oeriksson

Hi You sound about the same as me.. also a perfectionist. I would say try it and then move on. I've got about 12 hours of tunnel time now and I've realized that I learn most when I get to try something, then go home and watch the video (countless times), and then come back to try it again. I can't stress enough how important the video is. But you also need video of other people doing the same exercise, people better than you, so you can watch how they do it. Coaches are so different. I don't think it really matters if they are super talented, as long as their teaching style fits you, and you never know that in advance. I prefer one that lets me decide what to practice, but at the same time pushes me forward to try new things when I'm ready for it. Sometimes I prefer to really stick to one exercise and do it over and over again until I know it inside out. It helps for some things, but other things that you do in the tunnel you don't really need for the sky, and some things you will do in the tunnel so many times anyway. Back to belly, or more stricly back to sit, is one such. You'll get to do it so many times anyway and it doesn't have to be perfect to move on to more fun things, so I would say let it be now. :) Have fun!

LICENSE VS AWARD It seems the license system is some kind of reward system in the U.S. from what I hear here. I thought the idea of a license system was to improve safety by putting requirements on what you can do at different skill levels. The higher the license you have, the more things you are allowed to do. When you have the B license you are allowed to night jump for example. That's why I think the accuracy requirement is good, maybe the most sensible requirement, it means you can't do demo jumps before you have proven that you can land on target. The question of whether or not night jumps should be a requirement for D license should focus on what you can do after you get the D license that requires night jumping experience. When you get past the D license you would be deemed experienced enough to decide for yourself what you should and shouldn't do, thus making further license ratings unnecessary. Unless you have a wish to do something that requires a D license there really is no reason for you to get it. In Sweden where I jump, the reasons for getting a D license is to be able to become an AFF instructor, jump a bird suit, jump without shoes or jump without an AAD. In my opinon, night jumping sounds like one of the more dangerous activities in skydiving, so I think it should require a D license, and should *NOT* be a requirement for anything. However, anyone with the required license rating, should be able to night jump if he/she wishes to. That way everybody are happy, both those who want to, and don't want to night jump.

Yeah that was a really good clip Dragon2! Extremely educational. I have to agree with Mockingbird, it's a new favourite. It shows the contrast between the student arch and the mantis really good. Interesting to see the lady turning with her legs. I have to try that as soon as I get my license. Pilotdave's video was good too, especially the last part with the dive. For you other guys. I have found that watching windtunnel skydives on youtube is really educational too. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=windtunnel+skydiving&search=Now I only have to turn the theory into practice in the windtunnel myself. :-)

What's one day of waiting. I am on a winter brake now because of the snow and cold (!) but we have had to consider ourselves lucky if we have been able to squeeze in one jump per weekend lately. But it doesn't stop me from going to the DZ, even if it's raing on friday and saturday.

I think it's like someone said. It's supposed to be scary. That's one of the reasons I like it so much. It's gratifying to overcome your fears. I started skydiving this fall and have only jumped 14 times so far but this has been the best time of my life, without a question. It has changed the person I am. It's not just the jump itself, but all the mental preparation you do through the weeks and at the drop zone. I have never been so scared in my life and I just love it. If you ask me when I am in the plane or when they have just opened the door, I would probably say it's the last time I do it. But I really couldn't see myself quitting. I keep surprising myself over and over again. Sometimes I have consider not doing it, to know why I do it.

Scary situation. Glad you got out of it ok. What is it that makes the canopies go into down-plane or what can you do to make this happen? I'm a little interested to know what causes this so you will have an idea of the chances that a side-by-side will go into down-plane. ScratchTX, you said you used body inputs to steer away from obstacles. What does that mean exactly, rear risers? Regards Olle

I am a SL student at jump 13. Because of the weather I have gotten this far in about 2 months. I don't know about the AFF but if you ask me SL seams to be the better choice. As people have already said, you get many more jumps with the SL program than AFF and I think this is highly beneficial. I was really scared to leave the airplane the first jumps and it felt good knowing that I could just jump out and relax and the parachute would still deploy. Actually I liked having one week, sometimes several weeks, between most of the jumps. It gave me lots of time to think about the jumps and to prepare myself. I had problems "recording" the feelings during the jumps and having such a long time between the jumps gave me time to relive every jump. That definitely helped me a lot. I think that if I had done all the jumps in one weekend I wouldn't have had time to think about what I had just done. Last time I did jump 12 (freefall from 1500m) after a 3 week break. Although I was more nervous than normal because of the long delay, I had already played the jump in my head a thousand times and when I finally did it, I was really aware about everything and it felt just like last time. It was as if I had learned so much by those 3 weeks off jumping. Olle

Here are two websites I found useful. http://www.pierltd.com/new/main/flyingthecanopy.htm http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/pages/articles/dec00/canopyskills.htm Regards Olle