Worried about the frequency of jumps...

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Made my AFF1 jump yesterday and plan to go back in a couple of weeks for AFF2. The problem is that I have to drive 230 miles to the closest DZ and I'm worried that my learning will be inhibited by the infrequency of my jumps. My schedule is as follows.

AFF2 and possible AFF3 by Dec 1, AFF4 in late December and AFF5, 6, and 7 in January assuming I pass on the first time. After that, I may only get up there once a month and may get in 2-5 jumps depending on finances and number of jumpers.

Anyways, after reading though a lot of posts, I'm feeling a little discouraged. do you think this will be a reasonable schedule?

[virgin-burner 1]

what stops you from talking a holiday, one, maybe two weeks!? you might have your A after that..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Disney World next May.. won't have any vacation left. But, I'm off the entire week of Thanksgiving and two weeks of for Christmas. I thinking I can scrape some money up to finish at least by Christmas, if not Thanksgiving. I'm going to practice hard over the next two weeks and have my wife drill me with hand signals while arching on the living room floor... try to get as much of my reactions as second nature as possible.

[virgin-burner 1]

so you got THREE weeks left; you could already have your B by then!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Wife just reminded me that I have a $1500 reimbursement for my employer to cover my ridiculously high deductible. I never thought I'd be thankful for my back problems earlier this year!

[captain1976 0]

Really not much different from those of us who started in the Winter and in crappy climates.

Between January and May in the year I started, I got 5 whole jumps and I was there every weekend.

Don't get discouraged, head South

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[poser 0]

Is there a wind tunnel anywhere close?
Doing 5 minutes in the tunnel within a week of a jump will help more than you can imagine.
I'm averaging 1 jump every 2 weeks, and other than a bit more pre-jump stress due to frequency it's been fine. It just takes me a few seconds longer after exit to get myself to relax than it might if I was jumping every weekend.
I did 5 minutes in the tunnel between 4 & 5 and it really helped reduce my stress levels because I knew the freefall portion wouldn't be a problem because I'd done the turns repeatedly in the tunnel.
I found it helpful to practice the dive flow with a 'relax' as part of the tasks. It's amazing how something that seems so simple in theory can be so difficult in practice.
Hell of thing jumping out of a plane...

[Mad_Jasper 1]

I'm on the South so that's not too much of a problem. I was concerned that the long breaks in between would cause a little more anxiety and diminish my ability to focus on the objectives. I was awestruck briefly last Friday during AFF1 after leaving the plan and had to make a conscious effort to do my TLOs.

[Mad_Jasper 1]

I'm looking around for one but so far I haven't found one any closer than a DZ. My wife has graciously agreed to help me train for my subsequent jumps. Every night, I simulate 4-6 jumps from the exit count to the landing. I prop my feet on the couch and arch on the floor and perform my TLOs and my wife drills me on hand signals. My hope is that the TLOs will be second nature so that I can focus on body position and interaction with the instructor.

My instructors were very pleased with my progression but I'm always critical of myself.

It looks like my finances will be OK to complete AFF the week of Thanksgiving should I not have too many repeat failures, but I'm hoping to get in a tunnel at least once before then for some practice.

I don't really have a lot of anxiety jumping so much as that I'm just awestruck once I leave the plane. When I did my tandem in May, I forgot about the cameraman... the experience was so amazing.

[kuai43 7]

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Every night, I simulate 4-6 jumps from the exit count to the landing. I prop my feet on the couch and arch on the floor and perform my TLOs and my wife drills me on hand signals. My hope is that the TLOs will be second nature so that I can focus on body position and interaction with the instructor.

It looks like my finances will be OK to complete AFF the week of Thanksgiving should I not have too many repeat failures, but I'm hoping to get in a tunnel at least once before then for some practice.

You've now got a two-fold problem...
The expense budget just doubled to include your wife, and looks like she's going to get her coach rating before you get your A.

Every fight is a food fight if you're a cannibal

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man. - Anthony Burgess

[Mad_Jasper 1]

I can't even talk her into a tandem... They even offered a free jump Friday 'cause she's a hottie, but no joy.

[CygnusX-1 42]

1) I'm not an instructor or doctor so I obviously know what I'm talking about and am qualified to give advice.
2) Tunnel - try here: http://www.skyventureorlando.com/ (I'm assuming Leesburg is FL.)
3) Practicing on the floor with someone giving you hand signals will do nothing to help you with TLOs later in the AFF progression. Tunnel will help. The floor will not.
4) Does anyone else see a problem with this:

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I never thought I'd be thankful for my back problems earlier this year!

Skydiving is not something to take lightly. You WILL have a hard opening sometime. You WILL have a bad landing sometime. Not necessarily enough to break things, but they all won't be soft stand-up landings. Are you sure skydiving is something you want to start doing? Sorry if I'm raining on your parade. But to me, skydiving is not meant for everybody.

Just keep in mind, I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I know what I'm talking about.

