Flying-Wench

Chris i hope you are re-considering.. reading all of this and the other threads.. its frightening! Dont you feel any fear at all about flying this small canopy with such little experience? Havent you read recent incident reports? Highly experienced canopy pilots are making mistakes and crashing in.. what will you do being so inexperienced? Im peaky enough under a much bigger canopy, and im not afraid to admit my fear or the fact that at 53 jumps i know little about canopy piloting and have MUCH to learn. Id like to keep a whole hide for as long as i can. Im also a little/light person, after getting off student status and looking for my own gear, i discussed this with a heap of Instructors, one including Michael Vaughan (go Vaughny!). We all agreed that a 170-ish size would be great for me to learn on. Michael also said that in order to know EVERYTHING about a canopy, you would have to do about 1000 jumps on it. And there are actually lots of excellent skydivers out there that do this. My partner (an AFF & SL Instructor) has been flying his Electra 130 for well over 1000 jumps. So in the end, given all the advice i got, i settled on a new Safire169. Its a beautiful canopy, responsive, but forgiving.. my confidence is increasing and i am learning lots about how it flies. As soon as i can do a canopy handling course, i will. I can see myself flying it for quite a long time before i even think of downsizing!

Always sad to read of someone passing on, but this one really shocked me. I did not know Tonto personally.. but always enjoyed reading his posts here. He is one of those special souls, with a genuine heart and care for others. My heart goes out to his partner, children, family and friends.

that sounds great, im sure you will get back in the air, good luck to you as well! I hope i get back up, its driving me crazy. Nothing more frustrating!

Hi Bigfall, Wow you are lucky to still be around. You had this incident at 40 jumps? damn. Im also trying to do my "comeback" after a 6 month health break, no accidents or incidents, my body just needed a rest. Im more nervy now than i ever was on my first jump. Not having ever been injured in this sport i cant understand your situation, but can relate to feeling peaky after a break. Ive been spending lots of time at the DZ, and lots of time talking to my partner and friends whom are instructors, about the DZ, the plane (both new!), my gear, landings etc. They have helped me come up with a "plan" to get back into skydiving, addressing my areas of concern, they give me alot of support and will be there for me when i decide the time is right. Are you able to do this? Hang out at your DZ and get instructors to help you plan your return?

Hey Scott Pops is right, think positive, save up your monies.. the sky will always be there.. I do understand some of how you feel, i had to stop jumping for a bit due to my health, very frustrating i was just getting used to new gear and trying to get my B license.. im sure when i get back to jumping ill need some time to settle in, and i will be far behind my peers that i did ground school with.. but ive decided not to stress about it. Ill always be involved in the skydiving community wether i jump or not and no matter what skill level i am at.. and same goes for all. If people dont like that, then they can go jump *guffaws*. Do what makes you happy.. lifes too short for anything else. Good luck and dont forget to let us all know how you go!

i agree with you murphyka, reading some of these posts "the instructors dont let us have fun" - what the?? skydiving is a dangerous sport and your instructors are charged with ensuring you know enough to not kill yourself. Perhaps everyone should think about how that responsibility feels. Perhaps everyone should talk to an instructor who has had a student go in - yes it even happens to the best instructors. When we are learning to skydive, its serious business. We can be having fun at the same time - isnt learning something new (wether you star or suck at it) meeting new people, being part of an amazing community and learning more abut yourself and others fun?? I dont think any of us learning to skydive should whine about pressure to perform and not having fun. Yes we have to perform, but if we dont, we wont progress and we wont learn to be safe in the air. Insutuctors want us to learn, stay safe AND have fun. We wouldnt want them to be easy on us so we can have fun at the expense of learning and staying safe? mm i tend to more lurk here these days, but some of those posts made me see red! Instructors are often very passionate people wanting to teach someone to experience what they do.. (of course always exception to the rule). They are human, we can talk to them if we have any fears/concerns. However, if people have a problem with authority - which is what some of those posts sound like - your not going to get much out of skydiving. It is heavily regulated and with lots of people looking out for each other! ps. im learning too, been in the sport for just over a year, 52 jumps and have had a 5 month break. freaking out about the next jump (argg!). but i live with a skydive instructor and have many close friends that are skydive instructors whom have such a passion for teaching us students/novices!

mm yes it was interesting.

