overlytall

Brilliant! On my AFF lvl2 I had a perfect exit, perfect arch and perfect PP's. The only thing to go wrong was the bag not leaving my container on deployment...had to count for a further 4 seconds before my canopy was big and square, had to kick out of a dozen line twists (after staring up at them in a daze and then thinking "huh, that's cool but its not quite right..."). Skydiving is fecking awesome. Did you get clear for AFF lvl3

As I have now been approved to fly I need coaching in both formation and freefly. I have heard good things about Netheravon... I was wondering if anyone else has had coaching here or is going to have coaching - always better to have company :)

So I passed Whuffo School... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6apOFz7d6Cg And this is my story pre-AFF.... Welcome To The Sky The start of the freefall experience began when I was on holiday with a friend in Australia... at least that was the physical aspect... I guess the true start was when I first saw Goldeneye. The Bond film where Pierce Brosnan rides a bike off a cliff to chase down a plan. At a ripe age of 10 I may have been too young to think that I could do that but we all have dreams. To begin, I just wanted to try it. Alot of people probably have it on their bucket list of things to do before they die or turn 30. I’ve never had a list nor a priority to my life... monkey see, monkey do... only if monkey thinks its awesome. On Saturday the 8th July 2011 in Cairns, Australia, finds me and Aimée in a office waiting to go through a briefing on the do’s and do nots of tandem skydiving. When we booked this experience a few days before I was as excited as I have ever been. A grin split my face at the prospect of hurtling towards earth at 120mph. Aimée was apprehensive but after a very small amount of pushing she too signs up (I said she was scared, which is like slapping someone with a gauntlet). For two days my cheek muscles tried to decapitate me. Giddy was the word of the holiday and I had found something beyond giddy. Aimée, bless her, was not outwardly excited about the jump as me but I knew she would love it... much like someone who has never tried bacon, you know its good, it smells amazing but you dont truly know its good until it is a mess between your teeth. I have visualised bacon for too long and built up my own excitement and feel... this bacon, although it had no smell to it, was soon to become the greatest thing in the world. Back to the briefing, I remember signing a form - probably something about going splat somewhere and I remember watching a bus of people unload from just completing their jump while our group was having a photo taken. I couldn’t say what else happened as I next remember being at the airport looking at a tiny plane. I’ve never been in anything smaller than a passenger jet that holds upwards of a hundred people. This thing holds 12ish on take-off and maybe two on landing. I am trembling with excited and the grin never leaves my face. My thoughts are sky high and I’m racing to catch them! After a quick informal interview with Jez, a man soon to hold my life in his hands, we head to the aircraft and are soon rumbling across the tarmac. A new experience is added with the sidedoor fully opened to allow for ventilation. It’s quite weird to see the floor drop away from you this close but it just adds to the buzz. A ten minute climb later and we are briefed about body position and what the lights mean. My tandem master straps me to him making me feel small (I am almost 2 metres tall, so bravo!), we edge towards the exit and I watch 2 girls go before me. One second they are sitting on the edge and the next instant they vanish. It’s eerie... I wasn’t thinking about the exit at any point and suddenly its on me! With my feet edging to the door comes the master says; “You seem confident about all this, do you want to do a barrell roll on exit and watch the plane fly away?” “Hell yes!” And so, when I drop, we roll and I see my sky taxi fly away. I was expecting a lurch in my guts to tell me we have jumped but nothing changed apart from the noise, scenery – unobscured by the plane. As we fall I get my arms out and legs sorta straight to allow him to control the descent. The view is nothing short of incredible... this is a view all skydivers see and perhaps is one of the great parts of jumping if you omit the adrenaline surge. We can see The Great Barrier Reef off to one side and a patchwork farmers quilt beneath. Further inland is a haze of heat. While I am enjoying the scenery, Jez is doing his job, filming, tilting my head back to the correct position (I learnt later that when you look down, the wind buffets his face quite badly. Facing forward helps turn you into a personal windshield). I only had one question on the way up – is it difficult to breath with all the air rushing into you... silly question really, if you need to breath you will. What I should have asked is that while I perform my widsheild like imprression, so should shut my mouth? The wind whisks away any saliva you have and, if you happen to be enjoying yourself, the smile you have soon curls your lip up until I am flashing an inch of my gums. A minute after exiting at 14,000feet we have already reached 5,000feet in a mere minute and the chute is pulled. I feel a slight jolt but nothing wrench worthy, like applying the brakes on a car, hard, while doing over a ton. You feel the seatbelt/harness squeeze or hold you in place but its not painful. The main thing you realise is that you can now hear yourself going “ohhh” or “ahhh” so you switch to nearly screaming the words “This. Is. Amazing!” - after a quick adjustment of your gums... the after video is just embarrassing. The descent that followed was gentle and peaceful. The change from the freefall has totally changed your perception of what relaxing is.... its not sitting in a hot bath reading a book with a brew to hand, its not sitting down at the end of a hard day watching something to numb the mind while digesting some huge dinner... it is gliding through the air on a cushion of air after a safe plummet to Earth. Perhaps the freefall has just amplified the relaxing nature of canopy flight. Once we land and give a little speech to the camera about how amazing it was. I watch Aimée descend from above and can see pure joy burning from her eyes. She bloody well loved it as much as me, though if you see her video you may think otherwise – the wind makes fools of you all, in my case I had a 90 year old face of flapping skin, Aimée had a sort of shocked fear look... it’s amazing all the same. With only the planet looking up at you, who cares what you look like? After the landing and debussing back at the skydiving office, we are driven off to do a bungee jump. Another shot of adrenaline, albeit a little bit less that the skydive. Since that day, almost a year ago, I have thought of nothing else but my next jump... which has also spurned this blog to document the journey, my journey from a IT Techie, to a fully fledged skydiver... the biggest entry on my bucket list is to be a professional skydiver and earn a living jumping out of perfectly good aircrafts before I turn 30. T-minus 3 years and 19 days... man am I giddy... and hungry for more bacon.

