Namowal

Heh, nice try, but I don't think so. I probably already have a rep as a nuisance. No use pushing my luck. That being said, if someone else gets silly with the googly eyes, I'll get blamed. You do know that now it's inevitable, right? You could even do it yourself, and claim that you didn't do it, because by the end of June, there will be dozens of the creepy/but still funny things on all the planes at Elsinore? I dare all of the So, So. Cal jumpers....... Now you've been and gone and done it! I wonder how difficult it will be to see my emergency handles through the eyeholes in the Paper Bag 'o Shame I'll have to wear over my head from now on!? My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Heh, nice try, but I don't think so. I probably already have a rep as a nuisance. No use pushing my luck. That being said, if someone else gets silly with the googly eyes, I'll get blamed. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

(I originally posted this as an answer to a different thread, but I think it deserves its own post.) I'd love to see these over the interior aircraft doorway... ...but it's probably a safety violation... ...plus the cool crowd wouldn't be amused... ...but I'd be! My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Haha, that yawning bright door is terrifying at first, swallowing the passengers one by one with a great roar each time. The jump master, with inexplicable calmness, checking they've been fully digested before signalling for the next sacrifice to move into position. I'd love to see these over the aircraft doorways, but it's probably a safety violation. Plus the cool crowd wouldn't be amused... ...but I'd be! p.s. The breathing, visualization and meditation exercises suggested by others were helpful for me. They didn't make the fear go away (at first), but they put a damper on it.

My fear level (before exiting the plane) went something like this: 1. First tandem: nervous 2. Second tandem: scared 3. AFF level 1: scared 4. AFF level 2: scared out of my ____ing mind. 5. AFF level 3-8 scared 6. Student solos, grad and post grad jumps: slightly less scared, but still scared. 7. Jumps 43-45, still a bit nervous, but having fun too. As someone else pointed out, the human brain is hardwired to throw logic out the door when it perceives a threat. For example, when you're about to get hit by a truck you're not thinking "If I choose to remain in its path it will flatten me. This outcome is bad. Therefore I'll get out of the way. To maximize my chances of avoiding a collision, I will get out of the way quickly." Instead, a more primitive part of your brain sounds the alarm. "Danger! Get away from it!" Trying to talk some sense into it is like explaining to your pets that thunderstorms are harmless. Even though I got more scared before I got less scared, the fear level did plateau and start to go down. I suspect the repeated exposure to the scary door (and people falling out of it!) desensitized my brain to some extent. Raw fear has been replaced by a more reasonable fear (that is, "Check your equipment to prevent trouble" (and similar thoughts) have replaced "AAAAAAAH! I'm in this stupid plane about to do WHAT!???") My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

I have some tunnel time scheduled later this week. Let's hope it helps! :) Thanks. I've been slowed down a bit by computer and internet problems, but I'm getting back up to speed. :) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Nor did mine.

Same here. ( As long as the cameras ain't rolling when I'm anywhere near that tunnel, of course!) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

It's not uncommon for minorities within a larger group to form a subgroup- for example, the American Medical Women's Association or American Assembly for Men in Nursing.. That explains why there's a USPA "Sisters in Skydivng" program, aimed at women, but no "Brothers in Skydiving" aimed at men. There latter doesn't exist because there's no need for it (as opposed to not existing because the USPA dislikes males). My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

I don't know you that well, yet this doesn't surprise me. Normally deceased pets aren't amusing, but if the context is absurd enough (dead parrot sketch, Gripsholm's Slott Lion, Flyin' Orville, etc.) I'm laughing. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks for the info. Here's how I teach an upright exit and it is good for emergencies too. For left-side door exits (Otter, say): When the group before you exits, go to the door and place your right foot on the edge of the door sill at say, a 45 degree angle toes towards the wing. When the proper number of seconds for separation hits, push off on your right foot and rotate to place your body into the wind parallel with the wing. You will want a slightly angled presentation with your head slightly closer to the nose of the plane than your feet. (Edited to add: Do NOT jump UP. We are simply rotating out the door, not jumping. Keep your legs out and feet even and your arms in a normal box position with your head up looking at the wing. Keep your eyes on the plane as you fall away. If you feel like you are rotating over to your left or right, you can correct using the arm turn maneuvers that you already know how to do. Try it! You'll like it! First, please note that in the case of emergencies we are not hesitating in the door and we'll be exiting quickly behind the person in front of you. How quickly depends on the altitude, the planes stability and how excited the guy behind you gets before he pushes you out. When you are practicing, it would be a good idea to do practice touches/pulls right out the door because in a low altitude emergency, you might be needing to pull at one second after exit. Yes, there other methods that work and some may be offered to you in this thread. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

