matthias

In response to this...I would speculate most if not all of the people who jump have this problem. I skydive for me so...whuffos and their opinions are completely irrelevant. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Funny thing is, it was due to dating a 'hotti jumper' that I ended up skydiving in the first place. She was one hell of a woman, but sadly the relationship wasn't meant to be, but I am glad I met her... I'm now pursuing the A license for my own reasons but now I find myself disinterested in dating anyone that either isn't a skydiver..or at the very least isn't interested in trying an AFF first jump course. As corny as it sounds..I just can't be in a relationship where I couldn't share my dreams with the s.o. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

If its someone I had feelings for, time is the only healer. If it's someone I didn't...then no problem. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I've done 2. My first time out to SDH was late saturday, and rather than wait until the following week to do AFF level 1 I did a tandem the sunday to get the initial experience. My first time out to Spaceland I did a sort of evaluation tandem. They do STP and to my understanding hadn't had anyone convert over in the middle of AFF. It wasn't too bad as I controlled the exit count, freefall, did left/right 360s, forward motion. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I agree. I had a debit transaction cancelled on the 29th and still waiting for the funds to credit back in the account. 5-7 business days is bullsh*t. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I do not know how long she has been on meds, I would guess quite a while now. As far as 'unpredictable', this is a tough one to explain. I do not know the extent of her condition, and as far as the skydiving goes she has repeatedly changed her mind on whether or not she wants to skydive. I understand her anxiety on a first jump...but I dont want to pick her up, take her to spaceland, and the whole way there have to deal with "no I dont want to jump..okay i want to...no I dont want to: sort of situation. lol. To be honest, its hard for me to tell if she is on the meds and they arent working fully...or if she has taken them. Because of this rapid sense of nervous indecisiveness, for lack of a better term (I'm not a doctor) I'm only taking her IF she convinves me that she has a rock solid commitment to making a jump so noone's time is wasted. As far as panic attacks. I haven't witnessed any, nor have I seen her suicidal. She mentioned she had problems with that in the past but I do not know if those problems existed before she was getting treatment. I agree, questions that need to be answered before getting involved with this. My main concern is how the exit & freefall part would affect her. I appreciate the feedbackfrom everyone that has posted. I made the thread to get a better idea of what kind of a scenario I was dealing with here. She's a good hearted, nice person, and I do believe this experience would be positive for her if all went well. If such an option exists, I'll see if there is a medical release form that Spaceland provides that would have to be notarized by her doctor...he/she understands her condition best and this might be the best bet. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Yep _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I'm not sure how many on here are doctors that can answer this question, or if people with such conditions are evaluated on a case by case basis...but here is my dilema. I have a friend who wants me to take her skydiving. Problem is, she is bipolar, and taking medication (lithium, ativan, etc) for anxiety, mood stabilization, and the like. Personally, I am not for certain it is a good idea as I have no idea how she would react during the event. I would not want to see her or the tandem instructors safety compromised if she has a panic attack. I do know that she is..unpredictable. On the other hand, I feel it may be a possibility if a tandem instructor was good at keeping her calm and relaxed things might go well. Would a drop zone allow her to jump? Have there been occurences where tandem passengers with such conditions made a jump without incident? I appreciate any knowledgeable feedback that anyone can provide. Thanks. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

check sig _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

If you are into breaks at all, Hybrid's material is very symphonic in nature. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

While Im fairly new to skydiving, I've been involved with electronic music for 5 years. The thing about music is that it is always subjective. What one group of people would consider acceptable for a certain video may differ with the opinion of another group and so forth. This is my 0.02... If the video is fast paced, alot of manuevres, high adrenaline type stuff... heavy metal, drum n bass or any relative music would work. If the freefly video is more slower, graceful, whatever... alternative rock, breaks (hybrid, crystal method) would do. As far as trance goes, and I mean the quality stuff by Andy Moor rather than the cheesy pop stuff... I would use those on more scenic type dives like those made during a sunset or near the ocean..not necessarily during a freefall. Come to think of it...if the video is of YOU, base the music selection of the emotions you had when you made the skydive. Best of luck. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

That would be me... _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I recall the reserve-side releasing, heading was stable. I don't recall precisely when the mainside released or reattached, but I do recall minor left/right turns. From what I'm led to believe, the legs had alot to do with the erratic turns. This is going to sound bad...but out of the 4 AFF jumps I have made so far, I don't recall any of the hand signals I got besides the thumbs up on the altitude awareness checks. I would assume I probably got the relax one the most. I have a tendency to tense up, which probably was an issue as well. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Yep. I'm not convinced there's unneeded dives being charged here. But, then again, I'm not trying to make a living with AFF/IFF. I just wanted to make clear that I believe the the AFF-I had a sincere reason for having me repeat the level, and I have no problem with that since its in my best interest to get it right before moving on. I had video shot of my level 2 and I agree it did help put alot of things in perspective. As far as getting video last weekend, all of the videographers I knew at skydive houston were at Skyfest. The few that were present were shooting video for the tandems. I have, however, seen a few online student videos shot by the JMs...though I'd have to check if the ones at sdh do that. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

