msdeva

We expect you to pull and flare as well!!! We are so demanding :o)

I am so there! Kat told me about it a little while ago. Can't wait. Mandy - can't wait to jump with you! Are you going to summerfest in Chicago? We need more girls there... I think a dz.com all girl jump would be cool - with Michele at the center!!!

PLFKING - how are the landings going? Is there a door?

I'll be at Summerfest at Skydive Chicago with Mike Ortiz, Rook, Chris Fiala, Dusty, Team SuperFreak (Raymond and Goat). I can't wait!!! My home DZ is SD Dallas - Grogs - when were you there?

Jess, the same thing was happening to me when I was jumping a Sabre 170. I just couldn't stand up a landing unless there was alot of wind. I was out at Lake Elsinore - no winds - and hit the ground really hard. Someone who saw landing asked me why I didn't flare. I said I did - he said it didn't look like it when he looked at the canopy. I told him that I had been practicing flares up high, pullung down on the toggles as far as I possibly could. He asked me is this action stalled the canopy. My answer was, huh? He said if I was pulling down as much as possible, the canopy should have stalled, or at least started to... hmmm..... Turns out my STEERING LINES WERE TOO LONG!!!!! So no matter how much I freakin' flared - my canopy wasn't slowing down. I shortened my lines by 3 inches and haven't had a problem since. A week later I had the confidence to go to my 150 - which I've landed consistently, after knowing how to truly test it out up high - actually lengthened the lines by an inch on this one. This may be the problem. Please work with a J/M, coach, rigger, etc. to figure out if this might be the case!! Deva

Roland, who used to work/jump at SDD, is normally down there on the weekends. That's where his team practices.

It took me about 30 jumps til I could stand in the door and not constantly think to myself 'you're %(*&@% crazy for jumping out of planes'. But of course, the minute I let go - I remembered that I wasn't crazy, this was the reason I got on that plane in the first place - so I could fly. I got over it by constantly reminding myself how great it felt to be out of the airplane, and how cool it was going to be to be able to fly with other people, AND doing deep-breathing exercises on the plane - especially at the 2 minute call. I still get a bit anxious while waiting for my turn out the door, but once I'm in the door - I'm fine. I have 66 jumps now, so hopefully I'll get over that in time as well. I still do deep breathing after the 2 minute call - it really helps me to relax more during my skydive - and the key to a good skydive is being relaxed. It's amazing what a difference deep breathing makes during the skydive as well - I finally nailed a sit when I told myself to relax, close my eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Hope this helps. Deva

Don't know how far you guys are willing to drive - but Skydive Dallas is open. Twin Otter and a Caravan - normally 13,500.

Make sure you practice looking Right-Left-Right before you imbibe in the frosty brews... (not always so forsty actually). Anyways - the first time I drank a few too many there I almost got run over as my instinct for looking Left-Right-Left did me NO good over there... luckily a passerby grabbed my arm and yanked me back into the street! Thank you whoever you are :o)

My b/f a skydiver - but luckily he's an organizer - so it's not quite as expensive as it could be... of course when we want to do 'private' dives - the $$ adds up

As a student you're taught to do pull both cut away and reserve regardless of the type of malfunction. This is because you're already in mental overload trying to remember all the other things that you need to do - this allows one less thing to remember. However, once you're off student status (or have your A at least) you can make these decisions for yourself. If you know that nothing is deployed from your main, then there is no need to cutaway... similar to emergency aircraft exit procedures. I don't know what problems could be introduced by pulling the cutaway handle with nothing to cut away tho... I wouldn't think they would teach students this if it was dangerous.

Paris definitely used to be snooty and dirty until about mid-90's. The internet generation has really changed things. It's now cool to be 'americain(e)'. I lived there in 1997 and found that the under 30 crowd was very cool - whereas the over 30 crowd is stuck in the stereotype. Fortunately, the under 30 crowd is taking over and the attitude of the city is changing. The Champs-Elysees is the cleanest street I've ever seen - they actually scrub the sidewalks every morning at 3am. As with any large city, there are always bad parts of town and not so nice people - but I found that the French are just like us - they shower every day, girls shave their legs, they'd rather party than work (which they actually do a much better job at than us) and aspire to be happy. If you haven't been there in the past few years - I would suggest reconsidering a trip there. It's really quite a beautiful city with amazing people. (The weather does tend to suck though!)

Mine's 'in'. I bought it used - it belonged to a guy named Kevin. Of course I couldn't leave that there - so now it's 'in'. Works out pretty well - anyone asks "Who's in?" I'm IN!!!!

Only a half-hour - that would be nice. I only have an hour though - so I can't complain either. WELCOME THUMPER Are you friends with Bambi?

Harro, Where do you live exactly? I was in Sydney over the New Year, but my friend just moved up to Qland - I'm going to visit soon and want to take her skydiving.... Thanks, Deva * I like your 'free' motto*

I go by the 3 'oh shit' rule: The first time you say 'oh shit' - don't flare The second time you say 'oh shit' - don't flare The third time you say 'oh shit' - FLARE I didn't make this rule up - but recently tried it as I just downsized to my pretty mardi-gras colored Sabre 150. I was coming at the ground alot faster than I was used to and wound up flaring way too high - did a nice superman slide across the ground - in a friends suit(!). A friend of mine saw this and mentioned the 3 'oh shit' rule. The next jump - I only did 2 'oh shit's and still flared too high - but only went to one knee. The 3rd jump on my lovely new canopy I followed the rule and have only had stand up landings since!!! (15 in a row) I even jumped in my bikini last weekend - pretty daring for someone who had regularly fallen onto her knees every landing. I now have 49 jumps and am finally confident in my ability to land - yea! Hope this helps! Deva

Come play with the Texas Girls!

SKYDIVE DALLAS is definitely freefly friendly. And you can demo FREEdom Means Choice freefly pants and suits. You can do ball and tube jumps as well... By the way - I'm a friend of Jessica's - so now there is a Deva in Texas... (been reading some of the other threads - you guys are naughty! AJ is hottie tho...) I'm normally at SDD on the weekends - one of the Freaks - feel free to look me up. National Sex Week - Give 'til it HURTS!!! Deva

Jessica - from Dallas??? Where the heck you been?????

Add one more to the list!! Diva _____________________________ Is your name really Diva?

This weekend - June 15th through 17th. Come play and maybe take home some money!