mdrejhon

char1775, Now that I'm done with the 8-jump progressive freefall training (A Canadian variant of AFF), I can jump solo for just a $15 hop-n-pop (plus $20 gear rental, until I rent a rig), or $25-$30 from a 5-digit altitude. That's a hell of a lot cheaper than a tandem and they're slightly less nervous of windholds about me now... (just slightly less, mind you, at least until I am ready for a faster canopy) Go for AFF. You can just do a jump once in a while, and if you just fail or spend too long between levels, just repeat or revert the AFF levels instead of tandem. The AFF type programs are more fun than tandems, even if you start over again at AFF1. You can always even be a permanent "AFF Level 1" student if you wish, and you wouldn't need to put up with the "tandem mill" stuff that other people call them. (But mind you, my first jump was GREAT. I had an amazing TI back then. Shame he moved to Nova Scotia). Many places need you to do a freefall program in one month, but some place let you do them one at a time. You can always just do AFF 1 as a trial -- then if you like it -- jump AFF 2 right away -- If you like it, finish the program (preferably within the same month -- safest). You may be able to find a place that allows you to pay only for AFF 1 as a "trial" before commiting to pay for the whole program. (1) Paying for one early AFF level is not much more expensive than a tandem (it actually becomes cheaper during the higher AFF levels!) (2) Dropzones are more likely to give you a great time since they want to make you happy enough to pay for AFF2 and above (3) People are more likely to become friends with potential regulars. Paying for AFF 1 means you're considering becoming a regular. (4) You're less likely to run into a boring tandem instructor. (Many are GREAT! But as you had a bad experience...)

Lesson learned about that one. I went every weekend for the last 4 weeks, regardless of weather forecast. On a weekend where there was rain forecast for both days, I still jumped 8 times! I camped out there, so I spent 8 days in 4 weeks at the dropzone to increment my 3 jumps all the way to 23 jumps. I wasn't attempting to hurry and jump on every load but if I did, I'd probably be at slightly over 30 jumps now. However, there were those wind holds as a student... Although on a weekend that had more sun forecasts, I jumped only 6 times (and all in one day) because of rainclouds!

Oh that reminds me. I got a few offers to do jumps with me (coaches and instructors), but that never happened due to weather on Sun/Mon. I'm pretty anxious to start doing 2-ways and then 4-way's. I'll be a little noisy about getting some jumpers to jump with me next time I go!

Some of you are pretty open! I'd be open with about 98 of my answers, but I'm kind of shy with 2 of the answers... *blush* I do have a question though - you answered yes to 56/57 and did not answer yes to 52? That's interesting -- I would have thought that almost anybody who answer 56/57 woulda said yes to 52! Guess I was wrong...! (I assume question 52 means in entire lifetime, not all at once.)

I had my first turbulence experience at 250 feet last weekend. No mals but I really felt it in the risers and toggles a bit. One each of end cells wavered, so I responded by pumping toggles by a few inches just in case. (I hope it was the right action, I forgot to ask someone at the DZ before I left.) Turbulence abated at about 150 feet for a smooth soft landing. But it scared me for a bit. Now I know what you are all talking about! Hate to experience the turbulence near flare time. I was flying upwind over a taxiway at the time towards the landing area (which is right beside the taxiway), so it was probably the updrafts over warmed-up taxiway surface contrasting against downdrafts over slightly damp grass, as I approached the landing area. Was well away from the hanger. Talked to a couple of people at the dropzone, and this was probably the likely explanation, but that turbulence can still occur at unpredictable times away from buildings. [Ooops. Did I say the word "first"? Oh no. More beer!]

Hey there... Which one of you was Dan? I don't think I caught your name at Gan. (I'll send you a PM) Yeah, I've got a tendancy to get information from multiple sources. The best sources are the dropzone people, especially instructors, of course. But as you know, I am a deaf guy and like to supplement with various texts...

Deaf Canadian here. Back in town! (Hello Billy.) Half of the long 3-day weekend was great. I was hoping to get more than 6 jumps at the Twin Otter boogie at my dropzone (Skydive Gananoque) which gets that fun plane now and then. But Nature schemed to keep me on ground. Successfully kept me grounded all Sunday and Monday. But I got 6 jumps in on Saturday, including a consecutive 3 jumps back-to-back load-after-load. Nontheless, they were the best 5 jumps I've ever had. All solo. My first ones from a Twin Otter. Uh-oh. Did I say first? More beer! (I say 5 instead of 6. Let's just say that I now know never to jump through rain if I can avoid it. Ouch!) I'm now at 23 jumps. Will have to wait till I get a rig before my pack training, which is required for "A", so I will probably get the "A" at around 50 jumps since that is around July or August, when I can afford my own rig. This is going to be the difficult expense coming up.... I am now saving up for a rig now for July/August. Probably a Sabre2 or thereabouts in some good brand name rig, with an AAD. $3000CDN-ish range (That's ~$2400 USD) that meets dropzone staff approval. Likely have to skip a "every other weekend" to accelerate saving for a rig, but may actually pay for itself by allowing more moeny for jumps later... Have talked to several at dropzone, so I now know the approximate ballpark of a rig to look for, including brands and appropriate canopies. This IS getting expensive, but a month ago, I didn't think I would be buying my own rig! Hmm.... Maybe I should sell my Star Trek DVD collection (I imagine about ~$1500 usedmarket ebay value ) to finance the rig!

