skydivermom

Okay, it's only fair if I'm going to reply to some of the posts that I also come forward with my recent mistake. Obviously my jump numbers are very low as I am a student. I've had several experienced jumpers tell me to make my mistakes now! Of course I would rather not make them at all but that is not realistic. Anyway, last Saturday I did my second SL jump. Left the plane with an awesome arch and had a great canopy flight. My landing was good too until my brain shut off. I had already made my final turn and was landing into the wind. The next thing I know I'm making another left LOW turn. As soon as I did it I was yelling at myself inside my head. I flared on time and did a sliding landing. Stood up and was not hurt, so just waited for my instructor to come over and let me have it! I will certainly not do that again! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

New plan...I don't like what I see and its GONE. ---------------------------------------------------- That is one of the best things you can impart to a student! That is going in my skydiving notes for sure, Thank You! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I asked him if he wanted me to pack for him again with an evil smile YOU ROCK! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Hey, This sounds frighteningly familiar! My first AFF went pretty much the same. Never got the arch right and lost one of my instructors. Went on my back twice. My second instructor did let go but not before he pulled for me. I also lost a shoe during the whole ordeal. Got to see a gorgeous sunset though! I did manage to find the dz and land at it, but I didn't flare and hurt my ankle. I then had a "panic attack" about 30 minutes later and left in an ambulance! I jumped again a week later at another dz (this time static line). When I let go of the plane (was hanging from a Cessna) I did a perfect arch! Next to my first jump in my logbook are the words "great arch". What a rush! I'm not telling you to switch to static line, just that I think with practice you will get the arch. Being a student myself, that's really all I can say. That and great job pulling your chute and landing, and lots of luck for the next one! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

find it hard to remember one static line course where there wasn't at least one person who did what you did ----------------------------------------------------------- See, that makes me relieved that I'm not just losing it...or wait....I've already lost it, I'm SKYDIVING! No, seriously, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one that has ever made a mistake like this. Someone else here made the point that this is the reason they give students such large canopies. Is it okay for me to continue flying big canopies until I am really, really comfortable? I think I would like to do that for a while. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

But from what the instructors here said, maybe that's all there is to it. ------------------------------------------------------------ What do you mean by this? Maybe your jumps are low to some, but you certainly have a lot more than I do and I value all the advice and perspectives I can get right now (from all of you). Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

The research on natural remedies is possibly scant because the FDA and FTC don't want us to have this information. These groups are about protecting the profits of the drug companies. You said that doctors are stripped of their license if they try to give advice and say some of the stuff that the promoters of the natural remedies do. You also said that those promoting natural remedies can say whatever they want virtually without any consequenses. Perhaps you should tell Kevin Trudeau that because his book has been censored by the FDA and FTC and he is dealing with a lot of consequences for speaking the truth about prescription drugs. These drugs are more dangerous than the diseases they are supposed to cure and even the FDA knows that. Yes of course just because something is natural doesn't mean it won't kill you. There are natural mushrooms that are poinsonous. But prescription drugs kill people as well. I know this is a controversial subject, but I can speak from personal experience that natural remedies have worked much better for ME than prescription drugs. Does that mean I intend to self-diagnose and self-medicate? Absolutely not!! I just believe in prevention and using the brain that God gave me. Prescription drugs, as I've said before, do have their place, but so do natural remedies! There are good and bad doctors that practice conventional medicine. I can say the same for the ones who practice natural medicine. My logical conclusion to all this is that if a treatment is not working, DON'T CONTINUE WITH IT AND EXPECT A DIFFERENT RESULT! Try something else. AND, science is not better than nature! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

GREAT JOB! I am so glad you had a good landing this time. I really admire you doing AFF. I am doing static line because AFF overwhelmed me! I actually did my second jump yesterday and everything went well until the final landing approach. I made a left turn because I freaked out. I know better than to turn below 200 ft. I landed into the wind, did a great flare and landed like you did, sliding on my behind. Although I did a turn I shouldn't have, it was a great feeling to have done a good flare and not have one of my ankles hurt. The reason I got away with it is because I was flying a huge canopy (I'm 115 lbs and 5'1). I guess that's why they make students fly the big ones. Well, I'm just so glad you didn't give up and that everything went well. It must be a great feeling to be able to freefall for so long and not go unstable. My JMs keep telling me my arches are great so I hope that continues and when I actually go into freefall I won't screw it up! Good luck to you and be safe. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

