angrypeppers

I had my first skydiving dream last nite. I was doing turns in Level 5, and somehow, ended up splashing into to a lake. Don't know what lake, but it was somewhere in the mountains. I remember looking at my alti, it showed 6000, I was waving off when I hit the water. I survived but I did lose my altimeter, which thoroughly pissed me off. Weird. I remember that it was my first jump with my Galaxy...so maybe there's a message there? My jump buddy was there when I was pulled out of the water. I remember telling her I was pissed about losing the alti... "one jump and I lose it!" Ha! I need help, I'm even dreaming about skydiving now... Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Thanks. Each jump keeps getting better and better. I've only had great experiences with the people there. Level 5 tomorrow, baby! Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Peej, I'm new to the sport, just six jumps so far (Level 5 tomorrow!), but I'm the same way. I'm not quite to the point where I could ditch the cube to jump full time. But the job is paying for the jumps. I'm always looking out the windows too. Take a look at the attachment for the view out my office. Mile Hi is just to the right of Longs Peak in the picture. So, not only can I see the mountains, but I see the air that I fall through on weekends. Frustrating! I sold one of my trucks already to help pay for jumps, and the other is going up for sale in a couple of weeks to pay for gear. So, you're not alone, and I'm in very good company... Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

I switch them around frequently, depending on my mood. Here's some of the pictures I've taken... The bunny picture was taken outside my apartment a few years ago. This was the first picture I took with my new camera. Key West is from the sunset festival there back in 2005. Oxford is from a work trip I took last year. Puppy is my parents Weimie, Skitch. And if I ever need to relax a bit, the Rusty picture is the one. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Thanks, pops! With 100000 jumps, it should be a piece o'cake for you... Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Cheaper and faster way to improve my FF skills while doing my AFF. Plus, the tunnel is fun! Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

I grew up on DD coffee back east. We have their beans delivered to our house every other month. DD has left Denver, but there's three stores in Co. Springs. It's worth the hour drive to get some of their vanilla cream filled donuts. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Thanks! Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

