Confuzed

This club has recently seen a lot of changes, moving away from its tandem factory image to become an excellent fun jumpers' dropzone. The Cessna 206 is still used to serve RAPS students, and hop 'n' pops, but the tandems and fun jumpers now have access to the ultimate jump plane, the King Air. 14 slots, FL150 in less than 10 minutes. The regulars and staff are friendly and helpful. I did a couple AFF levels here with Andy Montriou before cracking off my consol's, and always felt that I was getting the best instruction and advice. This has continued since I got my license and I'm now signing up to do my FS1 there. The club recently moved to a new site on the airfield with new buildings and a large packing area. There is a hot shower and free camping. The bar is just yards away, for post jumping beer time. Organisation of loads for the King has got better and now back-to-back lifts happen regularly over the weekend. Quite honestly I feel the thing this DZ needs most now is a few more regular fun jumpers. This will add to the already great vibe, and it will help to keep the king moving as frequently as it can.

Taking photographs; playing on XBox 360; hanging with my girlfriend... Its been 9 months since I last jumped, so I've been doing a lot Starting again in April

I voted taste because I like to have one or two beers for taste quite often, but sometimes its definitely about getting drunk. Personally, "why", depends on where/when.

Thanks for your story and advise, Chards. My Doc did suggest I'd be safe to go along and try jumping, but advised I stop again immediately if I felt adverse pressure or discomfort. Since then its really been that "feeling" that's stopped me. The whole thing has knocked my confidence. I'm just not comfortable enough to go do a jump while my ear/nose feels like this, I'd be worried the whole time. I'm hoping by next spring I'll be confident enough to try again. Until then, I'll stick to watching lots of videos and lurking around here ;-) Cheers

Me too. After the intensity of the AFF jumps I remember how relaxed and peaceful the first solo felt. I just watched the view and my alti all the way down. It was a great feeling. It was also my last solo so I won't forget it in a hurry :)

Thanks again to those that commented on my situation before. For what its worth, I've stayed grounded and the doc put me on a stronger steroid based spray for two months. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to have made any real difference, the left side still clicks and feels blocked. Even breathing through my left nostril seems to be restricted. The doc seems to be pretty sure there's nothing else I can do. At this stage I'm unsure whether I should ever try to sky dive again. I have to admit all this time grounded and this added complication makes me feel very nervous about it, much more than I did before I did my AFF. Anyways, I just thought I'd update anyone that's interested and it kinda helps to write it down somewhere.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Man, this is hard. I've spent my whole life building up to doing this and now I've got to take a break and probably give it up. I feel like I just lost a relative or something Gutted. Thank you to everyone that has expressed an opinion, I appreciate your thoughts. Rob.

Hi, Thanks for your input

Thanks, that's a good idea... I'll try to see my doc again next week to see if I can arrange to see a specialist for some advice.

If/when I do jump again I may go with your idea of doing hop 'n' pop first. Thanks for your thoughts.

I have, that's how I know its a "failed eusachian tube". He was only really able to tell me what I already know... if I can't equalise I risk a burst eardrum. His advice was that it may be okay to jump, and that it might help to get opinions from people that know about skydiving. Where better to go than dropzone.com for that kinda people? I think I can equalise. Like I said, I'm only looking for thoughts/opinions. I have the Doc's opinion already.

Hi, I've searched and read many threads about the issue of pressure on the sinuses and the middle ear, with lots of good advice mainly centered around sudafed and the typical equalising techniques... but I haven't found any reference to my particular issue and I'm really hoping to get some opinions on this... Background... I recently did my AFF course at Ocana, Spain. I graduated my course and was ready to get working on my consol's, but I've only got one solo jump done. I was grounded at this stage because I started getting issues with my left ear and didn't seem to be able to equalise it. Assuming I had a bloackage the staff there, quite rightly, advised I stay grounded until it cleared. Unfortunately it didn't clear before the end of my holiday and so now I'm at home and still don't have my 'A' license. I went to the Dr. and he's told me I've now suffered a failed eusachian tube. That's the tube between the back of your throat and the middle ear which we use to equalise the pressure in our middle ear. The failure is basically the the valve is no longer opening and closing in the normal controlled way... in fact now it seems to pop open pretty often! The everyday effects of this is that I get popping and cracking sounds in my ear whenever I move my jaw in a certain way, or yawn, or swallow, and even when I talk sometimes. My hearing in that ear sometimes goes muffled, and at other times it sounds like I'm shouting in my own ear! Now all of that is irritating, but I can live with it, and with the steroid treatment I've been given it may improve over the next few months. However... I am desperate to get in the air again!!! I need to sky dive. I've spent my whole life wanting this, and now that I've gradutated from AFF, I'm not going to give it up because of a stupid tube in my face!!! So I'd really appreciate some thoughts, and especially if anybody out there has had a similar experience. As it stands, if I block my nose and close my mouth and blow my ear does pop. Do you think this is enough to make it safe to jump? Assuming I take all the precautions I can such as sudafed, and nasal spray, and then equalising frequently on the climb, and as soon as I'm under canopy? Please don't feel I'm looking for someone elses justification, the choice is my own responsibility and I understand that the risks of a blockage is a burst eardrum... All I'm asking for are opinions and thoughts on this. Many thanks for your time. Blue Skies :-) Rob.

Check out "High drop"... the girl's in to BASE!

Oh man... I feel for you. I did my AFF just a week ago, and getting past level 1 really is a terror filled experience... but well worth it. To address your particular questioning... the way I handle those kinda of questions... yes there is a risk that my parachute could fail. There is a risk, no matter how small, that the reserve could fail too. Or, the car I'm in heading the DZ might be involved in a crash. Or I could choke on my breakfast that morning and never even get to the car... etc... every day we do a million things and everything we do carries risk... we can be hurt or killed doing almost anything you can imagine. As i see it, the only difference in skydiving is that its such a visible risk. But without that, would it be as much fun? Whether you're prepared to take the risk is a totally personal choice, nobody can make it for you, but I hope that my perspective will at least give you something to think about. Good luck mate, whatever you choose.

LOL! The closet door has been opened, and I've jumped out! But this closet door was 13000ft above the ground!