lifewithoutanet

After reading another thread last night and picking up some good tips all around, I've decided that any solo work I do will be sits only until I get it down. No more head-downs or stands until my sit is stable and consistent. Always. It's not enough to just give good separation, you have to maintain it, as well. I'm at a new DZ now and one of the other newbies I declined to fly with pointed me to someone who's got me setup w/ one of the best. Looking forward to getting his input, even if he decides, "Get X number of jumps, then I'll coach you." Appreciate the tips/concern all around, guys. -C.

Not taken as a slam at all. I appreciate it, in fact. One thing I'll add is that any freefly work I'm doing I only do for a few seconds at a time. I'm into it and out of it rather quickly and only at high altitudes. I'm just trying to build stability. I am constantly checking my altimeter and always aware. I've had other noobs ask me if I wanted to do a two-way and I've politely declined. Only head-down I've done w/ another person has been w/ my coach. Not trying to be over-defensive, just letting you know that I'm looking out for myself (and the others around me, as well), too. -C.

Taxes?!?! Bah...I paid those YEARS ago. -C.

THANK YOU for that anecdotal point. That is not something I'd thought of. I feel "pretty good" about my head-down, but this seems like a much better way to go about it. That said, once I get consistently stable in my sit and go back to head-down, I'll remember that and do the same thing. Again, thanks. -C.

I'm having a bit of the same problem. I felt like I had it and knew what I was doing a couple weekends ago, but this past weekend, I couldn't hold it for longer than a few seconds before corking. The few times I found myself stable in a "sit" it was more of a squat. Don't know what I was doing wrong, but like someone else in this thread said (I think WrongWay), it'll take time to build the muscle memory and get it just right. Head and stand are feeling pretty good (almost said "looking pretty good", but what do I know w/o a camera flyer?). I'm determined to work my sit again and again before I do any more head-downs or stands. Hopefully I won't undo those two in the meantime. Anyway, best of luck to you. Exhilarating when you get it, if only for a few secs, ain't it? -C.

...a motorcycle. -C.

My (now ex-) girlfriend decided she was ready to take that next leap w/ me and jump out of a plane. A lot of thoughts went through my head before she'd even set foot on the DZ, some worry, some fear (mostly of what her mother was going to do to me). All I can say is: 1.) Be supportive, but make sure she's doing this for HERSELF, not you. 2.) Tell her no matter what she's ever heard you say about skydiving, whatever her instructors say takes precedence. I'll think this until the day I become an instructor. 3.) Relax. If you're anxious, she'll likely get that way, too. And finally... 4.) Beware: Single male (and female) skydivers abound. -C.

Blue-yellow-grey-blue-grey-yellow-blue. 700 jumps. The lines are in great shape, but I'll be sending it back to PD to get it re-lined before too long. Funny guy. Back away from the thread--slowly--and no one will get hurt. -C.

Ohhhhh... *google* yourself. Now these replies make sense. -C.

About six hours. :-) -C.

The only certainties are that the golden-clone (of Jake) would be just as lazy and the lab-clone (of Cale) would be just as spaztic (pic attached). Still, couldn't do it. Brings to mind the whole nature vs. nurture debate...genetically, they'd be the same, but that's not everything. -C.

Ho-lee shit. -C.

Seven jumps under a new (to me) canopy today. Downsized to a Sabre 150, loading at 1.13. Stood every one of 'em up. Just wanted to share. -C.

Dude... Now that you've posted this for the world to see, I suggest you go inspect your rig and then keep it under lock and key. -C.

I was recently off AFF and working on my tracking. Followed one of the coaches and his girlfriend out the door with good separation. Watched the guy behind me exit, then turned to find the two I'd followed. Saw her and started tracking. Mistake number one: I tracked down jumprun (though just briefly). Mistake number two: it wasn't her. It was him, but I didn't know this, yet. I stopped tracking and pulled. That was when I realized it wasn't her. I was checking out my main as it deployed and saw her about 60 degrees above and to my left (at about 40 feet or so, she'd deployed a little early). Scared the shit out of me and I knew immediately what *I'd* done wrong. NEVER track on jump run for ANY distance, in either direction. Fast forward to a few weekends ago at Perris. I follow this guy out of the plane, again, with good separation. No 45 degree rule, a good count instead. There were four solos and I had a friend behind me on AFF 1 so I wanted to go last. We were all pulling at 4k. I exit, roll to my back to watch my friend come out w/ his instructors, then go to belly, practice some turns, flips, etc. I hit 4500 and pass the guy who'd left right before me just as or just after he'd pulled. Once below him, I dump at 4k. We were CLOSE. On the canopy ride down, I'm thinking of everything that *I* might have done. What did *I* fcuk up? And I couldn't come up w/ anything (maybe some of you will). I calmly walked up to the guy to ask him what he'd done on his dive. He'd tracked up jumprun and then pulled early. I explained why that was bad. He agreed. Point is (finally getting to it...sorry for the long post...slow Friday at work), I've talked to a lot of students and haven't come up with one who learned about tracking in AFF. Tracking aside, most of the problem here is not just giving adequate separation, but *maintaining* it. Whether it's 45 degrees of separation or X seconds, whichever method is taught needs to be elaborated on. Don't just "give separation", MAINTAIN it. You can do everything you were taught and someone else can still put a damper on your skydiving career. Just my $.02, learned from my own stupidity. -C.