The ear pain was one of my worries. It was really, really, really, really, really painful on my first jump. First jump, the pain was like a 9 out of 10 on the "pain-o-meter" scale. Now it doesn't even register a 1 out of 10. But now, I don't even notice any pain at all. Either my ears got used to the sudden pressure changes of freefall and landing, or I make sure that my sinuses are not "totally blocked up", which may have been part of the problem on my first jump.

Good explanation to know!

Although I never jumped from a balloon, I have gone for a balloon ride two times as a pure passenger. I think it's because once they turn off the burners, and all the time you spend climbing out to position yourself properly, the balloon is now already back into descent. They are not going to re-activate the burners while you're climbing out and before you jump. If you rushed the climbout, it's possible the balloon will still be ascending, but I don't think the pro's would recommend that. Someone else will definitely provide a better answer, but I always notice the balloon doesn't take too long after the burner is off, before it's back into a descent.

Lessee. CAD$ Two Tandems - $385 Freefall Progression (AFF/PFF-style) - $1200 Funjumps & Repeats Including Gear Rental - $285 Carpool Gas - $60 Including other dropzone costs, I spent over $2000 already in the last two months since I started. Ouch! This weekend is an Otter boogie weekend. If the weather is good, I may end up spending $500-$700 on funjumps and gear rentals. Fun! Then this summer....new altimeter...my first jumpsuit....perhaps my own rig....It'll all add up rather quick.

I didn't have the alti awareness issue, but nervousness at pull time was what delayed my solo graduation jump to 17th. I had a bunch of instructor-supervised funjumps (of my own objectives already earlier taught) as my freefall and canopy was progressing much better than my ability to relax at pull time I relaxed till I was 6000ft and knew I was at 6000ft, but I start to get nervous when my alti reads 5000ft or less and that 5 seconds to 4000ft pulltime gets me tense....less than 30 seconds to death in the event of a Cyrpres failure. Tense unstable pulls. (not too different from what you are saying) I would always pull on time, albiet tensely, and briefly hunt the knob, eventually find the knob after 1 second, and sometimes I would tilt forward. That happened two or three times (during the jumps that no instructor was holding onto me) during my freefall progression, between stable pulls. I started consistent relaxed pulls starting at the 13th jump (9th solo) and had time to put in a few instructor monitored 11K funjumps (after I finished the freefall progression) in before my graduating solo hop-n-pop at 3.5K near the end of the day.

Hi. I am going to talk to my instructors about it this weekend, and I will be asking him for permission before I do anything. I'm new around here, but I set it out as a goal to eventually do one of the DWR attempts in the future (Deaf World Record October 2005 or 2007, which probably would be some kind of a smallish bigway of something like 20 people jumping out of one tailgate aircraft such as Casa. They mention I need 100 jumps and a "B" before I can go to their "test camp" to see if I am up to snuff) There is an Otter visiting the DZ (Gananoque) this weekend and it looks like good weather and there are possibilities I MIGHT be able to double my jump total (17 to 34), i.e. jump something at least 15 times in one weekend. So I don't want to "waste" these jumps... I am trying to decide what I should be "focussing" on over the coming dozens of jumps. Suggestions are welcome. Because of the Otter weekend, the dropzone instructors are probably going to be very busy, and I am not sure if I will be able to get someone to administer my "A" this weekend. So I think need to jump with coaches for now as 2-way relative jumpers (with permission of instructor). The most recent jumps I've just been praticing my arch, figure 8's, backflips, tracking, I have already managed to do a 11K jump where I did two figure-8's and two backflips, and I remember trying a barrel roll once. (Intend to do more of them). At the moment, based on my last solo jump, I was capable of 2 fig8s (overshot some by 20 degrees) and 2 backflips (one stable, one semistable) during a 4000ft duration (11.5K->7.5K) before I begin my pratice tracking. I've already done the supervised intentional destablization and recovery and an intentional unstable exit, so I am now okay about getting myself stable again within seconds... THAT was scary for a firsttimer, but now I know how to recover in approximately 3 seconds (I think)... My instructor has told me to pratice my barrel rolls and forward flips. Based on this, do you recommend during my solo's, I pratice my forward flips, leg turning (no elbows), forward/back movement, left/right movement, fall faster/slower? I think I need a coach to freefall with me as a "relative point of reference" for some of these manoevers. I intend to ask for volunteer coaches (500+ jump) with the permission of instructors. Would be great for 2-way soft dock and "fall faster/slower" pratice. I would love a 4-way, but that will not happen this weekend. [At least I don't think so... Who knows.] I've also contacted my instructors to see what they can do. I will definitely not do anything without permission of an Instructor at the DZ, but I am simply looking for ideas. Just don't want to "waste" my next 10 to 20 jumps (all done in one weekend), assuming good weather... In addition, I'll also complete as many of my "A" objectives as possible, and try to have a coach witness them too. (1) What are solo pratice exercises that people think would be a good idea for me to do, assuming all the instructors are probably occupied this particular boogie weekend, and that I only get to jump with volunteer coaches occasionally? [Note: I will ask instructor for permission] (2) I'm looking around for a great book to read too. There are several choices I am considering, but I am not sure which to get. As a deaf guy, they are a very helpful supplement to instructor training. Already have "Skydiving: The Parachuting Handbook" but I would like some book with more RW information. [Note: It's possible I may get more instructor training than expected. But I want to be ready in case I have to do many solo's with some occasional coach jumps.]

