Congrats to Skydiving Duck!

[Namowal 0]

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Hey if you put me in the cartoon can I just be an egg with legs? Maybe just one wing? Or an eye patch? Or a crown?

Do I know you in real life or is will this be an honorary placement?Eye patch? Crown? What do you mean? (it's before my morning coffee so I may be missing the obvious.

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But seriously though, congrats on the A! That is awesome!

Thanks!

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Finally . Congratulations, Jenn....er, I mean Duck. Quack_Quack Attack .

Thanks, Born2Late.
(If someone told me, a year ago, that I'd be licensed as a beginning skydiver I'd have never believed it!)
"Ironically, not long after I was "stamped" another instructor took me aside and said I didn't deserve it-
-after 25 jumps, why didn't I know how and where to land?"

... Tell 'im to quack-off.
I suppose my "A" is sort of like Schrodinger's cat. It's half there. Either I'm competent (at the beginner level), or I'm a danger to myself and other jumpers. Either way it's incentive to get better, but in the meantime maybe I should hold off jumping with other people, just in case...

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

Waaaaaaay cool Namowal!!!!!

But if you've now got your "A", then the author credits in Parachutist will give away the rest of the story.

I was going to put "ending to the story", but the real adventure is just beginning.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[guineapiggie101 0]

Again, congrats to you for getting your "A". It was nice seeing that stamp on your forehead.

Sorry that someone gave you grief about your "A".

Do jump with people and get involved with the EXCEL camps. It will give you good training. Also, you will have more fun jumping with others, than by yourself (at least that is what I've been told).

Look forward to seeing you around the DZ again soon.

[ghost47 18]

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Either way it's incentive to get better, but in the meantime maybe I should hold off jumping with other people, just in case...

No, no, no. You got the A. Someone who was trained to evaluate you, cleared you to jump with others. Someone else, based only on one piece of information (that you landed off), said that you didn't deserve the A. Of the two, the person assigned to jump with you and evaluate you has the superior knowledge to make the call.

(Also, are you sure the other instructor wasn't just kidding? I was told (as a joke) by several instructors who weren't on my jump that I didn't pass my AFF 8.)

[Namowal 0]

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I was going to put "ending to the story", but the real adventure is just beginning.

Whooohooo! Thanks wolfriverjoe!

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...get involved with the EXCEL camps. It will give you good training.

That's my plan. There's a lot to learn and I wanna learn it! p.s. Thanks for snapping the picture.

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No, no, no. You got the A. Someone who was trained to evaluate you, cleared you to jump with others. Someone else, based only on one piece of information (that you landed off), said that you didn't deserve the A. Of the two, the person assigned to jump with you and evaluate you has the superior knowledge to make the call.

I like how you think.
Good point.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[DSE 3]

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(If someone told me, a year ago, that I'd be licensed as a beginning skydiver I'd have never believed it!)
"Ironically, not long after I was "stamped" another instructor took me aside and said I didn't deserve it-
-after 25 jumps, why didn't I know how and where to land?"

... Tell 'im to quack-off.

I suppose my "A" is sort of like Schrodinger's cat. It's half there. Either I'm competent (at the beginner level), or I'm a danger to myself and other jumpers. Either way it's incentive to get better, but in the meantime maybe I should hold off jumping with other people, just in case...


FWIW, the day that you landed "off" (you were still on the airport, just not in the designated landing areas), there were at least 10-15 off landings that day due to winds. A tandem landed at the motoX track too. I got a good chuckle out of the woman that landed in the dairy, her rig will smell like Holstein for a long time....

That's not excusing your "off landing" but it's important to keep perspective to what else happened that day. Uppers of 55mph were pretty intense...

I'd urge you to sign up for the Canopy Course training. It'll help you deal with those "traffic/runway/winds" moments. Don't sweat the rest of it. I've observed your landings and around the DZ. You have a good attitude, and it's very clear from your actions that you're learning from as many people as possible.

Besides, in your Duck series, you need a nemesis for your character to overcome, no?

Keep on keepin on!

[Namowal 0]

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I suppose my "A" is sort of like Schrodinger's cat. It's half there. Either I'm competent (at the beginner level), or I'm a danger to myself and other jumpers. Either way it's incentive to get better, but in the meantime maybe I should hold off jumping with other people, just in case...

FWIW, the day that you landed "off" (you were still on the airport, just not in the designated landing areas), there were at least 10-15 off landings that day due to winds. A tandem landed at the motoX track too. I got a good chuckle out of the woman that landed in the dairy, her rig will smell like Holstein for a long time....

That's not excusing your "off landing" but it's important to keep perspective to what else happened that day. Uppers of 55mph were pretty intense...

That's true. I'm not blaming the wind for everything... ...but I'm surprised it didn't blow the paint off the planes.

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I'd urge you to sign up for the Canopy Course training. It'll help you deal with those "traffic/runway/winds" moments.

I'll look into this. Time and time again I've heard this is a wise thing for a noob to do! Also, I've seen a few videos of landings gone wrong thanks to gusts, turbulence and other "surprises." That alone is incentive to learn more canopy skills. I realize nothing will make me bulletproof, but if it helps, I want to learn how to do it.

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Don't sweat the rest of it. I've observed your landings and around the DZ. You have a good attitude, and it's very clear from your actions that you're learning from as many people as possible.

Besides, in your Duck series, you need a nemesis for your character to overcome, no?

The "Fear" and "Inner Critic" characters would get jealous!
They demand top billing.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[DSE 3]

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I'd urge you to sign up for the Canopy Course training. It'll help you deal with those "traffic/runway/winds" moments.

I'll look into this. Time and time again I've heard this is a wise thing for a noob to do! Also, I've seen a few videos of landings gone wrong thanks to gusts, turbulence and other "surprises." That alone is incentive to learn more canopy skills. I realize nothing will make me bulletproof, but if it helps, I want to learn how to do it.
.

[NWFlyer 2]

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Were it up to me, it would be a requirement for anyone moving towards 50-100 jumps to attend at the least, a "level one" canopy course. Not just for their own safety, but for the safety of others.
Duck could have a great time stressin' over the camera shooting the landings, hitting the X's, and dealing with flat, low turns.

Well, there is that new B license requirement, which gets us at least part of the way there (of course, there's no saying anyone has to go beyond an A license regardless of how many jumps they have, but since most skydivers who stay in the sport also work towards higher licenses, it catches most of them on the way up).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Namowal 0]

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Duck could have a great time stressin' over the camera shooting the landings, hitting the X's, and dealing with flat, low turns.

So in addition to being safer and helpful, it'll provide new material? I like it.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[Squeak 17]

Jen are you still going to be posting "toons" here or are they reserved for the mag' now?

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Namowal 0]

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Jen are you still going to be posting "toons" here or are they reserved for the mag' now?

Thanks for asking!
I'm definitely still planning to post online versions of my work. I've been lagging behind due to a combination of working overtime/computer problems/family problems/not-jumping-because-the-weather-is-bad. I've actually written most of the post about my latest jump, but I still need to draw the pictures.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[obelixtim 100]

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I'm definitely still planning to post online versions of my work.

Good. A lot of people don't get the mag.....

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

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I'm definitely still planning to post online versions of my work.

Good. A lot of people don't get the mag.....

And some of us prefer the original versions much much more than the edited ones.

I understand they have their reasons for the changes, and they aren't all that much, but they lose something.
The description of the exit and freefall was trimmed just a bit. But it seemed to take away a lot of the feel.

And the very small "flappeta flappeta" from the slider was missing too. It's one of those little details that add an overall "richness" to the whole thing.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Abedy 0]

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Oh, I did the half breaks trick alright. I would have landed further off without it.

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Wow, I'm impressed. Most students I know remember it just after they landed. So goodonya and you obviously did well as I read that more than a dozen other parrotshooters landed really off.

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Got any camera purchases in mind?

Check with me after a few hundred jumps.

What? You don't wanna be c00l and attract all the ... erm, moment, ... you got enough erm "reasons" that skydivers will look at^T be attracted^T erm... consider you cool.
To be serious: Nice attitude, and goes with your general learning attidtude and awareness of "what's safe and what's stupid"

Same with "rather learn how to belly-fly before doing freak^T freefly" - I'm often annoyed about them young c00l (gopro) heros with their s00per-c00l feemind/fly behaviour who in the end can't do shit if it comes to any basic freefall skills... A good bellyflyer will learn how to sitfly pretty fast, but it's usually a long way for a right-after-license-into-freefly brat to arch properly, maintain heading or safely dock after an unlinked exit...
But I'm an old fart, so...

Nuff bitched, got work to do.

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

[Namowal 0]

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I'm definitely still planning to post online versions of my work.

Good. A lot of people don't get the mag.....

And some of us prefer the original versions much much more than the edited ones.

I understand they have their reasons for the changes, and they aren't all that much, but they lose something.
The description of the exit and freefall was trimmed just a bit. But it seemed to take away a lot of the feel.

And the very small "flappeta flappeta" from the slider was missing too. It's one of those little details that add an overall "richness" to the whole thing.

Thanks. I didn't even notice the "flappeta flappeta" detail was missing. (Let's hope I'm more alert when I'm under canopy!)
Some of the verbal editing was at my suggestion, so it wouldn't be too wordy.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[Namowal 0]

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Oh, I did the half breaks trick alright. I would have landed further off without it.

Wow, I'm impressed. Most students I know remember it just after they landed. So goodonya and you obviously did well as I read that more than a dozen other parrotshooters landed really off.

Thanks. I saw right away how distant I was and did everything I knew (which is, of course, limited) to get back... ...until the "uh oh, I better pick an alternate place to land" moment.

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Got any camera purchases in mind?

Check with me after a few hundred jumps.

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What? You don't wanna be c00l and attract all the ... erm, moment, ... you got enough erm "reasons" that skydivers will look at^T be attracted^T erm... consider you cool.
To be serious: Nice attitude, and goes with your general learning attidtude and awareness of "what's safe and what's stupid"

Same with "rather learn how to belly-fly before doing freak^T freefly" - I'm often annoyed about them young c00l (gopro) heros with their s00per-c00l feemind/fly behaviour who in the end can't do shit if it comes to any basic freefall skills... A good bellyflyer will learn how to sitfly pretty fast, but it's usually a long way for a right-after-license-into-freefly brat to arch properly, maintain heading or safely dock after an unlinked exit...

Again, thanks. I'm more interested in not getting hurt (or hurting someone else or damaging property) than impressing anyone. As I've mentioned before, it spooks me that I probably have undiscovered "blind spots," and bad habits... [/crazy] ...but at least I'm open to the idea.

My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.