jumpgump

Here's what I have on my iPod "Skydiving" playlist: Song - Artist Fanfare for the Common Man - Aaron Copland Main Title Theme - Mission Impossible; Artie Kane As the Rush Comes - Motorcycle Moving Into Light (Freemasons Vocal Mix) - Black Fras Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz Above the Clouds - Paul Weller Blink and You'll Miss It - Paul Weller Dreamscape - 009 Sound System Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver This is the Life - Amy Macdonald Safe and Sound - Capital Cities Clubbed to Death - Rob Dougan Sandstorm - Darude Blow Me Away - Breaking Benjamin Powerslave - Testament I Am Machine - Three Days Grace I'm a Man - Spencer Davis Group Where Eagles Dare - Iron Maiden

Yeah, I think that would do it and not take five jumps!

Background: I'm a former Army military static line jumper (1985-1996). One thing that is still fresh in my mind as it was in my active duty Army years was doing PLFs with those old T-10s and -1Bs rounds pounding into the ground upon landing with gear day or night. PLF training and practice was pounded into all of our minds not only for safety but also because of the mission and obeying orders. Doing PLFs sometimes by the hundreds in training from elevated positions was the norm. Needless to say, I can do military style PLFs very well. There was never even the thought of standing up on a landing. It was an impossible thought. Any who dared to try it was given an Article 15 summary court martial. I saw enough serious injuries even when PLFs were performed correctly. Thankfully, I walked away from every military jump I did. Others didn't fare so well. Current: I've obtained my A license in my somewhat old age. It's definitely a new world in sport skydiving with these RAM canopies. During student training all of my landings were done PLF. I didn't even attempt to do a stand-up. I didn't want to...didn't want to even try it (as stated above). I still don't, but I know that I must/should. I barely squeaked out a partial stand-up to get my license. My coach gave it to me because I could PLF so well. Trying to retrain the brain to not automatically go into PLF when coming into contact with the ground is proving difficult. I need to learn this mental re-training from an automatic-PLF to stand up. I have my own rig now and the last thing I want to do is tear up the container doing PLFs on every landing. My rig was very expensive to be out there slamming into the ground. I'm guessing there may be some other former military jumpers like myself or other jumpers with a similar background with sport rounds back in the day here who had the same problem. Will this just come in time with more practice or something else or both? Thanks!

Great information - thank you!

My home DZ has highly qualified and experienced load organizers available almost every day of the week. I recently got my A license and plan to take advantage of this opportunity and start jumping with them. The LOs say their service is free. Is it really? I don't see how. All my training up to this point has cost me quite a bit of money. AFF and coaches got tips. Don't the LOs? If so, what is customary per jump? The LOs are crucial for me to be able to jump with other people and actually learn something instead of doing solos by myself. The last thing I want to do is start off on the wrong foot and piss them off by not tipping if I should out of newbie ignorance.

Is it okay/acceptable to ask the load organizer or someone in manifest to sign my logbook?

Thanks for writing and posting this article. I'd like to know the video and book by Brian Germain that you studied. Thanks!

Yeah, I'd be a little concerned if my wife placed the value of my life at 1,000,000 "likes" on FB. The current exchange rate for FB likes in the United States is probably the same in Australia. FB 1,000,000 = $0 It took me four months to get my wife's blessings and approval to get back in the sky again after I had a small tear to my left shoulder rotator cuff from an AFF jump. I think anything more serious (such as your mate) than that would have gotten me banned for life by the wife.

If you think 4000 is a low hop n' pop, check this one out at 1500 feet. I didn't think our safety man was going to jump behind us since we were doing a static line jump and he was wearing a freefall rig. I wonder how low it can go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJZfoiWswY&list=

I paid a packer $25 to pack an SF-10A rig (military round canopy). When I picked my rig up that afternoon I said, "Thank you." She laughed and replied, "I hope it opens!" I didn't think it was very funny, and I certainly didn't have a good feeling about the next jump.

