DrDom

Excellent article with ability to extrapolate even beyond just the DZ; thanks for taking the time to put that into words!

It takes about 5 years average for a lawsuit to hit the defendant in court. This could probably be some trolling for information to use. Not sure what the statute of limitations is on these. Without a better view of the rest of the traffic area, DZ, etc and knowing relevant weather, etc it is impossible to know what happened with certainty. Natural phenomena, bad judgment, unavoidable accident due to unseen issues... lets face it not ours to judge at this point. What WILL I say? well. Risky sport. Waiver I signed said even if the TI is "grossly negligent" I'm still unable to sue. I had to initial that. Twice. I doubt the TI wanted to have an accident; so lets not be so quick. But I would reply to the question of "what could be done" with care... these boards are ripe for a lawyer on a fishing expedition. You are not the contents of your wallet.

If your Eustachian tubes are the issue, you can always try Flonase, its now over the counter. I prefer it over stuff like phenylephrine since that has a lot more side effects. A good ENT should get a scope in your nose and have a look around to see what is causing the ruckus. I try and not use the Valsalva that often myself. Gum helps, yawning is my trick otherwise. I chew gum but I get too nervous in the plane so end up swallowing it before I get off the bench thinking I'll choke on it. Yeah, i'm a little nervous still ;) Try the Flonase and get a good ENT up in your business. You are not the contents of your wallet.

No it absolutely is NOT. First off, paragliders are highly efficient (mine is 9:1), has a completely different aspect ratio, handling characteristics, and is designed to glide not descend. There is a vehicle known as a Powered Parachute (PPC) which should not be confused with a Powered Paraglider (PPG) which I prefer to call a Paramotor since its not as sound-alike with a PPC. PPC's use low efficiency parachutes and thus require MUCH larger motors. MUCH. To the point they are no longer ultralights and are actually Light Sport Aircraft. They require a tail number, registration, a license (at least LSA with an endorsement). a PPG and PPC are as different as a parachute and a paraglider in unpowered form. Don't go and try to thermal your 'chute ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

Absolutely! I still prescribe acupuncture, massage, yoga, meditation, vegan diet, and a variety of other adjuncts. I'm a "medicine minimalist" when I can be. There is a time and place for meds, but that is after exhaustion of non-drug things that work. You are not the contents of your wallet.

(from Wikipedia, translated for German for some reason so pardon the translation) As a doctor I'm not saying it doesn't work (the article is a little pointed) only if you were curious where it came from. I'm all for alternative medicine (I sent a lot of patients for massage, acupuncture, physical therapy, yoga, etc) Pete Egoscue ([i: 'goskju:]) (* 1945 ) is an American author and provider of health services. At its franchising system, which from its headquarters in San Diego is managed from, 25 institutions in the US, Mexico, and Japan are currently connected. The Egoscue Method is an attitude therapy through movement exercises the function of the musculoskeletal system is designed to improve and restore. This is an improvement in posture cause. The exercises come from different areas, such as the yoga , the grassroots or were developed. Egoscue has no medical training. By his own report, he suffered an injury in the early 1970s. In the rehabilitation he worked intensively with "the human body and its anatomical, physiological, kinesiological and biomechanical principles". [1] With self selected exercises he had greatly accelerated his healing process. In the aftermath Egoscue turned his knowledge first to the friends and family. Due to its success, "he has been working since 1978 full-time" [2] with his method. The method has become known in the US, although there are no scientific studies or even proof of efficacy. In various journals such as in Sports Illustrated to find items [3] [4] on the methodology. You are not the contents of your wallet.

