Not too old, I hope!

[LadyofMystery 0]

Wow...very cool. I just read through this thread and have to say what an inspiration you are. Keep divin' :)

Miche

[grannyinthesky 0]

Thanks. I'm heading out in a few hours for my next jump or two. There's a lot more to learn than I realized at first, but it sure is a blast.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

Hi Pearl, I replied to your post on Joea's post the other day and just checked out your site today. Damn we sound like two peas in a pod the experiences are so similar. First jumps in our 50's, first tattoos in our 50's ( I'm going for my fourth next Friday ), are we regressing. That's fine by me. Hope the weather clears for you. Cheers

[grannyinthesky 0]

I noticed a few similarities myself. I don't know about regressing.....I have just decided to live with the idea that I have a 20 something brain in a 50 something body. When I have one of those jumps when I'm not thrilled with my performance, I'll start wondering if I am just to old.... Then, along comes a 20 or 30 something posting about having the same type problem and I realize it's just the nature of the beast. THere's a thread right now in either General Skydiving or Safety and Training from someone who didn't complete his tasks on his level 4. That's basically the same jump I get to repeat.

By the way, I don't have the tattoo yet, but I'll uphold my end of the deal when my kid gets around to jumping and I'm pretty sure he will. I suppose I should start thinking about what it's gonna be.

Are you having as much fun learning this awesome sport as I am? Where do you jump at?


Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

I know what you mean by 20/50. I still feel like a kid in my mind but sometimes my poppin' knees and less flexability try to tell me otherwise. It sounds like your doing better than me on your AFF. You know why I have more jumps than you? I repeated 1-4, with a really frustrating level 4. It's like the first time on each level was a struggle and the next time I knew what to expect and no problem. After a really crappy level 4, I got frustrated, just kinda zoned out and my instructor pulled for me. I was so afraid they were going to pull me aside and tell me this probably wasn't for me. I didn't jump for another two weeks and those were two of the longest weeks in my life. Sure enough I was pulled aside. What followed was the most thoughtful concerned for my safety, my enjoyment and my future in this sport talk that I was not expecting. I had a great level 5 that day. I just need to quit being so tenetive and show the confidence in myself that they've shown in me. My dropzone is Madera, Ca.. It's a small DZ which is great for a Newbie. One plane, a Cessna that holds a pilot and four jumpers, so on levels 1-3, 3 out of 5 people on the plane get out and stand on a platform probably smaller than an album cover ( a unit of measurement that probably only we can understand ). Like you said earlier, when that door opens I still kinda freak, which is weird, because once I'm out on that step I'm fine and when I let go ,even better. The regulars and vets are a great bunch of people, young and old alike. I've always been kind of a quiet, introverted person, but these good people have brought me out of my shell. Well, enough of me rambling on. Blue Skies young lady, if you're ever in the San Joaquin, give us a call. Cheers

[grannyinthesky 0]

I sure know that feeling of getting frustrated with complieting a dive like you're supposed to. I'm doing the ISP for AFF that is set out in the SIM. Cat A - 1 jump, Cat B - 1 jump, Cat C - 2 jumps, Cat D - 2 jumps , etc (only in my case, D's gonna be at least 3 jumps after not doing anything but figuring out how to get stable on my last jump.) The jump before that, my instructor pulled for me because my sleeve blew over my altimeter and I was looking at it (when I knew it must be about time to pull) trying to figure out how to see how high I was. As I have been reminded on a regular basis since then, "When it doubt, whip it out!" I think I got that message.

Is that a Cessna-182 that you are jumping from? It sounds about like the one I have been jumping from. I'm not sure that step is even as big as an album cover, at least it doesn't seem that way when the wind is trying to keep me from being able to get my foot on it!!!! I'm finally getting more comfortable about climbing out. Last jump, I had to start learning to spot, so I had to stick my head out of the door and look down at the ground to see where we were. I was a little nervous about trying that, but it actually was pretty cool.

I do get to the Central Valley area once in a while. I am originally from California (just can't do that "Cali "thing) and I still have a brother in Redding. After I get my license and some additional jumps, I do plan on making a trip to that area to show him what his big sis has learned to do. So, you will probably see me one of these days.

Have you learned to pack parachutes yet? I didn't think it was too tough to learn, but I know I'm not ready to jump what I pack yet. I need to practice a bunch more times.

