London86

Never wanted to originally, somebody bet me i wouldn't do it, so i did - and raised money for charity doing a jump in the UK in 2009 by doing an AFF level 1 Moved to the US 7 years later, then decided i wanted to get my license which i got last June. Currently waiting on my own new rig to arrive :)

Good advice to read through John, thanks. Agree, my cutaway was on my 24th jump and i always remember thinking that the Velcro was tough when practicing my EP's. When it came to the time to cut it, i can't even remember it being in the slightest bit difficult, definitely the adrenaline! Lost my reserve D ring handle on pulling it, but pretty sure the rsl beat me to it.

I, for one, shat myself more doing a bungee jump than on my first skydive. I'm newly licensed, i'm sure more experienced folk will contribute more, but i think comparing leaping off of a stationary crane/bridge platform as opposed to leaping out of a plane going anywhere between 80 - 100mph would be a big difference. With a bungee you're going to get dead air, and won't have enough air resistance to form a good arch position, plus i doubt they'd let you exit the bungee sideways, as you'd probably do on your first AFF level in how they normally position you in the aircraft. Either way, we've all been there! i'm less nervous now compared to when i was a student, but it's all part of that experience, if you didn't have the nerves, that wouldn't be normal :)

Congrats on dealing with your first. i was in a similar boat having a cutaway early on at jump 24. Question - How come such quick downsizing so early on? I'm hanging on up until around 100 jumps before i consider doing so, but i am wing loading at bang on 1 on a 230 at the moment.

I had my first cutaway on jump 24. i was only doing 2 jumps that day to get the the magic number of 25 to get my license. Hard opening, left steering line severed, downward right spin. The one thing i took from it all after i landed - was just how EASY it was to deal with. my EP training kicked in, and dealt with it just as i was taught. Confidence rocketed after that, i got up on no. 25 2 hours later and got my license. Not that i ever wanted to deal with a cutaway, but i'm glad i got it done early on because i know just how easy it is to deal with.

i had the exact same problems as you, around a 70-90 degree turn and pitching downwards. What helped for me was tunnel time, i spent 15 minutes in there with an instructor doing only practice pulls, focusing on staying stable. That said, i'd still get the odd pitch down during actual skydives, and i used to get nervous before getting in the plane because i felt like it was tough to grab the hackey when pitching downward. Something finally clicked on around jump 30 for me, and everything has been beautiful since. I'd received advice from some more experienced jumpers to keep my head up looking toward the horizon and to slow down my deployment from waving off. i used to always go as quick as i could to throw my PC, but having slowed it down a little has really helped me.

I'm looking forward to the post you put on here saying you've done it, you'll be buzzing for a while after finally doing it. Fair play to you for carrying on

Welcome, you've got the bug now, and it'll be difficult to get rid of it, especially as you've already made that 1st jump! Yeah, skydiving isn't really the cheapest of hobbies :D for a good course to get you through to your A license, you can expect to spend around the $3k mark Whichever way you decide to go, good luck on the license progression :)

Congrats on your first jump, clearly enjoyed it! get on the solo training! ;D

I had exactly this, between levels 7 and 16, after i done one jump - i'd sometimes make an excuse just to hang around and wouldn't jump the rest of the day. Perseverance works well, that's for sure :)

From your profile picture i assume you made your first tandem at spaceland dallas. High probability i was out there the same day as you if it was a weekend :) If you're not keen on this other DZ you're talking about, and are serious about getting an A license, i can recommend spaceland dallas. I recently got my A license from training with them, great group of people. let me know if you do and i'll make sure to come say hi

Hey David! You're gonna absolutely love the whole experience on Friday! I'm keen to hear a follow up from you once you've done it after your enthusiastic first post, let us know how it goes! :)

Welcome :) Which DZ in Texas are you doing your AFF at? Tunnel time was by far the best for helping me become stable too, i had the same problem on my level 4. The fear and nervousness is normal, i found that what helped me in the ride up was to close my eyes, and visualize the skydive, if you aren't already doing so, try giving that a go. my instructors would also do a breathing excersize with me, where both myself and her would take 3 deep breaths at the same time, it really helped. Ask your instructor for more advice :) I found when i wasn't arching as good as i should be, that taking literally 2 seconds and taking a deep breath in and out sorted me out, and you can feel the difference straight away once you go into a better arch. It'll all come within time Keep at it with the landings, you'll get there soon - it's a great feeling standing up for the first time!

