Orange1

ah, i jumped the 19th that weekend. not going to AFFC - partly because i couldn't convince my husband that mafikeng was a good place for a xmas break and partly because i'm saving up for a trip to deland in march Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Congrats Neil! I'm trying to arrange it so I do mine overseas, but if i do it here it will be a naked 3-way with 2 other girls Are you coming this way again any time soon? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Ya.. difficult one. Other than fatality stats it may be useful (maybe more so) to go over how the risks are controlled for - you'd be amazed how many whuffos don't realise, for example, that you have to have a reserve when you jump! And how because of the chain involved in the sport via the DZs, pilots etc - very different to say paragliding where you can basically just launch off a mountain (some sites you are meant to have x licence etc but there is no-one really checking that you do, if you can fly your gear, how current you are, etc) or scuba even - that the sport is quite controlled because many more people than just you have a vested interest in you making it down alive. It may help if you can take them to a DZ. A couple of guys i work with were thinking of tandems and were very reassured to see (a) that it is not a bunch of wild-eyed maniacs running around and more importantly (b) lots of safe landings. Of course, this could backfire if you happen to have them there when there actually is an incident... but this just goes to the fact that you do have to realise there is risk in the sport. btw re insurance: not sure about over there, but over here most of the major medical schemes cover injuries in skydiving and you can get life insurance tho it usually means a higher premium. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

lol - good point!! interesting, i'm picking up a bit of "stereotyping" about the corporate world here, which is kind of the inverse of the stereotypes people seem to expect others to have about skydivers I work in the "corporate world", in investment management, and to me it's very similar to skydiving because both are really about managing risk. The investment community here is quite small and there are a number of people who now or (if older) used to skydive/paraglide/hangglide/rock-climb etc. In fact when I had my interview for my current position - before i started jumping - i was specifically asked if i did any kind of "extreme" sport and got the distinct impression they would have been more impressed if i'd said yes! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You've never found someone like that around a DZ?? If they ask you what you do for fun and (assuming you jump regularly) you don't mention it... isn't that a bit like lying to the interviewer? btw i have been surprised by the number of people i work with who have done a jump... remember that while regular skydivers may be a small part of the population, lots of people have done a tandem or FJC! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Just to be clear: i have a US-made rig and components - when i come to the US do I need the reserve repacked by an FAA rigger in the US or would a local repack be OK as long as it is in the 120-day cycle? There is equipment made outside the US that is TSO'd, how does this fit into the regulations? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

But more recently? I learnt on ripcords but as has been said above the transition is easy. And correct me if i'm wrong, being just a newbie, but isn't it far easier to horseshoe on a throw-out than a ripcord? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I think both of these are great: "Parachuting: The Skydiver's Handbook", by Dan Poynter and Michael Turoff "The Parachute and its Pilot" by Brian Germain You will probably find the Skydiver's Handbook more useful at the beginning but the Germain book becomes more useful as you progress. Some of the things you read in them may not tally exactly with what your instructors tell you, remember to always check with your instructors before trying out anything you read in a bool (or in these forums). Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

a bit off topic, but i don't believe this is rare at all - just scan the "got my A" posts in General and see how many of the responses say something about visiting other DZs. It also doean't seem that rare, incidentally, for people to buy or order their own gear even before they get their A... again judging by posts here as well as people i know. Maybe it's just a personality thing too. I personally like to know what I'm jumping, and why, as well as understanding that me loading a 150 at 1:1 is not the same as someone else loading a 210 at 1:1. We were talking about A-licence level weren't we??!! Again maybe a personal thing, but I believe that understanding more about your equipment decreases rather than increases stress levels Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

...according to the OP's profile he has his A... not sure about there but here having your A means (while you are certainly free to, even expected to, discuss various things with instructors) that you are responsible for yourself and your safety in the air. So, even renting a rig, you should have an idea what your WL is... surely?? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

What a fantastic idea!! Let me know when and where The 15% stat mentioned above is interesting - i took our DZ's membershiip list to see and we have, yup, 15% girls. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Second that, but doesn't even have to be baggy to start. Moving from a reasonably well-fitting student suit (5'3" and 120lb) to a custom suit added 10mph to my fall rate... however, i still need weights to jump with most people! I can so far get around 135mph in a hard arch w/o weights but that makes it difficult to do much else. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You misunderstand my point. (and anyway, flaring is hardly independent of how you've loaded the canopy. ) You appear to understand --- All I was saying ... by A licence you are generally somewhere along the process of buying your own gear and WL is crucial to understanding what to buy. I hope most newbies ask advice on what to buy and that most DZOs/CIs vet what they jump, but judging from some of the posts i've seen on here.... i'm not so sure. And anyway you take ultimately responsibility for what you buy, and how can you do that if you don't know how to calculate your WL?? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

?????? you're implying there's something bad about dropping from a plane? i love the jumping out! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

yup, me, that's why I prefer a hacky. but other than that, they're both sitting in the same spot at pull time and i can't say i've noticed either being 'easier' or 'harder' to pull - though i don't jump with gloves. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I'm a little concerned that you have an A licence but don't know how to calculate wingloading... didn't one of your instructors go over this with you? Or (anyone) is this normal? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

hmmm... along with SL teaching you that exiting at 3K is fine, it also teaches you to exit the plane stable... (granted in an emergency exit you won't have time to prettily poise yourself, but still...) anyway there's another thread somewhere involving a discussion about exiting stable in a dive too i think... all comes with practice. now, stop being scared and start thinking about that lovely soft sub-terminal opening you'll have Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I followed instructions and looked up, not down PS I did both too (SL till 1st freefall, then AFF) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

What to expect: fun! I don't agree with the post above about the ground being so "close" disturbing some people - if it's your first jump what else do you know?? 3000' looks pretty high when it's the first time you've had a door open in mid-flight!! I do agree that you should try get a second in the same day to really enjoy it & get over the sensory overload. I don't remember anything between exit and a fully open canopy on my first jump! Have fun! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Congrats! The first solo jump is awesome Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I hope a lot of you realise how lucky you are... if we manage to get in 3 jumps in a day that's pretty good going Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hmm. phillyjumper appears to have registered simply to post that More to the point, is this normal for US DZs? : Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Welcome! Let us know how your jump goes and also if you continue to think "hobby" (as opposed to, for example, all-consuming obsession) is the appropriate term Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I'd only done 3 jumps and not discovered dz.com when this thread started. At that stage i think my only goal would have been to learn to arch well enough to reach my first freefall (accomplished, and a teeny bit more besides) skimming the other posts it is interesting to see how many people have exceeded their goals, while others seem to have dropped out of the sport (...or they haven't updated their profiles...) when does the 2006 goals thread start? i may be a tad more ambitious for the upcoming year! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

There's a post a bit further down this forum called "Cypres save" which is exactly about someone who pulled her cutaway and waited for her cypres to save her. Boggles the mind. When i did my (SL) FJC it was mentioned that we had AADs, then we spent about half the day practising EPs... I doubt any of us would have even remembered the AAD was there in the case of a mal. It was also drilled into us that once you start EPs you continue all the way to the end... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.