freakflyer9999

I still use a shaving mug, brush and soap, but not a straight razor. I just cut myself too much, so I gave up and now use twin blade disposables.

I want one

During my first jump, I wasn't ever nervous, just determined to achieve a dream of a life time. Starting on my 2nd jump, though, pure terror set it. The "terror" subsided for me after just a few more jumps, though I would say that I was still nervous on most of my jumps till around 50. I had my 1st reserve ride at 55 and my 2nd at 65. After that I knew that I could and would handle emergencies just as I was trained. The only other jump that has actually scared me was my 4th reserve ride. I was on my back with a spinning malfunction when I realized that I had no idea what altitude I was at. I immediately reached for my cutaway. I still get the "heebie jeebies" occasionally and have learned to respect the feeling. The last time I forced myself to jump anyway, I injured myself slightly. At times when I thought that I would have been nervous, I wasn't. When I came back to the sport after a long layoff, the door opened, I climbed out and jumped. Wasn't even a fleeting moment of nervousness.

Bloodrock's D.O.A

How the hell are we going to jump outta that thing?

I kinda like this one. NSFW

My favorite off landing was at Quincy 97. 2 way, last out of the Casa on a long spot. We ended up in a field about 2 miles from the airport. A whuffo couple watched us land, asked the local farmer for permission to drive through his property and proceeded to pick us up at the closest cross fence. They then drove us all the way back to our tent. Of course they got free admission to the WFFC and hung around for a while, but that wasn't the reason they did it. Apparently a lot of the locals would stake out sections of the road to help lost skydivers. The majority of the Quincy locals were extremely friendly and welcomed the WFFC every year.

My local hobby shop just got one of these in. http://www.hobby-lobby.com/cocolama.htm I'm going to order one after Christmas.

Try this SKYDIVING & PARACHUTE JUMPING TRAINING - BUSINESS PLAN

I wear the same thing to church that I would wear any other day of the week. Usually either jeans and a pull over shirt or during the summer shorts and a t-shirt. There are those at our church that wear suit & tie, but its not the norm. Even the pastor doesn't wear a suit. And it's not one of these new upstarts that caters to the young type church. It is a Methodist church that was founded in the 1800's. Of course we do have contemporary music.

There is the spanking that leaves a bruise or two and then there are openings that do physical damage. At Quincy one year one of the guys from my home DZ opened in a track and actually separated his pelvis about an inch.

I ran a projection through our retirement calculator at work the other day. If I continue to invest in our savings plan at my current percentage and continue to have a reaonable rate of return on my investments, then I will be worth between $900,000 and $1,500,000 when I retire in 17 years. The current rate of return is actually considerably higher than what I used, but I don't expect it to continue indefinitely. If I had the forethought to actually begin saving when I started my career instead of 20+ years later, I might would have been able to retire much sooner. Oh well. I would have just spent it skydiving.

Halleluja! My 2 cents worth. I believe that what Calvin did is wrong, but there are certainly much worse things going on around me that could kill me or my family. I've lost many more friends to drunk drivers than to calvin's training method. Simply making it illegal doesn't stop it. In case you didn't know it, there are jumpers who jump under the influence as well. You should probably be much more worried about them. One of my pet peeves, is that anyone dumb enough can buy an ultralight aircraft and teach themselves how to fly in the skies over my head. Notice that I didn't say have Calvin teach them, but that they can teach themselves. That is scary.

Here is what the FAA has to say about the subject in their Advisory Circular 105-2c. B. Initial Training. The FAA encourages beginning parachutists to seek instruction from a parachuting instructor recognized by the USPA. Initial training sets the foundation for the skydiver’s continued education and advancement.

The movie Point Break is what did it for me. Of course I went on to got my B, C and D in the next few years.

http://www.aviation-museum.co.uk/rapide.htm

Stuff it with newspaper. Works great.

Try this site. http://www.zagi.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

I've left the sport twice. The first time for about 5 years and this most recent for about a year. Sold my gear the first time. Wish that I hadn't. I'll never sell my gear again. As for fear, there wasn't really any fear just a few butterflies. Both times the first jump back felt just like I'd been jumping everyday.

I can promise only one thing for sure. That is that your wife is going to die. How and when is subject to a lot of different factors. She could sit on the couch for the rest of her life and die of some natural cause. She could sit on the couch for the rest of her life and die of total boredom. Or She could get up off the couch and go live her life. This may take additional risk, but the rewards can be infinite. Eighteen years ago this week, I was laying on the couch gasping for breath and grabbing my chest. Fortunately, the heart attack that I had that day was extremely mild. I got up off that couch that day, threw my cigarettes in the trash and decided that I would not die laying on that couch. I decided that I was going to live my life each and every day. Among other things I became a skydiver. Skydiving is a sport where the rewards are infinite and though the risk is higher it can be managed. There are no guarantees though. In this sport, I've seen my best friend's crushed and lifeless body laying on the ground, but I've also experienced flight in a way that can not be described in words. As I stated, the risk in this sport can be managed, in spite of the fact that it can not be eliminated. Good training, good equipment, attention to detail and sound decision making mitigates the risks for me. I personally choose not to ride a motorcycle on the streets because I don't feel that I can manage enough of the risks involved to an acceptable level for me. Be proud of your wife for being willing to live her dreams. Skydiving was also a dream of mine. It continues to be a fullfilment of that dream each and every time I let go of the airplane. Blue Skies Kenny G.

My weight before gear is 285-290 and I jump a Navigator 280. My landings on the Navigator at this wing loading are gentle, though I do usually take a wrap on the brakes to get all of the flare out of the canopy. I don't have any experience with the Firebolt, but I don't think it would be a bad decision to go with the PD Navigator.

Here is a collage of Santa landing. This was a practice jump at the DZ prior to the actual demo. There were only a couple of kids at the DZ that day, so no large crowd.

I have a couple of pics of santa landing. I'll dig them out this weekend and scan them for you.

Be very careful about the gloves you select. My best friend died after spinning his canopy into the ground. At least a contributing factor was the fact that he had one of his gloved hands caught in the brake line. He was wearing thick neoprene type gloves. They kept out the cold well, but the apparently were difficult to slide loose for his tangled brake line.