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adaugherty91

New to skydiving, just need some info

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Hi! My name is Adam and I just graduated. Fresh out of the school system, I've realized that these next few years are the window of opportunity. I've got my goals laid out and this is one of them. I really want to become a skydiver. The sport excites me and really appeals to me. I just want some information before I take that leap.

First: what got you into the sport? What made you come back again?

Second: I don't know why, but this is my biggest concern. How do you land? Does the parachute just slow you down enough? I know! I feel like such a new guy. Haha.

Third: What's the craziest thing you've done skydiving? I've seen people do all kinds of formations and things like "stuff jumps" and wingsuit flying." What's your experience?

Fourth: Any advice? It'd be much appreciated!

I look to take my first jump in March (I'd go tomorrow if I could, but I gotta get some cash!)

Thanks everyone!

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Welcome to the forums..:)

I will let skymama answer all your questions since she is better at it than I am. but mainly because my last post to a newbe just wore me out...:P:D

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

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Welcome to the forums! :)
1. It was one of those bucket lists things for me and I kept coming back because I have no common sense. My Mama must have dropped me on my head when I was young.

(ok, I'm kdding. Skydiving is pretty fun. ;))

2. You land by pulling down on some of the lines, thus putting the canopy in a braked position. If you do it right, it's just like stepping off an elevator. If you don't do it correctly, you'll eventually come to a stop after you've stopped rolling and bashing yourself into the ground. So, if you have good insurance, a healthy sense of adventure and a lot of luck, you really don't even have to try and stop it yourself, you could just see what happens! :ph34r:

3. I don't really do crazy stuff, but jumping out of a helicopter and hot air balloon were pretty cool.

4. Save up all the money you can and sell some stuff before March. You're gonna love skydiving!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Hi, and welcome! There's a boatload of info here so just read or browse the stuff in the Learn To Skydive section here: http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Learn_to_Skydive/index.shtml ...and it'll only help. You'll probably find that there's plenty of time for reading new stuff along the way, since you're waiting til March and because you can't jump sometimes because of weather and junk.

Join the USPA if you already know you wanna get licensed and that'll be a nice head start. Socialize, talk to people, there's a lot to learn that way too.

I'm brand new to skydiving too so I only have so much experience, but so far the craziest thing I've done is to do as many back flips as I could from 11,000 feet, which admittedly isn't all that crazy at all compared to what a lot of people have done. It was just something new I wanted to try as my first licensed jump. Lots of people will probably answer better than I have, it's the nature of the game.

Advice? In a word, filter. Take what makes sense to you and dump anything that just seems stupid. Including my idea to dump things that seem stupid if that seems stupid. ;)

_______________________________________

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1. i went a did a tandem for my buddies birthday. i saved everry penny i could get my hands on and two months later bought a 25 jump a license package for 1800 bucks and havent looked back. getting into skydiving was one of the most monumental moments of my life, LOVE IT!!!

2. you have steering lines on your parachute. at the appropriate height you pull down both and that applies the "brakes." it isn't so hard.

3. doing stuff jumps and other jumps when you involve variables gets risky, especially with low experience. it is best to take small steps when learning skydiving. you dont want to change/add more than a variable at a time, get it right consistently then you can add another one.

and what skymamma said about helicopters, best jump so far.

4. when you start jumping just remember to breath, relax, and have a good fucking time. dont be so serious that you take the fun away.

good luck and blue skies
"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

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4. when you start jumping just remember to breath, relax, and have a good fucking time. dont be so serious that you take the fun away.

good luck and blue skies



Amen to that!! At some point letting go of, falling off of or diving off of the aircraft will get progressively more natural and FUN.
_______________________________________

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ADAM....Don't do it!!

Skydiving will ruin your life.

You will spend every cognizant minute thinking about it.

You will dream about it.

You’ll want to suspend all your old hobbies and activities.

You will not want to hang out with your non-skydiving friends.

You will spend all of your money on skydiving equipment.

You will become grumpy and depressed when you can’t jump.

You will find yourself watching the sky all of the time.

