DJmikeD

I am starting to feel a little left out. I did my 100th last year and we did an 8 way with me in the center. The lead man waved his arms and I thought that was the signal to pull. I would than go up through the tunnel so to speak. Problem was there were people up there and I almost kicked 3 people on my way up. I never got pied but it may happen yet still. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Well when I started jumping, My mother was not crazy about it and My dad loved the idea. My mom came around when I told her that I was selling my motorcycle to buy gear. That perked her up and she said have fun. As for the comment about will this get boaring. Well I started in July 06 I have done 76 jumps Got my B Licnese, Bought new gear, and spent a but load of money doing it. Now 6 months later I am Board. Every jump I take seems like I could fall asleep. I live only 30 min. away from the drop zone and I can't even bring myself to taking the time out of my day to put my gear in the car let alone drive there.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ok I can not keep a straight face any longer, why lie, to date it is the best thing I ever got involved in. I am planning on jumping on the coldest day of the year this weekend just because it may be clear outside. No matter what I do on a dive from getting in the plain to packing my rig. I love every second of it. Anybody have any advice on how to keep the little guys warm on a cold day. HE He. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

My last jump I had this situation. As I maid final approach I looked down with next to no wind from the north. I did see that most were making a left handed patturn landing to the south. I maid a righ handed patturn as I did the entire day landing to the north. Once I touched down I got a little talking to by one of the camera flyers and simply asked why I did what I did. I told him it was because the wind was out of the north. He then told me that there was no wind and I should have followed the rest of the divers with their pattern. I maid the mistake of assuming that the guy in front of me was going with the wind to exstend his swoop. Another instructor came to me and talked a bit more about the situation and explained why we have the rule because of the Tree line to the north. He then told me that this time it was not that big a deal because I was the last one in but I should always assume there is someone right behind me comming in as well. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

You can be a DJ Like me, I charge 2500 dollars a wedding to play music and MC. Thats a lot of Jump Tickets but it does take up a lot of weekends. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Great job, come on down to sacramento ca and bring the beer so that we can celebrate. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Wow , i never thought so many people would get upset about an artical and what it brings out. I still think that it is true that we all have reasons we are so involved with skydiving. For me the thrill of doing something that others fear. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I got an 84, I suck but it was my first try. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

hey are drop zones usually open on black friday. I am in sacramento and wondering if anyone is jumping. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I like your questions and thoughts. when I wrote this, it was ment to bring up different points of views from other people. Realisticly there is no right or wrong answers to many questions but just openions. i like your openion on the Controlling the uncontrollable. I also agree that there are many levels of control and many of them I can not control. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Have you ever thought about what breed of people we are? We are a breed that looks down from thirteen thousand feet and only worries about if there are other air craft in the area. Not thinking about the fact that we are about to hurdle to the ground at 120 mph or more and using equipment that has been improved upon day by day though millions of dollars of research and countless testing jumps. Once we hit the ground the only thing on our minds is when is the next load and can I pack in time to get on it. When you think back to that first day that you were strapped onto a man or woman wearing an oversized backpack, watching the others in the plan having a great time talking and carrying on. Mean while the adrenalin is rushing through your veins, you are short of breath, and you are thinking “when is this guy going to actually attach me to the parachute?” You had so many questions like, what happens if the parachute does not open? Can I fall out of this thing? And has anyone died here doing this? As a beginner you can not help but think about the morbid tales that it seems everyone knows about, when some guy on the news gets killed falling to the earth from a plain. As a novis you do not understand what maid this happen or how it could be stopped. Is it ever enough? As you continue through your skydiving career do you ever consider the day when you say I am retiring from the sport. As a beginner with 70 jumps I can not yet grasp this concept as everyday I am looking at the weather reports, planning vacations around where the local DZ’s are and reading the SIM manual over and over. I think to my self who would ever want to stop doing such a great sport. It even gets to the point when you do not even consider the cost of a jump ticket. You buy them in bulk to get the best deal and to always have a jump less then a swipe of the pass away. When you get into the sport you know right away if this is something you want. There is no gray area involved with what we are doing. You are either up for the challenge or not. The Challenge is that we do something that most people in the world grind their teeth at the very mention of falling through the sky. With comments like, I would have a heart attack, I could never do that, and are you crazy. It is the sky against us when it comes to controlling what is know as the uncontrollable of falling through the sky. Yet there are thousands of videos that show people that seem to defy gravity falling upside down, left to right and spinning through the earth looking like it could go on forever. We are but manipulators when we are face first into the wind, gliding around the sky. We now have control over the uncontrollable. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I believe that you almost broke your back! "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