I've actually jumped quite a number of canopies for my few amount of jumps (38), but I've stalled each and every one of them as a matter of habit. Always do this at altitude, of course. I like to see how the canopy is going to respond while I've got some distance between me and my hard deck. Helps to get a feel for how it's going to perform in subsequent jumps and I feel it prepares me a bit for the unexpected.

Yeah, I've faced the same thing a few times over the past couple months, especially during the week. New job--and lots more responsibility with it, new state, new place. Still finding my zone in SoCal. I get out and play w/ the dogs, that usually helps. Other times (and I'd normally not advocate TV-watching) I turn on a vid from my old DZ or go through my archives or skydivingmovies.com . Helps to remind me that the weekend is not that far away. Just over a day of work left now. -C.

Would be nice to see the user's home DZ listed w/ their name, image, license, etc. on the left side, next to their post. Just a thought. Suggestion aside, lemme just say very nice work to all responsible for the upkeep and design of this site. Well done.

That kills me. Great post. These are good, too: http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchlinux http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchback

Last Sunday, 4 April. Solo, hard track and covered lots of ground.

I've packed for myself since jump 9. I think it's another aspect of the sport that focuses you on the risks involved. I can understand why the more experienced jumpers might not pack for themselves anymore, but I think as a student you MUST become confident in your pack jobs. If you're "lazy" (I know plenty of people who would argue that they're not lazy, they're making maximum use of their time) or just have the money to burn, by all means, pay the packers so they can make more jumps. But if you're just not confident in your ability to pack, now is the time to start. How confident will you be under a malfunction if you're not confident in your ability to stack, roll, fold and tuck nylon? Just my $.02.

Hey, everyone. Read the posts and agree w/ a lot of you, which by context, means I disagree w/ a few of you, as well. I just moved from Colorado to Southern California and went from a small--but kick-ass DZ: Denver Skydivers in Brush, CO--to Perris. Day 1 at Perris, I walked onto the DZ at 0700. I'd brought a friend w/ me who was going to do his AFF 1 (thus the early arrival time). A few people were up and moving about, recognized me as a new guy and stopped to introduce themselves. I stepped away for a few and left my friend standing by my rig. When I came back, he commented on how EVERYONE had walked by and said at least "hello", some of them even stopping to introduce themselves and talk to him about his level 1 when he told them why he was there. Even still, going to a new DZ can be a bit intimidating. I'm generally pretty outgoing, but even I was kind of taken back when the place got busy. Everyone is doing their thing and planning their jumps. A larger DZ makes it especially more difficult. If you're uncomfortable interrupting a group on the groud, manifest and meet people on the way to altitude; introduce yourself to the guy or girl next to you while you're packing for the next load. You're there to skydive, so are they. Whodathunkit? You have something in common already.

Yes, this is how you get hooked...and as you progress, you'll reach a point where you execute your entire dive flow, look at your altimeter and think, "Now what? I still have a few thousand feet."

Welcome to the sport! ----- "My DZ is located in the Midwest at a quaint airport staffed with very friendly people." ----- My home DZ is much the same...a small airfield in Colorado, staffed, owned, operated and jumped by some of the finest people I've met. I started in Sept as well and just recently moved to SoCal. I've started jumping at Perris and other than the size, grandeur and some of the "greats" flying about, it feels much the same. Professionalism abounds in skydiving. It was intimidating as hell, at first, though. I'm still a newbie (38 jumps w/ only 9 of those being off my home DZ). I miss my DZ and have been back a few times and plan to go back next weekend. Still can't wait to go back to Brush and jump there, but getting to another DZ and spreading my wings has given me some different perspectives. For me, it brought me out of my comfort zone a bit and tempered my eagerness to more appropriate levels w/ respect to my experience. I recommend it to anyone who's recently gotten their "A". If you find yourself getting too comfortable as a newbie, take a road trip to another DZ. It'll put your head back in the right place. Also, Parachutist just had a great article about "Leaving the Nest". Good read. -C.

Newbie AFF student through level III, finishing AFF this weekend. An old friend of mine has a Naro container (with Cypress), PISA Tempest 200 main/Tempo 170 reserve that he's looking to sell. Mods are front riser loops and BOC deployment instead of leg-loop. It has less than 100 jumps and only needs a new Cypress battery. He's asking $850 for it and everyone I've talked to has said that's a pretty sweet deal. I'm getting it fully checked out before I purchase, but wanted some feedback on what anyone thinks about it as a first rig. I've been flying a student rig, 288 Manta. I know that the Tempest is also F-111, not zero-p. It's also a 7-cell, rather than a 9. Anyone out there have anything to share about the canopies' characteristics of flight? General opinions? Thanks. -C.