jncoughlin

Jumped @ Boston Providence Skydiving in Lincoln, RI. Great place; great staff.

After on and off shitty weather in New England and having waited all winter I finally did my AFF level 1 and level 2 done today. At 50 years old, my friends think I'm crazy. Tomorrow we'll go for level 3 and 4. Now I know what my future holds. I'm going to spend my kid's college education at the dropzone. I'll probably call in sick enough to get fired. My wife will think I'm having an affair (I try like hell). My credit card will get maxed. All because I started skydiving. I could have become a golfer. NOT.

Congrats Emmie. You were nice enough to encourage me a few months ago when I posted about being 50 years old and starting. You're at Boston providence right ? I start AFF next week. Hopefully get first two jumps in that weekend if weather holds. Gotta go overseas on business after that but should be able to hit it hard by early May. My goal is to make 100 jumps this year. I'll look you up when I'm there. Newbies need friends. Good Luck.

Doesn't sound like you're giving up. I always wanted to skydive. When I was a kid I used to make parachutes and throw them from all kinds of high places; big ones, little ones, I'd experiement with weight loading, even made a crude ram air once. Anyway, work, money and kids eventually got in the way and my aspirations faded for years. I made a few tandems but that was about it. Now I'm 50, kids are grown (sort of) and I can afford to do it right. So I'm starting AFF as soon as the local DZ opens in May. Read the Skydivers Handbook and monitor the chatter on this website. Both are good educational tools. Knowledge is power. The more you understand the easier anything will be. Read all the emails here; study how people react to different situations. Read all the situation reports on the Skydiving Fatalities page; they will teach you. Study Study Study. None of this guarantees that we won't get unstable, lose altitude awareness and in other ways screw up but it'll help get you straight. Maybe we'll meet someday at a DZ, both looking like new kids on the first day of school! Good luck.

I'm just getting into this great sport so excuse the dumb questions. I met an experienced skydiver recently (2600+ jumps). During our discussion, he mentioned that he once broke his arm during a RW collision. My questions are: How do you deploy, assuming it's your right arm (dump reserve?) and how do you steer and land the canopy with one arm disabled? Obviously this guy did it!

I need some advice. After wanting to try skydiving my whole life I finally went for a tandem on my 50th B'day. As expected I was hooked. I loved the thrill and, more imprtantly, was impressed by how welcoming the experienced skydivers were at the DZ (Boston-Providence Skydiving in Lincoln, RI). I have to wait until the DZ opens again in late April to start AFF. My questions are: 1. I'm in great physical shape, weigh 175 lbs, but am I on the wrong end of the age curve to start this sport. For reference, I'm an avid runner, snowboarder and beer drinker. 2. I have a shoulder that likes to dislocate. It has not been out in 7 years but I've read incident reports about jumpers popping shoulders on hard openings and the dangers of trying to land with limited, or no, toggle input. 3. I'd obviously be jumping docile chutes for a while. Does this help or hurt. 4. Knowing my growing interest in this sport, I'd probably try to stay current and get in 75 to 100 jumps per year. All advice is welcome. You guys have a tremendously under appreciated sport. Thanks