We experienced these conditions at our DZ on the weekend.. winds from the north from the top right down to about 1500ft (jumprun to the north obviously). Wind below 1500ft were from the south, very weird trying to set up a landing pattern in that - took me a bit to get my head around it on the ground before my jump (after discussing with other jumpers and the pilot)!! I was last out and left lots of time (10 secs) before i climbed out (i was opening high).

such a beautiful thing that he has been able to experience this.. and amazing that you were able to have a part in it!

i agree with you, anyone with a medical condition should not be excluded from the sport unless it can be proven that they WILL be a danger to themselves and/or others. If they have medical clearance to jump, then in my opinion it only becomes a matter of education of other jumpers - looking at risk and management - and dispelling any fear (as said - of the unknown). I myself have a medical condition. The chances of my condition causing injury to others (contrary to popular belief!) is pretty non-existent - this from my doctor and other experts. My DZO and DZSO know, as do people that jump with me. If anyone has a problem, or thinks there is a risk involved, they usually ask questions and i set them straight. Everyone has been very supportive despite the general opinion of my particular condition - something to remember, ive found that skydivers are generally very supportive of their own. Someone someday may decide that they dont want to jump with me - but i will still jump! If im not a danger, why the hell should i be excluded from doing something that i love? If someone else feels uncomfortable - through fear, ignorance, whatever, then fine, they dont HAVE to jump with me. I am not going to miss out and be told that i cannot jump by someone who does not have ALL the facts. this person should be encouraged to talk to their DZSO, with backup from their doctor that they are fit enough to jump. they should not be made to feel like a "leper" or that they are unable to pursue their dreams because of illness. Wouldnt be better as stated to mentor and support this person? allow them their dream, and keep them and others safe at the same time? It is useful being able to talk to other jumpers about a medical conditon, and let them make the decision, however in this scenario this person will need s great deal of strength and support in dealing with peoples fears, ignorance or rejection if other jumpers simply dont feel comfortable enough to jump with them. a little bit of support can go a long long way. i also think that going to a public forum such as this, where you and therefore this person could be idenitified, without this person knowing is pretty poor darts. If it was me, id be pretty pissed off! I understand the need to discuss, but a little anonmity could be good! People discussing something like this without having all the facts about this person's condition could just spread fear and lead to discrimination/stigma.

mm i dont think this guy is going to listen to ANYONE.. but i dont want people to think that they entirely wasted their time in replying, its been an educational read for the rest of us newbies! I hope someone from this persons DZ is reading this thread also, for the safety of jumpers there. Scary stuff indeed.

i spent 4 days at the DZ, but only did 3 jumps as it was too windy for most of the weekend for me to jump.. so i hear you! We shut down most of saturday due to wind, otherwise it was only experienced jumpers going up. My first jump, i had little forward movement on final, and wasnt quick enough to organise the canopy, it picked up and dragged me a little.. . i stayed on the ground after that . Ive been told im conservative, but i dont jump when im unsure. When im more comfy in my own gear, then i can start pushing my limits. I agree, there is much to be learned sitting on the ground, ive spent alot of time on wind hold (both being told as a student i was on hold and now calling it by looking at conditions and chatting to Instructors) and have picked up lots of little things. Things to do on the ground during wind hold: chat to the instructors that arent busy, observe ground wind direction and speed, ask for wind speed and directions at height, observe the the run in, if you can see jumpers in freefall observe drift, check out landing directions, watch peoples approaches/flares in constant wind and gusts, (watch hairy landings or people being dragged - yikes!). Discuss the above with an Instructor. Watch packing, (learn packing?) watch dirt diving (its like a dance!) and of course socialise and get to know people. Endless fun!

and sometimes the waiting can be for a good reason or can be benficial (even though it might not feel it at the time). Ive been waiting on my main since before Christmas.. quite glad of the wait, has allowed me to get more jumps in on the 190 conv rig before jumping my 169. My instructors and i are happier with my landings with those extra jumps and feel that i can jump my own canopy without (hopefully) doing myself a great deal of damage. Now that my canopy arrives tomorrow, im excited, but also nervous as thinking about jumping it this weekend.. argg!

Hey Grue, im a Naggas jumper too.. have we met? I second that from bob.dino.. i just completed conversions with Luke going from chest mounted ripcord flying a 240 - to BOC 190 and he and the other staff at Naggas were great in terms of discussion of canopy piloting. Ill be moving to my Safire2 169 once i am happy with my landings, exciting stuff isnt it!

awww darn bugs! hope your feeling better soon! ive got 1.5 hours until i leave to head to the DZ.. and the weather is looking fab for the weekend