Sjaak

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Posts posted by Sjaak

  1. Quote

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    Oooooohhh. You're Dutch!!! My apologies. I'll go over it again... r-e-a-l s-l-o-w :)



    oh, I think I understood it pretty well, just mentioned it because you offered me to look at the US classroom instruction manuals..


    http://www.parachute.nl/infonlregels.html

    You going to talk about it or do it?


    I'm definitely gonna do it!! I want it so bad, I almost can't sleep about it :S

    But I'm affraid I have to finish my study first, because I've found it is very expensive :( But maybe next summer if I somehow manage to get enough cash for that AFF-course.

    Problem is that I think it's really frustrating to jump a few times and then not being able to jump anymore because of liquidity problems:P

    Kinda like having an extremely hot girlfriend that only allows you to have sex twice a year [:/]

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    I want to start skydiving and looked some around on youtube and forums like this and it all looks super easy.. basically you just jump out of a plane, fly some around, have a very great time and open your parachute in time?

    Im pretty sure I already understand the steering and landing part by just using logical reasoning and experience from kitesurfing.

    I understand you need to discuss some with your co-jumpers so you dont crash on each other etc..

    So im just like give me a parachute, tell me how i fold it, tell me how it opens, tell me how my reserve opens, and let me jump?

    Please explain me why I need to pay a huge amount of cash for instructors, theoretical course etc.



    The course is not theoretical; it is performance-oriented. The Instructor will demonstrate by the numbers, teach you by the numbers and make any corrective training on the spot as well as flight debriefings after you've completed a dive.

    You'll be taught about your equipment
    How to exit that DZ's particular aircraft (there are some you do NOT want to exit too high out of).
    How to fly/control your body in freefall.
    Increasing the complexities of each dive to make you more proficient and placing you on the path of skydiving safely with others.
    Landing patterns specific to that DZ.

    AND...

    While there are those with experience in other extreme/sports that will give them _some_ frame of reference for varying components of skydiving; there is no experience in other sports on dealing with the varying types of malfunctions and the proper procedures in dealing with each one (For example, you have two canopies out.. they can be one in front of the other or side-by-side. If the main canopy is in the front of the reserve canopy ... "What do you do now, Jack? W H A T do you do?!?!?" What if it's the other way around?) That's just one catch me fuck me malfunction... the scariest being the horseshoe malfunction. Scariest to even those with tens of thousands of jumps.

    You're always more than welcome to review the classroom instruction manuals that all USPA DZ's use... (ya know, so you can move from one DZ to another - anywhere in the country... if your job changes, etc. and pick up right where you left off at your old DZ)

    http://www.uspa.org/SIM.aspx

    The bottom line here is.... While you may think it's an inordinate amount of cash for instruction; that's not all the money is for... there are a lot of hidden costs you'll never see broken out by line itemization in an invoice: Gear, land, taxes, insurance, light bills, phone bills, student jumpsuits, student gear maintenance, aircraft, pilots, aircraft fuel, aircraft maintenance, advertising, websites, etc. Oh Yeah... and training materials.

    If I may suggest that future inquiries be more respectful. You've made yourself sound like that student we've all had that showed up at the DZ as an "extreme sport junkie" with a resume of extreme accomplishments from MMA to sky-sailing, to being pilots, to motocross and my personal favorite - the extreme skateboarder... some whom have done well, but there's always the one who shits his pants while exiting the plane, only to run off after the dive, never to be seen again... BUT, we always have video of those. Always. And, we know how to post to Utube also. >:(


    Thanks a lot for the information and for your offer, but im not from US, Im Dutch..

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    Especially the aff movies on youtube showed me it can be pretty hard to 'just fly'



    Exactly, because nobody knows how to 'just fly'. It is a skill that can't be had just by watching others do it. Just as the simple skill of riding a bicycle cannot be obtained by watching others, your brain has to be trained to do something new. A lot of people don't realize that when turning left on a bicycle, you first turn the front wheel to the right, which causes you to lean to the left, and then you bring the wheel back to the left. To come out of the turn, you turn more left to bring you out of being leaned over. People learn how to ride a bike without this knowledge, but it takes a bunch of practice and failures. Even with the knowledge of how you at first steer the opposite of how you want to go, it still is not possible for your brain to do it without repeated training, but before too long, you can ride no-hands and eat at the same time it becomes so easy.


    This made it all clear, very good comparison :)

  9. Quote

    If it's highly recommended to get training for kite boarding don't you think it would be even more so for skydiving?

    I'm hoping to get into kite boarding in the next month or two if I have time. I'll be finding me some instructors over in St. Pete, preferably with jet skis for retrieval. :D



    Oh I learned kiteboarding totally by myself, doing fine now for almost 4 years, no injuries and kiteboarding in the most extreme conditions. But yes I know, this doesn't apply to skydiving :) (Had some sailing and landkiting experience before I started)

    But I definitely recommend you take a lesson first, because the first lesson you'll get is to not kiteboard with offshore winds, so you don't need a jet ski for retrieval :)

    Have fun kiteboarding, don't wait too long with starting it, you'll regret that you didn't start this amazing sport earlier.. but be warned, its highly addictive ;)

  10. thanks a lot for all the replies!! Really appreciate it :)

    Learned a lot from the serious replies and had a good laugh at the less serious ones ;)

    Especially the aff movies on youtube showed me it can be pretty hard to 'just fly'

    All this talking/reading/watching about skydiving makes me even more excited and i really want to get into this sport. Must be so frking amazing to freefall through the air.. beyond imagination.. can't wait..

    need moneyz:(

  11. Quote

    Have you ever landed your kite with you attached to it? Could you post the video?
    It would probably be more expensive in the long run as you would have to pay for all slots on the airplane (assuming you are jumping at a US DZ). As an unlicensed skydiver, only instructors can be in the air at the same time as you are. And you have already seen through the scam that keeps instructors in their high lifestyle of ramen noodles and borrowed beer.

    Go for it. What could go wrong?[:/]



    What do you mean? I always land my kite while im attached to it, as its harder to land it without being attached to it :)

  13. I want to start skydiving and looked some around on youtube and forums like this and it all looks super easy.. basically you just jump out of a plane, fly some around, have a very great time and open your parachute in time?

    Im pretty sure I already understand the steering and landing part by just using logical reasoning and experience from kitesurfing.

    I understand you need to discuss some with your co-jumpers so you dont crash on each other etc..

    So im just like give me a parachute, tell me how i fold it, tell me how it opens, tell me how my reserve opens, and let me jump?

    Please explain me why I need to pay a huge amount of cash for instructors, theoretical course etc.