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shortyj

Most memoriable tandem student?

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It's always right after exit, transitioning on the "hill" that's the scariest. :) I remember that feeling on my first tandem, but never felt it again through the AFF...does it have to do with the added weight of an instructor harnessed to your back?

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Time to resurrect this thread! :)
I had a low speed mal this weekend (my first tandem cutaway). Told the passenger to grab his harness and arch, then chopped. After watching the reserve open, I said "this one looks better".

He looked back over his shoulder at me and asked "how many of those do you have?"

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

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haven't told that story so far - but in my fifth year of jumping tandems i guess it's time.

it was my first season, the very first day of jumping passengers and there is this rather strange couple (you know, sometimes people give you this awkward gutfeeling). I was scheduled to jump the guy but his gf decides she wants to make the jump with me so we switch passengers.
ride to alti is fine although she seems nervous. we gear up, other TI'S start walkingout the tailgate, we are last. the moment we leave the plane she starts running in the air and waving her arms like a windmill - guess what: I do my best to get stable in drogueless freefall. hell i get her legs, get her arms - but how do I get the F****** drogu out caus as soon as I release grips its hell once more...

ok, we get a quite moment i toss the drogue and pull the release and put an end to that ride. as soon as I pull the release I feel my new frap-hat leaving my head - FUCK there goes my protrack never to be found again >:(
"You pulled a bit early didn't you" the lady says
"Well I think you didn't feel quite comfortable so we're better off enjoying the view" I reply cursing in silence over my lost protrack

Then she engages me in some strange conversation
Her: "You know my last boyfriend also made a jump"
Me (all interested): "Okay, which dz?"
Her: "He jumped of the top of a church" :o:SB|
Me: WTF?
Her: Do you believe in God
Me (Thinking: Fuck what is this all about?): Which one?
Her: The only one!
Me: Well who the only one is depends on your point of view (Thinking again: WTF is going on???)
Her: would you like to say a prayer?
Me: Whatfor?
Her: To ask God to make our parachute land as good as it opened...
Me (thinkin: Help! Get this nutjob off of me :S): I think i can handle this without help from whoever is above...

the rest of the canopyride we had an interesting discussion on why i HAD to make SOME turns to get us back to the DZ and five years later i still think that was the longest ride i had under a tandem main till an uneventfull landing. boy was I glad when she finally left

in the evening after a beer I thought that I had my fair share of the everyday whackjob early in my career. Up to now I sure had some interesting people to take with me, but the amount of problems and bullshit I had to deal with on that one is still unsurpassed :)

The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle

dudeist skydiver # 666

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Evelyn Drake of Quincy IL, at the convention. She was 89. I was more scared that she was.

Had a crowd of 20 or so there to 'catch us' when we touched down, I do not think her feet even got a chance to touch the ground.

I remember Mad Dog looking up at me on final with big eyes and that "Please TK - don't fuck up..." look on his face.

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I just got my rating and I've only done about 30 tandems in the last 3 weeks. I guess this one was about number 20. A vietnamese family came out on Father's Day 2010 to make some jumps. It was the dad and two of his children, and they brought about 20 observers. One of the children (20 years old) was deep in the last stages of unsuccessfull chemo treatment and had two weeks to live[:/].

I took the dad, one of the more experienced TI's took the sick daughter, and another took his son. He (the dad) was kinda slow on catching onto the training, but I took my time and he did great in freefall. He had been very quiet the whole time, but then he let out whoops of joy after opening:)
That is why I got my rating!B| I'll post some pics when I get home from work.

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Filmed a girl last weekend. They landed close to her family and her fiance. Directly after landing she shouted out very loud "OMG, this is better then sex." As I filmed her, I could not see the family, but the TI told me, her boyfriend flushed and looked really embarressed.
Silence is golden. www.bt-ag.ch

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I 'm sure I posted this before, I'll but do it again. at the ranch NY about 8 yrs ago a nice lady. At sunset close to the mountain, october peak leaf season
PERFECT. My lady says I have to sing. I think OMG here comes the shower scene. Well the first movie I think I ever saw at the movies was. The sound of music. Loved it. Anyway she started singing the opening song When the hills are alive.... She was a professional opera singer and I actually got teared up, one of my most memorable jumps

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One from this last season...

A fairly attractive lady in her mid-40's came to make a tandem with her 18 yr old son. Jump goes great and just after opening she is screaming her lungs out.

I ask "So have you done anything more extreme then that?", she comes back with what I dub the "altitude confession", just me, her, and a few thousand feet feet of silent beautiful blue sky to hear it.

Let me preface this with, I've been totally professional and have known this individual for all of 28 mins. So she says "Well, I'll tell you something, not very many people know this about me, not even my son, but I'm a porn star".

It sort of caught me off guard, since she told me what her real "day job" was when I was harnessing her up and talking with her son. Ok, she brought it up, I'll bite, what the heck, so I say "So what's the name you go by?" she says she works for "XYZ.com and her fake name".

