Austintxflight

I think racism on the DZ is the same as racism in the rest of the world. As the only regular black licensed jumper at my DZ i've not experienced much. But I like to have fun with race, I tell the white jumpers that I always have to worry about hitting the tail of the plane on exit and they don't because white people can't jump I also tell them that once black people figure out skydiving we are going to take over just like basketball... Also I'm trying to set the world black head down record, I need just 1 more guy to do it. I doubt racism had much to do with this. In regards to the OP, it sucks when no instructor at the DZ of your choice will jump with you, but in the end the safest thing is to not jump there, weather to go elsewhere or stop is up to you, but if you can't get proper training what else can you do? Good luck in your training and hope you get whatever issues sorted out!

Actually the DZ can lose money if the student buys one of the packages that is all 25 Jumps for an A then fails repeatedly. Instead of doing cheap solo jumps and coach jumps, they are paying those cheaper rates for more expensive AFF jumps. Its a situation where no one wins, the DZ is stuck honoring prices when a student is progressing and putting money into the student and the student is unhappy they are not progressing. Its a rare situation, but it does happen.

canopy course canopy course canopy course. As a jumper just 1 year in but hitting seriously (130+ jumps in 11 months) I did my first canopy course and it was amazing. They strapped Neptune's to all of us, and one of the great pieces of data it gives you is your decent rate, so you can with real time information find the setting for your individual body and canopy that causes you to lose the least altitude and give you the best shot of getting back to the DZ. I'm not saying get a digi alti and spend all day staring at it under canopy, but I am saying that a canopy course will teach you so much about the flight characteristics of your canopy and canopies in general that you will have a much better understanding of what to do to get back. Advice on here is to be taken with a dump truck of salt, thats why the only reasonable answer is to get with a canopy coach and actually work on it, do some hop n pops and just focus on that. Even if you don't have your own gear you will learn the basics and you will learn how to evaluate your own gear so when you get your own (or downsize) you know how to figure out the flight characteristics of your canopy.

Thanks for the info guys, I just did my first test jump. Jumped off the bed, so far so good.

So after the wingsuit landing on boxes a thought came to mind. If you had boxes stacked high enough to break your fall. ( I have no idea how high it would need to be) Wouldn't it be possible to do the jump with no rig and no wingsuit? So what does everyone think? Can it be done?

I'm curious about your response to 'work both sides'. why work both sides instead of just being focused on daffy with left or right leg in front always??? I dont surf switching up sides - I always have my right foot forward (its called a sex change btw and is a trick some people do mid-wave or on a skateboard midtrick). Same with snowboarding. So why is skydiving headdown different from that??? Why not always use your good side....its the GOOD side!!! curious...

Hey there. I spent time in San Marcos coming from Austin. It has windy days just like any other DZ but I hadn't noticed anything more than normal. In terms of doing AFF at different DZs, I did that. I did my first jump at one DZ, then did the next 3 at another before finishing at the original DZ. I will say that having the same instructors that go with you on each jump helps you learn faster. Also each DZ's AFF is slightly different than the next so there could be chances to miss out on some learning. If I could go back, I would have done it all at 1 DZ. A benefit to getting to multiple DZs is many people early in their careers learn to fly based on the geography of that DZ, for example they set up their landing pattern based on landmarks. Getting to a new DZ you can break that habit. After I got my A i went to about 10 DZs and it really helped just get familiar with how different places do things, and learn from different jumpers.

god willing, only if its done correctly.

Its more Cubism for me.

He's not gonna be happy when he wakes up and his cock is gone. mmmm spotted dick.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2cOe83IRjk&list=FLtYOt_cTEsmXOvgkj19YX5A&feature=mh_lolz thats whats happening

Ill show you the videos that I like to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2cOe83IRjk&list=FLtYOt_cTEsmXOvgkj19YX5A&feature=mh_lolz

I also think Bochen is coming from the perception of skydiving from the general population. Videos of skydiving for the most part in mainstream media portray it as a high adrenaline sport. I know for me, after the initial newness and adrenaline from the first few jumps wore off being in the sky is just a peaceful activity. It still has its stressing moments and there are times when I am pushing my skill and am completely focused, but I don't really feel like I'm in an extremely high adrenaline state, it seems more like a focused meditation or hard yoga. Do other people get the movie experience and just rock is playing in your head and your heart is going crazy even on your 5th 4way jump of the day? I don't feel wired that way, its more zen for me.

We are 6 pages away from descending into a existential discussion on the nature of reality having to do with the droppy feeling. This shit is thrilling http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110823053756/gleeusers/images/c/c9/Mj-thriller-popcorn-o.gif[/url]

I'm curious about your response to 'work both sides'. why work both sides instead of just being focused on daffy with left or right leg in front always??? I dont surf switching up sides - I always have my right foot forward (its called a sex change btw and is a trick some people do mid-wave or on a skateboard midtrick). Same with snowboarding. So why is skydiving headdown different from that??? Why not always use your good side....its the GOOD side!!! curious...

