Jumperpaula

Loooove to see you. Come on down. Sometimes, when they get me drunk, I show my tatoo....wanna see? Fly Your Slot !

Orly King did a freefly seminar at my DZ. He presented his research on the proper determination of exit order with a combination of scenerios. It was great info everyone. Fly Your Slot !

Now that was truely depressing. Im not sure I've EVER seen 10 days straight of rain forcasted. Fly Your Slot !

Noticing a pattern? Weathered out again, on Boogie Weekend? At least it's not as bad as our CASA Boogie and State Record Attempt weathered out by the Allison Floods. Maybe they should not ANNOUNCE boogies anymore, make them surprise boogies... Fly Your Slot !

betcha never though you would hear a woman say THAT!! Only skydivers, we rock !! Fly Your Slot !

When I have a challenging skydive, I reach into my serious side and visualize in the plane, concentrate on the skydive, think of every single move, every body position, every grip. I might need to ask a question or give a tip to my partner. Sometimes even the noise for the open door is too distracting, lots of skydivers wear earplugs. Music would grate on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. eeeeeeeeeeek What about an aircraft emergency? You need to hear the pilots or load leaders instructions. I've rode the plane down with information from the pilot and without. Believe me, knowing why you are riding down is MUCH BETTER than not! Silence please...the sound of those engines is music~~ Fly Your Slot !

One old time jumper (crazy ass guy) once told me that the likelyhood of hitting an aircraft in freefall is virtually impossible. Not that I myself wanna be the first one to find out, but with only one documented case on record (and the skydiver lived, everone on the plane died) Old timer Rick told me "If you tried to jump out at the exact right time, and hit a plane, it would be virtually impossible" Now we've seen Joe Jennings do it, but look what special equipment and circumstances it took (massive drouge on the plane). And exception to the formation load accident which clouds had nothing to do with... So, for the sake of discussion with some years in this sport under our belts and an already crowded sky, are we really at risk to hit an aircraft in freefall? Should we be held to the same requirements as VFR pilots? Fly Your Slot !

Fred: You got some GREAT ADVICE here. I find the most help to me is to relax and smile. I breath deep on the way to altitude, give myself the "relax sign" in the plane, then force a big grin right before exit. It helps me to remember that this is FUN, and somehow helps me think clear. I also would recommend a book called "The Art of Freefall RW" by Pat Works. The first few chapters cover the "angle of attach" of the relative wind on your body. Somehow, after doing then reading then visualizing, all the physics made more sense. I started to realize my body position in the air more. Although written in the 70's the information on freefall is timeless. I also enjoyed the heritage of the sport by some of the older references and terms. Like "during Relative Work, at least one person should have a working altimeter"... btw, I quit for the first time after jump 19. I was sure I would never get it. I never quit for very long. Fly Your Slot !

Edid: Call ahead or send a email and tell DZ that you would be interested in a babysitter. There are lots of staff and regulars that have older children who might be available. Or, you could take along a nanny of sorts. Great that you are able to enjoy the sport with your family. Fly Your Slot !

So is the haze factor turning into a personal choice or it's still a safety issue? My old DZ would NOT FLY in clouds, my new one will fly and leave it up to the jumper to make the load. Is the new one disregarding safety or letting the customer choose their circumstances? Fly Your Slot !

Right on girl! There is something about the charateristics of skydivers that is ALREADY attractive. The scruffy faces and wind blown hair, sweaty naked chests.... Fly Your Slot !

I have a pink closing pin tatoo on the top of my ass. It's really cute. Got it from Eric in Minnesota (skydiver) he traced an actual closing pin. I also started skydiving one month before my 30th birthday. Fly Your Slot !

Quote from the website at : SkydiveLasVegas.com under the Experience Jumpers link: "BECAUSE OF PAST PROBLEMS WITH "FUN JUMPERS" BREAKING OUR RULES; SLV WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT FUN JUMPERS WHO HAVE NOT GRADUATED FROM OUR SLV STUDENT PROGRAM" Fly Your Slot !