What about the research done by homeopathic doctors and holistic doctors? These are professional, educated doctors that treat patients without drugs and surgery. Most of their patients come to them when they get frustrated with conventional, prescription medicines and come away in far better shape. Drugs and surgery absolutely have their place, and we do need them, but they are way overused these days. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Don't know you two but best wishes anyway. Did you tie the knot while skydiving? Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

jump, if ya screw up, learn from it and move on... __________________________________________________ I love your attitude! That's just what I'm gonna do. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Linz, I do apologiize for getting so defensive. I should not have done so. There are some things in your last post that I was unaware of and that are very interesting. Even though I am gung-ho about natural remedies, I am not anti-conventional medicine. I am just about prevention and looking at alternative methods. There are some great doctors who are open to the natural stuff and I really don't think all docs and medical people are involved in the conspiracy that the FDA and FTC are, and I do believe there is one. I have had some personal experiences of my own and lost a friend and a dear mother-in-law to cancer. These have impacted me greatly to not take one person's word (including Mr. Trudeau), but to see for myself. I'm not sure about organic meat causing heart disease as I haven't done any research on that, but I would wager that it is healthier than the chemical-filled meat we buy at the grocery stores. I would encourage you to read his book cover to cover. You may not agree with everything (or anything) the man says but it is very interesting. That's one thing I love about these forums, you learn something new every day. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Uh, it's not just Keven Trudeau. My father-in-law who's been a heart patient for several years has had two of the top cardiologists tell him the same thing and they are not trying to sell him anything. He has actually eliminated much of his problem because of this knowledge. I don't know if everything Trudeua is saying is "bologne" or not, but I'm gonna read the book and do some research before I DECIDE that...and I've already been taking some of the natural remedies HE suggests and have been doing much better. I really don't care if other people think his book is a crock or not, I just know what has worked for ME. He didn't come up with the artery scarring thing all by himself, he has "mountains and mountains" of research himself that you can look at on his website www.naturalcures.com. Cholesterol attaches itself to the arteries BECAUSE they are scarred. Otherwise how can people have high cholesterol that doesn't build up? Just because he doesn't have any medical training doesn't mean he can't be knowledgable about medical facts. I know that vitamin C is a cure for scurvy but I don't have any medical training. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I'm just glad there are others that alread understand and know the truth. Maybe if enough of us get fed up we CAN do something about it. If you have any more information about natural stuff please post it or PM me. I am very interested in getting as much info. as I can. Thank you and if I ever get done with my training I'll be at Spaceland. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

According to a book I'm reading by Kevin Trudeau, natural organic meat cannot give you heart disease. I relaize anyone can write a book but in my opinion this guy really knows his stuff. What causes heart disease and blockages and all that is not cholesterol, it is scarring of the arteries. There are three things that can cause this. 1. Chlorinated water (this is poison) 2. hydrogenated oils or trans fats 3. homogenized dairy products You can have high cholesterol but if your arteries aren't scarred there is nothing for the cholesterol to attach to and clog them. My grandpa died of a heart attack and his cholesterol was never high so I believe this. I know this doesn't relate to the sugar-free thing but hopefully it will help someone. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I love Smart Balance! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I'm reading a book about natural cures and I'm just trying to learn all I can from any source possible. Do you mean there are side affects from regular sugar that they sell in the store, like refined sugar? I'll agree with you there because I am hypoglycemic and cannot have any refined sugar. It gives me a migrane. However, the truly natural organic sugar does not affect me at all. The truly natural sugar in fruit does not affect me either. Also, aside from food allergies, what else do peanuts do to you? I imagine the chemically altered, cooked peanuts can create a host of difficulties, but do natural, raw organic peanuts have any adverse affects? I'm just curious. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Thanks Mike, Honestly I'm kind of torn between feeling so postiive and being shaken up over what could have happened. I want to have the right attitude and not get too cocky but not be too negative either. It's hard to keep that balanced. I tend to really beat myself up too much. Good luck with your training. I am also a student and can't give advice, but I can at least say DON'T DO WHAT I DID, IT COULD KILL YOU! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

