jkbernstein

I wonder if this issue is specific to me, or if other female jumpers have experienced this: I have a hard time holding down my front risers. Part of my problem is that my shoulders are messed up (had two surgeries on the left and am about to have one on the right), but I think that some of the issue may be gender related: In general, women don't tend to have the same upper body strength that men do. Also, women tend to not be as aggressive in their downsizing, meaning that a chick with lower jump numbers - especially one who is small, like me - is more likely to be jumping a larger canopy with lower wing loading. So: less upper body strength + lower wing loading = a hard time hanging on front risers. Has anyone else experienced this - or do I just chalk it up to defective joints? ________________________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

It is my "perception" that Safire2's have a steeper angle of descent than a Pilot.*** According to Aerodyne, that's a fact: Pilots have a relatively flat glide angle. You can definitely feel and see the difference in flight. In terms of comparison to other canopies, the guy at Aerodyne whom I spoke to (can't remember his name) said that Pilots "feel like they fly a size larger." That was also my experience comparing the Pilot 140 to a Sabre 150, Sabre2 150, and Triathlon 150. I would guess the comparison is similar with a Safire. Personally, I LOVE my Pilot - sweet openings, crisp handling, nice landings - but I agree with the "try 'em out" recommendation if you can. _______________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Yesterday, I got the very frustrating - though not completely unexpected - news that I have to have YET ANOTHER shoulder surgery. I had two surgeries on my left shoulder last year. My left arm was completely out of commission for a total of twelve weeks; I couldn't jump for almost 8 months. This surgery will be on my right shoulder. (I've just beaten the crap out of my body for years) My right arm - I'm right-handed - will be in a sling and strapped to my body for around six weeks. Then I'll have 4-6 months of PT. If I'm lucky, I may be jumping again by July. The timing is totally crappy. After many years of jumping inconsistently (due to money and weather limitations), I've finally been able to jump regularly and, consequently, improve. I'm not a phenomenal skydiver by any means, but my skills are (at last) solid, and my performance is consistent. I just got my C license. I'm about to take a coach course. This is a SUCKY time to be stuck on the ground and I AM PISSED!!! Can I get collective round of sympathetic noises, please? __________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Might have a problem I don't want to work at all just want to read posts This is how it starts: check Bonfire all the time; soon become a post whore help... ___________________________ _______________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Wow... Kinda hard to come up with adequate words... Congratulations doesn't begin to cut it, but it's all I can think of at the moment. Thirteen years ago (on my birthday) I lost my lifetime best friend to an OD. Her death left a hole that can't ever be filled. I miss her every day. Reading this gives me hope; it's somehow comforting to know that people can escape that hell. I'm sure all the people who love you are grateful that you were able to make, and keep making, the incredibly difficult choice not to use. On behalf of the people whose lives you've touched, and for anyone who may be inspired to change by reading this, thank you for posting.

sick for two damn weeks amazing how much phlegm one body can produce __________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

I don't even know what to say... That's just so damn sad. He just - very kindly - sent me another copy of the Magic Carpet Ride pic after mine melted. Truly nice guy. My thoughts go out to his family and the Z-hills gang. Blue skies, John.

This is true, especially in these days of managed health care, but many psychiatrists do therapy, as well. There are some kinds of psychotherapy which are ONLY done by psychiatrists. Which you choose has more to do with personal preference - whom do you connect with better - and which your insurance will pay for. I speak from experience on this one, by the way. My dad's a psychiatrist and my mom's a psychologist. Is it really any wonder I jump out of airplanes?

Temperature is always relative. Whether or not it's cold depends on what you're used to. AND whether or not the plane is heated. In VT, where the C182 had a hole cut out of the bottom of the door (so it didn't hit the wing when it opened), and the 40-minute ride to altitude was whatever temperature it was outside, my limit was somewhere around 50F on the ground. In CT,and other places in the northeast where the plane is heated, I can hack 20F so long as I've got layers and my full-face.

