DrDom

^^^ this I think the girl that was packing my mains as a student couldn't have been old enough to jump, but she obviously took a lot of pride in what she did. When I went on jump one I was trying to find a 260 and she handed me the one she just packed saying "I just packed this one with a lot of love and care, it will open, I stand by that". I like when people take pride in their work. So, If you pay attention, know how to do it right, and strive to take care so that every slider is up, everything folded and stowed properly, and will open to the best of its ability every time. Sure. Just please don't be the reason a student has to do his/her first cutaway ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

Why dont we find out what his hosting costs a year and start putting donations. I bet $1 per person would keep this very valuable resource alive You are not the contents of your wallet.

I think the DSM classification of this woman is clear. She feels wronged by... probably everything. Its similar to OCD but it affects us all. One of the single best things we could honestly do is quietly get our cards in order and ignore her. You CAN poke the sleeping bear too much. Somewhere out there is a skydiver who is also a lawyer, maybe they can provide some lay advice that we could use to address this but unfortunately I think that the idea is right that there is a lawyer on retainer and eventually that money will run out. Some people just have this sense that they can abuse the law to manipulate the world. It is not the intent of the law. These types of cases can go on for decades and in the end there is no winner. But if we all keep our cool, respond in kind to anything thrown at us, maybe even do a little research (go check sound levels during flight ops at various areas?) and draft up the facts. We did this with the shooting range, and we are still there and ready for shooting. You are not the contents of your wallet.

2 skydiving parents? Even if its a recessive gene the odds are pretty good ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

Mine is pretty boring.... I'm a Doctor and my name is Domenic. When I was in Residency i tried to get people to stop calling me "Dr. Martinello" all the time and said "Just call me Domenic". Some of the... what is the political term... "more seasoned".... nurses just couldnt wrap their head around being on a first name basis with the docs so they called me "Dr. Dom". It stuck. But "Dr" sounds so stuffy so if you find me... just Dom is good ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

I'm so jealous of all the people who have the option of winter jumps without substantial travel... You are not the contents of your wallet.

My struggles were door fear, and exit de-arch. I'm not sure if everyone does the exact same AFF levels (I assume so except special programmes like chicago's AFP and such) but I can say that I found they actually get easier as you go on. I'm on level 7 which means I'll have to get recurrent in the spring, so I can not say I'm an expert ;) Just another student. I think a lot of it is comfort and confidence in the sky. Smiling is not optional, do it often. Its good for the soul. Heck, try doing it on the ground more often too, it can change your life. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Do both ;) You can never have too much jumping/tunnel You are not the contents of your wallet.

Now I'm hungry! You are not the contents of your wallet.

Skiiers and snowboarders get it; snowmobilers too, even showshoe folks. It passes. I've had my share after winter hiking for too long... You are not the contents of your wallet.

Uh... I'm not sure that would hold up in front of a judge unless someone has made threats. If the harassment is not directed at her then I think what people say ABOUT her is covered under "freedom of speech", especially in a private forum. Boy what a disaster though... At the local shooting range I frequent (the oldest and longest running in the country, by the way) there are a number of recently-moved-in folks who went to the town to complain about the range being too loud. The range has already fitted several coverings to the outdoor area which were then insulated, built new berms, made certain no shooting sundays until noon, stuff like that. And still they complain I guess the reality is no matter WHAT you do, there will always be people who disagree with it, and all we can do is play the game. I think most of the lawsuit against the airport is going to fail, but in today's legal climate you never know what will happen... and its always expensive. If the airport wins I do hope they sue for the cost of legal defense. You are not the contents of your wallet.

That is it exactly. The better the training and practice, the easir it is and the more awareness you have for altitude, etc. No better training than in a wind tunnel. My son was a tunnel instructor before he did AFF. His awareness was amazing. I blame good genes ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

Cant do exits cant track cant deploy, do EPs, or control canopy Can's see changing altitude or get more spatially aware thats about all you can NOT do. But you can get comfortable with body position practice turns, docks, slides and try to gain some muscle memory And I have to agree... rainy/windy days... there is nothing better :) just my 2 cents You are not the contents of your wallet.

If this is the case you may have Raynaud's Syndrome. You can replicate it by holding a glass of ice water in the freezer for 30 seconds and then bringing it back into a warm room. Its vascular spasm and not dangerous Otherwise, there is not much bad you can do even if you get some "frostnip" but I would recommend warm packs to the hands to improve blood flow and keeping them flexing and they will loosen up. If the fingers look normal at this point, you're ok :) Oh, and ibuprofen or naproxen for the pain actually has been shown in studies to be helpful. GO get some gloves ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

congrats on the jumps and the experience welcome to the forums! You are not the contents of your wallet.

I'm 35 so I like to think of myself is neither young nor old. In my mind nobody is old if they are jumping out of airplanes. My arch and fall is ok but if you watch, I still lose it out the door and have my own issues. My point was not to show off, but to show we all have flaws and learning points. None of this came natural... If you go to my YouTube page, go ahead and look at my FIRST tunnel session! I learned exactly how solid that plexiglass is on many occasions You are not the contents of your wallet.

Here we go, some not-flattering AFF Jumps Level 1: http://youtu.be/QMdlwL2g61w Level 2: http://youtu.be/JEPAfprR1T0 Level 3: http://youtu.be/uatJnodKTNY Level 4: No Video... sorry... and apparently one of my better jumps :\ Level 5: http://youtu.be/f9YIcDwkme0 Level 6: http://youtu.be/5vODVxbF1Ik No shame here, enjoy my less-than-perfect expereince you can probably smell my anxiety through the screen ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

I publish my youtube videos no matter how bad they are. I'm doing the chronicles of my jumps and have NO problem laughing at myself. I'll see if I can post mine. I'm no pro. But I DID have about an hour of tunnel before AFF Level1. Nerves? You want to talk nerves come up with me. I'm a total headcase! If anxiety is your concern, and you have time, order "Transcending Fear" and take a yoga class. Yep, I know "shut up you crazy person" but hey... it got me out the door. It got me relaxed. Some good reading there. I have also told people another thing to consider is "directed visualization". You find someplace quiet, preferably with something to put your feet on, and place yourself into a relaxed arch position. Close your eyes, and envision yourself in your arch. Relax, breathe, make your mind believe. You'll get it Everyone gets there, but remember we are all different people with different neural connections. Some form more easily than others. I feel like a loser being afraid to jump, and then being at home in the air. I would rather be bad at arch and able to get out the door ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

I was born with feathers so it all comes natural for me almost go that out with a straight face. OK, I'm only an AFF student but can tell you a few things I've learned. First... I have a good arch. No confidence, a lot of fear, but a good arch. I spent an hour in the tunnel before AFF (mostly because I signed up for AFF and there was a big lag time). Out the door I cant arch, I tense up still even after 6 jumps. But once out there it smooths out and I get stable. After level 4 my instructor was filling out the form and said "Either You've jumped before or you spent a lot of time in the tunnel". He said he could tell by the arch, heading control, and turns. Smooth, obviously done before. So, my uninformed advice as a student to student: Tunnel time helped me, it may help you. Freefall for 1-2 minutes total you just can not beat yourself up for not mastering yet. But if you want to improve your curve (pun intended) then go ahead and book 15 minutes of tunnel time. Thats like 5-10 skydives worth of arch. PLus, the nice thing about the tunnel (again, only my student experience) is that you do not need to think much about the whole process of the jump flow... just work on your arch and build some muscle memory Nothing about skydiving is really intuitive, and the information I give is free; you get what you pay for. So ask your instructors for help if you're not sure where to go. ALWAYS defer first to your instructors. If you do not trust them enough to believe them, get new instructors ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

If youre in New England, there are a lot of folks who do tunnel camps in the winter, will give an idea of what AFF would be like before you do it. Otherwise, as an AFF student, I recommend it, but I would also recommend a tandem first. Reason being is that there is a LOT of overload on AFF-1, some of it is easier when you've already been outside the plane :) Just a humble opinion. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Do they have the vegan options where you eat? You are not the contents of your wallet.

Yep, I did this too. Guy who did a tandem with me found over 30 excuses to not go. People at work would say they were going and then cancel last minute. I just realize I can't get people to go, I figure they will seek me out... You are not the contents of your wallet.

Oh friend... 3 jumps and you expect perfection. You're as bad as I am! Seriously though, talk to your instructors and ask what their opinion is. My GUESS is that if they are progressing you they feel this is normal. My exit arch 6 jumps in still sucks (except level 4... no idea there... left like I knew what I was doing). My landings... are all PLF and one faceplant from the mud (COULD have run it out if my foot didnt sink into the mess). Don't be hard on yourself but if you're worried about progression just ask your instructors what they think. THEY are your best source of feedback :) You are not the contents of your wallet.

I've gone through levels 5 and 6 and can say honestly it does get better. My fear took over on 7 so now i'll be non-current to spring but... hey... I'm in no rush! Glad to see you're up in the sky and having a good time! I've heard it gets easier but there is ALWAYS more to learn. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Congrats to you both! A wonderful accomplishment and even better to have it with family. You are not the contents of your wallet.