Anonthemouse

My 9 year old cousin went skydiving last year. He had seen his dad jump and now really wanted it too. Really loved the freefall and had one CRAZY instructor. Ofcourse they know that people die doing this, but a jump's worth the odds. Heck, I wish I was brave enough to start back then. I did my first solo on 16, though. But honestly I don't think kids under 14 should be able to jump for multiple reasons... Stick to the tunnel maybe. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

You've got to ask yourself the question, "What does currency mean?" When are and when aren't you currect? Falling is only one of the many parts of a skydive. Gotta go with Pops. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

It's a great game. Taught me how to swoop a Velo 78 ...on the serious note: it's probably the best free canopy/freefall simulator there is at the moment. It has winds, speed, malfunctions and rain which all will affect your flight and landing path. But don't get overconfident thinking you'll get any better at the real thing

I did my first hop 'n pop recently, and it went shitty. At first I underestimated the time to altitude (3500 ft in 3 minutes). First one out, and had trouble opening the door... At jump off, I instantly reached for the pilot chute and pulled, and got unstable at opening. Back on the ground someone called me over and showed me my exit on vide. I was politely explained how I could've done it better. It really helped, but it would've helped a lot if I had just relaxed :/ I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Is #2 an international standard or is it only USPA/North America? It would be good if so. Imagine how interesting it could get at an international get together if jumpers from countries that drive on the left also turned left to avoid the collision. it's pretty much uniform across many areas, nautical aviation and parachuting. Turn Right So how about England? I heard they've got some *cough* traffic issues. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

So how about this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5efKsN5zY I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Martijn is my main instructor, and I'm calling him ASAP to get this right. I'm going to the DZ on saturday so I hope to see them both there. And now you're here, why do they call him 'Opa' anyway? I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Then why did they even let me jump alone twice? I have not even been taught to spot properly! Are they just not following up the rules or what? Again, I'll have to ask all this to them, I don't think anyone else can help me since no one here really knows about my current situation. Where do you jump, Dragon? Oh, and about these links, I just read all of these (oh well, MOST of these) yesterday. I'm now sure I'm not getting back on that plane before I have everything straight. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I still don't know why they call these planes "perfectly good". Have they ever SEEN these airplanes? Those things are SCARY! It's safer to bail out than to land in one of these death-traps I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I'm starting to feel like I got rushed trough AFF. I even made a list of questions, including the spotting, cloud clearness and supervision. It's like they just say "okay, you're on your own. This is how you jump. Keep track of your logbook and come back to me after a couple of solo's, and ask questions if you have them"... I just feel like I'm missing out a lot of basics, so I ain't jumping before I know how to properly jump without these situations happening to me anymore! I jump in europe by the way, The Netherlands. And keep in mind that I only just got started and have just 9 jumps, I am not nearly experienced enough to judge wether to jump or not. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

It was indeed too cloudy and I think the best thing to do would've been to ride back in the plane, but other 'noobs' were jumping too. As an idiot I just followed in line and didn't even think about riding this one out. I did spot, and I did see the dropzone. I got too distracted to notice I was heading for a big cloud. Once I noticed (and it got trough my mind that clouds are bad to be in) I wanted to track away, but it was close to pull time. I have not heard the word "cloud" once during groundschool. The sky was clear enough to jump when we got on the plane. I'm going to have a word with my instructor about this for sure. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I did my 2nd solo 2 days ago. I opened at 4000 ft, and bam! Clouds everywhere beneath me at 3000ft... I really had no idea what to do. I knew there wasn't anyone close to me since I was the last solo out and I deployed a bit higher, but I still kept an eye out for others. Once I got into these clouds I lost all sense of direction. I just did some slow turns to stay in place. No idea where I was! When I got out I was right above the dropzone, lucky me! I found all the other jumpers and landed safely. What should you do once you fly into a cloud and can't avoid it? I was glad there was no one around, but that's not always the case. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Thanks Dthemes! I did 3 more jumps today, one AFF and 2 solo's. on my first solo I finally had some time to look around when falling. So at least I dindn't track the complete wrong way! The exit was a total failure, but at least I know how a car tire feels now On the second solo however, I had one tandem passenger jumping after me. It was my turn to stand in the doorway. I leaned out of the plane and took a look outside. Then I got back and gave him the best 'Oh my god this is so scary!!' face I could, then jumped out with a smile I'll never forget the look on his face. I'm trying not to get too overconfident, but it had to be done I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I did 6 jumps that week, here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-IE_-_zZgw I honestly tried to do all the jumps in a week, but I had to stay home for a day because my 2nd landing was a bit of a rough feet landing, causing minor injury to my hips. Maybe I can finally get off that 'AFF' status on sunday. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

