Chelseaflies

http://www.deepseed.com/products/freefly-gear/multispeed-suit/isd or http://www.deepseed.com/products/relative-work-gear/new-womens-sidewinder/isd One is a RW jumpsuit which is what I'll be doing for the lifetime of this suit pretty much but the freefly one is a multispeed which I think could come in real handy. Advice? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

So this is a pretty heated topic on my home DZ. We've all heard the stories, a video guy jumps with a attractive student, they find themselves flirting and one thing leads to another and everyone at the DZ hears about it and we say it's okay because he was just the video guy. What happens when it's the TI? Or an AFF instructor sleeping with his AFF student? On the one hand, it's unprofessional to sleep with someone who is a paying customer. On the other hand, these are consenting adults who just happened to met through a skydive. Thoughts? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I am planning on going to Lodi for two or three months to rack out at least 150 jumps. Once returning to my home DZ, they told me they will start training me to be a photographer once I get the jump numbers. I currently have 34 jumps and plan on getting my 50 jumps and B license before going. But, here's the thing, I've heard Lodi can be pretty unforgiving to new jumpers. Has anyone jumped there that could tell me whether that's true or not? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

There's a girl at my local DZ, she's fully A Licensed and she's only 16. She must be doing something right because her instructor (the DZO) offered a job as ground crew and said he'd train her to be a photographer when she's got enough jumps. Let's discuss, what do you guys think? Is there an age limit? Is she too young in your opinion? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

Relax Take a deep breath. Throw yourself out, arch hard and pull when stable. Simple as. 5,000ft is really high, you'll be surprised just how high it is once you do it. Most of all, enjoy it! They're heaps of fun. I did 5,500 in my AFF and just did 3,500 for fun the other day and it was awesome! "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

Bitcoins is definitely a gamble. As others have said, it's nerve wrecking to know you may wake up one day and your money is worth half it used to be. But I put $900 into buying a bunch about a month ago and that $900 is now worth more than $3000 if I pulled them out. That's a lot of jump tickets for me.

At my home dropzone the beer light (normally) comes on after the last load has landed. Although the DZO doesn't mind us starting early, as long as the last load is in the air. So, both I guess. Although I did vote for it being the DZO's decision because ultimately, it is. "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

That tat is going to look awesome when it's all colored in. Update us!! "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

Now THAT is some good advice "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I jumped the other day, the wind on ground had been a very stable 9 knots when we took off and by the time I opened, it has risen to 20 knots. I had a bit of trouble manoeuvring but managed to land exactly on target. After I landed, I decided that I was no where near comfy in 20 knots and I would avoid it till my skills are better. It got me wondering: What's your personal wind limit? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I have not personally been to The School but am planning on going in Mid 2014. My home dz (in New Zealand) has at least 8 different TI's, Photographers working there that learnt at The School. I've spoken to all of them about their experiences there and all most all of them said they would recommend it. The one or two that didn't, they merely pointed out the cost and how you could fly in U.S for a fair bit less. I would say 9/10 said they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the Instructors down there are very good. Sadly the Methven dropzone where the course is, does NOT allow camping on the DZ. You will have to rent or couch surf your way through the 32 weeks. Most Students live together to lessen rent. Now here's the catch, unless you're planning on living in New Zealand for at least a year after your graduation, it's not worth it. Let me explain why; when you "graduate" they will give you a 6 week work placement as ground crew/host on a Dropzone somewhere in New Zealand, although it possible to get placed in A.U or a few scarce overseas dropzones. Unless you're total idiot and never show up for work, you have a 95% chance you'll get a job there. After a few months (if you're lucky) working on the ground, they may begin move you into Camera work. Like I said, that's if you're lucky, one of my friends graduated there and had to work ground crew for 9 months before she got her first paying camera job. Now if you do make it that far, you need to pull your weight and show them you're a great freefall photographer and as long as you are, you should be able to become a full time freefall photographer. But you will have to work at the dropzone for at least year after that before you can go to the U.S/Spain/Anywhere else and have a hope of moving straight to Camera. Let's be fair, where else in the world can you begin to work professionally in the industry with only 200+ jumps? It doesn't happen very often. Also, the "diploma" won't get you very far outside of N.Z. What the The School will give you is some hella good coaching, a few jumps and a chance to get some experience in freefall photography that may get you a job. It's a nice step in the right the direction but it's not a magic School. There's still a lot of hard work involved after you graduate. But, that's my opinion. Do with it what you will. "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I'm looking into buying some of my very first gear soon and the first thing I want to get is a jumpsuit. But after looking into it, I'm starting to think I'd rather have the versatility of freefly pants and jacket. I'm also trying to slow my fall rate so would wings on the jacket help? Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm pretty sure I didn't bring it forward, at least not enough, otherwise I'm not sure how else I could have flipped myself over. But, I agree. I most definitely got myself flustered but it made me realize how you do need to pay attention all the time. At least till it's second nature.