Excellent question.... What do you think is the minimum number of jumps before someone can do a balloon jumps? It's my understanding this is something that may be considered after a "B" license correct? Or is it 100 jumps? People from my dropzone sometimes do balloon jumps, so this got me curious... I imagine minimum altitude will have to be higher, such as 4500ft.

Just to be clear: Yes, I covered my EP's before every jump. Yes, I am already doing my PLF's. And, also, based on information that I now know from the dropzone, PLF os something that is going to be taught to me momentarily anyway.

Oh, definitely (and a good point too). In a private message, I mentioned I'd actually actually be asking multiple instructors. See you this weekend!

This will officially be my FIRST boogie. Oops. Did I say "FIRST"? Damn, more beer!

As a gadget lover, I have played with various gadgets including GPS. If anyone decides to use GPS, please remember they are not 100% reliable. If you do decide GPS, research as much as you can (including www.gpspassion.com etc.) for the most reliable electronics, and plan for failsafe backups including the old radio method. Of course, I'm a student. Just adding advice from a "plain GPS user perspective".

This is true. That's why I was on a wind hold that lasted for many hours. And many more wind holds. I noticed that some dropzones are too willing to send students up in winds stronger than those I flew in. Anyway, I decided to learn PLF's anyway (even though it appears I was going to be taught this before my "A") I have also heard of students botching up PLF's. I suspect it's best to keep sensory overload down - including classroom too. Spread the training out. I think that death is more common on a botched EP than death from avoiding a PLF under a docile 288sq ft canopy. That's the impression I get from reading the statistics from various sources. [IMPORTANT NOTE: This is only an observation, not gospel.] However, there's a common theme: EVERYONE including the dropzone agrees that it's a good skill to know anyway. (We just all disagree on the importance level and how soon to learn proper PLF)

True. Playing videographer would be a definite distraction, even if you don't fiddle with the camera. That's why if I try it in a few years, I intend to get proper instruction. I love photography, as you can see on my homepage at www.marky.com/pictures. That's a long way down the road. Currently, my aim is to make 100 jumps and a "B" rating to make the October DWR2005 or DWR2007 "training camp". (www.deafskydivers.org) Money issues will be the downfall of this.

As a student reading up on history of skydiving, I read that they even had VHS vests in the old days. A bulky VCR strapped to your belly! For those old two-piece camera-recorder systems. That was in the 1980's timeline. Cloth covered, they almost LOOKED like front-mounted reserves!!! Imagine that, some skydivers here weren't even *born* yet...

As a developer in the high tech industry, I am witnessing amazing advancements in video. At the last trade show (CES), some cameras are so tiny, they could easily fit inside a corner of an altimeter. Amazing stuff. Prototypes the size of a sugar cube! It's gradually getting to the point that maybe someday there'll be automatic smart hidden cameras that automatically point (so you don't have to point), that start and stop automatically that you don't even need to know they are there. Of course, not as high quality, but it just means funjumpers are even more and more likely to carry cameras in the future. Someday, I want to have a camera even just funjumping, but I'll only do it when my instructor tells me I am ready. Some 500-plus jump people at my DZ carry them regularly during their funjumps, filming each other during freefly formation flying, etc. They are videographers in training, but also pratice them as a matter of funjumping too. By the time I am ready, years later, they should be small enough to be absolutely no snag hazard at all, embedded inside a helmet recess just like an audible altimeter attached to the side of a helmet. I can see this is controversial... obviously. Needless to say, they are becoming less and less of hazards as they become smaller and smaller.

The Manta never flew that fast even during the strongest wind landing. Plus, I had so many wind holds, anyway. No, but a comment I got at the dropzone earlier (along the lines of a phrase "when I tell you to"), leads me to believe they were going to teach me PLF before I switched canopies. That's why I said I can't make the assumption they will never teach me PLF. Just that I wasn't during the freefall progression.

Just to confirm to everyone.... Yes, wnmccart has been my primary instructor throughout my progression. I should also add that in person at the dropzone I was also told useful in "emergency situations" too (like canopy entanglements) so obviously wnmmcart meant "good canopy situations" when he said "The only time a..."

Skydive Gananoque, obviously! It's pretty close by, and the people are friendly. I go there. Just passed my solo yesterday. I would highly recommend them. Check my review. They have an OTTER weekend this coming weekend. thread here. (Edit: Clicky is www.skydivegan.com)