You slready have the weather on your side for the first couple of days, and I'm sure the windtunnel will give you great convidence. A tandem is fun, but doing it yourself is even better. have faith in these crazy bastards jumping with you. After all, they're all you CAN trust at that point. Blue skies! I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

hmmm... That's not really my idea of fun, thanks! Accept that which you cannot change... Yer landings are gonna suck for a while, anyway. Ya might as well laugh at them. well, I had 2 off landings (one because I had to clear space for a landing tandem. The second time I underestimated how hard it is to fly against the wind). 2 landings on my feet, falling forward, and three times falling backwards on my ass. The ass landings felt great compared to the other two. And ine proud feet landing I think I need more forward speed. Maybe I'll try to swoop on my next landing. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

hmmm... That's not really my idea of fun, thanks! I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Hmm... Never thought about landing yet... I think I would rather jump out of a plane than land one Alright, so I did 4 more jumps. Instead of my usual big ass speach, I'll keep it simple with a little video of my AFF... The first video has some good music. It's copyrighted and impossible to watch in Germany and America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qdAVZV13X0 - Europe Version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-IE_-_zZgw - American + German version And I finally did a standing up landing on that last jump! And damn, doing front flips and wagon wheels is FUN! Teehee. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Hey hey everybody! So, monday, after a loooong long day of training and tests, the weather was too bad to make a jump that day. Luckely for me, since I really needed some time to progress all that information I've been given the past 7 hours. And so today (tuesday), I made 2 of my AFF jumps! And it'd also be the day of my very first flight in a plane ever. I can say I've never landed a plane I went into the plane first with my instructor. "Hmm, at least I'm the last one out so I can see how the other AFF'er does it". I was really, really relaxed. To my suprise!! My instructor joked: "Alright, let me feel your heartrate!" *feels* "Whoa! Nice job keeping it so calm!". That all changed when that freaking door opened for the 3rd time (After the SL and tandems) and it was MY turn to shine! I slowly walked towards the door. Wasn't really scared. Check in, check out. "Up, down, AR- HOLY FUCKING SHIIIIIT!!!" Soon I was chipping! Fixed it. Alti-check, did 3 practice pulls, went great. Got the 'stretch legs' signal.. twice. Did it. They already let me go on the first jump, wich I DID NOT notice. I started spinning right a bit. I thought it because my instructors were turning me. My arch just wasn't perfect. CAO, horizon, CAO, 5,500 ft. Waved off and pulled. Got janked into my harness, and looked up, just to find my parachute wasn't totally inflated! "Oh shit! Really? On the very first time?" I thought... Or even said out loud. Did 2 flares which I was taught to do when that happened... and it worked! I was flying a great chute! I gave a yell of relief! I did my other checks and got orientated. I was already at my 1,000 ft point at about 4,000 ft. "Nice! Lets do some turns and drop some altitude!" Got close to the ground and faced the wind... a couple of feet above the ground.... aaaand... flaaaaaaaaare all the waaaay... aaand... Perfect flare! Too bad I wasn't fully facing the wind and landed too hard on my feet and flipped forward to my side... Yeaa! I made it! Unhurt! I gathered my parachute and moved to my ride back. Saw my other AFF mate do a perfect landing on his feet on his very first jump! Gj mate! Jump 2: 2 practice pulls and constant altitude awareness.. went great! they fully released me and flew in front of me. I had to do a turn. made a nice 360 and read my altitude. 6000 ft. Good altitude. 5,500. wave off, pull. and it took some more time for my parachute to open. and I was slightly turning right. I was taught to go to my reserve if I couldn't fix it so I did everything to do just that! flared once, flared twi- *SNAP* The handle I was holding? It was gone! I was just holding a line, no more handle! My canopy was contollable so I just kept flying and did what I was supposed to do. the turn was gone. Suddenly another snapping sound and out of nowhere, the steering handle was back? Appearently was holding a handle that was made by a 'fake' knot. I felt like an idiot for failing to notice that and just continued to do what I was doing. But when I looked around again I couldn't find the entire airport anymore! made another turn to see where I was. again. nothing. Saw another jumper veeeery far away... I was at 2,500 ft at that moment and I just went his way, going against the wind. I was now either landing in the bushes, into the water or on the tiny corner of the DZ that I had. The wind dropped right on time and I landed perfectly on my spot! Well... perfectly? Early flare is more like it. Landed on my feet again, but fell backwards this time and almost got dragged over the field by my still open canopy. Well! At least the fall was PERFECT and stable! 2 jumps on my name. Can't wait for the next jumps! Ps: Sorry for the big post. I tend to leave so much details in it Pps: My instructor is nuts I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I think so too. I did my early AFF jumps several weeks apart and I think that made it harder for me to get used to freefall. I'm trying to do it all in a week, but I may not be able to due to the weather. After this week I'm heading to england and I'll stay there for the entire week. The quicker the better, but only as long as it's all in your head! [Edit to add smiley ] I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Alright. So today was the first day of the AFF course: groundtraining. Great people and great instructor Went trough the basic jump plan, exit, emergencies, parachute parts and how it works. One hell of a day! I'm glad that I already know how to be stable during freefall and how to maneuver in air. Now I have some more time to drill the checklist of the parachute in my head... -3 sec count: Parachute above my head? - Going straight? - No line twist? - Steering toggles work OK? 2 flares - Slider down? etc... We got to wear a small harness with a cutaway and a reserve handle all day, so we could practice the reserve whenever we wanted But the actual test where I had to hang in a parachute was quite hard and I didn't do well. Got a lot of pressure from the instructor on me to represent the stress you'd have when actually doing it. I passed. But I'd rather fail there than do something really stupid in the air! Couldn't have been a worse time for the weather to change from hot and sunny to cold, clowded and rainy... Maybe it'll clear up tomorrow so I can finally do my first jump I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Relax a bit mate. if they say you're doing good, you are! And AFF 4 eh? Jumping with only 1 instructor. Good luck!! I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

I should have read the Terms and Conditions instead of just hitting agree I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

Alright, so I did the tunnel course and fist of all I wanted to say DAMN, that was amazing. Why this isn't part of the AFF yet is a mystery to me. I really felt like it helped me a lot (and showed me how badly Out of shape I am!), and in those 15 minutes I already learned to fly into all directions, how to get stable very quickly, how to move up and down, etc. Great fun!! I also told the instructor I was preparing for the AFF. I had to check COA, wave off and pull... And the wave off, yall make it seem so damn easy! Passing for everything said above took away my last fears for the plane. I'll just imagen that scary door hole is the entrance of the tunnel wich will take me to the happy place it also boosted my confidence greatly. I honestly thought I would black out and forget the entire plan we set up. Well, it went great and now I'm certificated to get coaching and hire the tunnel. 7 days left before AFF. Excited as hell. Scared..? Of course just like any other person would be. Oh, and my sister is now dating my instructor. Oh boy... I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.

really? Because that's exactly what happened after 5 minutes. Flying between walls makes you fly in place though. My concern right now is staying stable. I kept shaking badly but I couldn't see why in the video. I am bad at this sport because I play by the rules.