1) Transdermal scopolamine is a good idea. It works very well. I've written a few prescriptions over the years and people love it. It may give you a little dry mouth, actual side effects are low but my advice is wear one for a few days NOT skydiving and make sure you feel ok with it. 2) I hear a LOT of people sick under tandem. One thing that gets a lot of people is the lack of control. I do not EVER... seriously ever... get motion sick. I was taking flight lessons and my instructor was demonstrating "steep turns" and I actually got a little queasy. He said "OK you try it" and although mine were way less coordinated (which should make you more sick) I felt fine. He took over again and same issue. I think its just aggressive maneuvers that you aren't in control of. 3) Stress can make you more succeptable to nausea. Eat a normal meal (seriously, if you don't eat you'll just have acid stomach and your stress response will make it worse) and make sure you HYDRATE well. Your inner ear works much better when you are hydrated. That's all I have. Glad to see the both of you giving it a run. My wife won't jump so I actually have to find time to take a vacation week away to bang out my jumps. Doing it local get me "the look" ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

There were two times I heard this... right before I got on the place and right when I got into the door. Lightened me up ever time and was thankful for it. Know your audience though. You are not the contents of your wallet.

I know a couple D-License guys who are exceptional jumpers who always laugh and re-tell the story of their level-1 (CatA) jumps. They said it built character and prevented them from being too cocky through the rest of it. It is a learning process, you learned. I call that a victory, even if you need to re-do the level. Remember that your mind is the greatest piece of safety equipment you have, you just connected another neuron, made another wrinkle, and will keep improving. You are not the contents of your wallet.

If they don't appeal, these crazies will likely file another lawsuit one after the other until they run out of cash or die. Their only motivation will be to bankrupt the operation if it does not stop. The solution? We should all jump there ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.

I have tinnitus and use the same musician plugs. There are several phases of times that will be an issue. The plane ride first, the freefall is also quite loud, and then you will need to free yourself from it while under canopy. Now, I would say that although hearing is good to have under canopy I think that my VERY LIMITED experience was I could hear the radio with my musician plugs well enough to make sense, and keeping your head "on a swivel" is extremely important. Although my skydive experience is limited, I do powered paragliding as well and even in crowded skies I have no sense of hearing between the radio and the engine. I prefer to have as much hearing protection as possible, but that's my personal opinion. Maybe some of the higher time jumpers can speak more to how important hearing is while under canopy but my experience in other avenues of aviation has been that hearing takes a substantial back seat to vision and attention. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Wait Bill.... what about the ash dive? As I see it, a skydive is a skydive. This is a valid point. You are not the contents of your wallet.

I've seen 70 year olds that look 40 and 40 year olds that look 70 "old" is not uniform. how HEALTHY are you? You are not the contents of your wallet.

IIRC my AFFI had a shattered pelvis at one point. Seemed to be just fine. I know there are many "show me your metal" posts in the disabilities section, may want to pick brains in there too. You are not the contents of your wallet.

As a physician who has dabbled a foot or two in skydiving I can say that the physiological strains placed on you while you exit an airplane, get a surge of adrenaline and dopamine, have up to 6G's of force exerted on you, and the sometimes jarring landing (I flare poorly. very poorly)... you should be relatively fit. Relatively. You don't need to be a marathon runner, power lifter, etc... but you should have a healthy cardiovascular system ready for the demands placed on it; should not have a medical condition that could cause you to become incapable of action. You will need reflexes above the minimum. You should have the basic ability to land and not get injured. flexibility and strength training are an asset here. It is actually a fairly well rounded activity. Stresses the brain and the nerves (more figuratively but also literally), requires some fine motor control and gross motor movements, spatial reasoning, flexibility and strength, as well as balance. It is, however, too short to be used for training except by the most determined. Kind of elegant if you think of it, so the better shape the better but you could be, in relative terms, quite unfit from a medical standpoint and still be a safe and exceptional skydiver/parachutist. If you're not sure... go ahead and exercise a bit. Even if you aren't going to benefit your skydiving, you will benefit your health in other ways! You are not the contents of your wallet.