You will start analyzing the cloud cover and weather systems.

You will get a new tatoo.

And you will realize the true meaning of the word….DOOR!


Have fun and welcome to in insanity!! :S

Mikey C B|

Cause they know, and so do I, The high road is hard to find
A detour to your new life, Tell all of your friends goodbye

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I heard that the accident rate there is twice as much as the rest of the country. But I just think that there's more jump traffic there, you're inevitable to have more accidents. I think they're reputable and I've heard really good things about their staff, so it will probably be where I go.

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I heard that the accident rate there is twice as much as the rest of the country. But I just think that there's more jump traffic there, you're inevitable to have more accidents. I think they're reputable and I've heard really good things about their staff, so it will probably be where I go.



I had some of the same concerns as you when I was trying to decide where to get my A license. I too heard about all the fatalities at Skydive Chicago, and in fact, that's why I chose CSC to do my first two tandems. But when it came time to choose a place for my AFF/AFP training, everything pointed to SDC. First of all, when I actually looked at each of the fatalitites that had occured over the years, I couldn't find anything that showed a pattern of unsafe practices or culture of carelessness. It seemed to be a combinatination of the fact that they do a LOT of jumps at SDC and simply a statistical fluke. Flip a coin 10 times in a row and it could possibly come up heads 10 times even though the odds are against it. I decided that the string of fatalities in the past should not influence my decision.

So, what did I base my decision on? Well, for starters... SDC has a history of providing cutting edge instruction to students. They were among the first to train students using hand deployed pilot cutes and semi-eliptical canopies, for example. And they very carefully documented their results to the benefit of other DZs. They also have a very large assortment of student gear. No ragged out F111 canopies here. All well maintained Sabre2s instead. They also use the AFP method of instruction, which was pioneered by SDC, and consists of 18 jumps which teaches you far more than the 7 or 8 jumps of the AFF program. Yes, I understand that AFF should be followed up with coach jumps, but I believe it's better to have all the training jumps integrated into one package. There is also video of every jump at no extra cost. I found that to be of huge benefit!

A lot of DZs seem to be mostly interested in tandems, which is understandable, because that's where the money is. SDC is one of those dropzones that also cares a lot about the finest competitors in the sport. They just hosted Nationals this year, and there are several SDC jumpers walking around with gold medals from that competition. But SDC also made it very clear last weekend that they also care about their new jumpers. People like us. We just completed our first annual Rookie Fest, a competition concieved by a rookie for us rookies. Rook Nelson, the DZ owner donated rental gear for any competitor who needed it. He also served as one of the coaches/competitors, along with other world class competitors. SDC, Para-Concepts, and several manufacturers supplied more than $10,000 worth of prizes. The atmosphere was electric for us all, and the event is unlike anything I've ever heard of at any other dropzone.

Bottom line... come and be a part of this! You won't regret it! If you have ANY fears for your safety, tell your instructor. Your safety is their number one concern. I can speak from experience, because I just graduated in June of this year. And I have absolutely no regrets about my choice of DZs.

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What he said. Actually, I only visited SDC for the first weekend of Nationals. First, I would only worry about getting SPOILED by such a HUGE operation working out of that gorgeous facility! (I was appropriately jealous!).

I was impressed that during Nationals, when they were working with about 40 4-way teams, five planes flying, running two jump run tracks simultaneously, they still made sure they had instructors & coaches available for tandems and AFF students. Then, when the winds picked up, they were so safety conscious as to restrict jumping to only those with at least a C-license (that's 200 jumps minimum, plus various demonstrated skills).

Like I said, I was just an observer on the ground, but I was immensely impressed with the organization, attention to safety, and flexibility of that staff. Enjoy your AFF!

Oh, and one other note -- you can join USPA now and start getting Parachutist magazine, or you can wait until you're closer to starting your progression. The membership is annual, so decide whether it's more important to have a full year of jumping before you renew, or to get the magazine. The DZ keeps copies there, so you can check it out when you go do your tandem.

Like everyone else said, HAVE FUN!! (and sell all your stuff).;):D

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

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