Pre-Newbie

[SkiD_PL8 0]

I have wanted to skydive since the first time I went bungee jumping, nothing is better than the feeling of free fall. Some friends of mine went skydiving at the end of last summer but I had to miss out. The other day I was just sitting at work and decided that I would go this weekend. I spent several hours researching skydiving and this was one of the most helpful sites I found, and was loaded with useful information. The DZ I am going to (Archway Skydiving Center) only offers tandem or static line as a first jump, no AFF so I decided on static line, and I will be jumping saturday if I don't have to work and sunday if I do. I just thought I would say hi, and introduce myself as I have a feeling as soon as I make that first jump I will be hooked.

Greenie in training.

[Tailgate 0]

Welcome!

Good luck with your jump, your' gonna love it.

_________________________________________________
Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man- Sam Walter Foss

[Jeth 0]

Hey there,
Do tandem, not static line!! With a tandem jump you will experience a minute of freefall and it'll feel like you're up there by yourself. I think with static line your chute opens right away so theres virtually no freefall. (Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.) I think you'll also get a longer ride cause SL starts a lot lower than tandem. I have not done SL, but I have heard a lot of people say how much better tandem is.
You will get to experience a lot more that way, and you get to pull the cord and help guide the chute down (if you want). Or if you are in sensory overload and/or shock (as I was), the TM will do everything and you'll just get an awesome ride.
Just my two cents...
Have fun!

Jeth

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[SkiD_PL8 0]

Yes, you are correct with the static line there will be no free fall. However I am going for their traditional training program as I don't really have the cash to knock out the millenium version in any reasonable ammount of time. http://www.archwayskydiving.com/firstjump/training.htm doing the traditional program will have me free falling by myself much faster which is what I am really after so that is what I am going for.

Greenie in training.

[damion75 0]

Quote

I am going for their traditional training program as I don't really have the cash to knock out the millenium version in any reasonable ammount of time.

You will find it amazing where you manage to find cash once you start jumping! Got to feed that addiction!

Bring it on!

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[larsrulz 0]

I look forward to seeing you at Archway this weekend Travis. If you are sure that you want to make skydiving a hobby for you, then SL is the way to go. Tandems are good for people who either only want to do one jump or aren't sure if they wish to continue with skydiving.

If you end up coming sunday, I'll be helping teach your first jump course. Either way, I'm sure I'll be jumping.

I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

[nightjumps 1]

Quote

Tandems are good for people who either only want to do one jump or aren't sure if they wish to continue with skydiving.

I would disagree with this statement. There is a "Tandem Progression Method," (commonly referred to as the Advanced Freefall Program), whereby one does three Tandems, then goes to the FJC, followed by a Cat C or D dive (dropzone specific).

Since the Integrated Student Program (ISP) was developed, one can take three Tandems with a TI (which all count towards the "A" license) learn a good body position, how to do turns, track, etc. Then, they can do a Cat C or D (depending on how they did) with either an AFF or Tandem rated USPA Instructor.

They can also move to SL, in which case they accelerate thru the levels more quickly AND satisfy the two hopnpop requirement for the "A" license proficiency card.

There is no longer any reason to segregate SL, Tandem, or AFF. It's all about categories now and tailoring an individual student's strengths and weaknesses using what ever instructional methodology is available.

Let's say you have a student who started out on the AFF instructional methodology and is having trouble with Cat D... Hand them off to a TI and have them do that dive.

Let's say you have someone in AFF and they smoke the the freefall dive flow, but are having difficulty with canopy control, you can take them up to 8 or 10K and put them on SL/IAD. Jump out after them and play follow me. You can take a radio and say, Let's do a right rear-riser turn.

It all counts towards the "A."

Since everyone learns differently, we now have the opportunity and ability to move thru the categories utilizing any instructional methodology over the course of 25 dives to help students achieve some level of success on any category dive.

No longer are we restricted to saying; you have to repeat dive "X." We can now say, "Here's what you did right on that dive and here's what we're going to do on the next dive to improve in this category towards your "A" license.

[SkiD_PL8 0]

I will definately be there sunday. Looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the people at the dz since I have a feeling I will be spending alot of time there from now on.

Greenie in training.

[SkiD_PL8 0]

Looks like it is going to be rain tomorrow but I just found out I don't have to work so I will be out there in the mourning to get my groundschool out of the way.

Greenie in training.

[SkiD_PL8 0]

Well guys, I did it. I went out this mourning and did my first jump course. I was the first one out on the first load and hanging from the strut of the plane looking at my jumpmaster I think I had the biggest smile on my face I have had in my entire life. My canopy deployed flawlesly and I had a beautiful ride down. I was a litte affraid to play with my toggles alot but had some fun once I started getting guided by radio. I flared imediately when I was told to and I guess it was about a second to early as I ended up landing on my heals and falling to my back at wich point I let go of my toggles (yes both of them) and my canopy started to inflate but I reached around and grabbed my left riser and started reeling in lines as fast as I could. I liked it so much I had to go again before I left the second time was twice as much fun, I wasn't so worried about doing everything right because I had allready proven to myself that I could do it. I got some line twists and sorted them out then had a great canopy ride down even played around up there for a little while. On that jump my landing was great, don't even think I took a step forward pulled one toggle to full break and let go of the other one and the chute just folded in on itself like it was supposed to. Hate to ramble but I have just been going over it all day in my head. Moral of the story is I am hooked.

Greenie in training.