Admiral outranks everybody; lieutenant's down near the bottom of the list. YOU better start doin' the pushups.

I'm Admiral Bushytail, which is fine but kinda boring. My boyfriend, on the other hand, just became Private Drunkenpaws, which makes me giggle every time I say it.

Pearl May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Yay! Thanks for posting the video, too.

Brilliant job on the Shakespeare! I've been looking for a reason to post this: "I can turn, like, a million points by myself. I'm awesome!" -pilotdave (Captain, Dave's One-Way RW Team) _________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Oh, that sucks! It's such an awesome pic, too. Does it matter that it was someone else who scanned and posted it, (I'm assuming) without permission? May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

The only thing I was worried about was breaking my nose! I had an open-face helmet; getting up close and personal with the rig of the guy in front of me was a little nerve-wracking. My face ended up okay, but somebody got clocked in the head with someone else's knee - left a nice crack in his helmet - and, as has been discussed, a handle did indeed get pulled. As far as I know, though, everybody's shoulders emerged intact. John, thanks in advance for posting the video! I'll keep my eyes open for it. _________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

Somewhere between 5-10 seconds. Then all hell broke loose. May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

***Any word on gettin the vid posted ? Thanks.... Don. *** After desperately searching for, and finally getting in touch with, John - so I could get a new copy of this shot - I asked him if he'd post the video. I haven't gotten a response from him, but skydivingmovies.com's been down for a while. Maybe if EVERYBODY emailed him and asked, he'd do it. It is a kick-ass video. It was a kick ass ride. You folks who say you'd be too chicken to try it don't know what you're missing. What kind of skydiver are you if you don't do something really stupid every once in a while? ____________________________________________ May the (relative) wind take your troubles away...

A copy? So that I could have TWO melted pictures, since they both would've been sitting in the van for three days? I was gonna ask you if you had any videos of John's and/or an email address, but clearly you're no help at all. (Why is there not an emoticon for someone with their fingers in their ears, sticking out their tongue and going "PPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT!"?)

We had 18 people, a ten-second ride before things went to shit, AND a premature deployment which nearly took out my friend Germ - talk about kick-ass video. Beat that!

I was on this jump (a.k.a. the Magic Carnage Ride) over the past weekend and bought a copy of John's incredible photo of the exit. Unfortunately, the picture spent three days in a van in the hot Florida sun; the emulsion melted and stuck to the plastic cover it was in. I'm trying to track John down to get another copy, and to ask him to put the video on skydivingmovies.com. John, are you out there, or does anyone know how to find him?

There was another conversation about this recently. As I said before, I love my Mamba. It fits great, even on my tiny head. (Unlike most helmets, which have one shell size and different amounts of padding, Boneheads actually come in different shell sizes.) It's very comfy. The visor stays shut unless I open it, and the chinstrap keeps it secure on my noggin. Big thumbs up all around.

I was on the load just before you! Yeah, jumping the Alouette is a blast. I also jumped the biplane this weekend, which was equally fun. Crosskeys definitely has it going on as far as fun jumping toys!

Not to dis Sonic - he's an incredible swooper and a darn nice guy (not to mention a good photographer: he took the pic that's on the cover of Parachutist this month) - but Scott's class really is worth paying for. He has a great way of explaining things, simply and intelligently, so that they make sense. Especially for those of us who got our A licenses when the AFF course was just 7 jumps, or who moved from dz to dz, it's pretty easy to end up with over a hundred jumps and still have large gaps in (what should be) basic knowledge about canopies and how they work. Scott's course fills in the holes, and provides tons of tips and techniques that really will help your flying (and landing) skills. He's also an excellent teacher; he makes the classes fun and interesting. I really can't recommend the course highly enough. And just to add two more cents: I've only been to Sky's the Limit once, but I had a great experience there. Very, very cool people.

I've never known anyone to wear goggles underneath a full face helmet; that's the point of the face shield. I don't wear contacts myself, but my boyfriend does. He's got a Factory Diver; he's never had a problem with his contacts.