pkasdorf

My modest experience is in a 182 for most of my jumps and, to me, it does makes a difference, it is easier to get into position for exit. Any way one can prefer not to cut (to maintain altitude, to "use" maximun blast, etc.). But there IS a difference.

Very interesting!!!

I can say that fear is always present on jumprun in my case. It's magnitude depends on many different aspects like how long since my last jump (usually my last jump of the day is the most fearless one), knowledge of the DZ, knowledge of fellow skydivers, knowledge of the equipment, etc.

It is never a great amount of fear. And I deal with it by deep breathing, by rehearsing pilot chute deployment and cutaway procedures and by remembering that I have the training and that I have an AAD just in case.

Somebody wrote that he/she had the fear of not performing well. It's not my case. I do my best but as I am essentially fun oriented it is not a source of fear to me.

Let us know your work on the subject!

1) what made you start jumping / how you became interested?

For years I thought "It must be beautiful and fun to jump". One day, being 48 years old I said to myself "Hey, don't be an idiot, if you think you would like it, try it! What are you waiting for? Life is short enough"

2) How long have you been jumping? How many jumps do you have?

Fifth anniversary of my first jump on saturday December 4. Beer shortage expected the following days... 370 jumps (around 70 something per year)

3)What method of training did you do?

Static line

4) how has skydiving changed you life?

I've posted it before. Skydiving to me is the sport of the four pleasures:

1) the pleasure of freefall
2) the pleasure of the canopy ride
3) the pleasure of disconnecting of my daily worries
4) the pleasure of friendship

I do not think they need any explanation...

It has changed my life since it provided me with what I described. I am aware that one risks being overenthusiastic and bore and scare away all whuffos, friends and family.

As everything in life, one has to put skydiving in perspective and not make it your only driving force. And also, just as everything in life once again, it is not gold all that shines. Skydiving has it's downs too, just let time be the teacher.

The french ParaMag is also published in english if I am not mistaken. Check ParaMag.com.

Well, down south we are not so many skydivers so the size was a very modest one. A tandem instructor made his 1000th tandem jump and another instructor had a reserve ride. Let's state that the tandem instructor paid the beer, not so the reserve rider, shame on him! NW quadrant was the best! I translated the official report for the press. Raúl Cardozo was the pioneer of local skydiving who died piloting and Edison Ogliari died in a demonstration jump because of a hard landing after a low turn 6 years ago.


"Under the organization of the "Aero Club Fray Bentos" the Meeting honoring Edison Ogliari and the 27th anniversary of the "Raúl Cardozo Skydiving Brigade" was held. A numerous crowd filled the surroundings enjoying two journeys full of sunshine and watching around 50 skydivers from Uruguay and Argentina jumping from 12 Casa loads and six Cessna loads perform relative work, freeflying and canopy relative work. There was also an aeromodeling demonstration and there was an ultralight plane to take passengers for a ride. Safety was a priority and no incidents blurred the event. Saturday night there was a dinner in which the all time collaborators were honored and it ended in a real fun party."

This weekend's boogie in Fray Bentos, Uruguay just ended. We had a great time, the home people are a very nice crowd and the boogie kept up to it's promises. Personally I did many RW jumps but for the last load I decided not to "work" and just enjoy a relaxing jump. It may seem dumb and a total waste for the "skydivetrainingworkaholics" but I just let myself fall, doing a very slow 360o turn and appreciating the fields, the highways, the town, the big river, the bridge, everything caressed by the golden rays of the late afternoon sun. The simple beauty of it all seemed magic. I thank our sport for allowing us to bathe in such unforgettable moments.

May be I'm not experienced enough but there is some difficulty in appreciating the height at that range. I mean, one usually sets the audible(s) at higher altitudes so visual (altimeter and ground check) and counting the seconds are the only possibilities. I sincerely doubt that in that special and veeery stressful situation when one is trying to save a friends life by increasing our own risk one can accurately set a hard deck and follow it. Between 2000 and 1000 feet it's 5 seconds... and in checking ground or altimeter you lose precious time. I would set my mark at 2000, give one more try and open the reserve. But only for a very good friend. And if we both make it I would make him (or her) pay me the repack and also the value of an AAD in beer (that's a lot of beers!)

Thanks a lot!!!!!! For those who seeing it conclude that it's no big deal and no safety threat, just reread the previous pages...

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wow! balls of steel. who's got the video?

I've got the video. I'll post it when I get home when I've got a bit more time. Bottom line, this was the best display of stupid human tricks so far at the WFFC. Hopefully, this is the last.

Did you get home and a bit more time?.... There is a crowd waiting! Thank you in advance!

Yes, yes, yes!! Where is the video!!!!

There is a thread from 2 years ago from which I decided to buy a Z1

Helmet with flip-up lens, any preferences?

Sorry I do not know how to make it clicky. You'll have to do a search. By the way, the Z1 has fulfilled all my expectations.

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I’ve been jumping for a few months, have completed AFF and am almost to my A license.

However,

The more I jump, the more fear I have.
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I’m concerned with my exit, with others in the air, then deployment, then traffic as I’m setting up for landing, then landing itself (though this is getting better).
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I realize that some fear is a good thing; it keeps me safe. This amount of anxiety, though, is driving me crazy and is taking a lot of the fun out of the sport for me.