I'm glad you asked this. My fears certainly come from my first two very hard landings. I attempted the PLFs the last two times and the instructor on my last one said it was a good one. This time I was so afraid of a getting a sprained ankle that I did put them out in front of me. I slid on my behind and got up without either ankle hurting. I'm not going to jump again until I think all of this out and the next time I'm going to talk to my instructors more. Could my first two hard landings have anything to do with the fact that I didn't have the best shoes at the time? I jumped today in athletic shoes and it seemed much better. I really do want to keep doing this, but I am a little shaken over what could have happened. I would love any advice you have. You can even PM me if you want to. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

My goodness, that is very scary!! I really believe it had to do with my last two experiences in landing. I have sprained both ankles because of flares that were not timed correctly and not putting my feet in front of me. Now that I know I can do the flare right and not hurt myself, my confidence level has increased and I can assure myself and everyone else that I will not do that again, the low turn that is. God was certainly with me and I am grateful that I have another chance. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Man, This skydiving career has been an eventful one so far. From losing a shoe on my first freefall to spraining my ankle on my first SL jump. Now after today I have yet another story to tell my grandchildren! I again hung from the strut of the Cessna and did a great arch. I flew the canopy and had an awesome time. Confidence level better than last time. Started my landing pattern and was doing great, and for some reason at the last 100 feet or so my brain decides to shut off. I should have kept on flying strait but I turned to my left and I have no idea why. I landed downwind but this time I flared correctly and put my feet in front of me. I had one of those slide in landings. Anyway, I knew instantly I should not have done that turn. The first thing my instructor says is "Can you explain to me what that was all about?" I told him I was asking myself that exact same question! I know that I should not have done that turn, but I still feel better because I KNOW I can do timed flares and land without hurting myself. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had a similar experience. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Wow! I am so glad and relieved to see this post. I am reading a book by Kevin Trudeau called "Natural Cures, What They Don't Want You to Know About". It is amazing. I've always stayed away from Aspartame but in his book he talks about people suffering from MS who approach him for advice. He tells them to cut out the Aspartame (and do a few other things) and without fail their symptoms disappear or get better within a few months! My mother-in-law died of cancer 9 years ago and also suffered with MS. She drank diet sodas daily. Of course the FDA won't ban Aspartame. It causes too much disease and makes too much money for the pharmecuetical (sp) companies! That's what the FDA is about. Protecting the profits of the drug companies! I'm even thinking about giving up Splenda and going to all organic sugar. I have hypoglycemia and can't have any refined sugar. Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

SL is cool isn't it? I started out doing AFF and was just TOO overwhelmed with freefall. Switched to static line a week later and did a perfect arch. I landed rough (flared too early) but had a great ride. I can't suggest anything since I'm a student myself. But in my personal opinion SL is a lot less hectic! Have fun and welcome to our crazy sport! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

Kaki is my nickname. Only a few people (mostly family) know me by it. My sister was 16 months when I was born (our poor mom). My real name is Kathleen and it came out Kaki when she tried to say it. Her name is Yemia (thank God I was born second) and that came out Meme when I first tried to say it. This has nothing to do with the nickname thing, but I think it is prophetic that she married a Japanese American and her name is now Yemia Hashimoto. Her husband's name is Mark! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

thanks a bunch for cheering me on. I'm doing my second SL jump tomorrow. I had to buy a case of root beer (I don't buy or drink alcohol) for everyone because I got snowed into saying the word "first". How could I have fallen for THAT! Anyway, I'm taking my brother-in-law and a friend with me. They are doing their first tandem jumps. Most likely they will be addicted just like me. Can't get my husband to jump YET! Please keep me in your thoughts for a good stand up landing this time! Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28