Blue skies back at ya'
Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

Hi Pearl, I was getting ready to answer your reply when my last two posts and your reply disappeared. After looking back over the rules the only thing that I can think of is that when I answered your question about where I skydive and then I kinda went into a rant about the place it got interpreted as an endorsement. If that's the case I am very sorry. I guess I tend to get a little hyped up on this subject an rattle on without thinking. I was only intending to share experiences nothing more. If I offended someone please, please forgive me

[grannyinthesky 0]

THey look like they are here to me, or were there others? Sometimes if you end up in a new window, things can get a little screwy. Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[camamel 0]

Hi Pearl

This is the first time that i have a look at this forum and I have to admit that you are so popular that I didn't read your post 100%.
It remember me my first jumps...33years ago.
One thing I learn in thoses years is some times THE NATURALS(people that always do everything perfect the first time) don't stay in the sport very long they eventually try something else. On the other side the people who take more time to learn end up being more perfectionnist. Of course this is only my opinion and it doesn't apply to everybody.

Also you probably already realise the magic of our cummunity.
-You can be anywhere in the world...if you are in deep trouble go to a DZ somebody will help you.
-You can be 80 years old or 16, with 1 or 20000 jumps and everybody on most DZ, not all sorry about that,will talk to you as a full time member.
Evolving in a world with youngsters learning,discovering and having fun keep me young.
Even after 33 years I still have so many things to try in this sport that you won't beleive it.

One last thing: Young skydivers have a lot more respect in our community (in a party or around a fire for example) for age and experience than I can see otherwise. I am pretty sure they do the same back home or at the office.

Looking at your post it look like you are way better than I was when I started. Try to have a friend skydivers going with you on your next couples jumps, that way you can motive each other, that's important at the beginning.

French is my first language so I hope you can read my english.

So Pearl have fun and stay safe.

If you need any info please feel free to send me an e-mail. I will be more than happy to help you.


Richard

When you think you're good...this is when you become dangerous.

[grannyinthesky 0]

Bonjour Richard, Your English is much better than my French. I read some of the posts in the French forum just for practice, but I haven't tried actually posting in French. I am indeed learning what a wonderful community the world of skydiving is. When I started this thread back in November, I had only done one tandem jump and I really didn't know how I would be received or if I would find it difficult to learn to skydive. It has been a tremendous learning experience. I have always tried to be a perfectionist and that just doesn't happen in learning to skydive from what I see. I have had to come to terms with realizing that it's a very different world than anything I have done in the past. It is actually helping me be a better teacher. I am much more understanding of my students. When I am learning an academic subject, I practice by myself until I can get it right. I am the only one who sees my academic mistakes for the most part. But, with skydiving, I have to make my mistakes in full view of my instructor(s) and anybody watching when I land. It's sort of humbling. I get talked to about things like all students do and I have made some pretty dumb mistakes. But I am learing to learn and it's a great experience. I do have a fellow teacher who is also working on learning to skydive, but he hasn't been able to jump lately because of the costs. We do still share experiences, though, and we are planning on going together again.

I am loving getting acquainted with people here. I feel like I have friends across the country and around the world. I can't imagine a better life....well, maybe being independently wealthy so I could travel around the world and meet all of them.

Thanks for you offer of help. I'll no doubt take advantage of it from time to time. I really like getting to know other skydivers and sharing what I am doing with them. Most of the people around me really can't understand my love of jumping from airplanes.

Cieux bleux,
Pearl

(Did I spell that right?)

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[camamel 0]

Well, welcome in our small but wonderful world.
From now on you will most likely land in front of somebody. At the beginning the reason why experienced skydivewrs and instructors go outside to see your landing,and always give advise,is because we know how bad you can hurt yourself. It is like a baby learning to walk except you're learning to fly and if you fall you can hurt more than only your ego!
Take your time,have fun and stay safe.

Skydiving is like skiing except in our case there is only one slope what ever you have one or 10K jumps and at the end there is a wall!!

Richard

When you think you're good...this is when you become dangerous.

[grannyinthesky 0]

It really does help to hear what I am doing incorrectly, but as a teacher, I am used to doing things right almost all the time. It is really a change to be in the student role. My first couple of landing were pretty uncomfortable. I didn't flare anywhere near enough and sort of face planted. They've been getting a lot better since, but I know there is a lot to learn still . I appreciate all the help I get from people who watch me. Right now I am particularly frustrated because I just found out we don't have a pilot this weekend so I can't jump. And then I'll be in Florida at a workshop next weekend, so no jumping again...... The following weekend, I am only available on Sunday, so I am really hoping for good weather that day. That wiould make 3 weeks between jumps and it's really hard to build skills when the jumps are that far apart. I suppose I should have waited until spring to start jumping, but I just couldn't. Oh well, I guess I need to have a little patience. The sky isn't going anywhere.
Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

The only thing screwy here is me. I've got almost as much computer experience as skydiving experience. Duh, turn the page, thanks professor, I'll try to pay more attention in class. Can I take a make up test?