I did static line and not AFF but I do not think that it is any different concerning your worries. First of all let me tell you that in my first ten jumps, on the way to altitude I kept thinking: "what the f... am I doing here?" but it went away when training stepped in and had to perform the learned sequence for exit and jump. I stopped having those thoughts from my 11th jump on.

People are different, you and I are not the same, do not react the same, etc. But there is a trend. May be you are in that sort of mid-point in which you know much more than in your first jumps so you are more conscious of the risks involved but you do not have the experience to reassure you that safe behaviour (implying not taking risks beyond your known capabilities, gear checking, permanent learning attitude, etc.) is what will keep you nearly always out of trouble.

I would be lying if I assured that "safe behaviour" is a guarantee for incident-free skydiving. But it sure is a guarantee for staying out of trouble most of the time and for better outcomes if trouble arrives.

Keep your cool, breathe deeply, concentrate on your jump before and during the skydive and talk with your Instructors and experienced people around. Your aprehension should go away with time and jumps.

If you do all this and still have the same anxiety, well, what I learned in scuba diving appplies also here: Skydiving is fun, if it is not fun do not skydive.

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1. The jumper should have checked the gear when he put it on.

2. The jumper has a right to be very pissed off at the packer, but not to get into a fight.

3. If the pilot chute had not been cocked, then the packer should refuse to be paid.

4. If the pilot chute had not been cocked, then the jumper shouldn't pay the packer, because his product (the packjob) was not fit for the purpose it was intended for.

As a packer, I wouldn't expect to be paid for something which doesn't work. I may even pay for the reserve repack, because it would be my fault.

Someone is bound to come up with the 'but packers are doing it for a living' thing, which just doesn't stand. Taking a conservative 1 mal in 500 packjobs, £5 for a pack and £35 for a reserve repack (the costs near me), that would mean that for every repack the packer needed to pay for, they would have been paid 500 * £5 = £2500. I think they can afford £35.

PERFECT ANSWER

In Uruguay it's 4 months but I do not see why it couldn't be 6. I'm sure 6 months is very reasonable to keep within safety limits.

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I know that, playing with words. It's what bored nerds do.

You just broke the Forum's rules, I won't.

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As you say, "There is nothing better than getting out that door to clear your head

There's nothing like clearing your head past the door to get out of that plan.

Hey, man, I didn't think that I needed to explain the "clearing the head" meaning. Apparently I have to. Obviously it means clearing one's head of daily trouble, worries, tensions, etc., etc., etc. Not clearing one's head from skydiving and safety. Pretty obvious, but....

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I love this question because it fits in exactly with what I've been thinking about. I am NOT a goal-oriented jumper -- I jump for the pure relaxation of it. There is nothing better than getting out that door to clear your head. For me, it's pure therapy. Sure, I had the goal of getting licensed and I do want to improve some basic skills, but I'm not interested in learning something new on every jump (or even most jumps). I say this with the knowledge that I may get flamed for being unsafe because I'm not constantly pushing to "get better." I consider myself very safe and certainly know my limitations and believe I jump within those.

I agree 100% with you. Of course, when there is a particular "goal" like, for example jump from an unusual plane, join a different formation, jump with someone special, learn a new skill, try something out of the usual routine, etc. it adds up to my joy in the sport. As you say, "There is nothing better than getting out that door to clear your head" and that is certainly more than enough. Add the friends and it turns out to be great. Add specific goals as mentioned and it turns to be perfect. Do I need goals to enjoy skydiving? No. Do goals add to the fun? Yes.

GPS positioning should be included in the poll options. If the position is known relative to the DZ there should be no problem speaking in general.

Personally I also need to know the surroundings, wind conditions should be predictable and not extreme and the clouds should be higher than 1500 - 2000 feet depending on my knowledge of the surroundings.

Well done!

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Sounds like once the situation happened, you did the best you could. Glad it turned out OK!

As far as I know it was not the best option. The best option was to track away.

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Oh yeah, one last thing. I suck at Freefly, I'm not as good as I should be at Relative work, and my Piloting skills need some help. But I love this stuff with all my heart, and that is all that matters to me!!

You got it, my friend! That's it! My abilities are pretty much like yours but, you know? I love this stuff, as you say and I have fun! I work to get always better, it's not easy for a skydiver over 50 who never excelled at any sport but I stopped punishing myself for not accomplishing technical goals years ago. Because the most important goal for me is to have fun not forgetting to care for safety. And the skydiving friendships, of course!

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Their job is to provide a safe environment to jump and learn.

No, they are Drop Zone Cops. They are there to assist you in making safe choices and guide you along the path to learning. If you choose not to follow it is on you.
Sparky

If you choose not to follow it is not on you because there is the chance of endangering others. It has to be very clearly understood that "not following" has the potential to hurt fellow skydivers, pilots and/or other people.

"NOT FOLLOWING" IS NOT ADMISSIBLE.

Can anybody state that it is admissible knowing that it may endanger others?

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In other words, do you trust your Reserve enough to ride it intentionally without a 3rd parachute

No because it equals to jump with only one parachute. I'll never jump intentionally without a backup!

I guess this is more a topic for the INCIDENT FORUM. Anyway, big student canopy, pilot chute underneath (pretty common), passed the controlability check: LAND IT! No need to chop. But you should have seen it... Never mind, I'm sure you'll see it next time!

Hey Phillyman, you are from my year! I joined POPS but they have SOS (60's), JOS (70's) and JOE (80's) but they don't have for the 50's... We should think of inventing something but I am no good at that. May be you have better imagination!