Joellercoaster

Ah, crap. He jumped? I think I remember the thread before that when he was debating jumping or not... really sorry to hear that he got hurt so badly. Shadowplay, in case it hasn't become obvious: don't do it. I did, about two months ago, and the pain by deploy time was pretty bad. I was mostly deaf for a couple of days. I also got a lot sicker. But after what happened to Muenkel, I feel like I got away very lightly indeed. *vibes to M* -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I've seen video of an AFF 1 student who apparently got his practice pulls right all through the FJC and did both PRPs correctly - then went for his (SOS) reserve handle when it was time to deploy. Main side instructor was too fast for him though, stopped him and pulled his main. I'm glad they don't trust us even though we do it right all the time on the ground! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

"Natural"? I thought I was. I kicked ass on all my levels up to stage 7, nailed all the skills no worries, felt like the golden child. Glowing logbook comments about tracking, spot-on backloops, blah blah blah. This skydiving shit is easy, I said to myself on a pretty regular basis. Then I didn't jump for several months, cruised back to the DZ and did a currency jump before I was allowed to get back into AFF. No worries right? I'm a badass natural skydiver! So I breeze through the briefing, get in the plane, chat to my JM and do a dive exit. Not a natural. Turns out the instructors at Nagambie just give really thorough, excellent briefings. Without that, I'm as much of a nuffy as anything I've heard about in these forums. The first clue is diving out the door and finding myself in a sort of upside-down corkscrew. Arch harder, eventually get stable. The next clue is discovering I have no idea how to make my body go forward to dock on my JM. Then the turning part is no longer trivial all of a sudden, and I pretzel all over the place. I pop up, I flail, I SUCK! So yeah. I'm not a natural, I'm crap. I just have instructors who give incredible briefings and make sure I have the right body position before I go anywhere. And I neglect them at my peril. *sigh* [edit: speling] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Woohoo! Congratulations. And motivation plus, I'm gonna go down and at least finish AFF this weekend just for that. Beer! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Uh... enjoy the eye candy? You get to look at them and they're stuck looking at you -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yes. It probably won't help with the pressure change, but the ride to altitude, now... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

1. Awake to the smell of jet fuel, manifest on for first load of the day. 2. Order huge bacon and egg sandwich, tell cook which load. 3. Exit plane, plummet, Feel the Summer Breeze. 4. Land. Walk over to food hut. Eat piping-hot sandwich. Remember to drink lots of water. 5. Go to step 2. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Still here on Sunday Now I'm the only one left I need a new job -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Keep in mind that that's not just 9 AFF stages (and it's in Aussie dollars, FWIW). That's accomodation for the week (heh - bring a lot of blankets ), AFF, and the extra jumps it'll take you to fulfill your licensing requirements. Just for the accuracy/canopy control requirements alone, you can't get it in 9 jumps even if you don't fail any AFF stages. It's not an option I could afford, but if I could, I'd have considered it. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I still do. Wonderful is right, especially when we're both dressed to kill and we walk into a room full of normal-sized people. Heads turn, baby I'm 6'5"... my minimum height requirement for girlfriends used to be 5'8", then 5'10... now look where it's gotten me. Our children are going to be huge. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Saturday at work Hangover is my revenge We are all coughing -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

An hour and a half or so's drive out of Melbourne, Skydive Nagambie is an awesome place to learn. Although the First Jump Course is $470, you'll probably want a couple of grand at least to get you through AFF in reasonable time. If you have time and money, I think they have an A License course that takes a week. Hang on... [sounds of internet rummaging] Ah. Here it is. $3400 for AFF and consolidation jumps afterwards and stuff. Take lots of bedclothes, the bunkhouses get cold. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

If it helps you when you watch your government looking out for "your" interests to say that you're just F@#king the people "looking to destroy our way of life", then that's nice. This turns out not to be the case, however. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I love the fact that I can vote in this thing too. Mess with other countries dammit! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Woohoo! So what are you going to do with your newfound freedom? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