After I realize she wasn't kidding, I kind of feel a little weird, not knowing what to say next and we have another couple thousand feet to kill. Then she says "Well, um, if you do go on there, I kinda do some hardcore stuff, so don't get freaked out or anything, ok? I say "yeah, ok, ok." What else am I going to say?!? haha.

Then she tells me "I never thought I would be able to do this, I was in a car accident a few years ago and I have this metal rod and screws in my spine and my doctor said I would never be able to jump". Now I'm thinking great, better not screw...I mean mess up the landing!

Landing goes great, mom and son reunite and everything is great (although a little weird now knowing what mom does on the side). She was a nice lady and it was a fun tandem after all.

Then my curiosity gets the better of me and I go check out if she was telling the truth, I find XYZ.com (never heard of it before, but turns out to be some S&M hardcore site...first warning..ignored) and actually find her in the models section (photo of her doing some said S&M...second warning...ignored).

Then it has a short video of some of her past "performances" and I stopped watching the fast paced/cut video at the 12sec mark when I figured out that the lady washing the car in skimpy clothes (her) and being cat called by a group of 20 something men doesn't end in the woman going home with one of the guys but...all...22:o.

Note to self...Sometimes things should just be left to your imagination!:Shaha

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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about my 7th or 8th live tandem (still on provisional TI license) i get a total babe from UCLA who was with a bunch of her friends, right as were about to leave the gear up room she turns to me and asks if she can jump in her bra.

needless to say all the senior TI's were pretty upset with me for the rest of the day ;)

Jump more, Bitch less.

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So is "memoriable" a mix of

"memorable" things worth remembering, and;
"memorial" like gravestones, etc


if so, it's a gruesome thread topic really

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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My first paid tandem. A cute girl my own age. She is the cousin of a good jump buddy of mine. After landing I had to tell her it was my first. She got pretty pissed at me, but I managed to score her in the bar that night, and we were together for almost a year. My second paid tandem was also with her. For a couple of days I had a 100% core rate on tandem students ;)
https://icarusanddaedalusadventures.blogspot.com/

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5'-nothing skinny college girl.
Didn't get much time to chat on the ground, and noticed she was a bit nervous in the plane, but said she was fine. She's not really looking out much, but its a hazy day and hard to see anything anyway...

Everything proceeded to the door (Otter), but...

One site of the ground and she didn't just balk, she was DONE!!! Grabbed the door frame and I swear she grew claws and cleets... (I am a strick no-push TI) So, ok... balk... move her out of the doorway for the other's to go... no dice.

She's got such a death-grip on the door I can't move her. All the time I'm trying to tell her and get her to let go she's gripping harder. (I suspect the only concious thought left were that if she let go she'd fall/be pushed out...)

Finally got her pried loose and sat down.
After discussing trying again (NO!!!) I signaled to the pilot to desend.

On the way down we chatted (much better with a belt and the door closed) and found out that she had...

Never been in a plane (any).
Never been in a high-rise.
Never been in to the mountains.
Never seen the world from higher than eye-level...
...until we stepped to the door...

This really isn't for everyone.

JW
Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

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Wow, that's a tough question to answer! I would have to choose from:

-The nearly completely blind gent who got to fly in the clear blue sky next to his son (who also made a tandem)
-The terminally ill ten year old boy who was maximizing his life experiences during the last few weeks on Earth
-My sister who permanently overcame a deeply rooted fear of heights she had since she was a small child
-The widow of an Aviator (who perished when his aircraft crashed) that overcame her acute fear of flying
-The World War II Paratrooper who jumped in his "jump boots" and wore his khaki uniform with all awards and decorations (under his jumpsuit)
-Each of my children who had been around skydiving since they were infants
-The wheelchair-bound young man with cerebral palsy who has made seven jumps with me
-My 76 year old mother (her age at the time)
-And the countless Students whose first ride in an airplane resulted in jumpin out of it

I just can't choose, but I consider that a nice problem to have. It explains why I love doing tandems so much.
Arrive Safely

John

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I have laughed and cried reading this whole thread. Just some amazing stories.

Tandems are 50 seconds for a TI but a lifetime for the passenger.

My wife and I did a tandem for her 40th and the bond and humour with the TI on the ride up (and I was nervous...not one of those passengers I see know who just laugh on the way up and can't wait to jump) made me want to take the next step in the sport and get my AFF.

Tandems are a life changer. I know my kids will skydive.

:)

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it's kinda funny how this thread makes me rethink the possibility of becoming a TI someday. I know its no easy task and most certainly not for every jumper. But it sounds pretty neat to get to share some time with a complete stranger that will become an unforgettable memory for them (and possibly me). Who knows. I always say I'll never become a tandem instructor....but I also used to say I'd never jump out of an airplane but here I am now.

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