Jeth

. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Yep. It is basically 2 tandems + 8 core jumps + 10 coach jumps (more advanced RW & freefly). But you have to go through the whole program before you are off student status. All jumps are with 1 instructor. But the nice thing is when you graduate you have met all requirements and are only 5 jumps away from your A!

Congrats, thats awesome!

Hi Sarah, I'm a student also. I have done 8 AFF jumps, but I have never stood up a landing. I have, however, had pretty soft butt-slide landings. All except my last one - oh, that wasn't pretty! I didn't know how to PLF properly and I was coming in really fast, downwind. I basically did a face plant with the splits. It ripped my MCL and that took me out for the season. I didn't flare right and I didn't PLF. Anyway, I just wanted to tell ya that I have trouble picking the flare height, too. I think the reason most of mine are pretty soft still is because I don't let up. My instructors all told me if I start my flare too early, to just hold the 1 position and still do the 2-3 at the right time. One thing that really was great for me was just hearing my instructor on the radio saying "not yet!". (instead of telling me when, she just kept saying not yet till it was time.) When I am coming down and feel the urge to pull down, I say that to myself over and over. My last jump was still on radio but I know they're gonna be weaning me off very soon. (My program is 20 jumps) I am going to try to get my timing down, and most importantly, practice my PLF for when I need it! One thing I saw the other day sounded like it might be helpful -- someone suggested standing on an escalator as its going down. The angle should be perfect and even tho it goes slow it should still be a good way to visualize the right flare height. Anyway, good luck! I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually.

Hey, don't knock lookin pretty! Thats all some people have in life! (And it can get them amazingly far...) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

And something else to think about is that in the past year, two different companies have developed two different processes to manufacture real diamonds. I have seen articles about this in Wired Magazine, as well as TV news shows. This has DeBeers running scared. The only way to distinguish the man-made ones from natural ones: The man-made ones are perfect, while the natural ones have tiny flaws. Hey, cut it out! U guys are making me feel bad about my husband buying me the ring I love! BTW, I'm sure there are many other things in life that one person buys that another thinks is a total ripoff. (ex. a new car) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Thats good. I was thinkin the same thing.

Actually, my rig only cost $1700, and that came with 2 parachutes! See, you could have almost paid for two rigs. Where is your damn priorities? Well I had to have both. That's my priority. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I'm not bragging! I have definitely seen plenty of rings much more worthy of bragging about. But its mine, my wonderful husband gave it to me, and I love it. (Yes, it is insured.) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Actually, my rig only cost $1700, and that came with 2 parachutes! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I do see it as an investment. We bought my ring 6 years ago and recently it was appraised for almost $1000 more than we paid. Its too bad that yours was never worn. I totally thought about that before we picked one out, I wanted to make sure it was one I could wear every day. I guess its just personal feelings. Since I intend on keeping mine forever and passing it down to my heirs, and it has appreciated in value, it was well worth what we paid for it. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I love my ring. But yes, it is a bit crazy that my husband's ring only cost $300 whereas mine cost over $3k. (His - plain gold, mine - 1k of diamonds, tho.) But I agree with all that stuff Dave said about it lasting a lifetime and being a family heirloom. Not to mention I wear it every single day, so I have to love it. I didn't need it to be huge, but I did want one that was really beautiful, that would catch someone's eye. I ended up putting in some money on it so he could get the one I wanted. I love it and I'm going to keep it forever. BTW, thats another reason to get a nice one. I know lots of women who got a really small/plain one for their wedding, and then later on upgraded to something else. I wanted one that I would keep forever, so that when I am 65 I am still wearing the ring my husband gave me when I was 25.

Ok, thats just cruel.... "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

It would be nice, but we have no plane at SDC or at CSC...the closest place to jump is a cessna a few hours away.... If I remember correctly Jeth is also a student And at SDC we do AFP not AFF. So going to another DZ just to make a jump might make things a lil messed up Yep. Still a student. And the DZ is closed so nobody is jumpin around here. (That makes me feel a little better.