You didn't say whether you passed or not. heh To my understanding, and I should have thought to include this in the original post.. apparently I was rocking a bit, having trouble keeping a dead-on heading. While I wasn't out of control...I am guessing from Elio's point of view I need to work some things out before being passed to L4. If I had video taken I would have a very clear understanding of where I went wrong or what exactly my legs were doing. I've heard about thing and something regarding clicking the heels..though I'm unclear on the latter. Thanks for the words so far. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Last weekend I attempted L3 and will have to repeat, as the mainside instructor had to reattach after letting me go for 8-10 seconds. Everything seemed to go well..as opposed to my previous exits, we did not flip over this time (kinda took the fun outta it). COA's and PRCP's good, pulled stable at 5500, landed the canopy right next to the JM with minimal radio assistance. From my point of view, I don't recall going TOO unstable. I do recall the reserve-side releasing and staying released, as I could see him better from checking the altimeter every 3-5 seconds. During debriefing, the mainside JM informed me of having to re-grip shortly after. The comments in the logbook mainly state to relax and be legs aware. My memory isn't too good about the freefall (damn sensory overload) and I couldn't tell ya what hand singles I got or not I was wondering if you all had any accounts of when you did the release dive, and what mental drills my have helped you out after both JMs release. Any advice is appreciated as I can only afford one jump per week. I feel a windtunnel would be the most beneficial, I am unaware of any in Texas however. Thanks :) _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I debated whether to share the following or not..I decided to do so as its been a growing concern. So far I haven't gotten any such rants, but what kind of concerns me is the 'silent reaction' I've been getting from my sister and father whenever I mention how an AFF jump went. Its difficult to read into. Its like they believe something bad is going to happen, but both of them realize that nothing they can say or do will effect my decision. So far its one of the most difficult factors in staying the course, I don't have the support from them as I did while in the Marines..and lord knows while I was deployed they went through some tough times. After getting back, an immediate family member came down with cancer and passed away a year back. I don't intend to post anything negative but...for me its a tough situation. If...such an incident were to occur. I hope my family would understand that I went doing what I loved most. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

I'm currently in AFF and I can say that part I always get anxious on is right before exit. Its more of the anticipation of the exit and performance anxiety (is my $185 going toward a pass or fail lol) and what not. But yeah, I dont know what it is but during the plane ride up to altitude when the altimeter is slowly creeping up past the 10 o'clock position up to 13K, and the the door rolls up and you hear that wind. Everyone else goes then you setup in the door. That's the scary part for me, best you can do is close your eyes, breathe deep, breathe in for 10 seconds, breathe out..it kinda helps. The exit...kinda a mixture of emotions. I'm nervous being next to the door with my head out and the wind rushing and the ground 2 miles down. But I find myself talking about the exits and thinking about the hotel check/exit counts and always smiling. Its a definite adrenaline rush and on "ARCH" you launch into the unknown. The freefall part, isnt really scary at all unless you COMPLETELY botch the exit..just remember to arch hard and keep your legs from kicking (problem Ive been having). You dont really have any time to feel frightened as it goes by fairly quickly and your mind is focused on the diveflow objectives. Its intense, its fast-paced, the winds rushing up at you at 120mph but unless you are on a tandem jump looking down the whole time, you will not be able to tell the ground is coming up at ya. On AFF, you gotta keep you head up at the horizon to maintain a good body position...of course, I need to be taking my own advice because I am tempted to look at the ground *shrug* The canopy ride, you'll love it. If your radio fails or you cant understand your instructor just look for the DZ, steer towards it, hold the landing pattern upwind and make your final approach and landing into the wind. *dont* flare too soon. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Blue skies! _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Yep, sensory overload. Sounds completely normal to me, at least I could relate entirely. I've only done 1 tandem and 4 AFF jumps thus far, and I feel my mental awareness during the skydive is starting to come together. My biggest problem is with my legs as upon exit there;s alot of kicking as if I was jumping off the high dive when I was young, with my height Im also having a bit of difficulty going from crouch position to ARCH, but getting there. AT least on my last jump the JMs and I didn't flip over. From what I hear it takes about 4-10 jumps to get over the whole overload depending on the person. This is your call but why not try an AFF level 1 course as the next jump? Going through the ground training will teach you a bit more about body position and whatnot. Whatever you do though have fun :) and welcome to skydiving. Blue Skies _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

Cut Away - Look, grab Right, grab Left. pull R, pull L _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

0:1:0 AFF level 3 (release dive) Decent exit. COAs and PRCPs good. All went well until both JMs released me. Started rocking about and main JM had to dock again at 9K. I felt mentally relaxed but apparently bad body position from being too tense Pulled at 6K, landed next to JM with minimal radio assistance. Level 3 and another $185 again next weekend. The frustrating bit is I can afford afford one AFF jump per week. I'll get there tho.. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

If your doing a tandem, thats the safest way to go. Just enjoy the ride. If your doing AFF: PULL! PULL AT THE RIGHT ALTITUDE! PULL STABLE! LAND SAFELY UNDER AN OPEN CANOPY! Like everyone else: Listen to your instructor, or pull the S&TA off to the side for a talk if they aren't busy. Smile, and have fun. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

It takes a real man to admit when he's afraid rather than deny it, but from what I read you still have the courage to face those fears head on. Anyone should be able to respect you for that. I'm a AFF student and beginner myself, so my input is whatever its worth. The first paragraph, right before the exit...yeah, I know too well what that's like. I couldn't even begin to guess how fast my heart is racing during the hotel check and the exit count. You faced your fears 9 times, and you have the willingness to do so again. Many (whuffos) have let there fears control them and dismissed the idea of putting themselves in harms way. You have a strength that they don't. That's as much as I can say as that is how I am looking at my own personal situation. Best of luck bro. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

If it wasn't for work I would go. I'm still on AFF as it is and it'd be more fun for me if I was liscenced to do the fun jumps. Next year for sure. _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com

So far I haven't been asked "Whuffo you jump out dem planes?" It would humor me if it does as all I'd say is "Yeah...whuffo.." and walk off leaving them confused probably. All I've gotten from such is when someone else mentions "Hey this cat goes skydiving on the weekend, crazy shit huh?" Other guy: "Fuck..that." heh..their loss _________________________________________ trance/house mixes for download: www.djmattm.com