Ruffles

Does the APA have an official position they preach in Instructor Training regarding chasing students to low altitudes & if so, what specifically do they teach? Im aware the chase is a big part of the curriculum, but have they set limits?

Thanks for the the feedback folks. I see all your points and the comment about "my comfort zone" is right on the money. I still do several gear checks, sorry if I left you with the impression I wasn't concerned about them anymore. I just dont do 15 checks in 5 minutes anymore. It was really bad, you'll just have to trust me when I tell ya that it was an unhealthy degree of worry. Somebody else pm'd me and said that the really dangerous phase was when I was so horrified before each jump; had a mal occurred I may very well have had a meltdown/brainlock. Thanks for the sentiments gang, its good to be back!

I jumped for about 2 years (100 jump wonder), then gradually got out of it as my best friend (& RW partner) got married and then his wife got pregnant. He jumped less which led to me jumping less, etc. I just did my re-currency AFF7 today after a 2 year absence and skydiving just became a totally new experience.... I used to get nervous-sweaty-nauseated before every single jump (even #99). I would check & re-check my gear feverishly the way an obsessive compulsive locks the door 10 times to make sure its locked... people would stare; it was bad, trust me. I used to be horrified the entire ride up until I let go of the bar and began to fall... then ironically I felt fine and relaxed. (weird?) Today I went through my briefing, gear checks(2), climb-out, float, and dive flow, and I was NOT the sweaty/nauseated OCD boy for the first time in my entire life!!! I felt good, positive, relaxed, and excited. While my performance was, at best, adequate for recurrency, this was the most enjoyable dive of my life because my feelings had morphed into anxious excitement instead of pure horror. And there in lies my concern...i'm not that scared now (dont ask me why, I couldn't tell ya). Seems many accidents begin with complacency. Is this the path people get on before they lose alt awareness, stop tracking safely, and start doing half-ass gear checks? I wanna feel good about this new sweat&horror-free world I've re-discovered, but there's this concern nagging me that this may not be such a good thing. What do you experienced guys think about this, ever seen this sort of thing before?

Hes got no jumps, no container, no parachute, and no home DZ. There ya go...

How long after AFTER deployment? I think they're sit-flying bro. Last time I looked at a FAR, skydivers have right of way over EVERYONE if dropped in marked DZ, in freefall or not, ballons or not. Gliders can stay up longer than our parachutes can. While gliders have long wingspans, they are skinny, seriously doubt you could see one from 13.5. One should ask if the pilot noticed the little purple parachute symbol on his regional VFR chart. Glad you two and the glider pilot arent dead. Where were you guys at??

Duh, should have thought of that. Thanks for the info anyway gang.

My DZ doesnt have a hang in trainer, so I can't find this out for myself easily. I pulled the cutatway handle on my Mirage G3 for practice and noticed that there was a hell of a lot of cable (3ft?) that came out when I pulled it. So much in fact that I had a hard time getting it all out in one arm extension! I just read that incident report on that fellow at SDA that evidently (preliminary) did not completely extract all of the cable for a good release and one riser hung up. Does the main get released well beofre the entire length of cable is extracted? This has me a little worried considering I couldn't get it all out in one pull (Im six-one and 210, so arm length is not this issue). Anyone have experience with this?

How could the reserve come out if the pilot chute was still in the tray? Can do you get a horse shoe mal (without tangling your limbs) on a ripcord deployed main? I can't see it.. help.

Good one meesh, I remember you telling me that one at Elisinore. I realize twenty-seven people have already posted better stories than mine, but I have to throw this one in for good measure for my scared brotha. Jump 18, h-n-p time. My coach says to me 'The exit is really the important thing. Thats what I'm really looking of on this jump, OK?" I reply, in what was reported to me later as a somewhat arrogant tone "Oh, thats no problem, my exits are always smooth..." (long pause) 3500 agl comes, door opens, I leave the plane and immediately flip back to wind, and go head to ground, feet to sky. While I'm dealing with the sheer horror of being completely unstable at an altitude already lower than I usually pull at, several seconds go by. Enter 2500 ft (i think), I get stable again and pull. Under canopy at 1900 ft, and for the very first time in my short life, I sensed ground rush. I did not enjoy it. I landed with the intention of getting in my car and going home never to skydive ever again. That coach still doesn't talk to me anymore...

Is this your pre-second jump with booties?

The same thing just happened to me. I have 2 years left on mine. I appreciate their attention to detail, but I would have also appreciated if someone had told me it was going to be 2 months before I got my unit back. My DZ is a "gotta have a cypres to jump" place, so I rented shitty gear for 2 months. I would have just bought a new one if I knew I was going to miss my entire summer of jumping. Airtech does rock on the quality however.

I need a picture...

Addressing the question asked that started this thread, my DZ does Skysurfers, Big-way belly, small-way belly, freefly, tandem. However, this is when the plane is flying INTO the uppers, When the plane is flying WITH the uppers, Freefly out first, then belly, then surf, then tandem. For some reason the uppers in San Diego like to reverse themselves during the fall months, but otherwise, its the former of the two exit orders. Why? DZO says its because FF tend to sink straight and fall faster and bellys slower and tend to drift. Sounds to me... as long as we don't get rushed on exit, I've never had a close call (100-jump-wonder mind you).

Please list the container & PC your were jumping when it happened. Also, please note the origin of the PC-in-tow if known (mis-routed, pin stuck, etc.) and what you did to survive. Thanks Brothas & Sistas .

My buddy and I have 100 or so jumps and thought that a good two way was being able to link up and turn a point or 2...(we sucked).That is primarily what our jumps have consisted of since jump 30. We bought an hour of tunnel time with a coach (Lou Lastra Navy-SEAL extraordinaire) and spent six hours going solo, 2-way, 3-way, reviewing video, creeping, and learning. Results: 3 days later, our first jump after the tunnel, we turned 10 points from 13.5. These consisted of 90s, 180s, and 360s. OH MY FRIGGIN' GOD!! We don't suck any more. Our exit was so smooth we even started the points while still half-way on the hill (something we never fathomed before). While your mileage may vary, keep in mind that my pal and I were WORSE than most other people at 100 jumps, at least as far as RW proficiency goes. I cannot sing the praises of this training enough, you would not believe how much it helped. I'm living proof. Airspeed here we come...