Ok, its fuckin 15 degrees outside today... and its MARCH!!! I'm supposed to be skydiving in 3 weeks!!! And to continually add insult to injury, EVERY DAMN day there is a beautiful blue, clear sky, it is always bone-chilling cold!! WTF is up with that?!? A couple weeks ago we had a nice mild 47-degree day. But, of course, the skies were completely clouded over! This morning when I woke up and saw the sky, I Knew it was gonna be fuckin cold. I am totally sick of this crap. I am sick of being cold. I am sick of my nose running. I am sick of my skin being so damn dry. I am sick of the static on absolutely everything. And I am sick of seeing a gorgeous sky and not being able to get up there!!!! It's March, this is supposed to be ending!!! Ok, sorry, had to vent. Everyone in Chicago will feel my pain.

Thats awesome!! Congrats!

Congrats!!

Good for you!

Similar scenario here. My last jump on Sept. 18th I tore my MCL. I'm totally freakin about my 1st jump back. Its probably 10x worse for me cuz I'm still a student so I still have the customary rookie nerves as well. I really hope I can get my ass out the door. But I'm sure what everyone said is true - its gonna feel so freakin awesome to land that 1st jump safely! I know I can do it! You will, too! Good luck!

Tell me about it! On March 18th it will be 6 months since my last jump. That was due to an inury in Sept and then winter came. I often wonder how scared I'm going to be when I go back. But for me its not door fear. I love the door! I am just really, really fucking nervous beforehand. Pulling into the dz, then gearing up, walking into the hangar. It really hits when the plane pulls up and we start to load. But I breathe deep in the plane and just focus on the jump and touch my handles. I guess I do feel that twinge when the door is 1st opened, especially if I'm right next to it! But as soon as its my turn and I stick my head out and feel the wind, I'm totally ready to go!!

PLF is Parachute Landing Fall. Its basically a tuck-n-roll landing. You want to do that when you are coming down too fast to prevent breaking an ankle or leg. Your instructors should tell you about it and have you practice. (But in my ground school, they didn't. So if they don't, ask them to show you how to do it. ) A book that you might like is called "The Skydivers Handbook". I read it cover-to-cover after my 1st jump. Lots of great info in there. (including PLF's) Well the bottom line is you will never know exactly how you'll feel until you're actually up there with your own rig on, about to jump out at 13k feet. It is definitely a totally different experience than a tandem. Just remember to take a deep breath and try to relax. When you are under canopy just remember what your instructor told you and you'll do fine. I was worried I'd forget something, but when the time came I remembered everything she said and I got myself down safely. Trust yourself. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Thats very encouraging to hear! Ok, I'm going to try to pack it at the DZ even if it takes me awhile. I only do about 3 jumps a day anyway, so I'll have plenty of time inbetween!

So how many practice packs did it take before you could do it at the DZ when you wanted to get on a load? I'm starting to think I'm gonna have to pay a packer if I want to use my gear for the rest of my training. (I don't think my instructor will want to wait 2 hours for my de-brief! ) But I bet I'll learn a lot faster if I AM doing it to jump! Hey JustaBill, I told ya you could come pack my rig anytime U want. No excuses! (J/K. But when U do get yours, I will wait for U to pack it so we can get on a load together.

Tandem jumps are the most expensive. Your training jumps should be around $100-$150, and then once you are licensed, a jump with gear rental will be around $40-$50. Then when you have your own gear jumps are only $15- $20! So don't think you will be paying $150 bucks a pop for the rest of your life! Welcome to the sport!

SkyMom, I didn't have fear of the landing at all because my tandem master on my 1st jump was totally awesome and set us down tip-toe soft! For me, it was sort of a non-specific fear. I was just TERRIFIED. I was excited after ground school, but as soon as I put the rig on, thats when it hit me. I think I was most afraid of taking care of everything myself. Having to rely entirely on myself to keep myself alive and safe. The freefall stuff is hard until you learn to relax. It sounds stupid, but even if you don't think you're tense, you will be. And until you relax, you won't be in control up there. But for your first few jumps the instructor(s) will be holding onto you so your only job is to arch and pull on time. There is a lot to learn about flying the canopy, but for your first few jumps your instructor will guide you down on a radio. Just remember your landing pattern and to flare and you'll be okay. On my 1st jump, the radio didn't work so I had to land by myself. I landed in the corn field next to the DZ, but I was not hurt and landed safely, so it was all good.