panzwami

Yeah it was a good year. Graduated from college. Got my first real-world job, which is actually tolerable. Moved into my own place. Got my D license. Got my first set of gear. I'd say overall it was a pretty good year. Matt -----

Was there a scalding hot cup of coffee in that bag, too? Then it would have been a real payday! Matt -----

Well, I've never met you, and I have absolutely no basis for making any judgement, but yes, you are that pathetic. Matt -----

ha, the last time I was there, the guy organizing the night jumps (I think he was British) made us all get X's on our hands, in his words, to "make sure we don't all go and have a quick 10 Guinness..." Matt -----

heh, yeah that's one way to do it. They had night jumps when I was there two years ago, so I don't see why they wouldn't be doing them again. It should be pretty cool to be in the air at midnight on New Year's. Only problem is we can't do any drinking that night until after the jump, which means while everyone else is partying, we get to watch the clock.... Matt -----

Sounds pretty simple - can't imagine why something like that couldn't be fixed. Still want to actually talk to a rigger, tho. Matt -----

yeah man, that's good stuff.... Matt -----

Oh, we did all kinds of stupid stuff in the library at my school, and exactly none of it involved prancing around singing. It did, however, usually involve lots of alcohol.... Matt -----

What is runway 36C? Matt -----

yeah, I don't get it.... Matt -----

Yeah, if the technology existed, I'd be there. Side note - For any of you who were Boy Scouts, there was a fiction story about this same thing in an issue of Boys' Life about ten years ago. Matt -----

Actually, although this appears all over the Internet, I believe it to be a misquote: http://www.interdisciplines.org/defispublicationweb/papers/13/4 (Look in the "Digitization of Original Sources" section in the gray area on the right) Matt -----

yeah, I'll be heading down. And yes, I'll definitely be drinking. From what I can tell, it should be a pretty good time this year. There are some decent size groups coming from various places, so there should be a good overall turnout. Anyone know if they are doing New Year's night jumps? Matt -----

HA! I had some interesting times with some of the Aggies there in 2001. Turned out to be a pretty entertaining group. The first indication was the trailer full of Shiner Bock that they rolled up with... Matt -----

I think the "jump wonder" term has more to do with attitude than with actual jump numbers. In many cases, people with X number of jumps become overly confident in their skydiving abilities, and begin to start doing things they maybe shouldn't be doing (downsizing, hooking, etc.) When instructors, who have far more experience and wisdom in the area, try to tell them otherwise, they are rebuffed as "just trying to spoil my fun." The jumper continues to do what they think they are capable of doing, and in many cases ending up hurt or dead. Matt -----

Agreed, but when they show a car crash or a guy getting gored by a bull, something has actually happened. There has been an actual event and/or injury, and that's what they are showing. It makes sense to overly dramatize something like that, because there is an underlying event that is, by itself, dramatic. In this case, though, the skydive itself was successful and there were no injuries or close calls. It is very easy for us, as experienced skydiver who know the truth, to sit back and laugh at such blatant idiocy, but for those who are not so enlightened, this represents fact. My concern is for those who were considering making a tandem or starting AFF, but saw stuff like this and changed their minds. Matt -----

I think those are the "guaranteed to have a spinning mal every time" colors.

One thing Collegiates usually has is a good party atmosphere. Last time I was there everyone set up tents and stuff on one side of the hangar, which turned into an impromptu party every night. Pitching a tent and crashing at the DZ is definitely the way go to. It's nice to have a hotel room and all, but you miss out on a lot of the after-hours stuff. Matt -----

I understand that when a notable incident occurs, there are deadlines and reporters only have a certain amount of time to put a story together. Thus, as reporters are only human, and are certainly not infallible, mistakes can (and definitely will) be made. In many cases I don't see why there is a "need" to print the story in the first place, let alone under a pressing deadline that leads to erroneous reporting, but that is another conversation. In this case, though, there was no breaking news story or pressing deadline. This program was a compilation of various sports clips from all over the world, some obviously dozens of years old. There were months to research the material, get the facts, and translate them into the show. Still, the decision was made not to do this, and instead to include material for which they could not possibly have had a factual foundation. It is that blatant false reporting that is so irritating. Matt -----

I just caught a clip from a show on TLC that almost made me hurl. Here's the short version: AFF level 1 comes off the airplane wiht a fairly decent exit, student does COA's, PRCPs, and pulls on time. As far as I could tell, it was a successful AFF dive. The only reason it made the TLC "Sports Crackups" show was because the student chopped at 300 feet and hit under a sniveling reserve. But, like I said, the freefall part of the jump was fine. I don't have any problem with their showing of the clip on a show about sports mistakes, because the student did do something pretty stupid when he chopped so low. My problem is their portrayal of the skydive as it was in progress. Examples: -When he was doing his COA's and checking in with his instructors, the announcer said he was begging them for help because he was so terrified -At one point, they showed a freeze frame of his face and explained it as a look of sheer terror. It looks a whole lot more like joyous exhilaration. -(my favorite) When he was doing his PRCP's, which were smooth and controlled, the show said he "repeatedly checked his ripcord handle, TO MAKE SURE IT WAS STILL THERE!!!" Time after time, specific effort was made to make the jump seem as though it was some sort of suicide plunge. Even though the freefall part of the jump went very well, and the instructors did their jobs very well, they were made to look bad. What is the deal here? Perhaps it's a rhetorical question, but I've never been able to figure it out. Matt -----

Actually, I'm guessing you can freefall just fine. Most people don't really have a problem with that part. Now doing so in a controlled manner, that's another story..... Matt -----

There is a very large "unknown" factor in this sport which many times takes a while really to sink in. It involves not only that which we don't know, but also (and more importantly) that which we don't know we don't know. Instructors have (theoretically) been around long enough to know what evils lurk behind the various doors a new skydiver has yet to open, knowledge which they will usually dispense readily to whomever chooses to listen. Unfortunately, there are those that choose not to listen. Often, this is caused by the person's belief that they personally feel experienced enough to do what they want to do, and don't know that there may be new dangers that they haven't heard of yet. They know what they're doing, and that's that. Instructors who try to explain to them what they are getting themselves into are then looked at as preachy and "just trying to spoil my fun." Since skydiving is such an individual sport, experience is in large part left to the mind of the skydiver. Sure, someone can tell me that I'm experienced or not experienced enough to, say, start doing hook turns, but they won't be in the saddle with me the first time I grab that riser. It is ultimately the mind of the individual that determines what happens on a skydive, preachy instructor or not. Matt -----

Yeah, you can pack a ZP that way. Matt -----

It depends on how good a student you are and how long past 30 days you go. There's not a hard and fast rule about it, but rather it will be up to your instructor to evaluate you as a student and determine what the best course of action should be. When I was on AFF, I went six weeks between AFFII and III, but it was due to bad weather. We talked for a while and he was comfortable that I still retained all the important bits of knowledge, so I went on to level III without doing anything over. Matt -----

There's nothing wrong with either method. You can save up and do it all at once, or spread it out over time. It depends on what you want to do. Personally, I always favored spreading it out evenly over time, since there's less time that passes between jumps. The other way, you do more jumps at a time, but the gaps are longer. By spreading things out evenly, you maintain something of a flow to your jumping, without long gaps where you can forget stuff. Matt -----