rsmn17

Yeah...i see your point and I guess you're right but in the video you can't see the impact (it's enough to be shocking and make you think but not gruesome or anything like that). I think the worst part of this video is seeing and hearing the people's reactions that were watching this happen in person to someone that they knew. If it weren't for that I don't think the video would have as much of an impact. As for my comment about these people being locked up...the parents do have to live with this for the rest of their lives so that's gotta be the worst punishment of all...but there's always going to be really stupid people with stupid ideas like sending an 11 year old out of a plane, but how could a dz allow this??? I definatly think whoever allowed this shoud be in jail. Does anybody know if the parents were skydivers? Or did they just want their kid to be a skydiver so young for bragging rights? Anyone know where and when this happened?

I don't get why someone would want to see that happen. Learning from a video of an accident is one thing...but I think we all know what will happen if you don't pull anything at all...what could anyone learn from that video that they didn't already know. I'm new to the sport but in my opinion, if that video teaches someone something that isn't very obvious in the first place, maybe they shouldn't be skydiving. The parents of that kid and everyone that let him jump should all be locked up for a long time.

That was horrible...why would anyone put it on the internet?!?!? Some people are sick

Thanks...can't believe I missed that

It would be cool to have chatrooms on this site...is that possible?

Here's an idea...probably won't work but couldn't hurt to try...you said you always use the one foot to lean on and the one knee to kneel on...maybe you can become more aware of which leg you're always putting weight on during the day and when you see you're doing it, try to use the other leg/foot. Maybe that'll balance it out....or it could just be a dumb idea

N/A

Anybody have problems with non skydiving friends?? I have one really close friend that I'm going through my training with and I realize that I'm very lucky for that seeing as how so many go through it alone. But my problem is...i'm finding myself not even wanting to talk to my friends because all I want to talk about is skydiving. I've heard that will eventually go away but it's like we have nothing in common anymore. I catch myself turning any conversation into a skydiving conversation and all I get is this look that says, "you are crazy". Then they tell me i'm crazy and ask questions like...aren't you scared your chute won't open?? I even try to "convert" some of them thinking if they try a tandem they will want to do it solo like I did. I guess I'm just starting to realize that skydiving isn't just something fun to do but it's a way of life. I don't even think I could ever be happy if I were to quit. Am I asking too much of my friends to put up with me right now? Is it even possible to have whuffo friends? If so, how on earth do you start to explain something like this to them?

I suck at this game too....no patience to learn!!

I'm just a student and I use student gear (sabre 170). Should I be worried?? Why would they put students on these?

Does anybody know some good arm exersises to increase my arm strength for flaring? I've had some pretty hard landings and asked my instructor about shortening my brake lines but that's not the problem because I can definatly get them down all the way....my last two jumps I FINALLY landed softly! But an instructor said it looked like I was really struggling to get the toggles all the way down. I have weights at home but I don't think that's going to work the right muscles in my arms because I'd be lifting instead of pulling and I had to quit the gym I was at because all my money goes to skydiving!! Any suggestions?

Good job

Anybody hear about a new wind tunnel being built in new jersey somewhere??

How did you dislocate your shoulder? Was it just from the force of reaching back for your pc?

I had my first aff on tape and I was worried about the cameraguy too...but I really didn't notice him until he was right in front of me waving (he was actually in front of me the whole time but I didn't see him)! Anyway, it definatly helps to have video because you probably won't remember what you did wrong as far as body position goes. I thought my leg position was perfect until I saw the video and realized when I go to pull I kick my legs. If you can afford it see if your dz will give you a discount so you can get them all taped...it will help you...and you can show it to EVERYBODY And if you can't get them all taped because of money issues, see if they can get your landings anyway...my dz does that for free. That's extremely helpful for me because my landings kinda suck! Good luck with AFF...you'll do great! Let us know how it goes

wow...all this time I was worried about my reserve when my cutaway will be harder?? That's kinda scary. For some reason I thought that would be very easy...i don't know why.

Thanks...that makes me feel much better...i'm a girl too not too much arm strength so I keep thinking about my RSL failing and not being able to get the reserve out. I feel better now

This may sound stupid but I don't know too much about gear....since a reserve has to be taken out and repacked every so often, could you practice pulling the handle right before it has to be packed just to see what it feels like? And in the suspended training harness, is the real thing that easy?

I was just wondering...is it hard (physically) to pull your reserve handle??

Once I'm actually out of the plane, I feel so relaxed and peaceful. I know what I have to do and I don't even have to think about it so I'm not too worried about brainlock. I'm jumping again tomorrow and I am NOT landing with the plane

Well...i thought i conquered my fear but I went to jump today and decided not to in the plane. It was pretty embarassing having to land with the plane. My instructor told me to do a tandem so I thought that would be a good idea. I had fun...not as much as a solo jump but I was still terrified. I read some pretty good stuff on the forums here about fear. I had my mind made up that I was never going to jump again when I left the dz but when I was driving home I was practically in tears just thinking about not jumping again. I find myself wondering why I'm even jumping at all and why in just a few short months after starting skydiving I can't ever see my life as being complete without it. Is this crazy??? I'm definatly going to jump again, not a tandem, but I'm still very scared to do it. It's just the ride up that gets me...once i'm out I'm fine all the way down. Inbetween jumps I sometimes get so scared just thinking about what could go wrong that I can't sleep at night. The weirdest thing to me is that I'm more scared of being scared than of the actual consequences of making a huge mistake....i must be crazy

No...it seemed to me like it took forever but my instructor said she was watching me kick them out and she said I did really good. When I checked my altitude after I was right under 4000 ft. Seemed like forever to me though!!

I have the same problem. I'm a lot shorter than you (5'1). I don't really think it's the height though because when I do my controllability check after opening I have no problem flaring. I think my problem is that I'm so set on walking off the landing that I lift one leg in front of me ready to run so that when I think my flare is complete, it's really not and by the time I realize, it's too late and instead of doing a plf I put my other leg out and landed HARD on my butt. I realize that I'm very lucky I wasn't hurt seriously so next time I will concentrate more on my flare than trying to stand up my landing. I'm just a student though so ask you're instructor. Also, getting your landings on tape would help a lot because sometimes you think you did something and it's completely different than what you actually did. Your dz will probably tape your landing for free. Good luck and thanks for the post...it was helpful to me too

Thanks for all the info! I jumped again today and I did great! I made sure this time that I got my head out of the plane to spot the airport, I got myself out quicker...and I added to my COA...intead of heading, altitude etc...I did heading, AIRPORT, altitude etc. It worked really well and I knew EXACTLY where I was! Now I have new problems like spinning in freefall and not flaring all the way when I land, forgetting to plf and landing on my butt really hard....but one thing at a time. I realized how much I love skydiving and I know I'm gonna do better every time I jump. Can't wait to jump again

I recently made my 2nd aff jump. I opened with line twists and the really scared me. By the time I kicked out of them I couldn't find the airport and started to panic trying to find it and listen to the radio instead of trying to find a safe out. By the time I realized I definatly wasn't landing at the dz, I was in a place with no good places to land. I was going straight for the woods and too low to do anything about it. So I just went straight in and when my legs hit the top of a tree, I flared half way and protected my face and tryed to do a plf. I couldn't believe I was ok when I landed. Anyway..it scared me pretty bad....i was wondering if anyone has any advice or similar experiences. This was my first jump ever at a new dropzone and I think that had a little bit to do with it. I know I love skydiving so I'm trying to find a way to not let this scare me out of never doing it again.