I mean Ill say what everyone is thinking. I'll eat the pilot if i have to to survive. I'm not ashamed to say it.

Or one of the biggest reasons you could see networks push to get it included, the possibility of a major wreck or fatality. NASCAR of the sky. I mean people have seen fatalities in other live sporting events (racing) On the negative side think about the logistics, olympic DZ would be miles from any city, now having to secure airspace and deal with weather delays seems costly. I would honestly place the best chance to see Skydiving in the olympics as the year that Dubai gets the summer games, they are shooting for 2024 range. It could be included as one of those 1 times things they have done in the past for speciality sports or events related to host countries. Yes its lack of ability to have it live really affects it, but in a few years i'm sure they will have live transmitters that the camera guy can easily jump.It would work better in the X games in terms of fan base, marketing etc. I will say I just completed a business of sports class, and I did bring up skydiving a few times. As stated before its not a spectator sport, and that is where tunnel flying has an advantage. What is needed is a league to define competition better than the USPA does and acts solely on the competition side, yet as we all know there are not really big profit margins in this sport, its costly, it is just not really suited for how we current market and promote sports. Plus its very fringe, we all participate but far more people are involved in nearly every other sport.

I would guess that the dropy feeling is still there, but you are also reacting to the relative winds when exiting the plane, and those might initially overwhelm the droppy sense? Which might be why you feeling it more with balloons and heli jumps since there is virtually no forward motion. Kind of like if i slap and pinch you at the same time, it might not register as each separately?

I have started head down recently as well. I would say be patient its going to take a while to figure out the balance and the positioning, adjusting to being upside down etc. Also like with head up, be sure to work your good side, and your bad side equally. (right leg in front, left leg in front stuff) And of course listen to your instructor, watch your videos.

Consider watching some AFF videos of all level types, people doing well and people doing not so great. You can get a better idea of what the skill set you will be required to demonstrate are.

Congratulations, welcome to your new addiction. We're all addicts here.

CPI is great, I love that place.

Well he goes from saying he wishes he could just be given a video and a packed rig and allowed to figure it out on his own, to hedging and saying well internet learning can supplement. Still there are no nobel prize winners who went to Devry. Where the world is today in 2012 face to face instruction still trumps internet learning for a variety of reasons. Also the whole video game thing, the cost to develop it would be too high, would not justify the possible income.

Not to get off subject but have you seen this tech article? http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/12/course-hero/ YouTube/Vimeo/etc is your friend. If I watch enough of the (sometimes) very good quality videos of all stages of skydiving I can get quite proficient at it just through the mirror neurons that vicariously empathetically learn through simulated stimulation. Virtual muscle memory. The age of "holier than thou" (and I'm directing this more at the so called higher education University diploma mills than the skydiving accreditation community) is about to come to an end. Technology flattens the value of a formal education and makes knowledge available to all. I'm sure its possible to learn simply by watching videos, and it does help. When I was going through AFF I watched just about every video i could find that had AFF in it. But one would have to agree that chances for failure begin to increase with less formal education. When you are teaching someone in front of you, you can tell if they are getting it or not, you can tell they are paying attention or if they have 5 other tabs open on their browser and watching TV. Also as many people have pointed out, the first time in a new environment can be disorienting and having someone there can help. I'm sure you were not an expert at the sex by just watching videos online. It took some practical experience as well. Not saying that porn didn't help steepen the learning curve, but you cannot cut out the part of experience solely through learning through observation. And once again, I'm sure through learning online, one could be decent enough to survive, and make it without injury, but I would hope the goals are higher than simply survival. And don't even think about the legal issues when someone gets hurt through a internet skydiving school that mails you a rig when you complete the online course that lets you print a certificate and take to your local DZ to allow you to jump. I do agree, the internet is helping broaden learning, but I'm going to learn alot more about playing the guitar in a lesson than I am just listening to music.

Hmmmmm...as we all know, going to the tunnel does NOT guarantee success in AFF. Even "less likely" does not apply as you used it. It's a mistake to assume so. Assuming that one will fail levels? No good. Saving money? How many tunnel minutes should one need to do to "save money" on AFF? Zero. Just out of curiosity since you are using the pass/fail terminology....why make a negative when you could have made a positive? "You are more likely to pass levels...." TO the OP: Be forewarned that some DZs will tell you to repeat jumps as a means of generating more revenue. No, I am NOT saying the DZ you attend is one that does that. I don't know if they do or don't. True I could have changed my words to not implicate a guarantee of passing AFF levels. I meant to say that the chances of success go up with more practice time and tunnel is a type of practice. Also that there is not that much downside to early tunnel time other than the cost. Most people who are skydivers did not learn in a tunnel so there is nothing wrong with that either.