meeting the skygods

[mbolism 0]

ok, all the sudden I'm posting a bunch of stuff, but this past week was the FIRST time I went to a different dz...I know, BEER!!! So I get to Skydive Chicago and get on an Otter load, and at the last minute, two more people hop on as we're getting ready to leave the loading area. There were only 8 of us on the load, and as I look to the back of the plane, I realize the two guys are Rook and Olav. Now, for someone from a big DZ this may not seem like a big deal, but for me, it was the whuffo version of meeting some huge movie star. I kept looking at Olav and thinking...."don't stare, don't stare, stop staring at him!" It was so cool. I talked to him later that day and he teased me about the entry in my logbook that read :"first jump at SDC (BEER) first jump in twin otter (BEER) etc etc..." He looked at me and said, "well, where's the beer?!?" Even though he's a skygod and the father of freefly, he's still a skydiver! He signed my logbook for that jump and I've probably looked at it like 50 times! The coolest thing was that he was really nice and easy to talk to. I told him that he was my hero and he was really modest. It's gotta' be weird to be at the top of your sport and not be a household name to anyone except other skydivers. In almost any other sport there are the "big names" and even if your'e not into the sport you know who they are...I know the names of a bunch of Nascar guys, baseball, football, and basketball players, but I don't care for or watch any of them. Too bad my whuffo friends and family can't appreciate how cool it was for me to hang out at a dz with Steve Utter, Olav, Rook, Emmanuelle Celicout, Mike Ortiz, Dusty and a bunch of others...(oh, Fiala-he's cool too!) I just have to blab about it to all of you because I have to tell someone and no one else gets it!!! Every time I got on the Otter, one or all of them were on it and it was like having a backstage pass for the All-Star load! So cool, and I think some of their talent actually rubbed off on me. I did my best freeflying this week...if any of you listed see this, Thanks! It inspired me to keep learning and working at perfecting my skills. And no matter how modest Olav is, he's still my hero! Thanks, Olav!
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[freeflyer49 0]

I remember how that felt...Me and a buddy saw the premier of Good Stuff about 1 1/2 years ago or so....We had like 30-40 jumps at the time...So many big names were there and we felt like "Hi, I am Jim level 4 AFF...yea I am really into this sport.."hahahaha
It goes away with time and you realize they are just peeps like the rest of us...

[mbolism 0]

yeah, it was good to see them in person, both jumping and just hanging out. It puts it into perspective. I was so temped to walk up to Olav and ask him to tell me a story about when he sucked at freeflying....he probably doesn't have one!!!! haha! But wouldn't it feel good to hear all their stories about when they used to flail and funnel and cork and basically screw around just trying stuff! There should be a post by all the skygods called "a story from when I sucked at freefly..." It would make all us newbies feel soooo much better! It was funny meeting him and kinda saying.."oh, yeah, I have like 70 jumps!" whoooo-who!! Olav was incredibly cool though. He doesn't make you feel like your'e a novice or anything. He had some great words of wisdom, too. But yeah, they are all people just like us. That's what makes skydiving sooooo cool. (Among a lot of other things!)
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[freeflir29 0]

"I told him that he was my hero and he was really modest"
Thats what makes you NOT a skygod. Never met those guys but good on em!
"I used to know a girl...She had two pirced nipples and a black tattoo"-Everclear
Clay

[outthere 0]

Yeah - it boosted my confidence greatly when after I totally screwed up our exit on my level 3 and sent myself and both JMs into a double flip before we got stable and then on the ground one of my JMs with over 6000 jumps told me about how horrible a student he was and how on 2 occassions he flat out refused to jump and rode the plane back down.
e

[Slowfaller 0]

I know what you mean about being star struck. I was down there last Thursday taking a test to get current and saw Olav sitting there drinking a Heini. Hmmmm....what the hell would I say to that guy? I'll be down there on Sunday, If you see a moptop looking guy w/ rental gear say what up.
Chris

[mbolism 0]

sorry! I came home last night to jump at my home dz for the weekend ( also the last three days of my vacation!) I'd be in trouble if I didn't make an appearance there, besides, I want to hear all the Quincy stories! But have fun and just go up to him and say hi. I walked up to Olav in the lobby and told him how cool it was to be on my first Otter with him- BEER! - I also asked him what he thought of students learning RW then moving to Freefly, or just going from student status right into freeflying. All you RW people will be impressed to hear that his advice was to definitely do some RW because it helps you learn to move in relation to others in the air, and in freeflying you have to do the same thing-just in different formations and body positions. I overheard another guy ask him what he thought about EPSN/X-games dropping skysurfing, but I didn't hear his response. That's funny- when I saw him he was drinking a Heinny too! They should have him do a commercial!!! Anyway, just go talk to him-you'll be glad you did!
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[Zennie 0]

Quote

All you RW people will be impressed to hear that his advice was to definitely do some RW because it helps you learn to move in relation to others in the air, and in freeflying you have to do the same thing-just in different formations and body positions

I'm glad to hear it, but I'm not surprised. I would expect the really good skydivers to acknowledge the importance of both. True freeflying means being able to fly in any body orientation... horizontal and vertical (I'm still trying to decide which sit actually comes under).
RW done well is extremely difficult. As is vertical flying. I'm at that point to where I'm understanding that the real challenge in skydiving is controlling your position relative to other folks while performing complex moves.
That's what the Millennium Award is all about. Recognizing mastery of all elements of flying. That's what I'm shooting for. Give me about 10 years and I'll get back to ya on how successful I am.
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[mbolism 0]

