ZegeunerLeben

>>hehehe welcome to the Fast as F***K club! Don't you know that with a PhD in physics you're waaaay too much of a nerd for freeflying?!

>>I actually had my helmet come off during freefall. I was sit-flying with a full-faced helmet (yeah, I know). Well the under-side near the chin caught air, and off it went. The problem wasn't losing the helmet so much as the helmet trying to take the goggles with it (I was wearing a BH boomerang w/face plate removed). I had to reach up and grab the goggles before they came completely off, and this caused me to cork. Got them back on in time to pull at my normal altitude and I was on a solo with no-one near me, so the only harm done was the loss of an expensive helmet. I learned that it is important to choose a helmet appropriate for the type of jump you're doing

>>I agree. My thread was moved, and rightly so. I did exactly what the sticky says not to do, and posted a thread out of excitement w/o thinking. I was surprised it lasted as long as it did; the way I see it, it shows that the moderators here are doing their jobs. Apologies and Good Work.

>>Hey Tom, are you starting your own FJC, or mentoring certain people? Could time be rented on the pendulator for practicing dead-air launches?

N/A

>>I was told I was a skydiver when I came back from my first solo jump

>>That's right! Can't wait till Apr. 2nd night jumps rock!!

>>Sure are! The DZM did a great job, made two passes, the first one for us 1st timers who had to do their solo's and staggered our deployment altitudes to get vertical separation as well as long delays in the door for horizontal. It was surreal being in the plane with everyone's glow sticks shining in the darkness. I was nervous, but when I exited I looked down and immediately knew where I was, I was surprised at how much I could see, everyhting was sort of blueish in the moonlight. Then a sense of wonderment took over, I kept doing 90 right's all the way around to take in the view; the sight of headlights stretching from horizon to horizon on a nearby freeway was spectacular! I pulled right at 4 grand like I was told, had a perfect on heading opening, flipped on my ankle strobe and soaked in the view some more. Had perfect stand up landing with the headlights I think I land better at night! Sorry so long I just had a great time I could jump all night!

>>My first sunset load, got my B license, and did my first night jump...how many cases of beer is that?!

>>This is a great post. I know a rookie BASEr who has made every attmept to follow the "call the locals rule", but keeps getting blown off. What is he supposed to do? Think he's gonna just gonna give up BASE? No, now he just scopes out the local objects on his own, which have already been opened up but he just doesn't know it. Will he burn one of these objects? Maybe, maybe not. I think that if the senior guys want to protect their objects, then BASE ethics needs to be taught to every newbie.

>>Glad to see you're doing this to raise awareness; no more jokes from me. When doing hop 'n pops to shoot accuracy, I was taught not to look at the alti and just count instead, starting off with 2 sec's and taking progressively longer delay's up to 5's, to get a "feel" for what each delay feels like. On terminal jumps, I agree there is no advantage gained.

>>I'm surprised as well. What about delay's? I'd hate to over delay and blow a colon

>>I'm not a BASE jumper, but I work ground crew for some of the locals, and I've seen the difference between someone a 1000+ skydives and someone with 20 (ie., a clean launch w/ excellent object separation vs going head-down on a 2 sec dly). While I agree that some skills could be practiced under guidance with PCA jumps from everyone's favorite legal S, I'd hate for some prospective BASEr's lurking in this forum to get the idea it's okay to BASE without any skydives, or very few. Just my thoughts, i'm no expert.

>>Okay, here's a couple: Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds? Why is it, whether you sit up or sit down, the result is the same? Why is a women's prison called a penal colony? Why don't you ever hear about gruntled employees? Where do forest rangers go to get away from it all? What is the speed of dark? What is another word for thesaurus? ...my head hurts

>>I jump for myself, and for no other reason. I was standing in line at a supermarket, and the checker was telling everyone who came through about how he made a tandem and how great it was. I thought, "gee, that sounds fun". So I went out to the same DZ he did, and made a tandem jump. Afterwards, I just knew. Most tandems never take AFF, but for some it's more than just a roller coaster ride. It's been the most rewarding experience of my life.

GRAVITY GEAR RULES >>Yeah, you're just sucking up to the Gravity Girl!

>>Something I learned recently: Before you exit, always check the spot, and if you don't like what you see, don't be afraid to ask for a second pass. Whether or not you think you can make it back to the DZ, always be looking for multiple outs. I also agree with Ron; when heading out to the DZ, best to leave the ego at home.

>>Here's one: When you roll down the window of your car on the free-way and you get a jolt from the roar of the wind...

Wow, and I thought I had it bad...trying to land it under a round reserve is quite another thing! I guess I was so focused on trying to get back I lost sight of the fact I should have been looking for better outs. Won't make that mistake again tho'; I'm gonna be constantly looking for outs, wherever I may be. I'm also going to do a better job of checking the spot before exiting, and ask for a second pass if I have to. Live and Learn!

>>I apologize for being unclear, I posted shortly after the incident. After I thought through the whole thing again, I remembered that after I stood up, I stowed my toggles and started to gather my canopy, then sat back down again for a minute. When I got back up, I was surprised to see my toggles stowed...I guess I was shaken and forgot I was flying back w/toggles & risers, but should have found some better outs earlier. Sorry for the confusion

>>Today my worst fear vis-à-vis an off DZ landing was realized...I had to land in a vineyard. It was my first jump at this particular DZ. After an uneventful freefall, I deployed @ 3.5. I did my controllability check, and looked around for the landing area, and realized I didn't know where I was. I searched for other canopies, and I saw two (only) flying toward the landing area, which was about a mile away. I dipped my rear risers, hoping to make it back. About two thirds of the way back, I began to think I wasn't going to make it back. I started looking for some outs, and saw that there was nothing but vineyards in every direction. I dipped harder on the rear risers, hoping I could still make it, but my canopy started to stall, and the spot on the ground that wasn't moving wasn't getting any closer. I realized I was going to land in the vineyard, like it or not. I used rear risers to try and line up between the narrow three-foot separation between rows. As I was setting up, a crosswind blew to the right, across one row of barbed-wire fences @ approx. 20 ft, into the next row. I compensated with my left riser, and managed to land about six inches from a metal steel post crowned with barbed wire. I PLF'd without flaring, and both my toggles were stowed throughout the entire ordeal. I made it through with only sprains, cuts and bruises. This was far scarier for me than my cut-away. I would greatly appreciate ANY advice or criticism, or similar experiences about this

Hey no worries, loads of laughs at 14k! We'll see you there next weekend

You can count me in!