OSOK

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Everything posted by OSOK

  1. OSOK
    We have plenty of different size student rigs, and as a packer myself I can say that it creates no problems for any of us.
  2. OSOK
    Congrats!!! At what altitude were you supposed to pull? Do you know how high were you when you tried reaching?
  3. OSOK
    Gah! I hope you told the instructor about that... could be something wrong with the harness.
  4. OSOK
    The second tandem is much better!!! I had a blast because I was in more control of the dive. You have your own little routine; some turns, some forward motion, keeping an eye on the altimeter, etc. And the instructor gives you a bit more freedom with the toggles. Are you doing the 3 tandems/6 instructor-assisted solos course?
  5. OSOK
    When you get out of the plane miles from the dz and fly back under canopy. (last thread hijack) And that's when the spot is bad, or is something that jumpers request?
  6. OSOK
    What's considered a "cross country" jump? When you land at a DZ different from the airport you took off?
  7. OSOK
    Isn't it funny how our brains work? Most people are "afraid" while in the airplane... but not "afraid" while actually free-falling? Almost doesn't make sense...
  8. OSOK
    Grendel, I don't know about anywhere else, but here the most expensive 'course' is $1330... why do you need 18 coach jumps?
  9. OSOK
    Glad to see you ended up ok. I'm a student also, like yourself. When doing my IAF lvl 6 briefing, I had a talk with my instructor about landing stuff, and not making it back was the main subject. Basically he told me that if I know I'm gonna land off, there's no point trying to land closer to the DZ... the bus is gonna pick me up regardless. It's better to land on a field I pick myself than be forced to land somewhere else simply because I wanted to land a bit closer.
  10. OSOK
    Not meaning to hijack the thread... but so to carve circles on someone, you basically tilt your hips, and your shoulders you tilt them a bit less to allow for the change of heading?
  11. OSOK
    Jig, I know someone that it took him about 20 jumps, with all the instructors from the DZ, to figure out why he was spinning to the left. The only way they found it was when they saw a video that was able to catch his dropped elbow from an angle where they could see it. Make sure and ask what your problem is about the spin... get video if needed. And keep jumping! PS: about the "failing levels" thing... I stopped seeing it as "failing." Someone here told me to see it instead as "completeing the level." And think about this... when you graduate, you'll most likely be better than someone else that doesn't fail any because of the extra instruction you've had... (this is how I see it; I've failed IAF 4 once and IAF 5 twice).
  12. OSOK
    Ok... I think I can relate to this. I dont have a fear during climb, the exit, nothing. The 'only' part where I think twice about what I'm holding on to is when I set up at the door to exit. I jump from a Caravan, currently doing the left knee up, right knee down, facing the prop, hands on edge of door, instructor on the right side. Everytime the instructor needs to tell me to step out a bit more. I don't think it's fear of the fall, but of something going wrong. You know you're about to jump, and maybe something can get caught, etc. Diving exits (from what I've seen) seem alot easier to do, since you "hang" out less time than floats, where you're in that "if something happens now, im f*cked" stage. This is me, though. I think I'd be scared shitless of something going wrong while hanging outside of a plane with people next to me. It wouldn't be so much the "what's the worst that can happen, fall?"
  13. OSOK
    I'm doing the IAF course, which is 3 tandems then the next 6 levels are with one instructor. With IAF you get more jumps for the money, and I think jumping three times on a tandem before going solo prepares you better. Anyways, I too had problems with my legs. On my last skydive (IAF Level 5), which I had to do 3 times before passing, the instructor told me that basically my forward motion position should be my freefall posture, talking about my legs (I wasn't extending my legs completely out on my fwd motion). I wasn't pushing them out and feeling that positive pressure, which was making me wobble all over the place. Make sure you really push those legs out to the point where your instructor stops giving you the legs out signal... and keep them there! I also couldnt arch right, but it was because of my legs .
  14. OSOK
    Congrats Danny! Let's get that "A" soon so we can have some real fun!!!
  15. OSOK
    Even if that happens... shouldn't the slider still be able to do slow the openning?
  16. OSOK
    Dude... not only did you land on trees, but you had line twists to deal with... on your second jump!!! Something like that shouldn't scare you, instead it should make you feel like you can do anything! That's how I felt when I cleared my line twists on my last jump, IAF level 5. Go up and do it again!!! (without the tree hugging part, at the least )
  17. OSOK
    Thanks for the replies, guys. After failing that level for the first time because I couldn't arch, I had a real nasty taste in my mouth the rest of the day and night. I spent all night here reading about other people with the same problem, reading about stretches, etc. The instructors at the DZ basically told me that all I needed was to relax, which had me confused because I thought I was as relaxed as one could get. On the second try, I was doing breathing exercises all the way through the climb. Seeing my instructor's hand go from the pelvis down signal to OK was such a relief. Now I just need to work on those legs...
  18. OSOK
    Sorry... this was IAF level 5.
  19. OSOK
    Hey all!! Today I repeated my IAF level 4 again... and failed, again. First it was getting my arch right, which I had on my second try but my legs were all over the place. The instructor let me go, and I felt myself stable, but slowly I was losing it. Right before I went to pull he grabbed my leg and held me. On openning, I had a line twist. I gotta say that even though I failed this level again, getting out of a minor problem like that felt so freaking good! I knew I had failed because I felt him grab me when I went to pull, but when I cleared that line twist man I was screaming all over. It would've been REALLY cool if I had passed though. PS: excuse the noobness... but experiencing something that you are trained to counter if exposed to for the first time, and being able to put your training to work is very rewarding, even if its something minor like this.
  20. OSOK
    Here at Skydive Miami all instructors used the same exit: both hands palm open squeezing edge of door (one inside of aircraft, one outside), right foot up, left knee down, facing the prop. The push is of course with the right, and as that leg extends, the left one does too. This is in a Caravan, btw.
  21. OSOK
    Not only am I an Assistant Manager at a major retail company, but I also got a part-time at the DZ as a packer. It's extra money, but best of all it comes with some pretty nice discounts. My car recently broke down; it's staying broken for a while. I'm not taking from my skydiving money to fix it.
  22. OSOK
    It's been drilled into my head (with very simple words, actually) that after picking a holding area, stick to the plan no matter what. Let's say I messed up reading the winds, doesn't matter... I'll do my messed up pattern, probably eat some grass as I land downwind, but at least I will not break any bones or kill myself as I try to adjust last minute. Of course... all this is in consideration of other people around me.
  23. OSOK
    Ok, I got two questions. airricks: first of all, congrats!! What did you do, or plan on doing, on your first complete solo jump with no instructor? Just curious... I don't know if when I get there I'll just track for 6,000 feet or so everyone else: I've been thinking about this for a while. Since beer is not allowed at the dropzones (for obvious reasons), how does one bring beer to instructors and such after "first" events? Is it something they overlook because it's a special occassion or something? I think I'd feel kinda silly asking the DZO...
  24. OSOK
    Well, a benefit of working for them is traveling around the state to different DZs as a company... so that'll be cool.
  25. OSOK
    Hey all, I've posted here a couple of times, but never really introduced myself. My name is Bryan, 21, working in the retail world. My DZ is SkyDive Miami (great people in there). I'm currently going through the IAF program and can't wait to finish it. They're also training me to be a packer, so I'm already learning that. Here are some pics from my first tandem... and that's it!