I wonder if this freefall jumper was nervous doing a hop n' pop at 1500 feet (last jumper to leave the plane). I was one of the static line jumpers on this jump. I thought he was on the plane as a safety and to pull the static lines back in after the other jumpers exited the aircraft. I didn't think a hop n' pop could be done this low...frickin' crazy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJZfoiWswY

No, unfortunately I don't. The "jump insurance" purchased at the AFF school for 10 minutes in the tunnel doesn't include a DVD. It should be for what the whole thing costs. I've always been given a DVD copy of my tunnel time. I was told that everything is recorded in the tunnel regardless if the student pays or requests a DVD. I should have gotten one before I left. That was another mistake on my part. In the end, I am not blaming the tunnel staff or really anyone at Perris for any of this. I love the place; the instruction I have received there has been outstanding. What happened was probably due to me as was pointed out by another poster. The tunnel staff know more about what they are doing than I do. I'm a newbie with all of this. It just happened. I guess this is why we sign our lives away with waivers at the tunnel and the DZ in case something happens. It's a dangerous activity. I'll just have to figure out what I'm going to do from here. Thank you all for your insights and observations. Again, I'm sorry for hijacking this thread with all of this detail. I thought what happened to me was related to the topic posted by the original poster. The point I wanted to make to another newbie like myself who is going to the tunnel are the words I was taught at infantry school: Stay alert - stay alive!

Yes, I could do that. I really like Perris and wanted to finish there. I'm already driving 520 miles round trip to Perris. Elsinore is only another 11 miles. San Diego farther down the road. I'm leaving for Florida for a week to do static line jumps at the paratrooper reunion. When I get back I'm going to try one more time with my doc and see if he will give me that note. If not, I guess I'll have to go somewhere else. I'm considering going to Georgia or Florida and starting all over again. Two places over there have "A license in a week programs" for very cheap prices. I could fly over there, stay in the bunkhouse or even a hotel and still come out cheaper than going to southern California. I hope your injury heals up quickly and you can get back in the tunnel. I apologize for hijacking this thread with all this. I thought it was related and just wanted to put it out there for another newbie like myself to be better informed when he or she heads to the tunnel.

Skydive Perris says I have a wind tunnel injury even though I say I don't any longer. I guess that's my point - it's what the skydiving center in the end says - not the jumper. I hurt my shoulder; I gave it rest and rehab for a little while, and I thought I would be good-to-go...no go. The day after my doctor laughed in my face and wouldn't give me a note, I went down to Perris stupidly thinking that maybe I could convince them that they didn't need this note. I could have done cartwheels, pushups, and pullups to demonstrate; it wouldn't have mattered. What matters is that doctor's note. I left there and walked right over to the wind tunnel and did 10 minutes. The next day I drove to Eloy and did 10 minutes in their wind tunnel and 3 tandem jumps to check my shoulder in real flight - no problem. This may be something you want to do when and if you think you are ready to get back into it (tunnel for a couple flights or a tandem jump). This may not have been the best thread to post what I have said, but it was tunnel injury related (old injury). I'm just putting this out there because I'm sure I'm not the first to experience this, and there will probably be somebody after me that has a mishap in the tunnel and it could put them out of business in their AFF program.

