rsmn17

I finally got my A today! I went to a different dz because my usual one wasn't open early and I did a coach jump and a solo and got licensed!! Then I did my first licensed jump with my friend Chris. It was the best jump I've ever had!!!!!

Do you mean flat packing??

I still can't believe it, but I was signed off instructor this weekend! I had two great jumps and can't wait to get back up there

I had one of those on my second aff and the first thing i said when i got up was, "i'm never jumping again!" But I went back the next weekend and jumped again. I guess all you can do is just learn from what you did wrong and try not to do it again.

Congrats

You sound EXACTLY like me! I started out last summer, did 6 aff jumps, then took a 5 month break. I was completely obsessed during the time off just like you. I was pretty scared for that first jump back so i just took it slow and did a jump where my instructor didn't release from me. It went really well and the next jump that day went even better. I think what you have to do is just keep picturing in your head what it will be like to have a great jump and then just go do it! If most of your anxiety is coming from being alone, repeat a level or just have your instructor go up with you and just hang out in freefall with no real objectives for that jump. If you take away the pressure of trying to perform certain tasks you'll probably give yourself a huge boost of confidence after that jump and realize why you love it so much. If you're having problems just going to the dropzone, just go one day and plan not to jump, just to hang out and watch. Most likely, you'll get the urge once you're there....i know i did! Good luck with everything and keep us posted!

I didn't want to bring this subject back up but I think I have to because I've heard from a few people that jumpers from my dz read this and know who i was talking about. So, while I won't take back what I said about this person, i will say that i didn't post this to bash him in any way and i really didn't think that people who know him would see this or know who i am or who i'm talking about. I talked to him and he said everything he was saying to me was just because he didn't want me to quit and was trying to motivate me to keep going. He did apologize and he's not the asshole i made him out to be. So, because I put this out here in the first place and publicaly bashed him (not my intentions), i just want to apologize for something that was never intended to make people think he's an asshole. I did use some harsh words but that day I'd just had enough shit from him and had to vent.

Thanks! I will

Maybe they'll land the wingsuit

Thanks Darlene

Any clue yet as to when it will be ready? Possibly April?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed

"Anyway, what happened to freak you out or cause this fear? " I did my second aff jump at a new dz and had line twists then got lost and landed in the woods. I did get 4 more jumps in after but i have been noticably more scared since. That and most of my landings have been pretty bad. But i do realize that this is normal for students and i know i'll get better at it if i can do it more often.

HaHa!! I love that! Thanks

You're an ass! It's actually $100 for each jump, i can't carpool with anyone from where i live, and i am going back to it because i love it. I didn't quit...i put it on hold for a while, and it wasn't because i was scared! Again....you're an ass. I think the two of you would get along really well.

I have skydiving dreams almost every night and they're usually pretty good. I haven't stood up a landing yet but in my dreams i always stand them up but for some reason i'm always coming in really really fast and i get really scared but somehow i land on my feet and i'm fine. I had a strange one the other night though...i was jumping with an instructor but we were in space and i could see the earth really far away and my instructor was just flying next to me and i would throw the pc and it kept getting wrapped around my leg, so we would just stop the skydive and start over until i got it right. I never even landed in that dream.

i dont know hwy im postijg this bjut i ust got home and its 4 in th emorning and i'm so drunk. whky did i go on dz.ocom? very strange. anyone else drunk right noe?

Yep...that's what I wanted to know! Thanks

Anyone know where the closest wind tunnel is to NY? I know the NH tunnel is being built but I don't think it'll be done by the time i want to go and I want to drive to one.

I know you need at least 25 jumps to get your A-license but it you complete your A-licence requirements and are just going for the numbers, do tandems count toward the 25 jumps? I've heard that only 4 tandems count.

I was averaging two a month and I don't think that was enough for me. I had such a hard time getting over the fear in the plane that it completely screwed up my skydives. There was one weekend where I jumped twice in one day and once the next day. Those were the best jumps i've had and the last two were the only soft landings i've had. I got so much more comfortable with it and I really noticed how much the fear level went down which made me a lot more relaxed on the plane and on the whole skydive. So, for the USPA, once a month is all i need to stay current, but for me, it just doesn't cut it and while I think I could get through it I think having all that time in between bad jumps will just discourage me.

I am definatly jumping for myself and on my terms and yes, i'm taking my time and I'm fine with it. I even do an occasional tandem just to get back up there because I love it so much and don't see the point in doing one aff jump every month (i don't think that's at all safe). I get even more hell for the tandems than I do for not jumping at all!! I think he knows that 70 jumps is nothing, but he acts like he was never a student at all and never made mistakes. This is what i don't understand and what bothers me the most. I'm just trying to figure out if the way he is right now is something a lot of new skydivers go through and will pass, or if this is just how he is, because if this is always going to be like this, I don't think I'll even want to jump with him. I hope it passes because we've been friends for a very long time and i've never seen this side of him before. It's making me dislike him VERY VERY much!!

Not sure where to post this but, I have a friend that I started skydiving with this summer. We did our first tandems together and went through aff together...he finished, I didn't. He's got almost 70 jumps so far, I have 14 (8 tandems). When we were doing aff, I started out pretty good, then had a bad jump, developed a huge fear that I didn't have in the beginning (which really slowed down my progress), also, I started my last semester of nursing school (very time consuming), and was completely broke (didn't even have gas money to drive the 2 hours to the dz.) So when it started getting really cold out, I decided to just hold off on my jumping until the spring so that I didn't have to worry about the cold AND trying to get stable in freefall, and i would be done with school, working, and making enough money to finish aff without having to wait 2 weeks between jumps and forgetting everything I learned the last time. So, here I am, waiting for spring (and money), and I'm starting again in april after a trip to the wind tunnel. I know I made the right decision about waiting to finish aff and I know I'm coming back to it, and will finish, and get licensed. My friend, who is able to jump whenever he wants and now has 70 jumps, all of a sudden thinks he's a skygod and uses every chance he gets to make fun of me, telling me I'm never coming back, and that I basically don't have the heart to do this and that I'm soooo abnormal to have fear and problems in freefall and with landing. He forgets that a few short months ago, when we started jumping, he had more problems than me! I can understand why he (and others) think I'm not coming back, and that's fine because I WILL prove them wrong. My question is, is it normal for someone recently licensed, with low jump numbers (high numbers in his mind) to completely forget what it's like to be a student?? I have less that 6 minutes in freefall not including tandems, how good am I expected to be?? I can't wait for the day when I can make him eat his words, I just wish I could make him realize that he is not the expert he thinks he is and that I am still a student (and in my eyes, so is he). Any advice, and is this something that everyone goes through at first...i really hope he doesn't stay this way when I get licensed because if he's always 70 jumps ahead of me, he'll always have somthing to say. At least I know I'll never be like this with new jumpers because I know how it feels...and he sounds like such a fool.

If you can afford it, get Lasik! I got it done a few days ago and it's great! I was always scared that my contacts would fall out so I would constantly be tightening my goggles on the plane. I'm sure I'll feel better jumping now that I have one less thing to worry about

I'm new to skydiving...is it normally this way?

What a bitch!! Do you need a hug?