so I rode down. I had to fly home that day in a reasonably frustrated mood. One week later, I went to a dz near my home (in NJ). After the refresher (to date, 0 AFF jumps-3 AFF instructors), I was required to do another tandem. However, I could not do any canopy work because the winds were too strong, let alone do the level 1 jump. The next day, I finally made it and oh! what a feeling. The moral of the story is that no, there is no such thing as a "sign". There is just bad weather. Don't you find yourself paying an inordinate amount of attention to the weather forecast now?

Would it be possible to add a Dealer Review section to dropzone.com? For that matter, could a section be added to rate/review Classifieds sellers and buyers, a la ebay? I recently purchased a few items through the Classifieds and after contacting the sellers, we were all somewhat concerned about each other's integrity. Luckily, my transactions were completed successfully but who knows if there are some bogus sellers out there. These are services that I would be willing to pay for.

On my third jump yesterday, we exited at 15,500 AGL, 16,300 MSL. The first pass was at 10,000 to let two tandem groups out. On the second pass, the pilot kept climbing above 13,500, I became concerned about whether we should be doing this. Doesn't the pilot need supplemental oxygen at 14 and passengers need it at 15? Why are we going so high? When is he going to stop climbing? The 2 other jumpers were just high fiving each other, grinning and pointing at their altimeters. I do not know exactly how long we were at altitude. At 15.5, the 2 way exited before me and I was last. I pulled high at 4,500 (my usual pull altitude) with a few line twists that I worked out, after a loong, uneventful freefall. As I approached the landing area, I saw at about 2,500 that the winds had changed direction. Even though I had plenty of altitude, I could not draw a simple landing pattern and ending up landing slightly crosswind. Luckily, the winds were mild. Furthermore, I flared high, realized it almost as it was happening, and heard a little voice saying "PLF" but failed to assume the position in time. I took a pretty hard hit on my ankle and knee and am sore today but otherwise undamaged. With plenty of altitude, I was not able to select a simple landing pattern at my home dropzone. I am the first to admit that my canopy skills, even with this many jumps, are not very good. The landing area is tiny and surrounded by trees, a pond and power lines but I am familiar with it. Could this be an effect of hypoxia or is it just another bonehead blunder on my behalf?

If I get transferred to London in a few weeks, I might want to go. By that time, I should/better have my A License...if you don't mind flying with an even newer newbie... FYI, I also recall hearing that the tunnel near Zurich is a good facility, in case you are anywhere near there. I may be around there a lot. I would love to go with a group for fun and because I don't need the additional stress of having to drive in another country all by myself.

I also thought that everyone else was zipping through. That made me feel even worse and probably made me even more tense. Don't feel bad though. Here's my less than stellar AFF history: level 4-3x, Wind tunnel 45 minutes, 2 months grounded from wind tunnel injury, passed level 4, level 5-2x, level 6-2x, levels 7,8-passed. I am just off student status and still cannot stand up on landing. But hey! I've never had so much fun in my life, even on my crash landings. The best piece of advice I got from an instructor is to keep the forearms, wrists, and hands limp. The wind, she said, will blow them up and level. The second best piece of advice I got was to keep my chin up. Relaxing is mostly mental but there are some parts of the body that have to be relaxed too.