[Mad_Jasper 1]

2.) Leesburg, Ga.... Orlando is about 5 hours away.
3.) Obviously I can't perform turns and flips while arched on the floor, but I can focus on my arch and learn to react to hand signals as opposed to wondering why in the hell the instructor is giving me the peace sign.
4.) Well I do have back problems, disc degenerative disease, spinal stenosis, 3 herniated discs earlier in the summer... all due from a car accident almost 20 years ago. I've worked very hard on conditioning, stretching, and core exercises to keep my core strong and went almost 3 years with out pain. Back in May, I would have to agree that skydiving probably wasn't for me. I had serious pain for nearly six months. I was basically told by my ortho and spinal surgeon I was SOL... until one day I felt a knot near my spine in my lower back. It was almost like a pain button. I consulted with several doctors but they wrote it off as a lipoma and not the cause of my sudden severe pain. Well, I convinced one to give me a local anesthetic and BAM, no more pain. Finally convinced a general surgeon to remove the lipoma form my lower back 2 1/2 weeks ago and I haven't had any pain since. Subsequent xrays reveal that while I still have disc degeneration disease, the herniated discs and stenosis have cleared up. It seems the lipoma was causing inflammation and muscle spasms resulting in my spine being compressed. So when I say that I was thankful for my back pain earlier this year, that's what I was getting at. I've actually been cleared to skydive... but not crashing.

[airtwardo 6]

3.) Obviously I can't perform turns and flips while arched on the floor, but I can focus on my arch and learn to react to hand signals as opposed to wondering why in the hell the instructor is giving me the peace sign.

I agree with you...but for a different reason.

To be honest the 'practice' you get at home is of little value in regard to your performance at your current level, however...ANY time you spend focused on learning is well worth the investment.
~and a great habit to get into for further down the road.

You seem like a smart enough guy, you will absorb the initial training I'm sure, if you gain a couple more degrees of confidence by doing floor drills you're just that much farther ahead.

Good luck, and keep up the stretching exercises.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I have never jumped in that area and do not know the reputation of most of the DZs in that area, but I do know that there are DZs closer than 230 miles.
Skydive Fitzgerald is about 60 miles from where you are. Something for you to consider would be to take a static line program there. You could jump much more frequently over the winter due to decreased travel time, cheaper per jump cost, and increased opportunities to jump on marginal weather days during the winter. If you follow that up with some instruction in the tunnel in Orlando when the kids are at Disneyworld you will be able to learn both good freefall skills and good canopy skills while continuing to feed your addiction.
Just a thought.

[ASTKU 1]

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Disney World next May.. won't have any vacation left.

There are some good Florida dropzones near Disney World.

[Krip 2]

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I can't even talk her into a tandem... They even offered a free jump Friday 'cause she's a hottie, but no joy.

MJ

To bad about the long drive to the DZ or I'd tell you to leave the hottie at home.

Free Tandem

One Jump Wonder

[Mad_Jasper 1]

I was thinking about that but my wife would cut the boys off if I decided to take time to jump during our trip. She's been very understanding and supportive... I don't want to take advantage of her.

To be honest, I enjoy our WDW vacations to the point I really would rather spend the time with my wife and daughter. Cedartown is about 1 1/2 hours closer anyway.

[Mad_Jasper 1]

That is a great thought! I searched the Net and made dozens of calls trying to find a closer DZ and this is the first I've heard of anything as close as Fitzgerald. I'm looking into it now.


***updated***
The skydive center was shut down about 10-15 years ago according to the airport. Still screwed,

I enjoy hanging out at ASC in Cedartown, but I don't have anything to compare it to.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

look here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/dropzone/finder.cgi?search=addr&lat=31.72933519501584&lng=-84.17449951171875&rad=200

[Mad_Jasper 1]

Skydive Fitzgerald is closed. Skydive Opelika is only 100 miles away, but the owner told me immediately that he doesn't accept ASC (Cedartown, GA) students and went on to criticize ASC for several minutes. He commented that ASC students don't learn anything and that they rob the student blind. After talking with him for a little while, he said he would accept me if I came to talk with him one weekend. As far as his fees, there was only about $100 difference over the seven jumps. I looked over the reviews and Opelika only had 4 (5 star rating) whereas ASC had around 65 (4 star rating).

[CygnusX-1 42]

Something else to consider then is to take the whole family to Skyventure. Buy a package to do the "tourist" thing there where everyone will get time in the tunnel. I don't know how old your kids are, but I think if they are potty trained, then SVO will take them in the tunnel.

It would be a nice way to show your family what it is like and why you enjoy skydiving in a relatively safe manner. Make it more of a family activity that each of you can enjoy. Not that you are just dragging the family along so that you can play in the tunnel.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Skydive Fitzgerald is closed. Skydive Opelika is only 100 miles away, but the owner told me immediately that he doesn't accept ASC (Cedartown, GA) students and went on to criticize ASC for several minutes. He commented that ASC students don't learn anything and that they rob the student blind. After talking with him for a little while, he said he would accept me if I came to talk with him one weekend. As far as his fees, there was only about $100 difference over the seven jumps. I looked over the reviews and Opelika only had 4 (5 star rating) whereas ASC had around 65 (4 star rating).

I know nothing about Cedartown's student program, but I do know that the owners are hated within the community from one end of the continent to the other over their internet marketing practices. this is a thread about them. You will find people anxious to bash them and their dz wherever you go.
My advice is to go visit Opelika and check it out. If you like the vibe then go there. If not then don't. Whatever you do, do not waste your breath defending ASC as it will just ruin your visit; nod your head and say "mmmm?, mmmm."
It is not unusual for people to be badmouthing the local competition in our sport (as unprofessional as that is), but the animosity between ASC and virtually all their neighbours is on a whole different level. Stay out of it and enjoy yourself.