How fast can Orville get someone to altitude? My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Duck Soup. That's what would happen. Or this... Heh heh. :) It has crossed my mind that poor exit + low bailout could be serious trouble- all the more reason to get my act together. Actually, I don't believe I was ever trained to do an upright exit. All the supervised, unattached exits were either floats or dives. Maybe the assumption is that most jumpers are competent enough to dive out stable in the event of an emergency. Come to think of it, I'm behind the curve in general. My DZ is very noob friendly and offers frequent coaching for us. Here's how this usually runs down. 1st jump: Coach prepares something a normal jumper at my experience should be able to do. S/he thinks I'm just being modest when I say it might be trouble. Subsequent Jumps: Much simpler stuff, to get me up to speed. It's wonderful help, but I wish I wasn't so @&!# slow. It's like sitting on a rattlesnake- embarrassing and dangerous at the same time. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

I think the answer is more simple than some. Stop flopping. That is what an experienced jumper does, they trust the right body position to work, and it does. You are the one in control of whether you flop or not. The reason you flop is likely because you perceive not being stable and trying to correct. Just stop trying to correct and ride it out for a while. It is fun. You've already probably heard how to exit, just do it and ride it out, without letting yourself flop. If you do actually go on your back/unstable/whatever, there will be plenty of time to fix it later, just don't flop for several seconds. Ride the hill, it is fun. Have more confidence than is justified, that also helps. Good stuff here. It reflects my own personal problem with dive exits. After diving, I would feel like I was about to flip heels over head and would give up on it and go ahead and pitch forward intentionally. Somebody told me the above advice...just hold it no matter what. Dive out with 45 degree tilt, right arm up with hips to the wind, feet on the butt, arms slightly out and HOLD IT! First try....it worked. One tip I got on the 45 degree bit that worked for me was: On exit, look under your right elbow. If you can see the prop just under your elbow, you have the right angle then turn your head to the left to see where you are going. (left side door exits) Ah ha! I bet the flopping is from trying to over correct. While I was (obviously) aware I was being flipped over, it wasn't until I saw videos of my exits that I realized I was doing the Jerry Lewis routine. I didn't remember actually flailing, but I do remember thinking "gosh, I'm not really stable, better fix this..." Thanks for the suggestions! My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Excellent, excellent, excellent! I wish all students would do just that. It something I push quite heavily....stable exits and canopy work. Well, I am signed up for a canopy course that will involve a bunch of hop and pops, so I'll have some opportunities to practice the exit. I'm still a bit spooked doing hop and pops- afraid I'll still be unstable at pull time. (I found myself flipped over on my student H&P but was able to get stable and pull. ) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Magic trick? Is this the same trick as how to get to Carnegie Hall (Practice, practice, practice!)

I'm at 42 jumps and, while getting better, I still can't do a stable exit. I understand (or I should say, I'm under the possibly false impression that I understand) the position that I'm supposed to take when I dive out, that I'm supposed to present to the wind etc... But when I'm out the door I'm flopping all over the place, with the poise of Jerry Lewis. I realize there's no magic solution I can get from a forum post, and will rely on coaches and instructors at the DZ to straighten me out... ...but is there anyone out there who was as bad as me at 42 jumps, but eventually got the hang of it? My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

I've been noticing this recently (noob that I am) too. It really does look like they're hurtling to their doom, only to save themselves at the last minute. I know it's an illusion, but I still catch myself thinking "Holy $#!*" each time I see it! My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Good one. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

That's how I interpreted it too. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

A few experienced jumpers have suggested I order my jumpsuit with mega-sized booties. I am interested in formation skydiving... ...but aren't the megas supposed to be for the experts? I'm rather new and haven't jumped with any booties. This seems to be a departure from the "don't try [anything fancy] until you've had 200 jumps" mantra that I normally hear. 1.Have any of you gone from no booties at all to the big ones? 2. If so, how difficult were they to master? My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Those videos used to freak me out too! And until recently, seeing others exit before me pushed some kind of unconscious alarm button. I still get a bit nervous when the door opens, but it's not the horror show it once was. Thoughts like "This is fun!" seem to be slowly overriding the "Jump out of the plane? What was I thinking!?" thoughts. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks, Mutumbo. I hope it was worth the wait. Will do. I knew it was a matter of time before someone called me on that. I spent a lot of time on that pic- redrawing and reworking details, but I didn't notice the rig was missing until right before I published it. Gear check FAIL! That irony occurred to me too. That scene never gets old. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

They freaked me out a bit when I was little, but now they're funny. As an adult who occasionally gets frustrated with fellow adults, I can understand Moe's urge to klunk heads. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Here's my latest installment: Thanks, Thanks and Thanks Again. And thanks to my dropzoner forum peeps for all the kind words and encouragement. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.