[grannyinthesky 0]

Of course you can. It takes a little doing to get the hang of things around here, but there are lots of people willing to help.
It is an amazing world we've fallen into isn't it. I have discovered I can have almost as much fun at the DZ learning to pack as i can jumping. Well, not quite, but I spent time learning to pack the last two weekends and really did enjoy myself. Getting that big slippery canopy organized and then into the little bitty bag is a lot of challenge. Then yesterday, I tried packing a different one. It was smaller so I figured it would be easier. Wrong!!! It was fairly new so it was really slippery. Everytime I thought I had things tucked in where they belong, some part would escape. I know I'm sure not ready to jump what I pack yet. I won't be able to jump again until the 27th because of travel, Miami this weekend and the Oregon coast Friday and Saturday of the next. But you better believe come Sunday I will be at the DZ really ready to go.
Any way, glad you found out all is ok here. Are you getting jumps in?
Blue skies,
Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

I was looking forward to my level 6 this past weekend and woke up Saturday morning with sinusitus, pain in the cheek bones and feeling my pulse pounding in my ears. I used to have this problem all the time but only a couple of times since I quit smoking three years ago. Turns out we were blanketed with heavy cloud cover all weekend anyway. No I haven't packed yet but probably will this weekend. I'm nervous about jumping my first pack too but I'd rather do that than past it off to someone else. I'd like to jump my first pack on a level 7 and not on the level 8 3,000 ft. hop n' pop though. This weekend will be my first spot too. When you have time explain the steps you go through on your levels. Sounds like a little different systems at our dz's or just different terminology, not sure which. Sounds like you've got some busy days ahead traveling, work or fun? BS

[grannyinthesky 0]

That sounds like a pretty miserable day Saturday. Hope you're better now.
Packing is interesting and i sure agree that I don't want to be jumping my own pack job for the first time on a short hop and pop. It really is an interesting process and not so much difficult to understand, as difficult to get the canopy to do what you want it to do.
My instructor is, with some slight variations, following the USPA's Integreated Student Program for AFF. It has 8 categories with 21 jumps total. It looks at all areas of skydiving from freefall to canopy to emergency procedures to FAA regulations, along with spotting and so on. You can find it on their website. By the time you are done, you should only need another couply of jumps to complete the requirements for the A license, depending on how many jumps you have repeated. My original tourist tandem counts as one of the 25 jumps you need, too. Here's a link to the SIMhttp://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2008SIM/section4.htm
The idea behind spotting makes good sense to me with my math background, but identifying the locations on the ground is another story, especially now with the amount of snow we've had here. On my first jump with snow cover, finding the DZ once I was under the canopy was a lot more challenging than it had been the first two times.
Both my upcoming trips are work related (and paid for), but I will get some time to enjoy the scenery and locations. I will be staying right on the beach both times. I grew up on the California coast, so living here in high desert country has taken some adjustment. I would like to jump in a coastal area some time, just not too close. The biggest frustration with the trips is that looking at the forecast for the next couple of weeks show more and more sun coming this way. It better be here on the 27th when I can get to the DZ and jump. Maybe by then the weather will even be above freezing. That would be really nice.
I hope level 6 goes well. What do you do in level 6?

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[Baksteen 84]

Incidentally, and completely off topic, your thread is in the top-5 of the most replied to in this forum.

Congrats

On topic, yes packing is a "female canine" at first, but as you keep at it, you'll find that it becomes progressively less bad.
And I can't speak for anyone else, but I derived a lot of satisfaction from jumping my fir.. pre-second, completely unsupervised pack job.
Well, once it was open anyway.

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

[grannyinthesky 0]

I have really appreciated all the feedback from so many people here on DZ.com. I was really almost doubting my sanity at first. What did I think I was doing? I talked to my best friend from high scool last night for the first time since I started this grand adventure and she told me that she had been wondering if I had gone off the deep end. Well, after talking for a while, she had come to the conclusion that I hadn't, that I was doing something I loved to do and wished me well. She was going to sailing, however. No throwing myself out of planes (her description as well as my daughters.)
Packing has been a challenge. The first time I waas just following directions, which does work, but I didn't really have a very good image of what i was trying to do. Now I have the mental image and remembering each step is pretty easy and with the older canopy I was learning on first, it might take a while, but I think I can do a jumpable pack job. The second canopy, on the other hand, was fairly new and pretty slippery. Getting it to stay folded long enough to get it in the bag........Grrrrrrrr...... The instructor did show me some things that should make it easier next time. I may really want to learn to do that canopy well, since that rig happens to be for sail at an affordable price and I'm seriously considering it. I like that pre-second idea.

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[poe62 0]

I remember crying on the way to the plane when i was getting ready to jump my first pack job. It's the only time I've been truly nervous about jumping. Everyone kept reassuring me by saying, "IT WANTS TO OPEN!" ...and it did...beautifully! yea!

Take pride in learning to pack. It's pretty awesome.