Someone owes a LOT of Beer. a lot. DJBillyD... why are you here if you could not see the value of jumping from a plane? go enjoy your bowling or golf.

its so beautiful I think I teared up a little bit... congrats :) You are not the contents of your wallet.

hmm... could it work? Maybe. Remember that these vests were designed for motorcycle racers where the impact is not actually that hard to the ground. It could help in a high speed crash by adding additional "padding". Could it help a jumper? I don't know. The physics in a skydiving misadventure are hard to gauge. An unrestrained fall? no way. A bad landing? maybe. Protect the legs? Nope, not in the design. Now, maybe people could use it to say... protect the brain and/or spine and that could be a good use but remember you're pretty restrained in your gear so either it has to go outside of your gear or inflate under it. See the issues? Its a cool concept but... I don't see how it could be adapted. With that in mind, we can't solve problems if we don't brainstorm them so... to the OP: keep at it. One of us will possibly develop the next "thing" that keeps people jumping and alive. You are not the contents of your wallet.

I had a lot of these issues with my wife when I started Did a tandem and "asked forgiveness instead of permission"... then I signed up for AFF and she was still OK but at some point decided she was not, started making it uncomfortable for me to go finish AFF, and I never completed it. Now she realizes I'm a "safety nut" but like calculated risk. She keeps encouraging me to go again. What changed? She ran into a friend of hers that she didn't know was a skydiver. the woman is in her 60's, couple thousand jumps, and works as a nurse anaesthetist at her hospital. She talked about risk, mitigation, the physics and differences in "different kinds of risk takers". Now my wife would rather me do the skydiving than the paragliding I took up instead. Considers paragliding too much risk now. Go figure. Anyhow, information breeds comfort. You should get informed, your wife should as well. It is no joke a lot of risk. But nobody gets out of life alive. I see people dying in my ER every day. Mostly from smoking, obesity, diabetes, and outright stupidity. My advice is: go live, don't just slowly die. You are not the contents of your wallet.

I've used a variety of these for powered paragliding. No reason they wont work fine under a parachute compared to a glider. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Why not go to SNE up in Maine or Pepperill in MA and get a second opinion? When I did my second AFF jump I was lugging my canopy back to the packing area while a 65 year old was heading up in the otter. It was my last jump of the day but my instructor introduced me to his wife. while we chatted he landed and did so brilliantly (at 35 I was jealous of his better landing). At 65 he quickly outpaced my jumps and landed with a smile every time. Skydiving is less physical than mental. You don't need to be a weightlifter or marathon runner, you need to have decent reflexes and good body control. You could always head to the NH wind tunnel as well and work on body position. It takes the intimidation out of the freefall entirely. I'm no pro by any means (hell, you're already approaching my jump numbers) but seeing MANY older students at the DZ... I can't see where the issue is. again, i'm no AFF instructor, but there are likely options and where some instructors may be unable/unwilling/uncomfortable at training you... its like finding the right doctor. They are out there. You are not the contents of your wallet.

I did one tandem before AFF. I did not like the lack of control to be honest. The fear I got during AFF was expected. Someone had recommended doing another tandem to see if I could get over my jitters and honestly I just felt like... that would be more terrifying. Don't get me wrong, its terrifying for me either way (and fascinatingly addictive and enjoyable on an equal level) but the thought of trusting my fate to someone else... just... gives me the heebies. No offence, TI's, its just my desire to be in control of my own destiny (admittedly my logical brain accepts they are awesome people who are highly skilled in what they do). I have heard the idea of "working tandem" and it totally makes sense to me. as an aside, 2 of my friends went through AFF without a tandem. One got so overloaded he froze and his instructor deployed him; the other couldn't find his PC and brought his knee up causing a crazy barrel roll which his instructor had to dump him. My first jump went textbook. Your mileage may vary. You are not the contents of your wallet.

Isn't that what we all want to see??? As for the OP, maybe a little more specific on what you want and what you are going to do with it and we could help you. Lots of gopro cameras attached to lots of helmets... You are not the contents of your wallet.

and that, ladies and gentlemen... is how you stay happily married for 30 years ;) Whenever my wife asks "do you remember that woman..." "NO!" and that ends that... You are not the contents of your wallet.

Awesome, thanks guys! There is a guy named Ben that started teaching me there and did most of my flights, I may just look him up... You are not the contents of your wallet.