The tandem no-man's land!

[slotperfect 7]

-One tandem jump means you're not a wuffo anymore. If you've done it once, you understand.
-One tandem jump does not make you a skydiver. I did not consider myself a pilot until I passed my checkride. Now I'm a rookie pilot. So, I would say that once you have been cleared from student status, you are a skydiver. A fledgling, but a skydiver.
Respectfully,
SP

[mountainman 0]

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mountainman,best wishes to you and your wife.love your attitude.see you somewhere,sometime in that big blue sky.

Thanks DES!! We are so happy to be able to do it this summer. We've made some big sacrafices to it now instead of next year. I sold my '99 Jeep, will work about 60 hrs this summer in construction, and I had to beg her over and overEver since I did the wind tunnel last year on our honeymoon, I have been PUMPED. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. The full SIM, AFF rules, student manuals, dz.com, and other random writings. It is weird that I have all this knowledge in my head about skydiving (which I personally think is more than people with one jump), but have only done one tandem.
I am already planning on spending my summers off from teaching Spanish being a TM/JM/vid guy. I just want to do this as much as I can and have tried to soak up as much knowledge as I can...here and from literature.
There always seems to be the people who put me down like "do one thing at a time", "dont read so much or you'll get confused", "you've done 1 tandem and you're greg gasson now", etc......etc........etc. The list goes on. To all of those people...kiss my A$$.
To me, that seems like telling a med student to not take any anatomy, fisiology, chemistry or anything till he/she gets to med school. That's BS!! I bought my student pilot packet a couple months ago and began reading the books, doing calculations, and memorizing FAA laws. AND, I knew I wouldn't be doing the training til 2002 or 2003. But, I know that I want to fly a jump bird one of these days at the DZ, so I'm starting now.
Sorry about the ranting a raving, but this all came to me all of the sudden. What was this thread about again??Thanks again DES!!!!
MORE SKYDIVING PHOTOS ADDED!!!
http://home.woh.rr.com/brandonandlaura/

[chaz1234 0]

I think that's what makes you a skydiver: you're broke all the time, and you DON'T CARE! All you can do is think about diving, and will make many sacrifices to do it! Way to go mountainman! Seriously though, I don't think tandems are whuffos, but they aren't skydivers either....yet. Remember, it's the journey that counts, and one of the great things about skydiving is that EVERY dive is amazing, even if you don't nail the exit, formation, manuever, etc. How many sports or activities can you have as much enjoyment as a novice, as someone who's a "master"? Usually the effort to get better in other sports is work, but in skydiving, every moment is bliss.

[gus 1]

Hi Mountainman,
Don't worry about people that try and slag you off for being so enthusiatic about skydiving, mark them off as ignorant or arseholes!
For what it's worth, I think it's great: I had about 9 months between my 1st jump (tandem) and starting my AFF and I did exactly the same as you. I read everything I could, I bought "The Skydiver's Handbook" and read it more times that I care to admit, I got my AFF manual from the DZ and memorised that, I spent far too much time on the web downloading videos, literature and whatever else I could find. Hey it's a healthy sign!
Good luck, I hope the training goes well.
Gus

[Ric 0]

gus, you sad sad little man.

[mountainman 0]

thanks for the encouragement...
I leave tomorrow morn for Mexico, but when I get back, it's time to get my knees in the breeze!!hasta luego!!
MORE SKYDIVING PHOTOS ADDED!!!
http://home.woh.rr.com/brandonandlaura/

[Shark 0]

Ya know, maybe we should re-post the "You know you're a skydiver when...." thread.

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[skreamer 1]

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not washing to save money for the next jump ticket (Screamer? )

And you guys thought I was farting in the plane? hee hee - Still haven't found a buyer for that redundant kidney of mine, but I do now have a personal loan and an extended over-draft - woo-hoo, no more crappy 3 jump weekends for me!!!
About the topic of this thread, I think you guys are missing out on one very important point : it is always scarier the second time. Everything I have tried : static line jumps, bungi jumps, new mountain-bike trails etc - they ALL were scarier the second time. So yes, well done to all the tandem *students*, but the second jump when you aren't all fuzzled by sensory overload and actually start looking around and thinking about things - THAT is the sphincter crimping moment. So maybe once they get home, watch the video a couple of times, all the 'I'm still alive, life is great!' exhiliration wears off, then the doubts start creeping in.
/s
PS of course EVERY jump with Ric and Gus scares me!!! (but that's cause they can't track....)
PPS but the ride to altitude is a right laugh!

[gus 1]

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of course EVERY jump with Ric and Gus scares me!!!

Ahhhh, you say the sweetest things!
Screamer's right though, there comes a point where it suddenly dawns on you exactly what you're doing. Maybe your 2nd jump, maybe your first unlinked exit, maybe your first solo, maybe even your 100th jump and it can be pretty scary.
Screamer, is that email address on your profile right? I sent you a terribly interesting email ages ago and it either didn't get there or you're ignoring me. Actually, I might already know the answer to that......
Gus

[skreamer 1]

Oops, sorry dude, don't check that one too often - use it to protect me from the cyber-stalkers (you know, people like Ric )
I still need an autograph for that last jump, was at Langar this weekend, but had a cold so just helped out with tandems and drank lots (hey, cheap red wine is a cold remedy right?). Yeah, the on-line logbook looks pretty good (put a nice skin on it though!). Why not post that link on the forum and see what everybody else thinks of it?
/s

[des 2]

that's true skreamer,scariest for me it was aff3 (3rd jump),but i had already made the decision to jump,i believe it's that 1st time,you make the decision to jump,knowing next to nothing,and deciding to jump from a plane,requires the most courage and commitment,that's why i give all my tandem students the utmost respect.
let's not forget,we all did our 1st jump once.
just my thoughts.
des

[Deleted 0]

yep ...tandem students are in a gray area....but they are there for the ride....so its a bit like taking a ride on a rollercoaster.....and it is like hauling cargo