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bravoniner

Then and now

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Well, I went out and made a tandem jump yesterday. It has been almost 29 years since my last previous jump, and almost 39 since my last Cessna jump. Needless to say, some contrasts were very apparent.

1) Dang, was the 182 always this uncomfortable and hard to move around in? Yes and no, I guess. I'm sure a big part of it is my being heavier and less flexible than I was many moons ago.

2) Hmmm ... I'm the only one on this load not wearing a parachute. One of these guys is going to "adopt me" at about five grand but, until then, I feel kinda nekkid. Not sure I like that.

3) Hey, who's spotting this load?? Not much looking out the door and making frantic corrections. Oh, I see -- the spot's been entered into the GPS and we're flying right to it. (That, in combination with the performance of today's canopies sure seems to make spotting a lot less stressful than it used to be.)

4) No helmets on anybody (not even a frap hat). I guess there are good reasons for that, but I sure hoped I didn't have to try to fly the "stack" from the bottom if the TI took a whack on the head during the exit.

5) Probably because of the lack of a helmet, the noise in freefall was a whole lot louder than I remembered it. WAY louder (my ears are still ringing).

6) Man oh man, these new squares sure snivel for a long ways! That makes for a nice, soft opening, but I was almost beginning to wonder when we were going to chop the thing. My old PC could have opened three separate times in the same distance.

7) The toggles sure felt heavy but, then again, the big old tandem main was 375 squares. Guess I shouldn't have been surprised that it drove like a truck. But it did have one almighty powerful flare, and set us down like a feather. Nice!

Yes, then and now are different in a lot of ways, but one thing is very much the same. While there may be a thing or two that is AS fun as skydiving, there is absolutely nothing that is MORE fun. I'm very glad I came out of a long retirement and got back in the air -- so glad, in fact, that I'm going to go do it again.

B9

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so glad, in fact, that I'm going to go do it again.



Hi B9

Do it as often as you like exept when you have to start wearing eye glass you need to give it a rest before you go blind or Broke.:ph34r:

BTW do you still have your round gear? :):ph34r:.



R.
B-7881
SCR 2719 (Thanks Bill :))
One Jump Wonder

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Hi B9

Do it as often as you like exept when you have to start wearing eye glass you need to give it a rest before you go blind or Broke.:ph34r:

Hey, I was broke and wore glasses back in the day. No different now!

BTW do you still have your round gear? :):ph34r:.

No, the rigs are long gone. I think I still have my frenchies somewhere, though.

B9

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29 years is a long time, but you'd be surprised how you never forget many things....like how to fall stable. I quit for twenty years before coming back. My first jump I fell base for a five way. Everything went perfect.

The gear and skills are way advanced from what they were, but it's still the same great sport. Welcome back!

That reminds me, I need to get back in the air. I haven't jumped in about three years....That's a long enough break.

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Mark,

Welcome back to the sky, it's missed you! Keep us posted on your next jump(s)!



Hey, thanks! Next step was today (with gorgeous late summer weather). Looked over the old logs, did a day's worth of retraining and proficiency drills, and then did the rough equivalent of a AFF level 4 jump (release dive with one AFF Instructor) from 12,500'. Other than some undisciplined knees that occasionally gave me a slight "uncommanded" turn, things went great! Good exit, no stabilty problems, good altitude awareness and pull. Nice standup on target. I'm cleared for a solo dive next.

Has it really been almost 29 years?

BravoNiner

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so glad, in fact, that I'm going to go do it again.



Hi B9

Do it as often as you like exept when you have to start wearing eye glass you need to give it a rest before you go blind or Broke.:ph34r:

BTW do you still have your round gear? :):ph34r:.



R.
B-7881
SCR 2719 (Thanks Bill :))



Gee I know someone who might want to get rid of some "vintage gear" like the one in the avatar:)

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Hey, thanks! Next step was today (with gorgeous late summer weather). Looked over the old logs, did a day's worth of retraining and proficiency drills, and then did the rough equivalent of a AFF level 4 jump (release dive with one AFF Instructor) from 12,500'. Other than some undisciplined knees that occasionally gave me a slight "uncommanded" turn, things went great! Good exit, no stabilty problems, good altitude awareness and pull. Nice standup on target. I'm cleared for a solo dive next.

Has it really been almost 29 years?

BravoNiner



B9,

Awesome! Dropping knees is pretty coming on older folks, harder to arch then it use to. I took up a gentlemen last weekend that had a 20 yr break, left the sport with 160 jumps. Same issue with the knees, but everything else was perfect. I could pick him out from the other student cause he was spiraling down, having a good old time! Great to hear you made it back up in the air!
We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

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Two solo dives in the log since my last post. Generally, things went well, although I had a couple more heading wobbles on the second jump. It seems my FF skills have eroded more over the long layoff than I had hoped (guess I shouldn't be surprised).

Interestingly enough, these problems closely resemble those I had for a short while when I first started making terminal-velocity dives back in the day. I suspect leg issues, so I'm taking a coach along next time to see if we can sort it out.

Huge fun, nonetheless, and -- even with all the changes in gear and protocols -- remarkably familiar.

B9

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