Pit76

1.11 on Silhouette 190

Here in Belgium also 180 days between reserve repacks.

I did my AFF with a Dutch company in France and my instructor used a radio. I certainly didn't mind that. It gave me some peace of mind that I wasn't completely alone up there for the first time :) Helped me for the first 3 jumps, especially the flaring part. After 3 jumps we still had the radio but it would only be used if you would totaly fuck up. The intension was that after 3 jumps you could land by yourself without any help. There was a student in my group who was on his way to the beach instead of the DZ if they wouldn't have told him to turn around

Congratz! Where's the beer

I'm in the same situation as you right now. I'm AFF graduated and have now 22 jumps in total. Did the theoretic exam for the A licence, but I still need to do the coached jumps to get the A license and thus to be allowed to jump with others. I can't say I feel the same. I enjoy the solo jumps, gives me time to work on my stability and try some things. I do understand is that it's hard to see what you're doing is actually right. I, for example, try to practice some tracking because I know it's gonna be important in the coached jumps. But it's hard to see if I'm doing it the right way. You're all alone up there so no feedback. If we want to do such a BOSS (coached) jump, we write our name on the board in the manifest and then a BOSS certified jumper can take that jump with you. We pay a little more than a like for a normal jump, but it it includes the jump for the coach too. So it's mostly not hard to find a BOSS coach. Who doesn't likes a free jump? Normally it should take 5 BOSS jumps to get there, but if it takes more I'm not gonna be stressed about it. I just enjoy every jump I can do. Hopefully I can start with the BOSS jumps next weekend. Just do the same, enjoy your solo's and find a coach for your needed jumps. But you'll probably have to ask them if you want to move forward. I did my first jump in 3 months this weekend and I've wrote my name on the board for a lvl 4 refresh jump. But the few coaches around where just buzy having fun so after some time I just went up to one of them and asked if someone wanted to do the jump with me. No problem at all, 30min later I was up there. Just go and ask around, someone will love to jump with you.

Your welcome

I'm from Belgium and did my AFF last year in France. I took an insurance with Europ Assistance which covered skydiving. We were with 3 students, 2 from Belgium and 1 from India :) I'll text him and will ask him what insurance he took. Edit: he used Worldnomads

At our safety day last month there were some people who had questions about a two out. One of the senior instructors tolds us that the Australians have done all kinds of tests with a two out and the result was it's always best to chop if you are in this situation. Now I haven't seen him since then but I wanted to ask where to find some vids or articles about this because you always here or read multiple different answers and opinions. I certainly would feel better if I had only one canopy above my head

+1

Holy crap.

Hi, I've had similar issues after my AFF. I did drove to the DZ but couldn't push myself to signup for a slot in the plane. You can read about it here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4857713 And in here there is even a more detailed explaination of it: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4860133#4860133 I drove a few times to the DZ, hung around and quietly got back home without jumping. Very frustrating, I was even a shamed. You just have to push through, don't let go of that dream! I'm glad I did even it costs me a lot of sleepless nights before jumpday. Winterstop is almost over here now, so it will be around 2 months after my last jump. I start to get nervous when I think about it but looking forward to it. Sometimes people ask me "if you are scared or have so much nerves when you jump, why do you even want to do it?" All I can say is that they should try it themselfs, then they would know

Yes. Many jumpers are like me and take a casual approach. I am proud of the fact that I have been jumping for 16 years, at least 10 jumps a year but never more than about 50 a year, so it has taken me this long to close in on 500 jumps. Many jumpers who have started after me long since quit the sport. As long as you stay within your skill limits, I don't think that this is a problem. Seth +1

Oh well, shall I lock myself up in the basement then and just play with my modeltrains till I'm old and worn out? Is not that a bit exaggerated? My kids can do whatever they want and can go to college later if they want to. I would even prefer they do

Here you go http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4857713;page=unread#unread Not the most elegant man in the air :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXAkuQEWAGs&t=66s

I was scared shitless the first few jumps Very nervous in the plane, and when the door opened I would grab the bench to feel safe But then the first ones started jumping out and when it was my time I just focussed, took a deep breath and jumped. And loved every second of it.

I think you must do it. My skydive adventures started last summer at 41 years. I did my first tandem 20 years ago and even then I wanted to do AFF, but due to always working in the weekends and shifts there was no real time for it so I let it go. Then 8 years ago my wife now gave me a tandem as a gift, because she knew how much I liked it. Again I wanted to do AFF, but my oldest girl was then only 5 years and I thought "hmm, this is a risky sport and I have a small child.." So again I didn't do it. 2 years ago my father died of cancer at age 68 and the only thing he ever did was working and saving money. He never really enjoyed life. It shook me and I began to think differently. So at first I told my wife I wanted a motorcycle but she wasn't into that. So I told her that I wanted to do AFF and start jumping. She knew it was a childhood dream and said I should do it. The only condition was that I made my will before starting because we aren't married (yet). So although my youngest girl is now only 3 years I started jumping in the summer and I regret not having started sooner. But I started now so I'm happy. Ofcourse I can't go every weekend because of the kids, wife's work and other obligations but I try to go as often as I can. Here in Belgium most DZ's are only opened in the weekends. So just do it if you want to! Don't wait or use excuses as I did, you'll regret it later.

Last summer I did a skydive vacation in France to get through the AFF. Only the AFF course ( 6 AFF and 1 solo jump) cost me around €1250. (no transport, food and drinks included ) At this moment (winterstop here in Belgium) I have 20 jumps including 6 AFF jumps, 2 recurrency jumps and 12 solo's. After the winterstop I need to do another recurrency jump and then I want to start with the BOSS jumps (learning how to jump with other). Need to do 5 of them, or more if I fail one :) If I didn't hesitate as long as I did I after my AFF I would already have my A license. Sucks a bit. I already did 15minutes of tunnel and will do some more right before the winterstop is over so I can go fully for the A license. If my calculations are right and everything goes as planned, I will have my A license around €1900, excl tunneltime. For gear, I recently purchased a Cookie G3 and ordered a RW suit because I like to have my own gear :)

Is this a serious question? Maybe do a (tandem) jump to know the how and what. And talk to some instructors.

I jumped today and here in Belgium it was around 7°C (44°F) at ground level. When I saw the pilot later that day I've asked him how cold it was at 13500ft and it was -21°C (-5.8°F). But I didn't even feel it, only my fingers a bit after landing. I wear thin mountainbike gloves

So true. If you do a good exit and present yourself direct to the relative wind (aim yourself towards the prop) you don't have the overwhelming feeling of flying all over the place. When I do my solo jumps I present myself to the relative wind and when I jump out I keep looking at the plane. If you do that correctly you have the slide effect (hmm, difficult to explain properly in another language