Randy_H

I really admire all of you people who can just give up good jobs and decide to live life doing what you want and love, in particular, skydiving. I wish I had those kind of balls, but I don't. It sucks. 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

cool Skylord! Congrats, man! Now it is time to start working on that A license proficiency card! Blue Skies, bro! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

On my AFF Level-4, which I failed 3 times, on the 4th attempt, i had a female AFF instructor. After she finished reading all of the comments from the other AFF instructors on my previous attempts, she told me that if I didn't get my legs right she was just going to let go of me! Well, it worked, I passed level 4! In my opinion, she knew that I'd get a kick out of hearing an AFF instructor tell me something like that and it really helped me to "chill out". If this tactic will work or not really depends on the individual it is used on. She knew that I was a jokester and that I just needed to calm down a bit. And I still get a laugh out of remembering her telling me that! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

This topic is exactly why I put on my Z1 helmet just as I get onto the plane and don't remove it until I am on the ground again! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

post that video on skydivingmovies.com, I'd like to see it. Scott Miller never mentioned to me (at my skill level) a way to drop to a target if you are high above it. As far as being able to tell I was going to over shoot, I wasn't going to over shoot until the winds stopped gusting when I turned onto my base leg. I no longer had that strong headwind I was counting on. I'd like to see that video if you don't mind posting it!

I normally do, but I was so amped up on adrenaline from the dreaded "oh no, not the runway" rush that I didn't even think about it. I was still in the process of making a slow turn (excuses). Actually, again, my frame of mind at that moment had no rationalization to it whatsoever. And I didn't want pine to chew my ass about tearing up a rental rig! (just kidding on that, if you see this Pine!) My knees are now wired directly to the brain and in defense mode so I can assure everyone that next time I am going to land hard, I WILL PLF! But if I land on a tarmac again, it is no different from the grass. Just flair and finish! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Thanks for the kind words John, and congrats on your "A" License and jumping your own pack job. You've got balls because I watched you pack it and I sure as hell wouldn't have jumped it! (just kidding!) 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

yes, very much so, for new skydivers! Right.... and while everything is in slo-mo while you are tasting the tarmac you are wondering if anything is shattering or breaking in the process. I jumped right back up and bent over to look at my knees and legs to see if anything didn't look normal! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

At my skill level, nothing. I've been taught to retain as much speed as you can to help with the flair. If you bleed off speed and drop, that is exactly what you will do, drop. And there won't be enough time for the canopy to recover enough forward speed for a good flair. You could fly in 1/4 to 1/2 brakes (depending on where that "sweet spot" is on your canopy) and you will flatten out the glide and get a little more horizontal distance, then prepare to PLF since you will have a very weak flair. If I saw that I was going to slam into a fence, I would try it, but only as a last resort. Very shallow turns are okay. As I get ready to hit the tarmac, you will see my right toggle is down to my shoulder while my left toggle is up in full drive. I was still trying a gentle sweeping turn but froze up when I realized I was going to land on the tarmac and didn't do anything else. No flair, no PLF. Hindsite is 20/20!

I had my septum worked on after I had been drinking and was being mouthy to an Oakland Raiders fan at a football game. If that counts... 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

It makes me very nervous at all of the crazy assholes out there. These are probably the same people who take a shit in the shower stall at campgrounds. Doesn't anyone who knows or raised these people have any clue that something might be wrong with them upstairs?? 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

I guess that is a positive! Time to get the wire brush out and scrub those puppies again! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

and damn proud, I might add!

Dubya Dubya Dubya oh, I said that already.... 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Cat owners are funny people! They keep boxes full of shit inside their houses! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Well, the winds were pretty strong 18+ MPH, and I was on my downwind leg. Everything was fine, I turned onto base, then the winds dropped off. I turned onto final and didn't have that headwind I was counting on and ended up still being 150' off the ground over my target and I was approaching a runway. Being a newbie and having had an experience with the runway before, I decided that I would do a crosswind landing because the winds had really died off and I thought that I'd land in the grass. I was wrong, I turn a right 90 and notice I am approaching another runway so I turn to the right again. Now the winds have picked back up and I am doing a downwind landing heading towards another runway. SHIT!! I then try to flat turn 90 to the right again to avoid a downwind landing on the runway but I was already too low. If you look at the video, near the end, you will see that I have my right toggle down about 1/4 trying to turn away from the runway. I froze up and ate it hard! This video was taken by Scott Miller. So we had a nice debriefing on what I did and what I should have done. To sum it up, I should have kept my initial final approach and flaired like I normally do and just landed on the runway. No matter what you land on, the flairing is the same. I still have, or I should say, I HAD the newbie mentality about only wanting to land on the soft grass. My knees are speaking to me very clearly now about flairing. This type of landing is way out of the norm for me. I tasted tarmac only one other time and that was on my AFF-1 jump. After this jump, I went into the bathroom and got a bunch of paper towels and some water. Splashed water all over my knees and dried them, then went right back up! The next landing was sweet! Why? Because I was within 10 meters of the target and flared! I posted this video so that other people who are just as new as I can learn from my mistake. Having no skin on both knees is not fun and I wouldn't do it again! Thank god for prescription pain killers! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Agreed 100%! It isn't our fault that they fucked off instead of paying attention in school!

The one positive in this situation is that we won't have to worry about him procreating any more of those distrubed genes! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

only if you got them from eating at a Stuckey's. 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

I think that I probably would have welched on that bet! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Have you ever had pain so bad that it affects your vision? Well my knees are like that right now. If you are a member of skydivingmovies.com then clicky to see why! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Outside in my private courtyard during hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Ivan. Since my wife and I live in Central Florida, we experienced each one of them. She was okay with the idea and said it excited her. That was until the winds really started picking up and the rain was being driven into the house. Then she looked at me and said "are you fucking nuts!!" It took a little begging and coaxing but we did the deed, OUTSIDE during the hurricane! She loved it and after that first time, she wanted to do it during each of the other two storms as well. It probably would have been quite embarassing if a tree had fallen on us and trapped us! PS - the absolute BEST orgasm she ever had also! Same here! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

yeah.... get married and have a very understanding, NON-SKYDIVING spouse! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

uh, burnt fried rice? 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001

Ol' trusty will always do it for me......the beer bong! 010010010110010101100001011101000111000001110101011100110111001101111001