Today I was all set up to do a solo, my 27th jump. I just got freshly A licensed yesterday and also got my high altitude. So, I was planning on jumping from 15,000ft and opening at 4,000ft. Which were both new to me. Just as I was getting ready, a guy I know runs up to me and offers to fun jump with me. I agreed and off we went. After we exited, I think I was so focused on him, I didn't arch enough and ended up flipping around a bit. After I got stable, we flew around a bit but I was falling too fast for him. So we both spent pretty much the entire skydive trying to make it to each other. I found it very hard to dearch and definitely decided I needed more practice on it. At 5,000ft we broke off and I went to track away, once I got away I went to pull and accidentally tipped myself over. In a split second I was on my back and I had already pulled the pilot shoot out so I had to let go. I got abruptly yanked up and whiplashed my neck pretty bad (or at least I'm hoping it's only whiplash) on the opening. Luckily all the parachute had was a few twists and all I had was whiplash and a hurt ego. I was really surprised, throughout all 26 of my jumps, even the aff, my openings have all been perfectly stable. The thing I did learn from this, is how important it is to be STABLE upon opening. I also realized that it seems to be very easy to get sidetracked when fun jumping, at least I find that I focus to much on the other person and forget to arch or whatever. Does anyone else notice this or it just because I'm so new to jumping with others? "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I dunno; maybe things are very different over there than over here. Me, I've never been to a DZ where female jumpers had trouble finding someone to jump with.let alone not having anyone help her pack... Try shaving your moustache Don't worry it's alright guys, I went to my home DZ yesterday and had four separate guys offer to show me how to pack. Guess who jumped her very first own pack job and didn't die? Beer.

Ok. Here's my Craigslist ad. How's it work? "Hot young skydiver, into S&M, bondage and watersports, seeks bi guys and girls for total dominance. No weirdos!" How did you know?! That's so me! ...not lol

Did that work for you? Can you believe I offered a free beer to the first person to show me how to pack and actually had people turn it down?! Maybe a bj would have been a better idea...

I will admit, this made me laugh. A lot. The only problem is then I have to train them... So much work :\ "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

I'm blessed (sarcasm) to have trained at a small, tandem mill operation. The whole time I've been going there, I've seen ONE fun jumper. They don't get many at all. Because of this, the only people I have to jump with are the workers there. While they're all lovely, they're simply too busy. How can I find some people to join me on my skydiving adventures!?

I've got 17 jumps so far and I'm already really steady in belly to earth, very in control for my turns and front flips. I can do a great dive exit and I'm getting a bit tired of doing that all the time. My instructor said it was alright for me to pick some new things to try out and work on. Maybe sit flying? Or back flips?

This guy IS the DZO. "My time is limited, what I can do with that time is not" - Jeb Corliss

Yeah... Well, he also says he can't teach me to pack a parachute (even though it's part of the course that i've PAYED him to do) because "he's too busy" so I need to watch the packers and get them to teach me >:(

Thanks for all the information guys, super helpful! I landed downwind due to a misread wind sock. Luckily we were put on hold in the plane after everyone else already jumped so there was no one else landing when I was-- downwind. Although my instructor was quite angry at me, afterwards he told me he was very surprised I managed to land exactly where I was planning and didn't even have to PLF. He also told me he was going to increase how windy it can be when I jump, 15/16 possibly even 17 knots.

Excuse me, haha, only on jump 14 so still don't know much! I landed downwind today and my JM got really angry at me for it. Is it dangerous? Also, why are winds over fourteen miles per hour considered dangerous to students?

I'm still a student, at jump 11 but I'm finding landings very difficult! I'm always over shooting it, or too high or whatever reason. Today I came in for the landing at 200ish feet, due to there being no wind, was inevitably too high, turned to land in the other field, flared too high, lost the flare before hitting the ground, hit the runway way too fast and hard and caused myself to fall over my feet and face plant the ground. Ended up with a sore knee and a very swollen and bruised foot! Is there any tips I can get for making my landings easier?