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Sletzer

How did you're first Hop & Pop go?

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I did probably.. 15 hop and pop type exits from full altitude before going for the 'real thing'. For some reason, they scared me so much and were the last thing I had to do for my A License. I put them off until I was getting sick of doing solo jumps.. with 55 skydives under my belt!:S

Needless to say, the full altitude exits gave me all the confidence I needed and I nailed both hop and pops on the first attempt. And I'm glad I did - they still remain one of my favorite types of jumps. Lots of time to fly my canopy, and still get a little bit of freefall at the same time!

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Have to do Hop´n´Pop soon and I do admit I am a bit worried... If I screw it up and use like 5 seconds to get stable and the main opens slow.. so another 4 or so. That gets me down to what? 1500?1000?



Nah....at 3,500 even with a tumbled exit and an additional 5 seconds delay/swear session you should be well above that. For one, you are still vectoring along with the plane and you aren't at terminal velocity so your downward velocity is so little. The parachute opens quick even in the lower deployment speeds.


Cool I just went through my Hop'n'pops and got them signed of. The chute took a bit longer to get out of the bag, but man that opening was SOFT, was actually really fun and I would do it anytime again :)

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To Sletzer, thought I'd share: my hop & pop went fine. My girlfriend's, however...well, it might sound kinda familiar. Let's just say it was less of a hop & pop...and more of a hop, barrel roll, backloop, barrel roll, and pop. :D

She weighs just a *little* bit less than a ping pong ball, and instead of pushing out of the Otter and assertively presenting herself to the wind, she kind of pushed off lightly with one foot. The prop blast caught her left shoulder first and rolled her around, and it took her a bit to get stable.

She was still open well above her decision altitude.

Best part was on the ground. The head AFF-I (a great character, complete with authentic Bulgarian dialect) comes up to her, very calm and collected, and says, "I am sorry. My fault. I forgot to tell you: this was not to be an aerobatic jump." :D Very apologetic-like.

Needless to say, she loves hop n' pops now...but she hates that video. (And luckily, she doesn't post on here. She'd be less-than-happy that I shared that with the world.) ;)

Signatures are the new black.

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My first H@P was my 6th jump, after 5 static line jumps. The only JM available at the time was a lady who didn't have much interest in working with students any more. I still relate her "words of advice" to me just before opening the door "You'd better not scare me!" Actually, I really liked being off the static line. I remember sitting in the back of the airplane, and obsessing slightly about "falling out" without my SL stowed on the back of the rig. Once off SL, I could justify that if for any reason I did fall out of the airplane, at that point it was "just another skydive" since I now controlled my own fiat, and carried my own rip cord.

Anyway, exiting the airplane at 4,000' for a SL, or IAD student is just more of the same ol.
Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

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My first H&P was my first jump. It was a static line jump in May 1992 at Skydive East in Pittstown NJ. They were still using surplus miltary gear. I didn't know any better. My rig was a Modified T-10 (35ft round) on my back with a belly mounted 28 foot round reserve. Our jumpsuite was a mechanics overall. Our helmets were Bell motorcycle helmets. They supplied us with real military Jumpboots.

Did the 1st Jump Course and jump in the same day. Most of the course was practicing PLFs off of a 3ft high platform. We did front, sideways, and backward PLSs for hours. It was 95 degrees (hot for may in NJ) so they needed to drill us with PLFs because the landings were going to be hard on this hot day. My group was the last of 30 jumpers. 3 had already gone to the hospital with leg injuries due to hard landings. I have no idea what made me want to continue.

All the way to altitude I prayed and promissed I'd never do it again if I got down alive. My climbout was strong and then it went to hell. My logbook reads "Reverse Arch, Hands On Helmet". Well after the parachute cam over my shoulder, it opened ok. I thought I was going to die.

I landed about 200 yards from the target on the other side of a corn field. As I was getting close to the ground, the ground instructor just kept repeating over and over to look at the horizon and squezze my legs together and PLF when you feel the ground. Needless to say, I hit very hard and lucky for me the PLF worked but I did hurt my ribs. Couldn't breathe for a week. I landed directly next to my buddy. Never saw him until I peeled myself off of the ground, as I was afraid to look anywhere but the horizon. Glad I didn't land on him. He tells me that it hurt him when he saw me land.

Despite all of it, I had to go back for more and more and more.

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My instructors just shook his head when he saw me on the ground, the only thing he said was....... Youre not supposed to do cannon balls on your first hop and pop!! :D:D But it was fun!!! :):)

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone!

I like to start my day off with a little Ray of Soulshine™!!

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My first hop and pop was disastrous. I truly almost killed myself. I exited at 3500 (To meet A license requirement). After exit, I was tumbling severely. 7 seconds later, I got on my belly but I was so nervous to the limit that I couldn’t locate the hacky ball to deploy my main I got on my back again. I finally pulled it together. I am not too sure how high I pulled on that jump but I remember checking my alti right after my canopy was inflated and I was less than 1000 ft from the ground. Nothing felt better than walking away from that experience.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" Franklin

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My first hop and pop was terrible. I was dreading doing it and kept putting it off till I finally grew a pair and realized it had to be done. Everything about the dive felt like it went wrong from the time I boarded the plane. I had never sat by the door and barely left enough room for the last guy on the plane because I did not know he had to push the steps away. All I could do was stare at the ground on the ride to 5k. The door opened and I some of the JM's with AFF's kept telling me to relax and finally pointed to the green light. I got into the door checked the spot and more or less threw myself out of the aircraft. I did not count to 4.. or even 2. Someone said my hand was on my hackey out the door. I remember hearing the engines of the plane as if I were right next to them for an eternity. Anyway I opened unstable as hell and felt the pilot chute hit my right foot. After opening I yelled and felt very confident that I'd just done something that I'd been scared of since I started jumping (I was also glad because I thought I would not have to do it again.). I was told I need to do it again because people on the plane said I nearly wrapped the pilot and bridle around my ankle. Now the 2nd time around I think I will be alot better since I have done it once and survived.. I'm almost looking 4ward to it. The big part for me was that I had never sat by the door or been the first out and I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of everyone because I remember someone once wrestling with the door and everyone laughing at him because he could not get it open. I did not want to be that guy. Since I screwed up the boarding and barely left any room and really looked like an idiot trying to find a place to go so the last guy could get on I guess too late for worrying about looking like a dumbass :P Long story short. My first hop and pop was a complete and total disaster.

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

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Well, the second one was good, but the first one...... not so good. I was a lot nervous, spotting for myself, one of the first times I was jumping my own pack job, no instructor on the plane, three people waiting to exit after me..... I managed to forget to arch off the step (C-182) so that made a mess of the exit. I didn't really realize how much time I had (exited at 5500 feet), so I was somewhere between on my side and on my back when I decided to pull. The opening was ok anyway. All in all, pretty much a mess. But I went up the next day and did it again and everything went like it was supposed to. Whew!! B|B|

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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Well, the second one was good, but the first one...... not so good. I was a lot nervous, spotting for myself, one of the first times I was jumping my own pack job, no instructor on the plane, three people waiting to exit after me..... I managed to forget to arch off the step (C-182) so that made a mess of the exit. I didn't really realize how much time I had (exited at 5500 feet), so I was somewhere between on my side and on my back when I decided to pull. The opening was ok anyway. All in all, pretty much a mess. But I went up the next day and did it again and everything went like it was supposed to. Whew!! B|B|



Did you have an article in the most recent parachutist by any chance? :)

Anyways - I did my first hop and pop (clear and pull from 4.5k) on my 17th jump. I was a TERRIBLE IAD student, could not get an arch down - finally got cleared for Practice Clear and Pulls and couldn't do three good ones in a row to save my life. Finally got to clear and pulls, left the plane great and threw - success! :) My first five second delay, however, ended with me throwing from my back - and my first 10 second delay became a 7-second, after the first five were on my back, i finally hit belly to earth and thought "I see ground, that's long enough for me.." and tossed out. ;)

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Good job Granny! I have been watching your posts for a while, as I'm a Grandpa myself, and enjoy proving that us 'experienced at life' types can still have fun. My first h&p went pretty well, which was a surprise, because I was pretty nervous, (scared shitless?) about it, and had mostly done 'creative' exits at that point. Having gotten through it, i was in no hurry to do another one, but after getting my A, I signed up for a canopy control course without realizing they were going to be from 5k. After getting through that, I was OK with them, but still didn't do any more until a couple of months ago when I made my first night jump. That was beautiful! Anyway, the main thing I'd have to tell new jumpers is that it gets easier, and the only thing that makes it difficult is your own nerves. Practice on the ground, and in your mind. Relax, it's fun.
But what do I know?

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Did you have an article in the most recent parachutist by any chance? :)


Yeah, that was me. Someone from the magazine read my blog on myspace and asked me to write it.

It was surprising to both me and my instructor that I didn't arch off the step. I hadn't had any problem with that until the first solo I did off the step and then the hop n'pop. I think I've got it worked out ok now, though.
"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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Good job Granny! I have been watching your posts for a while, as I'm a Grandpa myself, and enjoy proving that us 'experienced at life' types can still have fun. My first h&p went pretty well, which was a surprise, because I was pretty nervous, (scared shitless?) about it, and had mostly done 'creative' exits at that point. Having gotten through it, i was in no hurry to do another one, but after getting my A, I signed up for a canopy control course without realizing they were going to be from 5k. After getting through that, I was OK with them, but still didn't do any more until a couple of months ago when I made my first night jump. That was beautiful! Anyway, the main thing I'd have to tell new jumpers is that it gets easier, and the only thing that makes it difficult is your own nerves. Practice on the ground, and in your mind. Relax, it's fun.



Now that I've done one successfully and am back to being able to get off the step right, I'm pretty sure I won't mind doing more. I do still need to do one from 3500. I plan on getting that one done sometime the coming weekend. I was checking out what it would look like from that altitude on the way up the other day and it sure seems mighty close to the ground. I'm having a hard time deciding if I wan't to do my own packing for that jump or not, but I probably will.
"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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Did you have an article in the most recent parachutist by any chance? :)


Yeah, that was me. Someone from the magazine read my blog on myspace and asked me to write it.

It was surprising to both me and my instructor that I didn't arch off the step. I hadn't had any problem with that until the first solo I did off the step and then the hop n'pop. I think I've got it worked out ok now, though.



Yep I'd seen that too. :) Nice article by the way, really enjoyed it. Barely have your A and already becoming well-known, eh?

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Actually, I don't even have my A yet. I'm only at 19 jumps and I stilll have a bunch of stuff to get marked off my yellow card. But, now that the weather and other issues are getting better, I can see it happening soon.
"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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Now that I've done one successfully and am back to being able to get off the step right, I'm pretty sure I won't mind doing more. I do still need to do one from 3500. I plan on getting that one done sometime the coming weekend. I was checking out what it would look like from that altitude on the way up the other day and it sure seems mighty close to the ground. I'm having a hard time deciding if I wan't to do my own packing for that jump or not, but I probably will.


B|B|B|B|B|B|
I did my 3500 foot hop n'pop this evening and it went great. It wasn't near as scary as I expected it to be. It was actually fun. And I spotted for myself and jumped my own pack job, too. What a blast!! It just gets better and better.
B|B|B|B|B|
"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

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My instructor told me to pull after I had passed through the c*&^% (industrial haze) which really turned out to be more like a ten second delay. "And by the way, he added, if you get into any trouble out there, just pull your reserve." "Are you kidding?" I thought because the main was a square and my reserve was a round canopy. I had only jumped squares on the 5 previous static line jumps. Anyway, I became unstable really quick. As I approached the reference point, I pulled the main ripcord. I kept my boots together as I completed the backward flip through my risers, the chest mounted altimeter struck my nose but the canopy flight and landing was uneventful.

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My first H&P was my first jump. It was a static line jump in May 1992 at Skydive East in Pittstown NJ. They were still using surplus miltary gear. I didn't know any better. My rig was a Modified T-10 (35ft round) on my back with a belly mounted 28 foot round reserve. Our jumpsuite was a mechanics overall. Our helmets were Bell motorcycle helmets. They supplied us with real military Jumpboots.

1992???? Sounds like 1962.:D:D

That place sounds like it SUCKS! Did you have AAD's on your reserves? By 1992, most of the world had square mains and piggy back rigs with AAD's for all students. AFF and tandem were popular, but S/L was still going strong. Any guesses why they didn't use a static line on your first jump?:S

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I remember my first hop n pop to finish my aff. Over the past couple of weeks previous, had just began to get used, and come to terms with what 12500 ft looked like. Next thing I'm staring out of a 182 at 3000 ft saying 'Holy shit, theres a cow! Theres a barnyard!' Standard student exit off the strut, was supposed to open within 5 seconds, felt stable enough by 3. Really enjoyed the sub terminal opening. After checking my canopy I gave the biggest WOO HOO I had, knowing I'd passed.
Stand up landing too. Even though it was a Monday morning and there was only about 4 people on the DZ, I still rang the bell and got drunk!:)

------------------------------------skydiving...the grounds the limit!

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I was very nervous for my first hop-and-pop. I was a static-line student and I was worried about having to deploy myself. I had been doing good practice pulls, but it wasn't quite the same.

I got out at 5000 feet and for some reason pushed myself off the step so that I ended up falling onto my back. I was concentrating so much on making sure I deployed that I wasn't paying attention to my body position. I deployed on my back and apparently the pilot chute started to wrap itself around me, but my instructor said I arched well and flipped over and the rest of the deployment went well. The landing was uneventful and I felt great after it was done. My instructor did have me hang off the strut for my next few exits, though.

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I did my hop & pop today. Everything was going great until deployment, and I ended up with severe line twist. I checked my altimeter... 3,000 feet, so I had a little time to work with it. I reached up, spread the risers, and kicked out all 5 twists by 2,600 feet. For the first few seconds, I thought that I was going to have my first reserve ride.

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HnP I have 3 that I really remember off all of them at a Cessna DZ.

1st one Emergency Exit Simulation from C206. DIve exit with an unwanted front flip. Recover fast and deploy. No line twist saddle by 2800 I think.

Next HnP was for droping water balloons on target. It was a contest organized by the DZ and a bad idea I might add. The judge(DZO) was sitting on his back next to the target watching the sky while we were dropping water balloons from 1000 ft. First balloon that got close enogh for him to see something shown a 2-3 inch deep crater in the ground. :S

Next one another contest where we were timmed from landing until finishing up a beer ... at least I've got a beer.;)

I've witness people playing landing TicTacToe from HnP.

HnP games are fun...

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

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Next one another contest where we were timmed from landing until finishing up a beer ... at least I've got a beer.



That's a GREAT idea for my 100. Beer anyone? :)
Glad to hear about everyone's hop and pops. Keep the stories coming!
I will be kissing hands and shaking babies all afternoon. Thanks for all your support! *bows*

SCS #8251

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