"bitch whacked me on the last load" Fly Your Slot !

I know there is more to this story. Someone take us back to Skydiving in Las Vegas, before Mike Hawks - they had another DZ close down..right? Didn't they have a DZ with a REVOKED membership? Fly Your Slot !

I managed to keep my clothes on somehow. Still don't know how that happened. Fly Your Slot !

After the survivors dinner I was in NO SHAPE to drive to the DZ. Remember we weathered out at 1:00 - the bus driver of the charter who was taking us back and forth from JSC and Ellington, stopped for Beer on the way back - round $200.00 worth , just for starters. We drank at jsc, then invaded Mammacita's-around 75 of us. I've been to skydiver dinners, but this was crazy. They had the waiters pieing people. Flour torilla fights and soooo much alcohol. I still pretty proud I only went low once. Being a floater from a CASA was real tricky. You have no prop blast , just dead air and you have to 'track up' to the base of the formation. What a freaky feeling. Fly Your Slot !

Welcome to our World!! Fly Your Slot !

I always think of it like "peeling an onion" Once you get all the way through one layer, nice and clean, then there is another layer to peel. Fly Your Slot !

Hey, who wouldn't expect some traffic on a formation that large. Once, they called 2 minutes out, opened the tailgate, and all I could see was water (Galveston Bay) OH SHIT !! But the land approached and I relaxed. Since I live near JSC, it was really cool flying over my neighborhood and all the familiar sights I only see from the ground. Ain't no farmland round there! Fly Your Slot !

It's Tandem Progression though. They help pull the ripcord on the first three Tandems, then transition to a rig with a boc. Fly Your Slot !

Driving. I drive a lot with my Job (job-that thing I do for jump money). I think my awareness of things around me, ability to see a big picture and reaction time are all improved by skydiving. Fly Your Slot !

I'd call it progressive. All zp student mains and boc pilot chutes. I started on a rip cord with a spring load pc - Manta 210 only a few years ago. Can you say pilot chute over the nose?? Fly Your Slot !

What an incredible RUSH jumping over the Johnson Space Center. I thought I would be a lot more nervous, but actually, it was focus. Jumping a CASA, which I don’t get to do everyday, over a strange landing area, on a demo, doing 26 ways, which I don’t get to do everyday-talk about deep concentration on the task. I did everything wrong that I didn’t want to do on Jump 2. I went low AND I was in the inner circle. So…no one behind me on my side of the formation could dock. Then I had a perfect 180 off heading opening, then the landing was real tight but I hit the landing area, stood up my landing then allowed myself to get wind blown and had to go down on one knee and pull a toggle. Then got “talked to” walking back in about the tight landing pattern. Needless to say, I was worried about Jump 3. I’m sure you could see it on my face. My Team Captain, a Great Leader, held my hand on the way to the plane. He asked if I was OK, gave me a big smile and told me “everyone screws up and we’ve all been there. But the measure of character is how you handle it.” He tapped my shoulder right before exit, and told me to smile. We had our best jump on round 3, first of 3 teams to complete the first point. Nice high white ceiling, so you could see everything, and TONS of spectators. My best landing of the weekend! Sunday, we got weathered out after one round. They closed the entire festival down early for rain (but at least I wasn’t on the load that had to ride the plane down…yuck!!) I’m still in awe over some of the people I met, jumped with and got to know. WOW!! I can’t believe they let ME jump with THEM. But Hey, I only screwed up one of four jumps, and at least I didn’t take them out. All three teams after 4 rounds were only one point apart (scoring loosely by Texxas 20 way rules). Talk about evening out the talent. I encourage everyone that likes big ways, don’t miss this next year. It’s annual in late August and watch for the posted information…. (oops, wanna keep my slot for next year)…on second thought, if you see Ballunar Liftoff, ignore it. Who wants to jump into NASA anyway?? Fly Your Slot !

Josh Hill or Michael Poole?? Michael has the beard . Fly Your Slot !