Skylark

Where is it? All suggestions much appreciated. And does anyone know where some of the Spanish jumpers at Empuria got there black and white jumpsuits? I kinda want one of those... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Those video links are out of date. Anyone else? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Hmmm, just thought I'd add my own first cut-away experience. Had just completed AFF and leapt out of the twin otter on my second solo jump. Pulled at 5k and saw a canopy that really didn't look 'right'. I suddenly realised I had a 'line-over'. The next thing I remember was shrieking and ya-hooing and watching my main drift away a few hundred feet below me. I vaguely remember peeling and pulling and punching, but I certainly don't remember watching my reserve open and I didn't really think about what I was doing. It was totally automatic. Ok, a line-over isn't exactly a serious mal, but I was thrilled that I hadn't thought about my emergency procedure, I had simply carried it out and it's given me a huge confidence boost to know that my brain will switch to automatic again next time. Cool, huh? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

All very interesting. It seems some people are concerned about the cost ($1,200) of purchasing an AAD. Personally, I consider my life to be worth rather more than that, as do my family. It begs another question. If one loses altitude awareness and is only 500 ft from impact, would one rather they hadn't been so macho and were wearing an AAD or not? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Rather depressing, 'I'm too tough' attitudes (Skymedic, you won't be able to pull your own handles if you're knocked unconcious after a freefall collision). Maybe someone can post the total number of lives saved by the use of AAD's. Or better still, the number of needless deaths caused by jumpers who thought they were 'too cool' to wear them. "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

"We have helmet laws for motorcycles, why not make helmets mandatory for ALL skydivers?" Good question. Why not? "People often die from high performance canopies, why not make a law against sub-100 sq ft. canopies?" People DON'T die 'from' high performance canopies. They are killed from using them incorrectly. Used sensibly and with responsibility they are safe. "Its my life to risk, not yours, not anyone elses. mandating additional precautions is a form of tyranny, over the only thing i can ever really be said to possess." Unfortunately, by adopting that particular attitude you send a reckless message to students and others entering the sport that neglecting to wear an AAD is worth the 'risk'. It begs the question, what do you have to lose from wearing an AAD? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Could somebody please, please tell me why it's not yet illegal in either the US or the UK (or any other DZ for that matter) to jump a rig without an AAD? Here in the UK, a law was passed many years ago that made it illegal to travel in a motor vehicle without wearing a seat belt. The law was passed for the simple reason that it would save thousands of people from death and serious injury every year. I understand that at certain DZ's (such as Empuriabrava) the use of an AAD is mandatory. I'm particularly interested to hear from other DZ owners who don't have a similar policy. What are your 'excuses'? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Oh, please! more, MORE! "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

For the past 2 years I was not in a relationship and as a consequence became very lonely and depressed. I decided to skydive, passed AFF, and signed up for more jumps in Sebastian, starting in a few months time. However, I've since met a wonderful partner and we've become very close. I'm subsequently a lot happier in life, with a more positive outlook. Yet for some reason, I'm now no longer interested in jumping. Have I lost interest simply because my time and thoughts are now taken up with my new girlfriend? Or is it because it's human instinct to survive and pro-create and my instincts are telling me it's 'wrong' to jump since I now have someone else in my life? Or is the reason because I only started jumping in the first place because I was depressed and lonely and needed something intense, dangerous and attention-seeking to offset those feelings? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

At the end of the sjundedagen film, the very short clip looks like the FastestMotherFuckerInTheValley.wmv clip shot from the other camera, just before Lukas jumps and much better quality. Does anyone know if the full version shot from that other camera is online? Or whether the original clip is lurking around in much better quality? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Sure. It was written by Polly Toynbee for the BBC. It's more to do with risk-takers and adrenaline than skydiving per se, but I think we qualify. (edited to add: I was beaten, too) "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

This is interesting: http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/toynbee4.html Does anyone have any other useful skydiving psychology links? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

And I thought I was the only one(!) I have an interesting situation. I only have 18 jumps, my last jump was 5 months ago. The absolute worse moment for me is when the door opens. Moving towards the door I start to feel excited and when I'm standing in the door, I know that at any second I'm going to throw myself into space and leave that hot, fear-soaked plane behind. Recently, for no apparent reason, I found it impossible to sleep as I would have 'flashbacks' of myself falling to earth. I had feelings there must have been something very 'wrong' with my personal life at the time I decided to take my AFF, to make me want to do something so stupid as throw myself out of a plane. I also downloaded and watched lots of malfunction videos and read the skydiving fatalities website over and over again. I often felt physically sick and was sure there was something wrong with me and that it would only be a matter of time before I would want to jump again and that I would have a double MAL and impact. Yet the other day I watched my AFF video again and I saw how much FUN I was having! Pulling faces at my jumpmaster as we both fell to earth or tracked across a clear blue sky. Then I realised, the only thing I ever had to fear was fear itself, and the fear monster wasn't out there in the sky, it was in my head. So I've now signed-up for 'The Search' programme at Sebastian and I can't wait. On average, 20 people are electrocuted every year from turning their alarm clocks off. Now just imagine what sort of a world it would be if nobody every got out of bed. Dull, eh? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

