Pit76

Here in Belgium we have to: wear a mask or cover our nose and mouth with a buff or something in the plane. parts of the plane need to be desinfected before getting in (parts of the door or bars, belts desinfect our hands before getting in the plane and after landing we need to respect social distancing on the dz. If for some reason it's not possible, e.g dirtdive, then wear a mask. some dropzones require registration for jumpers to be allowed to come to the dz If that's what it takes for us to keep jumping and keeping it save for everyone, what's the big deal then? Don't be an idiot and put that mask on.

I had exactly the same as you. During my AFF I was always scared shitless. All the way up I was asking myself what the hell am I doing.. But when it was my time in the exit order I just jumped. After AFF it took me untill jump nr 20 to be more relaxed on the way up. But I didn't liked to be sitting next to the door as I was scared to fall out, how stupid is that Now I'm fully relaxed in the plane and like sitting next to the door. I do have that rush of excitement and some nerves, but that is normal. I would be worried if I wouldn't have that anymore. You just have to push through that fear, you'll be rewarded, it will go away.

I feel like I'll do it till the day comes I can't do it anymore, for what reason whatsoever. However, you'll never know what life throws at you. I did a tandem 20 years ago and I liked it so much that I wanted to do AFF, but my job consisted out of working 3 of the 4 weekends so it would have been difficult to get the jumps in. Plus I was too young back then and didn't have the money to spent, so I let it go and started to collect modeltrains and do martial arts. But I told myself 'someday...'. 10 years later I got a tandem jump as a gift from my wife because she knew I did it once before and that I liked it so much. Then the whole 'I want more' feeling came back, but I had a little girl who was 5 years old at the time and I decided to not pursue it. Again I told myself 'someday...'. 2 years ago I told my wife I wanted to buy a motorcycle but bounced on an immediate and very convincing 'NO'. I said, 'then I want to go skydiving'. 'Fine' she said. A week later I booked a skydiving vacation to get AFF and now I'm almost at 200 jumps. I try to go as much as I possibly can but we have two girls of which my youngest is now 5 (ironic). My wife supports me but I have to keep the family/skydive balance even. I did 103 jumps in 2019 and that's my goal for 2020 too. At least 100 jumps. I don't think I'll ever stop doing this. My oldest daughter is almost 15 and wants to do a tandem, so who knows she's next

If I'm correct here in Belgium at least 500 jumps, D license, minimum 25 coach jumps (where you where the coach), nominated by an instrcutor. And you'd have to be a solid belly flyer ofcourse.

What a nice location to jump

@Tstringham. I have 165 jumps and have my ow rig with a Silhouette 190 main which puts me on a 1.15 wingload. My AFF was with a Nav 260 then downsized to a 230, 210 and 190. Then I bought my own rig. I never had any real issues with landing and till this day never had a 'bad' landing (= for me a bad landing is when would I hurt myself). With my 190 I sometimes have to run too, although if I start my flare on the right time so I can make the most of the level out flight it only takes me a few steps, even on no wind days. y landings have greatly improved since I did a 101 flight course. If I had've known this I would have taken this course way sooner instead of waiting 100 jumps. Maybe ask an instructor to observe your landings? Or take the 101 course if there is one (don't know if 19 jumps is too soon but I guess how sooner you learn it the right way the better). My biggest fault was flaring just a little to late so the canopy couldn't level out (horizontal flight just above the ground) enough and I had to run a lot. Or I slided on my but and on finish the canopy put me back on my feet. I'm past those days but my landings are still far from perfect The more you jump the better it will go. Every landing where you don't hurt yourself or others is a good one.

I signed up for the Android release. Would love to try it

I did my AFF in France (Mimizan) with a Dutch skydive instructor. The first jump was with 2 instructors, the other 5 with just one. No tunnel before. I had no stability issues so all went fine. If I had done my AFF here in BE then it would be the first 3 jumps with 2 instructors.

Maybe you can jump with 2 alti's? One in meters and a digital in ft? That way you can compare and train your brain

Just out of curiosity, what are probe/slings used for downplane in CRW?

Isn't learning how to pack included in the AFF course? Here it is. I did my AFF in France and there it wasn't included so I followed a packing course at my home dz. Costs me about €20 on a friday evening. For our AFF's it's included in their course so they don't have to pay extra for it. After I bought my own rig I asked a friend to teach me how to pack over the shoulder and I practiced at home during the winterstop. At the start of the season I asked a packer to follow my "over the shoulder" packing to verify. Got some usefull hints and tricks, free of charge (for a beer ofcourse). Can't you find anyone who wants to teach you after hours or on some other day? Not for free ofcourse, ask them what they charge.

I think that with a wingloading of 1.2 on your 210 with 'only' 87 jumps (according to your profile) you'd better keep that 210 for some time. I have only 140 jumps in total, jump a Silhouette 190 (+- 80 jumps now) and have a wingloading of 1.1. My reserve is a PDR193 just because I didn't want a reserve that is smaller then my main. My noobish advice: jump around 200+ jumps on your 210 before even thinking about downsizing. At least that's what I'm planning to do and even then I'm not sure if I would go down. I'm a bit older than you so I don't need al the speed stuff, I'm happy under my 190, flying around in the sky. And to be honest, on no wind days I'm happy it is a 190. Landings are fast enough then. My goal is to have a great and exiting time up there but definitely going home in one piece. Take your time. In the end I guess that it all depends on how many jumps you do a year. My goal is to do around 100 jumps a year but I understand that if you do 300/year that you'll want downsize quicker.

Time to buy a second alti like an audible. I bought mine when I got my A license.

1998, I was 22. Went with 2 friends to do a tandem. I liked it a lot and wanted more. But I worked nearly every weekend so I didn't had the time for it. I always kept talking about it. 2010, age 36. My wife knew I wanted to do a tandem again so she got one for my as a present. Again hooked but I just had a little girl so I thought, nah, too dangerous. But it kept linguring in my mind. 2016, age 41. I wanted to buy a motorcycle. My wife said no . Then I want to jump I said, she said OK

I think you over payed, but hey, it's not my money Congrats with the rig.

Like said earlier in this thread, take your time to find a rig. After looking around for a couple of months I recently found one myself. Turned a few down before too. Container: Javalin Oddesy: DOM 2008 but only around 100 jumps on it. Main: Silhouette 190 with 200 jumps Reserve: new PDReserve193 but payed only 1000€ instead of 1300€ AAD: Vigil from 47/2017. All the equipment has a good amount of years to go so I'm happy with it.

An other newbie here. 1-7 (AFF): Navigator 260 - WL:0.82 8-47: Solo 230 (rental) - WL:0.93 48-57: Solo 210 (rental) - WL:1.01 58-87: Pilot 188(rental) - WL:1.14 88-...: Silhouette 190 (my own rig) - WL:1.13 Tomorrow I'll jump for the first time with my own rig containing a Silhouette 190. I've seen in this topic that some other people jumped with a Silhouette 190. Have read some greate reviews about it. Would any one here share his experiences with the Silhouette 190? PM is fine so we don't spoil this topic :)

Héhé. Will jump, for the first time, with my own rig tomorrow @Schaffen. Bought a 190 for the main. Planning on jumping it for at least 2 seasons and then downsize to a 170. That will be enough for me I guess. I have no swooping ambitions Just land safely and go home.