Good luck on the Millenium award! I know how hard good RW is, I've been doing a lot of sitflying and I always go back to some RW and it is more difficult when you only do it occasionally. It always leaves me thinking I have to do it more! This week I did a two way RW to let my sweetie practice with his new camera helmet, and we did a lot better than I thought we would. I really like all the hybrid formations I've been seeing. I talked to a packer we met from Palatka who is working at Skydive Chicago for the summer, and he told us about this "hog-flop" competition they have at his home dz for Halloween...it's hilarious! He said they have all these hotshot RW teams who think they can do it and win, and it's fun to watch them blow it apart!!! In case you don't know what a hog-flop is, the team forms a round, has to let go and each do a backflip and then form the round again. He said it sounds easy, but is almost impossible to do, no matter how good you are at RW. We're gonna' try it this weekend just for laughs. Apparently, after the backloop, everyone is all over the place and usually can't get back together...if we can ever do it, we're goin' to Palatka!!!! It's a good story about an easy-sounding formation that actually takes an enormous amount of skill. Not for the weak!!!!!
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[lazerq3 0]

I've actually tried this manuver only in a two way.
heres how it went
Exit was great,,,stabled out,,,he did a 360 and redock..I do a 360 and fight to redock...... both of us do backflips.................................................................................................................hey where did he go?????........looking,looking,looking there he is wayyyyyyyy over there. Both make eye contact and wave off.
Its was still fun to try ! cant imagine 4 people
jason

[freeflir29 0]

That does sound pretty hard. In VRW the whole object is to keep eye contact thus stay relative to your partner. Plus, I dont think it's very easy to control your fall rate while doing back flips. Wrong axis.
"I used to know a girl...She had two pirced nipples and a black tattoo"-Everclear
Clay

[Zennie 0]

Quote

In VRW the whole object is to keep eye contact thus stay relative to your partner.

Actually, this is the key in "regular" RW as well. It's much easier when you only have to manage your position relative to one other person.
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[skybytch 259]

Hee hee!
Hog flop dives are soooo fun! That was actually some of the first "RW" I did - launch a four way star from a Cessna, then level out, break and back loop. I think the best one I was on was three stars, two back loops...
pull and flare,
lisa
----
I am a nobody.
Nobody's perfect.
Therefore, I am perfect!

[chronistin 0]

Quote

I realize the two guys are Rook and Olav.

Rook Nelson? Oh well...
He was there in Tunisia during my FJC - and ignorant as I was, I didn't even know what a celebrity I shared the plane with...
...not that I would've cared much, scared as I was
Greetings from Vienna
Andrea

*************************************
http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Most of the celebs I've come accross have always been very down to earth .
At Espace, some of the dives were organised by Patrick P, and its SOOOOO funny to hear him speak english!!! he has the MOST stereotypical french accent when he speaks english!!!
PPS: Wendy S packed on our packing matt!!! shhhh dont tell Karen

[BenW 0]

Remi,
Come now, if you're going to name drop, do it properly. Remeber, you've met the Biggest Sky (Oh My) God of them all - Our very own Skreaming, sorry, Skreamer!
Definately a skygod in the making!!
Skygoof.

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Yea... but it wont get me anymore glory here! everybody knows Skreamer on here!!!! and that Skygod definatly has the Skygod attitude: snobish, doesnt talk to anyone, thinks he's superior to everyone.... hehehe
PS: Skreamer has NEVER packed on my packing mat... he always has an army of scantly clad groupy packers to do his biddings....

[chicagoskydiver 0]

Rook was my instructor on a couple of my student jumps at SDC. It was a little intimidating to have a 20 year old world class freeflyer as my instuctor. No doubt about it, the kid is a prodigy. But underneath all that he's a very approachable regular guy. But here's a point you have to remember - he grew up with the sport, actually doing his first tandem with his dad when he was barely four years old. He was doing solos when he was 15. The sky is a very natural element for him, and he never has a problem with giving advice to new jumpers.
Hackey

[mbolism 0]

I can't imagine growing up that way!!! I don't know if I would've appreciated it as a child if I was a dzo kid!!!! If people think I'm spoiled now, I'd hate to imagine what I'd be like if I grew up with Roger Nelson as my dad! BRAT comes to mind. Actually, I grew up as an airport brat, my dad is a private pilot, oldest brother a flight instructor and FAA employee, and two other brothers pilots. I've been in planes almost constantly since I was 4 years old. I've found it definitely gave me an advantage that other first time jumpers didn't have. I don't think many kids grew up being as comfortable on planes as me, and it was a logical step in my mind to want to jump out of them! I think the first time I thought about skydiving was when I was 13 or 14...I was in the back seat of my dad's Piper Tripacer and the door next to me popped open! It scared the crap out of me, but it was the first time I looked out the open door of a plane at the ground. I also used to stare at the big huge cottony clouds and want to reach out of the plane and touch them. My mom used to look at them and say, "don't you want to just get out and jump into one of them?" After my first few jumps, I reminded her of when she said that...I don't think she thought it would ever come back to haunt her! :) My family's really supportive, although they always say, "we're supposed to be flying the planes, not jumping out of them" Well, I always was the blacksheep! My FAA bro is cool though, he said when he retires from the FAA he's considering being a jump pilot! He rocks!!!!
those who fear nothing may not live...those who fear everything may never live.

[chicagoskydiver 0]

Rook has definitely had some huge advantages that most of us haven't had, but I can assure you he is anything but a brat. He's a really level headed kid and he definitely hasn't let his skills go to his head. As an instructor, he instills confidence in his students and tries to give constructive criticism where needed.
Hackey