are you an sdu coach now? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Ok, sounds like this is the way to go. Regarding packing my main, I'm not sure what you mean? During my AFF course, I wasn't taught how to pack, but I now consider it to be the most important thing to learn before I jump again. I dont yet know a rig inside out which could be fatal if I get caught in a nasty tangle and need to use a hook knife to save myself, I wouldn't know where to start. It's also very important when reading about fatalities and cutaways as I dont yet understand what's being said when people mention gromits, and pins, and loops etc. I guess its also vital to know a rig back to front if I'm using an RSL? In other words, if my main canopy is a real mess above my head, I wouldn't know whether to release my RSL unless I knew exactly what was going to happen. Thats another thing, during my AFF I jumped with an RSL, but the only time I was told I would need to release it, was if I landed in a tree with my main, and I need to cut away so I could climb down. I was told that I should release the RSL to save the cost of repacking the reserve which would fire if I had the RSL on. It's only now that I've started reading about RSL's that I realise there's a whole debate about their 'saftey'. During my 10 solo consol. jumps, I had no idea that I should consider releasing my RSL if I have a very badly tangled main, which might also tangle my reserve when I cut away. "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

I have 18 jumps and am interested in eventually learning how to BASE. However I'll need at least 300 jumps first. Will it be worth it? Why do people choose BASE instead of skydiving? Considering the risks are that much greater, is the exeperience that much more different? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

N/A

http://www.skydiveu.com/flash/search4.htm I've been considering applying for 'The Search' at Skydive University, Florida. The cost is $2,000 for 26 jumps with coaching and wind-tunnel time etc. I just wondered whether anyone could recomend it or not? Does it really represent good value for money? Is it the next logical step for someone like myself with only 18 jumps? Would I be better off purchasing 70 solo jumps from my local DZ? Any help much appreciated... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Sounds sensible to me. Thanks for the advice

I have 18 jumps. I know that I want to fly a wingsuit. Seeing the FastestMotherFuckerInTheValley clip on skydivingmovies.com has changed me. But how do I achieve this? I'll need at least 500 jumps before I can even begin to learn to fly. I've figured this will probably cost me in the region of £10,000, probably more. It will likely take me several years, too. It won't happen if I try and achieve this while at the same time trying to live my other life, too. Career, relationships, building a stable future, buying a house etc. etc. How have the rest of you done it? Will I need to concentrate full-time on skydiving? I'm in an 'all or nothing' situation. Either I attack my goal 120% or not at all. Will the experience of flying a suit really be worth it? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

http://perso.club-internet.fr/kustam/birdman/birdvide.htm This URL has links to video clips of Patrick De Gayardon exiting a Cessna and then flying back in, as well as his flight over some mountains that I saw a while ago. The links dont appear to work, though. Does anyone know where else I can download these clips? "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Having said all that, I do vividly remember seeing a short clip of Patrick De Gayardon tracking with a wingsuit over a snow capped mountain with a smoke canister, on the film 'Lord of the Skies' about Adrian's world record attempt. Does anyone know where I can access more of that footage? EDITED TO ADD: Wow!!!!!! I have a feeling that fastestmotherfuckerinthevalley clip has likely changed the course of my life from now on... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

I've just passed AFF, I'm 32 years old and I want to fly. I used to dream of flying when I was a child and since passing AFF and learning how to track, I have those same dreams again now, clearer and more intense. My question is, how truly different is the experience of flying a wingsuit, compared to very good tracking? How much more closer is the feeling of 'flying'? I ask the question because in order to fulfill my dream, my life will need to change from now on as I will need to throw myself into skydiving for the next few years to obtain enough experience to learn to fly a Wingsuit. In other words, is it really worth it? I recently watched a point-of-view video clip of a Wingsuit BASE jump from Kejrag, Norway. Although the freefall time approached half a minute, the clip still didn't give the impression that the Birdman was truly tracking forward at any great speed. Maybe it was the type of lens used on the camera? Any comments welcome... I've also noticed a seperate discussion on here about landing Wingsuits. Apparently someone is already trying it: http://www.digitaldog.co.nz/wingsuit.html "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

I'm 32, I completed AFF this summer, I had a line-over MAL on my 2nd consolidation jump. During my AFF training, upon each journey to altitude, I was so terrified that I promised myself this would be my last jump, and that upon reaching the ground I would apologise to my jump-master, make my excuses and leave without completing the course. During each freefall however, I screamed in excitement, convinced this is what I want to do. That was 6 months ago. I haven't jumped since, but I'm now thinking and dreaming about flying and skydiving, 24 hours a day. However I'm also having very bad nightmares and unpleasant thoughts, too. Usually the last 5 seconds ground-rush before impact and death. Some days I spend planning my next 100 jumps, other days I sit in silence brooding over my 'foolishness' for even thinking about getting involved in such a dangerous sport. Some days I dream about eventually learning how to fly a wingsuit, other days I consider getting on with my life and putting skydiving out of my mind for good. Why am I having such violent mood swings? Am I the only one with such thoughts? Could they be related to my personal life outside skydiving? Any help much appreciated... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience

Having always wanted to skydive, I recently qualified this summer. I have more questions in my head now than I've ever had in the past, and I can see that I will spend many hours on these pages in order to get them answered. My main interests at present are 'safety' and 'psychology'. What sort of people enjoy throwing themselves out of aeroplanes? Are we similar people in our other lives? Did we all have similar childhoods? Are we all addicted to our own adrenelin? Or do we all just like showing off? Questions, questions... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience