surf4life11

Sensory overload is just a thing that is going to happen until your body adjusts and realizes it is ok to jump from an airplane. I went through static line progression and consider it no better or no worse than AFF. Do not let people tell you one is better than the other when they did not go through both, let yourself decide. If you continue through static line all I can say is focus. Focus is what is going to get you over that sensory overload. My way of getting over it was to focus on the plane leaving as I jumped from it. Watch the plane move away from you as you arch and become stable in freefall. It may take some time but you will eventually get over the sensory overload and enjoy everything about skydiving. Take care and good luck.

Dude just relax. Do not pay attention to any of the forums on malfunctions and incidents but for learning purposes. As long as you are confident in yourself and your abilities you will be fine. I have 46 jumps and can relax and joke in the plane (most of the time I take a nap) but I am not complacent, I know that if I have a mal I can handle it because my training has prepared me for that situation. There is always a little bit of you that will say holy shit I am jumping out of a plane but the love for the sports and the thrill is what gets you out that door. Blue skies bro.

Does not sound that bad when you break it down like that. Cool. Wish I had $3,000 I could just throw down on it because I know I could definitely benefit from it. Thanks for the info.

Do not know any other requirement other than the 3 grand you need just to go. What a joke! I would assume your own rig and it is for all levels of experience as long as you have your license I think.

That was a great video. Looked like you had a blast, I just started trying to freefly and the feeling is awesome each time I get something down. Blue skies!!!

All I can say is learn as soon as you can. Once you get your A-license it is on you to pack so get proficient at it so you are confident in your own pack jobs, especially since you will be the one jumping them. Blue skies!!!

It is all a matter of feel! Toe taps, pushing out completely to the point you are almost in a track are two ways of figuring out the feeling of resistence against your legs and feet. The more you work at it the less you have to think where your legs are at and it becomes automatic. Blue skies!!!

Ya I had that feeling when I turned off the hill into a dock for the first time and matched fall rate and movements the entire jump with a 1000+ jumper and it was all on jump #29. It was awesome and the guy I jumped with was as proud of me as I was and gave me a huge hug afterwards. Makes you just want to go again and again and again....

When you get that little yellow card filled out and stamped that says you have your A-license is when you are officially off student status. Blue skies!

Dude whats up? How was couch freaks? It sucked I could not go but next year for sure. Are you and ditto gonna be out at the DZ this weekend, gonna have to make a newbie jump. Late

First jump March 03, started AFP same month and got my A in the first week of July. There were 2 periods where I went three weeks without making a jump and could have been done in late May. You will get it done, some people can dedicate every weekend to it because they have the money and not a wife, husband or kids. I have a wife and 4 month old child and have to balance all of what I love timewise. Just get your last few jumps done and over then you can really start the fun jumps.

I am in the military (USAF) and skydive outside of the military. Blue skies!

What up man? This is dan from MRVS, are you and Dito gonna party saturday with us? Supposed to be a good night of partying. You know if you graduate this weekend you owe good beer!!! I will see you out there, I am gonna be a jump slut this weekend cause I cannot go to Couch Freaks anymore. Later

Congrats to you. I am in the air force and jump. I just got my A-license and it cost around 1200 dollars in student jumps and training classes. I went the Advanced Freefall Progression route but most go the Advanced freefall way. I finished in 21 jumps, get the A-license proficiency card off USPA.COM and find a local dropzone or one that are comfortable with and see what they offer for student progression. If you have the cash you can get it done quickly so long as you listen and do what it is your Jumpmaster tells you to do. Of course after student status you need money for beer and your rig. Blue skies!

To cool! I never knew about that team. Might have to check into that team and see what they are all about. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the clarification! I did not get all the info on the team.

I am currently in the Air Force and know that the Air Force team is called the Wings of Blue. They teach cadets at the Air Force Academy in a basic jump course and also do Demo's and competitions. To get into this team you need atleast 200 jumps or more and multpile ratings to compete with the other applicants. I have been in contact with one of the people on the team and they gave me some information but not everything. Other than that the only other way to jump in the Air Force is through Special Ops.

My wife supported me all throughout being a student and now supports me as a licensed skydiver. She comes out to the DZ with me and loves it out there. What makes it so enjoyable for her eventhough she does not jump is the people and friends she has made at the DZ. The other divers and their family's be-friended my wife and our 4 month old son like they were friends their entire lives. That is what makes this sport so enjoyable for those of us with wives that support us 100%.

I know I am going to be there. This will be my first year and have heard nothing but great things about Couch Freaks!!! I know there will be a pretty big group of folks from MRVS there. Can't wait, been planning this since I started in March. Still a newbie but want to have some fun partying and jumping. Blue skies!

Do what I did with some of my Wuffo friends. Take them to the DZ and let them watch and talk to those at the DZ. My friends watched for a few hours and also watched me jump. After about an hour after they saw me jump 3 of them had signed up, got on the plane and jumped tandem style. I cannot speak for everyone because some are just completely against it but this worked for me and I am doing it again with 9 more people this weekend. Blue skies!

I got 9 people lined up this weekend for tandems and hopefully 2 or 3 of them will move on to become students or maybe even more. Keep on recruiting and we have more people to play in the air with. Blue skies everybody!

What about AFP? I did AFP as a student and from what I have gone through and heard it is much better than AFF or tandem progression but not many offer this type of training. In AFP you jump with an instructor until you get your A-license and you are not forced to knock out all the proficiency card on your own. Talking to my instructors they prefer AFP over anything.

Yes a big thing is relax but at the same time when I was going through student training I found that you have to find your groove. It is all about feel with me. You can hit a good arch, have positive legs and be in a good boxman but still spin and that is why you have to find that piece of the puzzle that keeps you relaxed and makes everything fall into place. Just keep at it and do not let a few "not so good jumps" get you down because everyone has a bad jump once in awhile.

My story starts when I was in highschool watching ESPN and the X-Games when they had skysurfing and other competition on there. I saw how fluid they were in the air and wanted to see what it felt like to do it. Of course I was scared shitless but hey I wanted to do it. I graduated highschool, joined the military and ended up not being able to jump...money was not there. Then 2 knee surgeries later I finally got the chance to jump after 3 straight years of not being able to. I started in March of 2003 and just got my A-license on the 21st of July 2003. Jumped my rig for the first time off student status this past weekend and now wonder how my life was ever any fun without skydiving. I love it and live it every moment of every day. It is now an addiction and I cannot see myself ever stopping. Blue skies and be safe.

We all know the risks involved with skydiving and it is not going to go perfect everytime. The instructors, JM's etc... know that with a student the are risks that are far greater than with other licensed skydivers. All you can do is learn from your mistake and be glad that nothing ugly happened. Of course since you did not go into detail I cannot fully judge abou the incident without more information.