jim_32766

Congrats on the past jumps and the ones approaching fast! Let us know what you think about the AFF jumps. I found the few AFF jumps (just did the first two today) to be far superior to tandem. The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.

I have an update! My wife and I spent a couple of hours at Skydive Deland a couple of weekends ago watching all the action, and talking with some of the skydivers. We wanted to get a better feel for the sport. The range of ages for active jumpers was impressive, and all the landings we watched, especially the tandems ,were quite soft. The comfort level for both of us was greatly improved and last weekend we both decided to try a tandem jump. I was amazed at how calm and cool my wife was through the whole tandem jump process. I had some anxiety when packed into the plane and was at a pretty high level of attention throughout. As it turned out, my wife enjoyed the tandem more than I did! It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but I could tell she really had fun. Wanting to see the difference between the tandem and jumping with my own chute, I signed up for and took the AFF level-1 course this morning. That training and subsequent jump was much more to my liking than the tandem. I had so much fun that I did the AFF level-2 immediately after landing. It's going to be a little over a week before a I can continue with 3 and beyond, but that's the plan. My wife, who has had ACL surgery on one knee already and will not be jumping, is no longer against me jumping either. This has worked out better than I thought. Another student is on the way to a license. Blue skies! The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.

Skymama, that is an interesting question. My wife was totally ok with me as a pilot. We often flew the plane on vacations. She got into planning trips, helping with navigation, etc. My daughter loved it too, although she spent half her time sleeping in the back seat. Our family trips covered much of the US east of the Rockies. Me becoming a pilot was in part a trade-off vs skydiving. Back in 2000 my SA friend was visiting and wanted me to do a tandem during one of his jumps. My wife and daughter were terrified by the thought (I guess of something going wrong and me dying). I have always been interested in flying and becoming a private pilot was less worrisome for them - I guess. My wife is fairly adventurous - even took up motorcycle riding last year and now rides her own 900cc bike. It may just be an over estimation of the risks. Maybe I should try to have her do a tandem too, maybe us both on the same load. That might ease some of the concern. Of course it may also lead to her becoming addicted to skydiving, like so many others. I guess that wouldn't be all bad either!

Hello All, A friend of mine from SA, an avid skydiver, has been bugging me for the last couple of years to give skydiving - at a minimum the wind tunnel - a try. I've always been interested but never made the time. As a private pilot I've always concentrated on landing the plane, not jumping out of it. I sold my plane about two years ago and my interest in skydiving has been increasing. This Xmas, looking for something new for the family to try, I booked a block of time at the wind tunnel in Orlando. I took my wife, daughter, and daughter's boyfriend with me for some wind. Wow, what a fun experience! Everyone really enjoyed their time. The staff member that ran our class was very helpful and coached each of us during our rotations. With his help I was able to get stable and do very rudimentary turns, using just hand angle, in the first rotation. I was really encouraged, now understood more of what a skydive drop would feel like. My SA friend came to visit in Orlando last week and wanted work on the mantis position (I had no clue what that meant) in the tunnel. It took zero arm twisting to get me to join him! We split a 30 minute block. While he did fine tuning I worked on the basic movements (and I monitored his coaching carefully). By the time we left I could slide left and right, move forward and backward, go up or down, and turn using box or mantis position. I was certainly not as rock steady as my friend, and still need to work on fall rate control to limit vertical wandering, but again I was really encouraged and felt less concerned over body control in an actual jump. I think I am starting to really get the bug to try skydiving. I think the toughest hurdle may be my spouse. Can I get her comfortable with the idea of me jumping out of planes? For those of you who have a spouse that does not skydive, did you have a whole lot of convincing to do prior to jumping? Any tips? Thanks, Jim The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.

Unlike you I have never jumped from a plane. A buddy of mine finally convinced me to visit a wind tunnel. I had so much fun in those first two rounds I ended up going back within the month. In the second visit I split a 30 minute block with a friend. I can't compare it to the real thing but I can tell you that it is a great learning environment. You get continuous feedback from the pro and can focus on position. They had me doing box and mantis position, controlled turns, moving up/down, forward/backward, and side-to-side all in the little time that I have had. If I ever make a real jump I have pretty good confidence on body control. Right now I am trying to figure out when I go back to the tunnel for more fun. Give it a try - you won't be dissappointed. The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.