pinkfairy

Yeah! Great! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Yes. Actually. See attached picture: Egg, pickled herring, coffee, everything you need for a good breakfast. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

try crossing the beer line next time on your landing Do it! do it! I did it twice when I was just done with my A. The second time with only 20 cm. But I did get popular. For a while. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

No, mixing the two sounds like a horribly bad idea, IMHO. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Well... First it feels like falling from an airplane, then it's more like flying, and I fly around and play with my friends, and just when it's getting really, really good, and we could stay there forever, comes the separation altitude, and that's often kinda sad, I just have to cut off in the middle of the fun, and then I get away as fast as I can, and by the time I start pulling handles, the ground has gotten kinda big, and I feel a big "Ka-pop" above me, and that's my sabre, and after having taken a look at it, I fly it down to the ground. And pack and do it again. Sometimes when I track to get away, I think "Wow! that was awesome! Don't ruin this good experience by forgetting to pull!" At other times, I just feel that I do nothing right, I feel like a helpless mass of meat falling through the big blue. At other times I feel like a super-skydiver, who can outfly everyone. Sometimes I really, really mess up, and last time I did that, it was videotaped. Oddly enough, I wanna do the maneuvres I failed again. Maybe even with video. Look, my logbook has entries as long as this for most jumps. I could go on and on. Get some more jumps, my friend.

Repeat AFF levels? Been there done that! But only because I was scared. The freefall maneuvres are not really complicated, I think the first jumps are more a matter of getting used to seeing a planet come at you at 120 mph than anything else. You don't have to perform like a world champion skydiver the first times. There are other things that are more important, like maintaining altitude awareness and getting out a canopy and landing it safely. And: This is fast, so your learned responses will take over, and that means that if you're convinced that you're gonna fail, you will fail. Try to think positive, listen to your instructors, remember to breathe. Many people only need 7 jumps to finish the 7 AFF levels, some people need more, but I'm pretty sure you won't need 200 jumps to get your licence.

That seems expensive for a couple of small, generic looking metal thingies. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Good for you! But What the f*ck are they? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Well, the Javelin has skyhook, and that could be a deciding factor. Why not an Icon? Aerodyne has licenced skyhook, so that will be available too, but I don't know exactly when. Looks great, good for freeflying, rigger-friendly, easy to pack, and will fit you perfectly if you order one sewn for you. The price is good too. No, you don't need skyhook, but getting your reserve out faster when cutting away can't be a bad thing. It's an improved version of the common RSL, it will not automatically save your life, but can make a diference. Have a look t the skyhook promo video at UPTs web pages.

Lightly boiled with salt and pickled herring. yummy!

Yeah, stay there, mr. cool sunglasses! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

It means that you're smart and have a lot to say. On skydiving and any other topic. Just look at my post numbers. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Yes, it goes around the cable housing like yours. That's how it was assembled by my rigger. If you're worried about how your RSL is assembled, I think you should talk to your rigger. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

If you said that you were going to deploy at 3000', you don't want to mistakenly deploy at, say 4000', when people behind you are still in freefall. So, yes, there is a point. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Well, I have talked to a man who broke both his legs because of a downplane configuration at low altitude with two canopies. And some years back at my DZ, a student went in under a main/reserve entanglement caused by simultaneous deployment of main and reserve (student pulled main at the same time as the AAD fired). So it's pretty bad. How do you keep track of the time when you track? Do you count seconds? I do, and lose about 1000' in a 5 seconds track, with some altitude to spare to flat out and do my wave off. Didn't you notice the earth getting bigger? At 1500' it's pretty big. Pulling at 1500 is not only a problem because of AAD fires. You have no time to deal with malfunctions if you're open at 1000. And malfunctions happen. Have fun, stay safe! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Prettiest Icon ever sewn.

One word about the colors: BORING! Where's the pink or magenta or purple in this? It's available, why not use it? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Nope, even ordinary tea is good for you, and redbush even more. Drink up! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I second that! Not enough pink and no magenta either! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Underground? Look, all our fun begins at altitudes AGL (That is "Above Ground Level") where it's safe to jump out with a parachute. "Underground" is hardly the right word. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Hey, thanks, Rat! The icon fits me very well, and in spite of the weather holding, I had a great weekend. Some people actually made comments about me having a too low wing load, but apart from that, it was really nice to see everyone.

There is no requirement in norway to do a training jump with an instructor for a 7 months layoff. There is only a requirement for 20 jumps a year to keep the certificate, and if that isn't the case, the jumper can get the certificate back by doing some jumps with instruction in student's gear. And there are rules for how much of the student's progression has to be repeated depending on the layoff. I'm actually working on my B, so I'm reading up on this stuff now. Anyway, the rules here say that my certificate is still valid, and I'm cleared for jumping 3-ways or smaller formations. Most norwegian jumpers have long layoffs in winter, so maybe that's the reason we don't have the same regulations as you have. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Well, statistically the odds were on my side, but this is a much more dangerous project than jumps when I'm current. Drilled EPs, made a plan for my jump (floating exit, pull at 8k, play with canopy down to landing pattern), checked and fitted gear, registered, put myself on a load, and there I was in the plane. I was really scared in the plane, some fun jumpers from a cessna DZ were joking and laughing on the way up, and I got to exit the the plane last. And no problem at all, I just got out without being afraid of the door, enjoyed the view, smiled, did some dummy pulls, and pulled at the planned altitude. I got to know later that I had scared my friend who was waiting on the ground, as I did a rather long toggle spiral to burn altitude and for fun. He thought I had a toggle hangup or some other spinning mal, and was thinking while he saw it "why doesn't she cutaway?". Great canopy flight with my "new" sabre150, and a pretty good landing too. Good to be back! Actually much more fun being on a real life DZ than dropzone.com. I didn't get more than one more jump before the weather got bad, but that too was a quality jump. And I learned some useful stuff too: downsizing to a 132 isn't going to get me through 22 knots wind, I saw someone else try. I owe beer. First jump in my own gear. And so what? Well I'm just waiting for you to say congratulations or something. And I also think that keeping the first jump of the season easy is a good idea. After all I do it for fun.

There are no stupid questions but a lot of inquisitive idiots. Really. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

And that traumatized you so badly you had to start throwing yourself from planes when you grew up? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?