well my thought was if I look down in a panic and see red that means stop, Pull the other one dummy. then pull the red. or Pull the green - green light go - start the fall Pull the red - Red light stop - stop the fall. I really dont think I will ever look at them when I pull them but I might. I make sure that every time I get in line to load up in the plain I go threw the drill and also right before I Jump. over the years it will be in my Genetic Code. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

thanks elisha, Well I have to say that I like the colors and that is who I was buying them for. did not want them to be like any others out there. Besides I see exactly where I am at in the video on big dives. This of all sports is one that you can not take your self to seriously. If you do you will forget about the important aspects of the sport like checking your gear. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

ahh Man forgot about the beer thing. I just spent 6000 do I have to spend another 30 on beer? "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Yes I have my speed down to around 115 on a good day. with this suit and the cord system I have more control but I still have to work on the speed. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Well the new Gear came in and wanted to get your opinions on it. It flys Great and had a chance to put a couple jumps on it today. It is an infinity Rig with a Fusion 190 main, with a PD 176 Reserve. Tell me what you think of the color combo. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

It is funny I went through the same thing. Reading posts, reading the manual, practicing the cut away techniques. Doing everything that I could to drill this info into my mind. I watched videos of malfunctions, it was not Intel my first spin up that I had to kick out of it, that I realized that I have the ability, and only myself to make this sport as safe as jumping out of a plain as possible. When getting onto a plain I always ask people if I can give them an equipment check. The favor is returned and we both are safer for the check. For me I am a DJ that signs rather large contracts for a wedding day that is a year away or more. I am not interested in doing a 270 degree turn into a swoop landing. I like My 90 degree turns and to this day trying to make it as soft as possible. The thrill for me is the freefall. also the fact that I am doing something that other dread of doing, and I have a smile on my face while doing it. I love this sport and I love asking questions to the experienced guys on how I can be safer. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I was also told to go second hand when I got my first rig, The problem I had is after about 2 months of searching I could not find something I was happy with. I decided to go with all new gear and ordered an infinity container that should be here next week. I also opted to go with the fusion 190 main and PD reserve. I also ordered the Vigil AAD. i cant wait to get the rig. The main colors are Neon Green and Royal blue. That should stand out a lot and when I talked with the guys who were building the container they said that it looks good with the Silver Binding tape. I have a feeling that I will get my suit and system all at the same time. My suit will have booties so there will be some time learning how to fly all over again with the new jump suit. The guys and gals at infinity have been great. when I called them up and even though I ordered it through the drop zone they guy said yeah I have it right here looks like we just have to add the harness and we are going to ship it out to you. the service was perfect. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I have to say that the drop zone I go to is an older one. charges a bit more then some of the other places. But I got that family fealing from them. even the time I opened my big mouth and thought I knew more then I did, Another instructor told me hey who do you think knows more about the mistake you just maid, your instructor with over 6,000 jumps or you with 3 jumps. Maid me think about and respect these guys for being so nice and then so firm when it came time to tell me how to be safe. Relaxes you and makes you remember what you were just taught. As for them costing a few extra bucks to jump there, hell I figure the crowd will be a better one because they want to make every jump count. I dont mind it because the money I spend I get back ten fold with the advice that is given to me for free from the staff that is willing to talk to me everytime I go down there. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Congrats man, I will tell you somthing. There is nothing like them announcing the newest AFF Graduate over the intercome. From then on all you can think about is getting up their again and again. The ground never feels the same. Makes you feel as though you belong in the air. not on two feet. Blue Skys "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

I am waiting, been waiting for about 6 weeks on my system. custom maid gonna look sweet. I just want to jump it. Please infinity - Send me my container and while you are at it call Percision and tell them to send my Main canopy as well. Please let me jump it. Hell at this point I would settle for getting my suit so I can get used to flying with bootys. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

yeah I just got my licencense, Rig and toys, Spent about $2500 on the jumps to get to 25 for A Spent about 6400 on a new system. Spent another 400 on a suit. and Yet more on Alt, Goggles, and Helmet. But its all done and worth it now when I do the 18 dollar plain ride to 13,000 feet. I sold my Motorcycle the next day of my first tandem. something about riding was not exciting anylonger after that. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

is it weird that I still wet My Pants on Climb. I am usually dry by the time I get down but no body wants to jump with me. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

Good to hear that butters you will notice that every jump that you do will become more and more fun. Have a great time with it and the instructors will have more fun with you as you gain more knowledge of the sport. Blue Sky’s "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike

by looking at the horizone you are able to keep your bearings during tracking. You want to make sure that you are tracking the right direction keeping in mind the jump run and others who jumped around you. As for looking at the ground sometimes you cant help it but trust me it will always be there. I had to make sure that I was altitude aware when I started tracking. I was finding myself lower then I wanted to be at deployment. "Falling is the easy part, Landing smoothly is the most importent part! -DJ Mike