BobbyR1990

Yeah on my own im fine, i dont understand why though haha Just remember to pop your ears before you jump and move your jaw around some in freefall (alot of people can pop their ears by simply moving their jaw, hence why chewing gum helps)

also watch youtube videos of AFF jumps, especially the ones that go bad. It really helps to show you what to do and what not to do

Most of the broken and dead people get there by not recognizing incorrect attitude soon enough and/or failing to instinctively apply the right control inputs. Not taking the time to learn that with a larger canopy increases your chances of visiting the orthopedic surgeon because it's harder to get right on smaller canopies and the penalties for mistakes goes up with your energy. Experience as a fixed wing pilot has no effect on that. Perfect straight-in landings on your 170 have done nothing to teach you low altitude turns, cross and down-wind landings, and landings with induced speed all of which will get combined to save your butt when cute girls flash the pilot on sunset load so you have extra altitude, your climbout is delayed because your buddy got hypoxic and got his foot stuck on a seat belt, you have a bad spot, land out, don't see an obstacle in the low light until the last instant, and turn 90 degrees at 50 feet for a down-wind landing on an asphalt road. The 170 would be a better second canopy at 100 jumps, and 150 third at 250 jumps because that plus practice and training are what it takes to learn those survival skills and instinctively apply them without being in sensory overload once things go wrong. Here's where you want to start http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf Your local instructors may accept that 1 in 4 of us with testosterone go to the hospital or don't get the canopy size connection. Brian knows more than your instructors with over 10,000 jumps, a bunch of parachute designs under his belt, lots of canopy flight seminars taught, university training in psychology, and books written on parachutes + sports psychology. I told this guy that a wing loading of 1.3 was a bad idea and he didn't listen. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3610363;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Other guys have died at that wing loading avoiding unseen obstacles but I don't care enough to look one up since you're probably not going to listen. After a thousand jumps you'll think the same things, either because you got lucky on a few close calls or learned the hard way. I honestly did not think of that, i was just going by what people at my DZ told me. After doing 2 jumps today I'm going back to the 190 for a while. Thanks for the advice drew, and that isn't supposed to sound sarcastic

also for what its worth during my tandem my ears hurt ridiculously bad during free fall, but once i started jumping on my own they were fine. I dont know what the difference is but im fine now If that doesnt work do what everyone else said and take the medicine

It really depends on experience in my opinion I have 14 jumps and jump a 170 (my exit weight is 188lbs) I hope to be down to a 150 soon, but i also have close to 50 hours logged in cessna so i have a better understanding of when to flare than a most starters have.

i did 1 tandem and then started my AFF levels, during the tandem i wasn't scared at all, i just walked to the door and hopped out with the TM. On my level 1 i was really nervous though lol, i still jumped without any issues but i was definitely more stressful walking to the door haha Good luck!

yeah after doing alot of research i think im buying a full face helmet as soon as i can

http://www.skysystemsusa.com/helmets/benny.html I'm looking to buy a helmet thats made for skydiving, instead of using my snowboard helmet haha. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the helmet i linked to above

thanks for the help guys, i did all my AFF levels in a week because i knew i was going to be gone for 3 weeks. But in the future i shouldn't have to go this long without jumping

I completed my AFF traning about two weeks ago, but the day i finished i had to leave for forensics training in Washington DC for a week and then i went on vacation for two weeks the day i got back from the training lol I get back Sunday, but when i get back i will probably have to work right away so im not sure if I will be able to jump again within the 30 days. Is that 30 day limit only when you are doing your AFF jumps? Or while you are still on student status also? Thanks ahead of time