RUN_FMX 7 #1 November 21, 2010 Yea, 46 jumps... Long story short, every time I jumped I just did solos for waaaay too long. Couldnt afford coach jumps. Never even looked at my A licence card. Just jumped enough (barely) to stay current. Essentially wasnt learning anything each time I jumped. Real stupid way to go about it, but I recently gave myself an attitude adjustment. Anyways, a couple weeks ago decided it was time to sort my shit out. Hooked up with some extremely talented coaches and went from having nothing signed on my A card to having the whole thing ticked off in a few jumps. Honestly ive learned more in the past 2 weeks doing coach jumps than I did with the 20 solos before that, and now ive potentially found my first rig and taking the whole thing a lot more serious. Point is, dont be lazy like me. Getting your A is not hard, put the effort in at the start and begin your learning early. Not only will you be a safer skydiver, but it will stop people from laughing at you for taking as long as me to get your licence Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SKIandSKY 0 #2 November 21, 2010 Well man, you make me feel better. I'm at 30 solo's and if I hadn't gotten food poison last week I would have gone for my check dive yesterday. Hopefully next week or next weekend I can get the time to get it in. After that all I'll need is the packing class (got some good experience in last weekend THANKS CHRIS!) and the oral exam, which I am studying for. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #3 November 21, 2010 Quote but it will stop people from laughing at you Fook em. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redramdriver 0 #4 November 21, 2010 Nothing to feel embarrassed about. I know a guy who just loved to jump, jump, and jump some more. And, yeah, he had decent skills, so it wasn't like there was no one jumping with him. Finally, after about 250 jumps, and yes he did have his own gear, he broke down and took the check dive, and oral exam. No one ever knew, but he finally got his official A. Then he was seen a lot less frequently, because he was out going to other DZ's all the time. Go figure.So, you bring your beer? Its 5 o'clock somewhere POPS #9344 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yeyo 1 #5 November 21, 2010 yeah congratulations! and talking about embarassing, how about 900 jumps and only an A licence? HISPA #93 DS #419.5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #6 November 21, 2010 Quote yeah congratulations! and talking about embarassing, how about 900 jumps and only an A licence? I have a friend with 1000+ jumps and still only has an A license. I've been after him to get a D. Years ago, a friend of mine was at a small town airshow, where they had a jump plane available for free jumps all day long, as long as you had a D license for the landing area. My friend skydived all day for free while many other more experienced jumpers sat on the ground with their lesser licenses and seethed.I never bothered to get my A or B. At my non-USPA DZ, neither was required for anything. I got my C and D license because with those you could work as a jumpmaster and do demos. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyBastard 0 #7 November 21, 2010 My grandad is 95 and he still has A licence. even after the time he fell out of his car and the neighbours all had to help him get upDude #320 "Superstitious" is just a polite way of saying "incredibly fucking stupid". DONK! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D22369 0 #8 November 21, 2010 congrats on your A! when I started I was doing what you did, few jumps spaced out according to my money situation and not really learning new skills, but I was getting my jump fix over beer one night the dzo talked me into becoming a packer and saving up the cash and doing a bunch of jumps in one weekend, Huge difference!! plus it was one hell of a lot more satisfying than the solo's. Roy They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
erdnarob 1 #9 November 21, 2010 There is no reason to be embarrassed at all about getting your A license at 46 jumps even if it took a certain time. People go at their own pace. The important is that you finally got your A license. I prefer somebody like you who has had the time to get well ready and...ripe to get your first license than somebody who rushes to get it absolutely as soon as possible. There is a big difference between having a license and to be able to perform at your license level. OTOH having more than the minimum requirements doesn't hurt. Since you took your time, you certainly had more time to study, get more knowledgeable... about skydiving. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyBastard 0 #10 November 22, 2010 +1Dude #320 "Superstitious" is just a polite way of saying "incredibly fucking stupid". DONK! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toasted_Cracker 0 #11 November 22, 2010 Congrats! Hell I was at 38 jumps before I got my A. Now im at around 90 or so but I had a pretty major injury on a landing so im out till atleast spring. :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trig78 0 #12 November 22, 2010 It took me 29 jumps and 9 years to get mine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bucketlistpilot 1 #13 November 22, 2010 Congrats mate. About time Ashley and I had someone else to jump with.Ian Purvis http://www.loadupsoftware.com LoadUp DZ Management App [email protected] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron 7 #14 November 22, 2010 18 years and 5k jumps later.... I still don't have an "A". I skipped the A and B and went right to the C (and I only did that because I wanted to jump on the beach). By the time my C came in the mail.... I already had the jumps for the D. The only benefit to a license is new DZ's you go to expect you to have met a certain standard..... If you are at one DZ... Not such an issue."No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #15 November 22, 2010 Quote The only benefit to a license is new DZ's you go to expect you to have met a certain standard..... If you are at one DZ... Not such an issue. Along the same lines, if you ever want to do even the simplest demo jump, it's way easier if you have the appropriate license. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManagingPrime 0 #16 November 23, 2010 Quote Yea, 46 jumps... Long story short, every time I jumped I just did solos for waaaay too long. Couldnt afford coach jumps. Never even looked at my A licence card. Just jumped enough (barely) to stay current. Essentially wasnt learning anything each time I jumped. Real stupid way to go about it, but I recently gave myself an attitude adjustment. I did the same thing. In retrospect It probably cost me more to get my A that way, but no regrets. Before I got my A I realized the importance of coaches and jumping with others. In the end it's all good, it's about the journey not the destination.Congrats on the A!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stem13 0 #17 November 23, 2010 CONGRATS! Who cares what other people say as long as you are having fun and being safe! I'm pretty bummed because I gave up about a month ago thinking that I wouldn't be able to get enough jumps in to get my A by the end of the season (which was this weekend)...so everytime I went out I would jsut do solos... And now I realize I could have done it, as I reached 24 (could hve gotten the 25th in too), but just watched everyone else squeeze their A's in at the very end instead...OH WELL! ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!some sort of crazy liquor cheeseburger party Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baksteen 84 #18 November 29, 2010 Quote Yea, 46 jumps... Got my A at 91 jumps, B and C nearly simultaneously at ~300 jumps. Jump numbers aren't important. Having fun is. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
