Zennie

Yep I had a great time! Thanks to everyone, particularly the Spaceland staff, Max & Patrick, for putting on a really good event. Even though I wasn't in on the big-way itself, we did a bunch of drill dives with Patrick that were great! Look forward to the next record weekend, wherever it may be. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. And I'm payin' up. Did 3 sit jumps with Doug yesterday and gave him my video from all 3. I figure another couple years & I'll be paid up. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Cool. Thanks Chuck. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Also orient yourself to face perpendicular to jump run when you're off the hill. That way if you forward or backslide (and you will, everyone does) you won't drift over/under the other groups. I did countless solos when I was learning to sit. I'd take heading & do a left & right 360, making sure I stopped back on the original heading. I'd do left & right cartwheels making sure I'd stop facing the same direction. Then I'd do forward & back flips, again stopping at the same heading. Some folks advocate that you work on only one thing in a given jump... like 360s. Then cartwheels. Then flips. Then put them all together. Makes a lot of sense because you can get multiple repetitions in the same skydive. Get good at these and you'll be ready for the next step... docking.

Just a couple of comments about this. You want to go into you sit straight out the door. Don't wait or hesitate. One thing as you get into this more is that you really, really, really, really need to be disciplined about not going to your belly at any time... including breakoff. Naturally once everyone, including you has tracked away and you're by yourself you need to go to your belly to pull, but that's it. If you go to your belly during a freefly jump you'll "cork". In other words, your fall rate will change dramatically relative to everyone else and you'll shoot straight up like a cork held under water. The is very, very, very bad. If someone is above you when you cork, well... just don't let it happen. Plus you'll wind up way above the formation and then there are differential altitude issues which are also problematic at breakoff time. So if you get unstable, don't go to your belly. Tuck your knees in hard and get your arms out. That will put you into a stable, fast sitt-ish position and you can resume your jump without corking out. At breakoff time, do a half-cartwheel into a dive and ride it out like you were going down a water slide on your belly. Also make sure no one is behind you when you are about to break off. In a sit, do a quick 360 before you go to the 1/2 cartwheel. Freefly is fun, but there are a lot of new safety issues that you need to be heads-up on. Have fun & see you soon! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

This brings up a related question. I've been working on swooping the ditch and gotten a nice toe drag out of one, but I'm kind of paranoid of really committing because I don't want to chow and fritz out my Cypres. Can you get totally submerged and still save the Cypres as long as you get out quick? If so I can be a little less tentative. FYI, I'm flying a Vector 3. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

That is a very, very good idea. You'll be in good hands. Just try to find someone who will video you without charging a "coaching" fee. Don't get me wrong, coaching is good and very helpful, but you shouldn't have to pay every camera-weilding freeflier a fee just to get him to jump with you. I don't. Hell I'm not nearly good enough to call myself a "coach". That doesn't mean I won't go up with my camera helmet, have a fun jump and then offer what few tips I can when we look at the video afterward. But I don't have the audacity to charge someone for my slot either at this point. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Lived in Indy for 5 years. Indy is a great town. Big city but the people are very friendly. More trees than most big cities as well, which is a plus. Winters are sort of sporadic. Generally fairly mild... low 30s to high 20s, not much snow for very long. You'll get a nasty cold snap coming through every now & then but generally it's not too bad. Indy seems to lie on this weather boundary of sorts so the bad stuff either just misses or barely hits. Broad Ripple is a great place to hang out. Kind of the "artsy" area. Downtown by Union Station is also good. I've jumped out at Richmond and really liked the people out there. Little slower paced than the DZs I'm used to (I'm spoiled on turbines), but a very good vibe. Lemme know if you have any more questions. Good luck! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I wouldn't classify any non-skydiver as a Whuffo. I'd classify a Whuffo as anyone who sort of dismisses someone else's hobby as "crazy" or "Why would you want to do that?". There are many non-skydivers who still think it's cool, they just personally wouldn't do it. I wouldn't call them Whuffos. In fact, I've seen BASE jumpers refer to non-BASE jumping skydivers as "Whuffos". Whuffo-ism is more an attitude than anything. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

This is exactly why I don't plan on going (well that & I missed registration, but next year I prolly won't go). Yeah lots of places have your SS#. But I still don't care to have my name on the NPS' list of Evil BASE Jumpers. I didn't realize there was a Bridge Day of sorts at Perrine. I know lots of training courses operate off of it and people pretty much use it as they please, but I didn't know there was an "official" gathering as well. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Cool Tiff. I could tell you were excited just talking to you yesterday. Yes, Slap, we Minions of the Dark have claimed another one. Ya know what I really, really want to do? I'd love to get 4 freefliers together and compete in the TSL RW meets in our freefly suits. The only rule would be that no one on the team can take it seriously. A bunch of freefliers cranking out RW jumps & hooting it up the whole time. That would be hilarious! "Man did you see how we funnelled that exit? That was GREAT! Let's do it again!" I'd do it just for the dirty looks we'd get. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. When you start thinking about it is when things go bad. It really is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. You'll sort of be unstable for a while and then one day it just sort of clicks and after that it's just sort of second nature. I mean you have to think about it a bit when you're learning technique, but you seem to have the right approach. Drag up high, no drag low. Just keep practicing. And try to get one of the experienced freefliers to come up and take video. Video is a fantastic learning tool. Much more effective than trying to re-invent the wheel while you're learning. Good luck! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

There. Not falling anymore. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Two penguins walk into a bar, which is kind of strange because you'd think the second one would have seen it. Thank you! Thank you! I'm here all week! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Eh, while we're on the subject of lame jokes.... Horse walks into a bar. Bartender says "Hey. Why the long face?" Thank you! Thank you! Please tip your waitresses! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

They're real. They look fairly normal-sized to me, with a bikini top that may push them up a bit. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Oh dear Lord. We're gonna have to upgrade your joke repertoire Brit. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Where's "I used to smoke the stuff by the bail, but now I gotta keep my job." ? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You are quasi-Evil... You are the Diet Coke of evil... Just one calorie! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Not to continue ex-bashing... Oh what the hell, I will. It's fun. But this is precisely the way she behaved toward people. She'd make a snap judgment and I'd say, "Sheesh, why not get to know them a bit before you decide.". She always said she knew right away and had an instinct for that. Interestingly, most of the people she disliked were people I liked. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hell, a good pair of freefly plants aren't much less than that. And for BASE I think it would be money well spent. Any extra clearance from the object would be good (especially with all the cliff strikes we've been seeing lately). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Check this out! What's cool is that they have a BASE and skydiving version. Might have to get me a BASE pair! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Check this out! What's cool is that they have a BASE and skydiving version. Might have to get me a BASE pair! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey I like that. Let's all get Amber to be the guard at El Cap! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

So did I. I don't know if there's a God to pray to. *shrug* But the point is still well taken. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon