silly question

[happythoughts 0]

If they go up on the plane, no money back. You pay for it, exit is your choice.

Saw an AFF student land with the plane 2 weeks ago. A woman in her 50's. I guess I've seen 10 AFF students and probably 15 tandems land with the plane.

My fav story was 2 bikers. Rode up with the leathers on and tattoos everywhere, want to do a tandem. Mr and Mrs Toughy. At 10K, she says she doesn't want to go. Mr. Supportive says "Well honey, if you aren't going to go, I'll stay on the plane with you." I thought he was going to pee in his pants before 8K.

[freakflyer9999 1]

I wasn't on the load, but I saw the students unloading on the ground. Five S/L freefall students on board with one JM. The first student apparently balked in the door of the Porter and wouldn't jump. The DZO/pilot decided to descend with all the students instead of trying to move everyone around. He nosed the Porter over into a steep dive which resulted in all 5 student FXC 12000's firing as they went through about 2500'.
As I said I was standing there on the ground watching as all 5 unloaded from the aircraft carrying their reserve pilot chutes in their hands. Funny but very scary at the same time.
I did quit jumping at that particular DZ along with several others because of this incident as well as several other incidents.

The only time I personally rode the plane down was when the Caribou lost power in one engine during climb out. With a tailgate full of S/L students and barely 1000' of altitude we all decided to ride down with the plane.

[wmw999 2,178]

I don't teach any more, but I've had 1 S/L student decide to ride down, and no AFF. Once they're out, they're out -- if you hit 'em hard enough, and yell "GO" loud enough, they even think it was their idea. I never had to have the pilot pop one off.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Watcher 0]

Had a tandem ride down in the plane about 6 weeks ago on a friday afternoon. Got up, husband jumped, she rode the plane down. $145 20 minute plane ride is expensive if you ask me.

Jonathan Bartlett
D-24876
AFF-I

[riggerrob 563]

I have had 2 tandem and a half dozen IAD students refuse.
Oh well, they just paid for an expensive plane ride.

[riggerrob 563]

Will ladyskydiver or someone else please explain to me the old-wives-tale popular among first-timers of skipping breakfast in an attempt to avoid motion sickness?
Skipping breakfast has the reverse effect on most people.
All but one of the tandem students who have vomited on me skipped breakfast.
I saw the same phenomenon when my brother skipped breakfast, then almost fainted when he stepped off a early morning rollercoaster.

[dreamsville 0]

Once at Sebastian we had to wait until a gal got off the plane who was to do a tandem. Her legs were shaking. She came back later and did her jump.

At Skydive Chicago, I saw the plane descending more slowly than Otters usually do, and finally it landed. Evidently the pilot was trying not to make the tandem student any more nervous than the prospect of jumping had already made him. He shakily got off the plane. The tandem master is well known and is actually one of the best at making students comfortable. My guess is that this was not the sport for that student to begin with.

Harry

I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane.

Harry, FB #4143

[ladyskydiver 0]

I had actually eaten breakfast - a piece of toast prior to class (7:30am) but didn't think to bring a cooler with food in it or to go to the closest fast food joint for lunch or dinner...was too nervous to think about food. And then by the time I thought about food, it was too late, I was in the plane fighting getting ill. It was a total brain malfunction that day and one that I learned from.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[Andie787 0]

I've seen one student chicken out. He was Mr. Extreme sports, or so he thought. He rode the plane down. And since he and his friend had biked about 60 kilometers and camped at the DZ in the rain and then waited around all day, his friend was pretty pissed.

On my boyfriend's first jump (IAD):
JM: Get ready
BF: Do you have my pilot chute?
JM: Yes I have it
BF: Are you sure?!
JM: Get the fuck outta here! GO!

Andie

[DaMan 0]

As we were getting ready to board the plane, this tandem got off and all he kept saying was, "You people are f*@kin' crazy!", over and over. Expensive plane ride with buying video too!

Z-Flock 8
Discotec Rodriguez

Too bad weapons grade stupidity doesn't lead to sterility.

[jumpy 0]

Refused once myself on a static line jump..for some reason in my head the 10 second delay was alot scarier then a 7 second one

Anyway i'm never riding the plane down again..our pilots suck at the landing!!

[skypuppy 1]

I've had a few students refuse to jump - it's not really a big deal - I'm here to serve...

However, I did have an 'experienced' freefall jumper with about 35 jumps refuse to go out once... His dad was a hard-core military jumper from wayback, so I thought maybe he wasn't jumping for the right reasons...

I wasn't really happy about the way I handled his refusal - he seemed freaked out by the sparse clouds around, and it was his first jump on a rig without an AAD. We were about 3500'. I talked to him calmly and took the plane around twice on jumprun again - each time he seemed to start moving to the door of the 182, then balked again...

After the second time I sort of lost it - I started talking to him really forcefully - I actually said, like, "J---- Ch----, ********, are you a man or a mouse?!" This time he actually started to climbout the door, but he was almost crying and I started to think maybe he shouldn't jump without the AAD, so I pulled him back in, told him to sit in the back and ride down, to wait until he felt better.... Then I jumped...

I was sort of pissed off so I did some a style set and dumped a bit low (not real low, just below 2000'). The funny thing was that the people looking for him on the ground, until they saw my open canopy, thought I was him and that he was falling out of control and wasn't going to dump...

In my defense, he wasn't a student so I didn;t technically have to ride down with him...

He did go on to jump again - even got over a hundred, but I don't know if he was ever comfortable with it...

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[Dumpster 0]

I was on C-182 load for 30 second delay, and we had two static line students to kick out first, a b/f-g/f deal- Boyfriend got out no problemo, girlfriend got her feet on the step, no go, went around, still a no go. So the three of us rode the plane down, JM/myself/and the chick. We gave her support on the ground and all, but she was so embarrased we never saw her again- Too bad, she was easy to look at, too!

I eat a very light breakfast on jump days, and if I get the munchies I might nibble on something, but save major scarfing till the end of the day-

Easy Does It

[riggerrob 563]

Tandems were invented for girlfriends like the on dumpster just mentioned.
In the old days there were too many accidents involving girlfriends who were only jumping to keep their boyfriends happy.
Smart first jump course instructors hand off their worst students to tandem instructors.

[flyangel2 2]

Way back in the days when I was a S/L JM, I had a 206 load with five firefighters. The one nearest the door refused to go. If any of you know, a 206 with five S/L students plus on JM, that's a tight fit. There was no way I was going to land with a full plane load. Lucky for me, I'm small enough that I just kind of stood up, hung out the door kinda, and moved students around. After I got all the guys out of the plane, the student that didn't want to go, decided he would go. Afterall, all his friends had just done it, and did fine. I'm glad I took the time and effort to allow the guy to do the jump. Life would have sucked for him, having to go back to the firehouse and be teased by his buddies.

As for money back for students that don't go, I think that each DZ has their own policy.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[DUIJames 0]

I asked my AFF instructor who also does tandems the same thing, he said one time he had a tendem and everything was fine but when he got to the door the student starte elbowing him and he did not jump and the guy did not get his money back

[weid14 0]

Quote

I have always wondered about this but never sought an answer...have you ever seen a student or a tandem chicken out and change their mind about jumping in the plane? I mean, what happens if someone starts wigging out at 8k ft? do they land with the plane?

I was witness to a guy doing it twice in one day, apparently that made a total of 6 very expensive plane rides for the guy.

[jumprgirl 0]

I was really nervous about my first tandem (gift from my husband

[petur 0]

There's no such thing as a "silly question", only "silly people"
On the other hand, to answer your question, I've only once seen someone chicken out, and that was an 11 year old about to make a tandem jump with his father... tears and all... quite dramatic... but a year later, the li'l dude toughened up and jumped...

...and immediately after landing he asked: When can I go again?

Of course...

---
P.
"It Hurts to Admit When You Make Mistakes -
But When They're Big Enough, the Pain Only Lasts a Second."

[Squeak 17]

11 yo that's young. 14 is the minimum here.
one of our JM's did a tandem with his G/frienmds son he was 14yo and really loved the jump, yahooing and giving the finger to the camera man in freefall. Cocky little snot

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[nubain1 0]

I've ridden down 3 times.THe first time was cause of moving around I got my PC caught and pulled out.T he next 2 times was because of nerves after I made the next jump I have not had that problem.Now I can't wait to go.I still get nervous as hell right before exit but now I just go.I did have to hop off the load yesterday because of the winds but that was'nt my fault.

[DYEVOUT 0]

I saw a video of a cool tandem JM at our DZ, who took a student up w/video - student chickened out in the plane - cool video of tandem JM flying massive tandem rig solo.

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."

[flash 0]

I was actually a witness to a guy that totally chickend out and started crying. He was grabbing seatbelts like a wild cat so that the instructor wouldn't make him jump. needless to say he landed with the plane. He also had a funny ass video to prove it

Gravity powered...Air cooled!

[moodyskydiver 0]

I had a really bad experience on a solo jump back in November.The DZ I went to didnt have gear that fit me safely or they just didnt check it properly once I was ready to go...not sure which. So I go up, exit,do my thing and then pull. Well, as soon as I had line stretch, the chest strap wrapped itself around my throat,causing me to hyperventilate...freaking me out in the process. I try to look at my canopy to see if it looks good and the damn rig hits the back of my helmet (also too big) which come sliding down over my goggles. I never did see the canopy til after I was on the ground.Everything was so messed up and shifted I almost dropped a toggle b/c I couldnt quite get a good hold on it.(I have a hard time w/toggles b/c of my short arms anyway w/o a rig thats too big). I fly a good pattern,flare a bit too high,recover and land. I spent the rest of the weekend freaked out and totally upset..I mean crying and ready to quit the whole thing.It really scared the shit out of me and I dont know why.I beat myself up so hard for reacting to the situation the way I did and being scared.

Well,I had alot of stuff happen in my life (finals,health,my knee,personal struggels etc)and was unable to jump for 6 weeks after that jump. Finally I get to jump this past Friday. Everythings cool,I go through the briefing w/my SDU coach,get geared up,go though the dive flow,rehearsed the exit (never jumped this plane before) and got on the plane. *** Green light!I watch the teams ahead of me go,I get ready and just start freakin out! I break out in a cold sweat,worrying if this jump will be bad like the last one...ill-fitting gear, choking under canopy,bad landing etc etc.I tell my coach I didnt think I could do it,I felt sick,hands sweating in my gloves,breathing funny etc. all while making a 2nd pass. The coach was great.She was very friendly but also tactful and assertive which was just what I needed.She just kept reassuring me, patted me on the back, looked at me and told me to breathe, gave me a hug, told me to smile and get out. So I took a deep breath,smiled, bit the bullet and got out.Once I was out I was fine..even exchanged a goofy smile in freefall.The jump wasnt perfect,but I got back up in the air after 6 weeks. As soon as the weather clears and the holiday stuff is over with I'll be back up at the DZ for more coaching.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[moodyskydiver 0]

Quote

I did quit jumping at that particular DZ along with several others because of this incident as well as several other incidents.

heh! I did my 2nd jump there.I've been to that DZ once and I have no plans on going back.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."