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JamesBond

Prospective Skydiver Down Under :D

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Hey guys,

I'm in my late 20's - 28 in April, and have been thinking of learning how to skydive solo for a number of months now. I couldn't tell you where this thought/fantasy came from, but the appeal stems mostly from learning a new skill, one that is exhilarating, challenging, and seems to be pretty bloody rewarding.

I'm in Sydney, luckily, as browsing through these forums, I've realised how much where you live affects your choices regarding drop zones, weather etc. Sydney, or the Sydney region, as far as I understand suitable jumping weather, is generally a good spot.

So, a few weeks ago, I did my first tandem to gauge how I emotionally, physically, physiologically responded to jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet. I was somewhat disappointed when back on the ground, and didn't feel an immediate urge to fly back up and do it again. I've since reflected on how I felt and am trying to figure out how I can manage these reservations, because I know that if I put my mind to a new hobby, I will be successful and will be enjoying myself. So, in order of what's worrying me the most, please see below (I'm hoping this wonderful community can assist me in my skydiving journey :)
1. Fear
Yep. When the plane was taking off, I felt my fear of height kick in, and we were at the 5,000ft mark when I started trying to distract myself - looking straight ahead, roleplaying in my head about being involved in a military mission (B|), not looking out the window etc.

As we fell out of the plane, I immediately shut my eyes for a couple seconds, then allowed myself to see what was happening. I wasn't screaming in fear, but I wasn't completely comfortable either. I probably shouldn't have asked how often the instructor had to pull his reserve chute before we got into the plane....

2. Motion Sickness
I jumped early in the morning, with only a very light meal beforehand. I felt fine until my instructor began (unnecessarily) twirling the canopy from side to side, which, coupled with a very tight harness which caused discomfort. I usually never experience motion sickness, so this was new to me. It may have been disorientation, but it only lasted an hour or two afterwards.

I'm still keen to learn how to skydive though, I'm just hoping these two issues won't prohibit me from becoming a skydiver one day (my goal is to attain an A license). One thing I resented was having to do the skydive with someone attached to me - would love to experience skydiving completely on my own, free to control my own destiny.

My question for anyone who was nice enough to read this rant would be - would you advise I do another tandem to gauge whether or not I'll yet again have motion sickness, before embarking on the relevant courses? I could potentially do it later on in the day when I've eaten enough, ensure that my harness isn't suffocating me, and request that the instructor doesn't twirl around. I do ride a motorbike and I love riding the twisties, so this may have been a combination of factors. I resent the thought that motion sickness would prevent my dream of jumping through the skies!

Thanks all for your time. Hope to join you guys in the world of skydiving!

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JamesBond

[#09355b]would you advise I do another tandem to gauge whether or not I'll yet again have motion sickness, before embarking on the relevant courses?

In the USA the first two jumps in an AFF course are typically tandems anyway (at least they are where I jump anyway). I would not pay extra for another tandem if your AFF courses requires two tandem jumps anyway.

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Nervousness, not eating & hydrating 'normally', too tight harness, and just being unused to maneuvering around in the air can lead to nausea. A good instructor will fly no spirals or lots of spirals as you prefer -- not just spiral like crazy to get down faster for the next jump. Student harnesses sometimes get a little overenthusiastically overtightened, when instructors want to make sure they don't let them get too loose.

So some motion sickness on a jump like that isn't unexpected. No reason to stop.

Fear? As long as it isn't paralyzing fear, then no problem. It's part of the fun & challenge of learning to skydive. Lots of threads by newbies about how to get over fear, if it is something that interferes with learning & enjoyment on later jumps.

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Thanks for your insights guys. Your respective pieces of advice have been really helpful in my reflections on things over the last week or two.

20_kN

I would not pay extra for another tandem if your AFF courses requires two tandem jumps anyway.


Initially, I had thought that I had to pay for the AFF course in one lump sum, and hence be committed to all nine (well, 9 here in Australia) stages. I've since learned that there are different options, and your suggestion of not paying for a tandem works well with my newly formed plan of tackling the stages individually. Cheers!

PChap, I must thank you for your reassurance that my apprehensions are normal and shouldn't be cause for concern in relation to learning how to jump out of airplanes! I'm certainly looking forward to starting my journey in the skies. My plan now is to undertake the AFF in a couple months (current work commitments don't allow any sooner), and complete it over three weeks.

Cheers again, hope to enjoy the sport as much as you guys have!

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That's a great bike Ninja. You're right about the R6s though, they love to fly don't they? Coincidentally, the reason I'm selling mine is to get a naked bike - looking at the MT-09. The R6 is just a little too aggressively styled for my liking nowadays.

I think the R1 and the BMW are the two best in that litre superbike class, though I'd take the R1. Bit of a Yamaha fan if you couldn't tell lol ;) Hope you get to jump on one soon!

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I'm hoping to be able to keep the CB and just buy a sports bike, unless i just keep flunking the AFF lol.
I love the naked power delivery, really smooth all the way through the rev range, and so easy to hoon around on, real hooligan toy, and so comfy, theres an added bonus of a naked and thats not putting much wear on the front tyre as they allways like to be on the back wheel lol.

Cant post a pic of my CB for some reason :|

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