Rhonda66

The Quincy 2000 video and Chronicle III are probably still my favorites. As a chick myself, I probably could do without the party girls intermission, but overall I love this video for the base and freefly jumps... I still love to watch Mike McGowan's Greatest Hits video as well. Blues, Rhonda

Hi - I bought new gear while I was doing AFF and it arrived by the time I finished. I got a larger demo canopy that I jumped for 25 jumps or so and then I bought a used canopy that I'm still jumping now although I did end up getting another rig altogether to use for freeflying and I have a Saber 150 in the closet that I'm hoping to swap into my regular rig soon.... so...the moral is - you're most likely not going to be very happy in the long run with what you buy and you'll want to downsize canopies as you get more experienced. In the beginning, I tended to be very conservative and I wanted a big canopy that I thought I would use forever, and well, you can see it hasn't worked out that way in the long run - so unless you just have money to spend, it's a good idea to demo canopies and gear if you can and buy later. My fiance was lucky - he got to take advantage of a gear plan that was offered at our DZ at the time and he got to do about 100 free jumps on the DZ's used gear so he tried out everything and ended up buying a Saber 120 for his first owned canopy. I guess it depends on how often you plan to jump and on your skills, etc. so you'll know what's best for you - and talk to your JM's.... See ya, Rhonda

It's not that I don't get the novelty of it. I just haven't seen it done as of now (except in the Quincy videos of course) so I'm wondering how someone goes about bringing up the subject or if there are certain DZ's that embrace the idea while others do not allow it at all. I don't think it would be a big thing at all to do it, but it isn't like they post naked jump days like they post for night jumps or something like that...get what I mean? RB

ooh, that is the fun one where they release you for the first time if all goes well - that was my favorite AFF jump of them all. Spotting is when you look out of the aircraft to check to see if you are leaving the plane when you should be. Usually there is a predetermined spot("the spot") based on winds aloft and where jumpers from prior loads have landed, etc. Most of the time it seems to me that the pilot does the spotting, but it is always smart to check "the spot" to make sure that you aren't getting out somplace that you shouldn't be....usually the person closest to the door (or a more experienced jumper) looks out and lets the pilot know if they need to make corrections...that's all it is, but it's important and I don't think that most people are taught to do it very well. As for getting out of the door, I used to do all kinds of crazy stuff like that. Just be ready and relax and go - you don't need to make a big deal out of the exit. Just get yourself in the door, do your check-ins/outs and go. I can't give any other advice than that. All I can say is that you'll look back one day and laugh because it took you 27 seconds to get out the door because it's just going to get easier and easier. I failed level 1 twice!!! because I couldn't arch and I insisted that I just couldn't do it and that it was too hard, blah, blah, blah and now I laugh at myself because I made it a lot harder for myself (and my JM's) than it needed to be. Try not to let your brain go into overload mode (like I did) - just get in the door, check-in/out and jump - sounds easy, but I know where you're coming from. Listen to your JM's - they are there to show you the ropes... Rhonda

Are there only certain DZ's that allow nude skydiving? I've been jumping since 1996 now and I have never witnessed a naked jumper yet though I know a few have been made at my home DZ. What do you say? Uh, I want to jump naked - anyone mind? What if the DZ is not on a private airport??? The idea is intriguing, but is there any real reason for doing it? Is it a bigger rush or something??? My luck I would land in a briar patch or in someone's yard and get arrested :) Just curious....... Rhonda

Yes, I was pretty shocked to hear the outcome as well yesterday. It was hard to tell from conflicting reports what was going to happen so we could only hope for the best. I feel so, so bad and yet it bothers me so much that it had to be a hook turn under a Stiletto 135 that he was supposedly demoing. What a damn shame. Please be careful everyone.... My condolences go out to his family, friends, teammates and everyone at Pepperell. Blue skies forever brother Chuck. Rhonda

I was paranoid of flying UNTIL I started skydiving. Well, I think I was afraid of life in general until I started jumping. The first time I flew, I was 14 and my uncle brought my cousin and I up in this clunky old Cessna. We were flying over the ocean spotting for tuna fish and my uncle starts saying he's going to intentionally "stall the plane". Now we thought, of course, that that meant he was literally going to turn off the engine or something and we both freaked out. I was scared to death during the flight and I couldn't wait to get down, but another part of me was totally mesmerized by it as well. I really looked up to my Uncle the Pilot. Fortunately, he did not intentioanally stall the aircraft or else I may never have stepped foot in a plane again. The funny thing is that my Uncle is now an aerobatics pilot and he thinks that I'm insane to jump out of planes. He says he can't even imagine opening up the door and leaving the plane and that he hopes he'll never have to use the Emergency Pilot's Parachute that he wears on every flight. I think he's crazy to be doing some of the manuevers he does now, but after I graduate from college next year, the next thing on my list is to get my pilot's license. One of my sisters made her first (and only) jump with me when we made our first tandems in 1996. She had never even flown before! She had no fears in the plane and no fears when she left it, but when she got down she said that once was enough for her. There is always that fear that the plane is going to crash or that you're going to stall on jump run, but the actual flying itself is a blast. I think that most people would not have much difficulty flying if the possibility of crashing (or of something going wrong) wasn't always there in the back of your mind. Also, in a jump plane you're basically at the mercy of the pilot - Once you leave the plane, the control is back with you. I think that I will like flying a lot better when I am in the pilot's seat and I understand the mechanics of it better - I love it now, but there have been times when I'm the guy stuck in the back of the Cessna and I wonder what the heck I would do to get out if the plane stalled, or crashed or whatever so I think it's just the lack of control thing that bothers me the most. Rhonda

Saw this in the Boston Globe this afternoon. Anyone know what happened? Skydiving Accident Injures Man, 51 A 51-year-old man was involved in a skydiving accident yesterday at the Pepperell airport, according to Pepperell police. The man, whose name was not released, was flown by helicopter ambulance to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, said police, who could not provide the man's condition. Rhonda