~Nikki
http://www.facebook.com/poe62

Irgity Dirgity

[grannyinthesky 0]

And I bet it opened just fine!!! I'm getting better at it, but I'm not there yet. Pat

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

Hi Pearl,the weather was beautiful here this weekend and I was looking forward to level 6, leaving the step on my own, back flips and tracking. I sucked. The first time I had a bad exit and took too long to get stable so I just waved off and pulled. The second try was better but still took too long to get stable. I was high enough when I got stable I did a back flip but started to get unstable again so I didn't try to track. I should have thrown right then( when in doubt, whip it out ) but I wasted time trying to stabalize. My main was still sniveling when I pasted 2k, where my AAD was set for. Crap now I've got two canopies out. I cut away and rode the reserve in. My instructor told me he wasn't going to tell me what to do but that I should go home and think about if this is for me. I can't imagine not ever being in the sky anymore, I'm really kicking myself right now

[grannyinthesky 0]

Don't kick yourself. It hurts. I have had a couple of jumps where I started to doubt myself and I suspect my instructors were probably having some doubts too. But I'm hanging in there. My last jump all I did was figure out how to get stable. I think that's going to help me a lot if the weather cooperates and I can get in the air again one of these days. I sounds like you had a pretty tough time with the jumps. It also sounds to me like you are expected to do a lot in one jump. I really like the method my instructor is using. He's really patient and he keeps things really manageable for me. After having to pull for me one time when my altimeter got over half covered my my jumpsuit sleeve, he regularly reminds me about the "When in doubt, whip it out." Staring at the sleeve wondering what the hell to do wasn't particularly constructive, especially since I was pretty sure I was in the neighborhood of time to pull.
Have you considered going back and repeating a level or two? There is so much to learn and so little time to learn it in, it wouldn't be unreasonableto take a little extra time here and there. It does sound to me that you you reacted well to having two canopies out so I'd say there's hope for ya'.
Another thing that helps me is to remind myself that I am having fun. When one of the instructors stuck his tongue out at me right before I jumped, it really relaxed me. That seems to be a big key for me. I've done a lot of relaxation/meditation type stuff in the past, and when I finally remembered to use what I knew, I went from potato chipping to stable, INSTANTLY. It was absolutely amazing. Is there a level in the method you are learning where you exit with the instructor and then he releases you? Doing that a time or two again might help. I know a lot of people recommend doing some tunnel time to help the freefall skills.
If you love skydiving as much as I do (and I'm htinking you do), don't give up. One other thought, you might try to find someone who follows the ISP in the SIM. It takes 21 jumps to learn all the necessary skills, but they come in smaller chunks.
Blue skies, Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

Well yes he did make the mistake of telling me he wouldn't tell me I couldn't skydive but that I needed to give it serious thought. I know I have to work hard on getting this turned around and I'll do what ever it takes but I can't stop this. He did tell me I did a good job chopping when I did and landing on the reserve but that doesn't really offset the bonehead move that put me in that situation to begin with. I guess I should have been afraid but I was pretty calm about it all. The only thing I was really afraid of was failure. There are good things that come out of bad situations. My wife , to say the least , has never been thrilled about me doing this but when I came home I couldn't just tell her I had a bad day and leave it at that when she's been supportive of me. I sat her down, told her what happened and without hesitation she told me, well you love to ride too and you wouldn't let a horse throwin' ya stop you from riding again. Didn't see that comin', she must be delirious with some sorta virus or something! To make a long story short I'm gonna be hangin' around that DZ like a damn cat they made the mistake of feeding just one time! Your next jump is coming up this Sunday depending on the weather isn't it? Have fun , Blue Skies P.S. How's the road trip going?

[grannyinthesky 0]

I'm glad to see you're as hard to discourage as I would be and it's great you have such good support from your wife. Hanging out at the DZ is a great idea. Figuring out how to get and stay stable will come to you, I'm sure. I didn't accomplish any of my objectives last jump except for realizing how to get stable. I hope I still remember next time I get to jump. I'm hopin for Sunday, but every forecast I look at says rain and/or snow on Sunday. Rats..... Of course,, since every weekend forecast has been wrong (good predictions, but bad weather) for the last month, I can always hope this forecast is a bad as the last ones.
I am still planning on getting to California sometime before fall quarter starts in September. I don't know if I'll have enough experience, even if I can get my A in the next two months to really be able to jump safely for a while. I'd also like to pick up some used gear first and I know that can't happen until the end of June. Maybe I'm developing a little patience after all.
Let me know how it goes next jumps and wish me some luck with the weather around here.
Blue skies, Pearl

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

[slobuzzard 0]

Hey Pat, I'm a computer idjit, how do you add a quote to your profile? I think I found one that fits.

Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.