And as you've probably noticed, those don't exactly cut it when you're really stuffed. My last jump was a week and a half ago, in a similar condition with similar medication, and I was mostly deaf for two days afterwards. The DZOs probably think I've bailed on them, but I've just been cloggy and not wanting to risk it again since then, 'cause that really bloody hurt. I'd probably risk it on a commercial flight though. Cabin (de)pressurizing ain't so bad, especially if you've already jumped and not totally screwed up your head. But. When in doubt, discretion is the better part of valour. (I hear that) ruptured eardrums and such are a bitch. EDIT (NightJumps reply): QuoteOne word of caution. Motrin Sinus IB has pseudophedrine in it. For some folks, it wires them up, others it makes sleepy. Stay on the ground for those three days. What he said. Easily the worst jump of my life that was, and that's without the pain and deafness. Sudafed argh. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Do a tandem first. That way you can get the "HOLY CRAP!" out of your system up front, and really be learning and absorbing what's going on right from AFF 1. Hey, come to think of it, I did that and I still don't remember much about stage 1... Skydiving isn't like anything else you've done before (well, probably not anyway). It will blow your mind (in a good way). You may not remember much about your first jump at all, unless you get video and the like. AFF is designed with this in mind, there's not really much you have to take in during freefall (under canopy is different) but still - it's a lot cooler to not be totally spannered on your first stage

The fact that you know this suggests you're doing something wrong -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

First time I ever went skydiving was a tandem outing with my boss and a few others. She hasn't been back since, but does have a photo of herself in freefall on her desk. Still asks me how it's going, some times... I tell her I need a raise -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Hey! Actually... you made me consider jumping in my phatties for a second there. Then I realised, they get breezy enough on a cold day on the ground. Ooooh. I'd have to duct tape the bottoms to my ankles, and probably fly with my arms forward a ways... whee! I'm a potato chip. Second realisation: the person who made my pants might be a good person to ask about a jumpsuit. Cheers

I don't know about that. At least, not the bowling part Not everyone jumps for the thrill and the adrenaline - I know I don't, and I'm just a newbie. Some people do it because it's the most beautiful thing they can think of to do with their time. Flying, freedom, space... clouds... Ahh. I do get a spike of adrenaline, but that's at deploy time. The real fun happens before that in freefall, and after it in canopy. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Uh... for some of us, a little under a year -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yeah, climbing to a safe altitude makes my nerves go away. I have less than a dozen jumps and for whatever reason, I have no nerves at all on jump run. The sensations of takeoff cause an involuntary nervous reaction though - damn little planes :) Nerves getting in the plane, yes. That's more to do with running over what I need to achieve for the AFF stage though - "heightened awareness", if you like, but I get that running out onto the netball court too. The actual climbing out part though... that was scary the first couple of times I guess but not even a tingle any more. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I learned that jumping sick is dumb (got my hearing back yesterday morning, sorta). That losing currency isn't just a formality. Oh, and that Greg the cook at our DZ can perfectly time his food production to landing time if you order before you go (Oh and - freakydiver, noice one!) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Well... that was a whole load of fun, but I sucked hard. My currency jump was stage six, and I did it much better the first time I potato-chipped. I pretzeled. I corkscrewed my dive exit. And I landed off from a makeable spot. Skydiving has been so instinctive for me so far, it didn't occur to me that my body would forget how to do stuff. So it came as something of a shock to realise that I couldn't make myself go forward to dock with my JM (I was reaching with my arms, duh). Lesson: don't lose currency, and do not jump sick. I had a cold, it was spacing me out - and I was almost completely deaf when I reached the ground. Got too focused on getting back in the air, I suppose, when I should have just sat in on the FJC then gone home. So I'm going back this weekend to iron all that crap out. Do the packing class, spend a lot more time on the turntable thingy practicing box man (apparently that's gone out the window too). With a bit of luck I can finish AFF this time... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?