I'm grounded right now at Skydive Perris because of a tunnel injury. I purchased "jump insurance" there before I retested on AFF 7. This means that before the jump the instructor and I go to the tunnel for 10 minutes of one-on-one. I've spent quite a bit of time in that tunnel, so 10 minutes was nothing new. I am in good health and exercise strenuously 6 days per week. None of that mattered or matters now. This is what I mean. When I was in the tunnel I didn't notice that one of the tunnel staff came walking in around behind me while I was in "flight." I'm looking at my instructor who is standing outside of the door following his hand signals. The tunnel staff employee grabbed my leg and arm causing me to lose stability big-time. I ended up crashing into the wall into my shoulder landing upside down. The tunnel was turned off and I was helped to my feet. I was pushed outisde, but I pushed back because I wanted to continue training. I laid on the screen until they turned it back on. I continued on and exhausted my 10 minutes. I was in pain, but kept going. Big mistake. Tunnel time is done and now it's time to get on the aircraft and do it for real. The AFF instructor told me on the walk back to the school that I need to "stand down." What the.....? We get back to the school and he has me sit outside while he goes in the office and talks with the chief instructor and school director. Ten minutes later they call me in the office and sit me down. The AFF instructor told them what happened in the tunnel, and that I was making "painful looks" on my face while in flight. I was now grounded. There would be no jumping or any other training until I came back with a doctor's note. The DZ is a 520 mile round trip for me, so I wasn't very happy. Three weeks later I go to my doctor. I asked him to give me a note so I can go back to skydiving. He laughs in my face. He didn't want to put his name on any paper going into a file at a skydiving school. I went back down to Perris and tried to get around this, and they aren't budging on the deal. My last two jumps were Christmas Eve....and the clock is still ticking. All this because of the wind tunnel and a staff person grabbing me for some unknown reason. My shoulder aches a little bit, but it doesn't stop me from doing pullups and pushups with a 60 lb. pack on my back. Perris doesn't care. It's all about the liability. They don't want the liability and neither does the doctor. If I bounce because I couldn't pull my reserve handle due to a bumb shoulder, I know the school wants to show the coroner that note from the doctor, and that doctor doesn't want anyone calling him. Watch out in the wind tunnel. It's not just the powerful air being generated on the body, it's also things like I described above that can put you out of business even after you are healed up. If you're injured, keep it to yourself if you can and go home for the day. If the DZ staff find out about it, you might find yourself grounded too. It may be different for experienced jumpers, but for students like me, it's the end unless one is wanting to go to another school and start all over again.

Thank you very much for all of these answers!

A Navigator 240 is the largest solo rig at this DZ close to where I live. For my height and weight (5'11; 205 lbs.) I was told I need a 280. They told me they couldn't help me. Before I hung up the phone I should have asked how much weight I need to lose to fit into it (lol). I'm new to all of this. I'm guessing there is a big difference between a 240 and a 280 in terms of what weight it can handle and how it flies with that amount of weight (200-210 lbs.). Thanks for your patience.

I did a search through the forums and didn't find the answer to this specific question. What is the maximum allowable student weight/height to use a 240 canopy?

I can relate to that. For me, AFF training was conducive to military training - very serious and no fun whatsoever. Each instructor I had seemed to be upset because I wasn't laughing and smiling all the time. They wanted me to smile on the ground and in the plane on the way to altitude. I not only had anxiety about performing well, concentrating on what I had to do on the dive flow, but also just anxiety about the plane ride, the "door monster" and what my crash landing was going to look like with hopefully a good PLF. I thought at times that these instructors were being unreasonable wanting me to be "howdy doody" the ass clown with all that going on as a noobie. I kept wondering what my problem was because I wasn't mister smiley-face. I got the impression that when these others went through their training it was all smiles, jokes, giggles, and knee slaps the whole way throgh. For what I am paying to do this hobby/activity, I should be having the time of my life. I bet I've already spent a few thousand dollars and I'm still on AFF 7. I keep thinking at some point this will be all the fun that others say it will be, and my 4 hour drive to the DZ will be all smiles, laughing, and constant jokes once I get there.

Varsity, I am currently on my third attempat level 7 AFF. I understand the discouragement. Everyone keeps telling me the same thing they are saying to you - don't give up! The chief instructor at the skydiving school where I am taking AFF told me that he failed level 4 AFF twice when he was a student. You should read his skydiving credentials now - amazing and impressive. Some are naturals with this, but I think most are like the two of us. Every student that has been at the school with me on the days that I have trained have all had to repeat AFF levels sometimes more than once. Anyway, I'm in the same boat with you in some respects. You probably have already of my situation on the "Jump Anxiety" thread on this forum. We just have to jump and jump and jump until we get er' done.

Boomerdog, Trafficdiver, NWFlyer, and Dr Dom: Thanks for the replies to my thread post. What all of you said was very helpful!