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shortyj

Advice for students

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Ok so I just did my catb tandem last weekend loved it. That was my 7th jump. I really like having someone with me, but at some point the training wheels have to come off lol. My bank account at this moment cannot keep doing $200 skydives. So as I said I have 7 tandem jumps and 10 min tunnel. I am pretty sure I'm ok with freefall, but I'm nervous about being under canopy by myself[:/] Also the front and back loops and barrel rolls. So what would you say to me if I was your AFF student?
Playtime is essential.

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Listen to your instructors, take everyone else's advice with a grain of salt, don't seek advice on the interwebs (who knows who is going to tell you what or what kind of bad example videos you will find).

Practice on the ground, you can never practice enough. Freefall costs by the second. Practice on the ground is free.

Arch more. From your butt, not your back. From lying on the ground, shoulders and legs are off the ground to arch. To arch more, get your legs higher off the ground. You can always arch more.

Breathe. If you're not breathing, you're not arching (or anything else). Take a moment, a deep breath, before you start your exit count.

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shortyj

... I have 7 tandem jumps ... but I'm nervous about being under canopy by myself ...



On how many of those tandem jumps did the instructor let you fly the pattern mostly by yourself, suggest when to flare, and help flare?

If you are jumping in Indiana I would think that you wouldn't need to worry too much about small errors in guiding yourself in.

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Listen to your instructors.
With free advice on the internet you often get what you pay for, however: frontloops, backloops and barrel rolls are meant as "confidence booster exercises" (beside of course being stability recovery drills). Yes, I was also freaked out by them when I was hearing people talking about them and I had 5 or 6 jumps, BUT -hard to believe- they are easier than it looks like, they are a ton of fun and knowing that you can instantly recover from those "accidents" will make you feel like you FINALLY in control. The only thing you'll have a hard time controlling will be your smile. I think the jump with loops and barrel rolls was the very first time I had "fun" while skydiving.
So let it happen and have a blast, it's ok to be a bit psyched by it (I was, a lot of people are) but just remember that, when they take you do to them, you ARE ready for them. And there is pretty much nothing to hit if you mess them up. LOL. :)
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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That's the best thing about my instructors, they won't manifest me until I can prove to them without a doubt that I can dirt dive the entire dive flow seamlessly with no hesitation. Sure I spend most of the time on the ground, but its cheaper than the ride up and the confidence is there right when I step up to the door.

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shortyj

3 of the tandems they let me fly the canopy.


Only 3? Heck, I have them fly the canopy from 4000' down to 1000' on the first tandem. I also teach them how to check canopy, check the windsock, and how to navigate. If someone wants to learn to skydive, 7 tandems is too many.

Right now there are a lot of things you don't know that are worrying you. Take the AFF class and it will all be taught to you. :)

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chips26

That's the best thing about my instructors, they won't manifest me until I can prove to them without a doubt that I can dirt dive the entire dive flow seamlessly with no hesitation. Sure I spend most of the time on the ground, but its cheaper than the ride up and the confidence is there right when I step up to the door.

Those are very good instructors. B|

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You might consider some reading like "The Parachute And It's Pilot in an effort to bolter your understanding of canopy flight.

I would not feel good about being alone either if I didn't have the confidence that I knew the system and how to operate it.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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Best advice is to take your money and run away. Get out while you can. Take up something sane like being a roadie for ICP. You will ruin your life. All you will care about is weather, airplanes and how long to the next load. Thursdays will make your skin crawl cause its not Saturday. You will look at everything in terms of how many jumps would that be? New clothes? Nope could spend it jumoing. New car? Used or better yet just live at the DZ. Save the money for jumping. Boy friend, mothers funeral, NOPE. Weathers good, got to go jump. RUN< RUN I TELL YA.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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jackwallace

Best advice is to take your money and run away. Get out while you can. Take up something sane like being a roadie for ICP. You will ruin your life. All you will care about is weather, airplanes and how long to the next load. Thursdays will make your skin crawl cause its not Saturday. You will look at everything in terms of how many jumps would that be? New clothes? Nope could spend it jumoing. New car? Used or better yet just live at the DZ. Save the money for jumping. Boy friend, mothers funeral, NOPE. Weathers good, got to go jump. RUN







But then what would i do with all those thousands of dollars i have under my mattress? It's getting full. :D
Playtime is essential.

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dthames

You might consider some reading like "The Parachute And It's Pilot in an effort to bolter your understanding of canopy flight.

I would not feel good about being alone either if I didn't have the confidence that I knew the system and how to operate it.



I have that book it lost me at crabbing have no idea what that is[:/]
Playtime is essential.

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shortyj

***You might consider some reading like "The Parachute And It's Pilot in an effort to bolter your understanding of canopy flight.

I would not feel good about being alone either if I didn't have the confidence that I knew the system and how to operate it.



I have that book it lost me at crabbing have no idea what that is[:/]

Put that book away for now and listen to your instructors.
Ground school will cover what you need to know for your first solo canopy flight, there you can ask tons of good questions (like this one) and more to get good answers.
That book is great material but it's aimed at people that already know most of the basics concept, it's not meant to "replace" proper instructions from your AFFIs. In my opinion, is a great tool to use as a refresher or to go deeper after a canopy class (similar material to Flight1 101 and 102, so it's great to use them together). But not as a "standalone" self-teaching tool.

At this stage, I'm afraid it would only confuse you. And the last thing you need is confusion and stuff that can get over your head.

Relax.
You'll be fine, you have 7 tandems, that's a lot more time under canopy (whether piloting or not...) than most people have when they go for their AFF class. The ground class is meant for people with much less knowledge than you (i.e. ABSOLUTE ZERO vs that little you already have seen), if they are fine, you WILL be fine. :) :) :)
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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Like others said, listen to your instructors and dont sweat it. I'm halfway through AFF and had the same feelings about canopy flight. Hell I landed my first out this weekend and got a free ride in a gator:D. Under canopy you will have radio contact with your instructor and they will coach you in under canopy. All you have to pretty much do is find a clear area and PLF and youll be good. Canopy flight still makes me a little nervous but its all mostly learned with time and practice UNDER canopy.

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You mentioned money being an issue for you, as it was for me when I started skydiving. You may want to look around for a DZ that does IAD training. It takes more jumps to get off student status, but costs less per jump. At the DZ I did my training at it costs the same as AFF, just over 13 jumps instead of 7. That allowed me to still get several jumps every 30 days for just a little over the cost of one AFF jump.

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