skydivermom

***And gee, you don't really think I would do that to you, do ya'? If I were going to release something that deadly at the DZ, I'd probably do it on the ground and try and light it! __________________________________________________ No, I don't think you would do that to me, but it would be funny if you did it to Rocke

Walt, The next time you come out to Nome to jump with me, PLEASE stay away from beans for at least 3 days. Otherwise I believe the jump will turn into a hop n' pop in a big hurry....and I love freefalling! and one more thing.....Thank the Lord you were in the shower Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

***Pictures are a requirement after such events! __________________________________________________ I wish I had gotten pictures of me packing it last night! I know what to do, but I have the hardest time getting the container closed. I finally did it, but I know I looked hilarious doing it! Today, I have blisters on my fingers Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

0:2:1 First time to jump my OWN rig! First time I landed exactly on target! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Besides the obvious one...it is so much FUN!...This site has provided some invaluable support and advice throughout my short skydiving career. ....and I've met some great people on here. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Well, congrats! I just got my own gear the other day. My instructor had it for sale for $1000. My husband got his bonus so he hands me the cash and says, "go get your rig!" Hooray for supportive spouses

***My mischievous friend then told me that the guy had done a couple of tandems a few years before and wouldn't shut up about it. __________________________________________________ Love that story. Shoot, I couldn't shut up after ONE tandem! Of course my solution was to actually become a skydiver. I still have trouble shutting up about it sometimes Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Thanks Missy

Boy, it's interesting to see the turns these threads take. Still, some VERY interesting info. on spotting and GPS. Well, I did get to spot this weekend, and I landed about 10 feet from my intended target. Don't know if it was dumb luck or not, but I was happy with it. I in no way believe I am an EXPERT on spotting, but I do have the general idea and will practice it as much as I can for as long as I can. I suppose I have the same issue with packing. At my small dz/club, you pack your own stuff. Once I move to San Marcos, I COULD pay a packer, and I might do that sometimes. For the most part, though, I will pack my own rig. Anyway, as I stated before, my desire is not just to learn to spot to get licensed...I want to get really good at it. And as for the suggestion to go to a different dz...I understand that, but it's not like there's a dropzone on every corner, so I guess I will just have to do the best I can. If anyone from San Marcos could get in on this I would really appreciate it. Again, thanks for all the great discussions about this. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Thanks, I will ask them about that next time I go there. It makes no sense to spend time and effort learning a skill (a very important one at that) If I can't use it! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I learned on the static line method. I did not call myself a "skydiver" while I was on the satic line. Once I made my first jump off of the static line, and pulled for myself, I was a skydiver. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

***UHHHHH you should spot no matter what plane you are jumping from. __________________________________________________ It's not the plane that is the issue.....it's the fact that at Skydive San Marcos they use a GPS system. It's going to be a little hard to spot when I can't get my head out the door and look straight down I would love to be albe to continue spotting but it just doesn't happen at SSM...at least not MUCH. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Rats! Thought I was gonna get away with it Guess I'll be buying (root) beer this weekend. Should I get another case for the first time jumping my own gear? Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

First I have to give credit where it is due...Waltappel taught me how to pack and he is a fantastic teacher. I jumped two of my pack jobs (for the first time) this past Saturday...and no one knew it was my first time so I don't owe a case Anyway, the rig I packed/jumped will be MINE as of this weekend. I'm so excited! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

What's funny is I'm about to move 3 hours from where I live now, and will be going from a Cessna dz to a twin otter dz....where I will not be spotting! I love that but hate it at the same time. I am going to spend a lot of time and effort learning this skill, but won't be using it much after that Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

***That's easy - take a parachute and jump. In fact it is a lot easier and survivable with a parachute and without a license than the other way around..." __________________________________________________ That cracks me up! Well, my SIM got here today and man am I excited! Plus as of Saturday I will have my very own gear I'll figure this spotting stuff out for sure...and I've already landed off a couple of times and survived Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I appreciate that. I've already gotten some wonderful instruction through pm's and my SIM just came in the mail today. I'm actually looking forward to trying it this weekend. Just like packing, I want the pride of being able to actually DO it! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

LisaMarie, Yes we seem to have much in common. Your thread about checking your altitude too much could have been written by me

***After you make one or two looong walks back to the DZ, your spotting skills will improve dramatically. __________________________________________________ This is funny because I have already had a couple of off-landings. Neither one was becuase of a bad spot though because everyone else landed on target. On my hop n' pop, I landed with a herd of cows, but at my dz, they come and get you

I might even replace the container before too long and just buy an aad then. Guess we will see. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Thanks for the advice. I'm so excited! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

What do you think about not having an AAD right away? It really doesn't bother me, but I would like to get some different opinions. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

wingloading is .91, it is cypress-ready and I don't believe it's freefly friendly...but I won't be doing that for a while, if ever. Does that matter? Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I've done a search and read through some of the info. on spotting....and I realize you can't teach this skill on-line. What I'm wondering is how long did it take you to "get it" and are you still anxious about . I started to learn it this weekend and I'm a little nervous. I've seen jumpers with 500 jumps screw this up so I'm thinking "how in the sam hill am I going to learn it?" I really don't want to get stuck on this and have it hold me up getting my license. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Okay guys...I jumped the rig this weekend and it was awesome. The container fits me perfectly! After jumping those humongous student rigs, it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing a rig. The main is a sabre 150 with 600 jumps, and the reserve is a 135 with no jumps. The container is a racer and I've already become proficient at packing it. He's actually selling it to me for $1000. It's really nice and I stood up the landings on it. I even asked a couple of the jumpers (who saw me fly it) what they thought about it. I then asked a couple of the regulars who have seen me progress and know my canopy skills. All of them said they would jump on it if they were me. I'm still going to do some thinking but I really like it...and it's multi-colored, which was my preference. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28