I'm not an instructor of any level for the record. From being around at DZ's all day and seeing Tandem loads going up all the time, and being on the same plane as tandem students, this is what i'd say. Tell your instructor immediately as soon as you meet them about your back, as opposed to waiting until you get on / near boarding the plane. This way you've got adequate time to talk to them about your issues, and there may have been another instructor who would have taken you up. With regards to the nerves, i'd say it'd be normal for some to not necessarily feel nervous until the ride to altitude on the plane. Some people are nervous in the loading area, when they're being briefed, and then some only really feel it when the door opens. If you didn't get that feeling yet, just wait - i'm sure you'll have it on the ride to altitude or when that door opens and you see people disappearing out of it :) Good luck with your venture, i really hope you can get to make a jump

As a newbie - this is what i was the worst at during my training, i think it was on my 13th or 14th jump training. I did a sort of slide and flew into a spin Planning on working on these as i continue on.

Living in Texas, i've come to the conclusion it's always the ones who have huge trucks, modified to have giant wheels and massive suspension. Oh, and they also have a ridiculous exhaust which makes their vehicle sound like a tractor ploughing a field

That's what Merkel gets when she lets in 1.8m "Asylum Seekers" - not saying that the majority aren't, but there's certainly a large percentage who came to Europe to wreak havoc. Even though I've moved to the US - I'm glad Britain got out of the EU, the freedom of movement is so dangerous since the refugee crisis.

Within 24 hours of a tragedy where 84 people lose their lives and 50 fighting for their lives this whole post turns back on to the gun argument and there's another post mocking the whole event. Nice one

I got my A license recently and was taught the crouch with hands on the aircraft. I'm not tall by any standards, i'm 5'10 - but wouldn't want to try without holding on to the aircraft. My instructors always laughed because i used to literally shout at the top of my voice all of the below out. At least they can't say they weren't aware of where i was in my exit! right hand left hand right foot left foot knees out arms out back straight check in check out breaaaathe sky up down ARCH!!

To be honest it's a bit of a blur trying to remember, I'm pretty sure i was unstable due to the downward spin. I remember being horizontal to the ground but before i could even think about arching the RSL had pulled the reserve out. Crazy how quick that reserve was over my head. One thing that i briefly thought as i looked up - it was my left steering line that had completely severed, if i had pulled down on the left rear risers, would that have stabled the canopy enough for me to get a cleaner cutaway? I obviously didn't try because i'm new and just wanted to get rid of the canopy lol - but i'd be interested to know.

Even better when the train conductor boots you in the neck as he goes by for your stupidity like the guy attached!

That's someone clearly looking for attention. There surely must be no feasible way anyone could be that stupid... is there!?

My bad - wasn't fully aware of that from what I'd read. (More media choice wording) Just the amount of people I've seen on my social media saying they're going out to buy more guns and stocking on ammo this morning is crazy And then there's me with my nerf gun

Well, I'm glad i didn't go out last night, I was invited to a friends birthday at a bar in downtown Dallas, i didn't get out of work in time so stayed in Fort Worth. As a non american i just can't get my head around all of this. I understand the reasoning and movement of the black lives matter protest, but i wonder how much the media plays a part in this. There was a killing of an unarmed white man by police in Fresno last week - I've not heard a thing about that in mainstream media. If you're not complying with Police, no matter what color you are - you're asking for trouble. I'm not saying this justifies shooting anybody - but if everyone just complied and did as they asked, there would be a lot less of these "white cop kills black man" stupid media headlines.

Damn that looked nasty. Hell of a job getting that reserve out