Great read and story! Can't wait for my story to begin, see you guys next week

I am there for 8 days, leave on the Sunday afternoon.

T-Minus 5 days... should be jumping this Saturday afternoon!!

Hahah! Mine are the same, they're both jealous and sick of me. Just looked up the Wingsuit Rodeo... I think I needs to do that too!

Totally agree with the too much info, but I would like to have a good basic understanding before I begin the practical training.

I was under the impression that after you have successfully completed the AFF and have your A licence you can jump without supervision. I thought you did one jump for each level (1-8 or A-H), providing you prove to your instructor(s) that you can do the maneuvers and checks competently you then just jump to get the number to 25... and then only after that the solo fun (ahem) can begin.

I'll be doing my AFF in late July. From what I know (and it is all theory so please correct me if I am wrong) you will do you consolidation jumps after you have done your AFF, level 1 through to 8. After this stage you are a qualified novice and still a student. The consolidation jumps are still done under supervision but not freefall instriction as you should be able to jump, fly and land safely. Your supervisor (who is likely your instructor) will debreif you on the ground on what you can do to improve it. You won't be able to jump solo until you pass the AFF and have racked up a minimum of 25 jumps. As for renting the gear, most DZ's allow you to rent the gear, especially those you are learning with. Check with your DZ or instructor for more detailed information on the rental gear.

Welcome to the Sky!

I've been reading this over the past few weeks and was recommended it if I was to really get serious with Skydiving; http://www.amazon.com/Parachuting-Skydivers-Handbook-Dan-Poynter/dp/1568601417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340957084&sr=8-1&keywords=skydivers+handbook It is everything, and more, a beginner wants know before starting their course. What to expect on a first jump, convection currents, freefall hands signals, history, emergency procedures, fantastic skydiving quotes, license requirements, tips and pictures forperforming moves... the world of skydiving is detailed and is more than just falling for fun, without nagging the guys on here 24/7 or stalking them, this book covers what I want to know before I begin my AFF. What it doesn't help with is containing your excitement or dealing with the waiting. With regards to the USPA A licence, this is from USPA website; 3-1: USPA Licenses E. License privileges and requirements A License 1. Persons holding a USPA A license may jump without supervision, pack their own main parachute, engage in basic group jumps, perform water jumps, and must have- a. completed 25 jumps b. completed all requirements listed on the USPA A License Proficiency Card http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Form_ALicenseProfandApp.pdf c. completed five group freefall skydives involving at least two participants d. received the signature and official stamp on the USPA A License Proficiency Card or USPA A License Progression Card (ISP) Note: For USPA A-license registration purposes only, USPA Headquarters will accept either completed card signed by a USPA Instructor without the official stamp. The registration fee must be included.

Any luck?

As much as I could understand a relative worrying about you hurting yourself, I fully agree that it is your choice, your life. I have been lucky with my parents. I ride motorbikes, climb and would try anything that replaces blood with adrenaline. They know I want to enjoy myself and I grin like a fool whenever I bring up my upcoming AFF. They can see it makes me happy - even though I have just jumped the once. I can easily say I fell in-love with skydiving the moment I got near a chute. Follow your love, live your life, love your life from >10,000ft Perhaps you could convince them to do a tandem jump?

I have one... it's awesome... I have yet to use it to its full potential - walking a dog and sleeping isn't extreme enough to warrant the use of the camera. It's convinced me to book up some climbing and wakeboarding before I do my AFF, but I was wondering... for use as a helmet cam, my amatuer practical experience of the camera and general skydiving... is it a good/reliable/safe helmet camera to use for skydiving or should I invest in other mounts or cameras?

I have booked up with the FreeFall Uni over in Spain. There's not much prospect of jumping as regaular as I would want to do in the UK.... I intent to try and get the diploma in NZ sometime in 2013 - once I get the money sorted.

I was looking out over the London skyline, pretty grim all but I'm still grinning at the prospect of falling.

Hey all! I'm a total beginner and can't stop reliving my tandem. Got my AFF booked for next month. To say I am excited would be like saying the sun is warm.