From a week ago... What a perfect day to jump. I got to the DZ thirty minutes early, but still felt a bit rushed. Not how I wanted to start my day... My jump buddy was already there, so we sat around for while and waited for the instructor to do the briefing. Travis called our names, and we headed off to the classroom to get quizzed. The briefing went fine, then it was time for the vests. After clearing the cobwebs, the EP's were good, and we started to gear up. We would be jumping from the King Air today, so we practiced exits a few more times, then moved on to the dive flow. My buddy had trouble finding the hackey last time, so she did a dozen or so practice touches...no problems now! Soon enough, it was time to head to the trailer for the ride to the airplane. Another round of gear checks, and we climbed aboard. There was a two way going out first, then me, then my buddy, then a couple of tandems. I was still nervous as we taxied out, but not as bad as my other jumps. Must be getting more confident or something. Plus, this jump would be fairly simple and fun. I'm going to be released for the first time! On the ride up, I called out altitudes and reviewed the dive flow. Visualization helps me a lot here. We got to 2k, and the door opened up. That was a bit strange for me. I'm usually tucked up in the middle of the load somewhere, but this time, I could stick my foot out the door. At least once I went over what I would do if I got bumped out the door somehow. Finally, we got to altitude, and it was time to go. The two way went out, Justin climbed outside, and I got in the door. There's the shake! Do my exit, and we get stable fairly quickly. The COA was fine, but I kept getting the extend legs signals from Travis and Justin. Crap! Thought I had that taken care of this time! I did two practice touches, then two toe taps, then I saw Travis float away from me. That's a surreal sight for someone on their fifth jump! But way cool too. Before I knew it, I was at 6K, time to wave off and pull. The chute deployed correctly, on heading. Nice! I really enjoy the canopy ride. I took a second to catch my breath, and did my controllability check. All's good. There wasn't much wind today, so I just flew around a bit. Not in a real hurry to get down. At one point, I noticed I was starting to get a little farther from the landing area than I wanted to be, so I turned back. My buddy was above and behind me, so I was keeping an eye on her too. Travis asked me to do a couple of practice flares on the way in. The pattern was pretty good. The flare and landing was good too...kind of like taking two steps at once. I stumbled again, but at least I didn't put the container or chute in the mud. I gathered up the chute and started walking over to Justin. On the walk to the trailer, Justin asked me to think about the jump, and we'd debrief on the trailer. My mind was still racing a bit, but once on the trailer, I reviewed the jump as I remembered it. I really like the debriefs. Travis and Justin both were giving me the extend legs signs, and I thought I was complying, but not enough. Turns out, I only needed to do one practice touch, though I did two. Justin said I'm an overachiever...ha! Once back at the hangar, we dropped off the gear, and debriefed further. Got the logbook filled out "Cleared for Level 4!", and chatted a bit. My buddy passed her level too, so it was a perfect day. This was the first jump where I didn't get overly nervous, though I was a little bit on the plane ride. It was also the first jump where I really had fun. Not that the other's weren't, but this one just felt different. Maybe because I was let go for the first time. Doesn't matter really. I think it's just because I'm getting more confident. This is a fairly simple level too. So, I still need to work on leg extensions. And a little better rhythm for the exit. I wish I could do my Level 4 tomorrow, but I'm going to wait till next weekend. I should study some, and practice my leg extensions some more. Thanks to Justin and Travis for a great jump, and congrats to my jump buddy too! Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Sugar and half and half. We're on a coffee subscription with Dunkin' Donuts...four pounds of beans delivered to the house every other month. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Thanks for the comments! I'll keep posting here. Those of you who hate them/don't care, just scroll past them. I put the AFF Level in the title so they are easy to spot. I thought about the blog thing, but I can't even find the energy to update my website, so I don't think that will work for me. Thx! Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Do you like reading student stories? I've been writing up my AFF jumps and posting them here (though I skipped posting the Level 3 and 4 stories for now). I like writing/reading them for a couple of reasons: 1. Writing them up helps me remember the jumps better. 2. Some day when I'm old and jaded, I can re-read my stories and maybe get some of the old skydiving mojo back. 3. I like reading other students stories, so hopefully someone will like mine. Vote and discuss... Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Where? Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Kinda. I have a degree in Aviation Management. Started the program to become a professional pilot, but ran out of money too many times. After I graduated, I worked in the airlines for ten years or so doing everything except fly the planes: Fuel, ramp, CS, maintenance, and ended up in Flight Ops. I was a Dispatch supervisor when I left my last airline. Now, I'm doing software test on flight planning systems that we sell to airlines and militaries worldwide. Actually, I received a job offer today to do software installations for those same flight planning systems. So, while I'm still working on aviation products, I'm getting deeper into the IT world and farther away from my degree. Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Hello, I'm Chris from Denver, welcome to the forums! I'm a student too. Post your stories and website URL...I'm sure a lot of people will take a look... Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Christopher, but I don't have a first name, just the initial "J". My parrents were torn between naming me Dominic or J. Christopher. My dad's name is John, but they didn't want me to be a junior, so they decided to just give me his initial. The funny thing is that my birth certificate says "Baby Boy" for my name since my parents hadn't decided by the time I was born. Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

I've been in my job for seven years as of next week. Been with the company for nine. I just interviewed for another position w/in the company, but haven't heard anything yet. I'd like to stay with the company for 25 years, but I think I'll move back to the east coast before then. Not that I don't like Denver, but I really miss being near the ocean. The company is growing, has never had a losing quarter, and is owned by Boeing. I like being on the leading edge of aviation technology, so I'm pretty happy here. Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Worked for me too: "You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine." Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

I was: Sigma Tau Gamma, Beta Epsilon chapter at Shippensburg (PA) University, Spring 1983 class...yeah, I'm old. I was also a member of the Gamma Tau chapter at I pledged for three main reasons: 1. I wanted to play sports, but not at the varsity level. 2. I wanted to meet people from outside of my HS friends who were there. 3. I *thought* that I'd make lifelong buddies...you know, brothers for life. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have pledged. Regardless of what we were told, pledging was all encompassing that semester. We did have some fun times during pledging. But overall, it was exhausting, and hurt my GPA severely. I transferred to the college where I got my degree after three semesters at Shipp, and I haven't talked to any of my fraternity brothers since then. Being a Sig Tau only benefitted me once, and even that wasn't a big deal. When I moved to Denver, my new boss was a Sig Tau, though from a different chapter. Didn't really help my career path, but it was something in common. Looking back, I did play intramural sports through Sig Tau, I met some people from outside my HS group, but I didn't make any lifelong friends. Chris Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Sign me up for container 6 and canopy 10. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

#10 in my alternates... Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Software Test. I work on flight planning systems used by airline and military customers. Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

The list: 1. C-5/141/17 2. B-17 3. B-727 4. DC-3 5. CH-47 Alternates, in no particular order: 1. Blimp 2. Balloon 3. Huey 4. C-130 5. Twotter 6. Helio 7. Dornier 228 8. B-18 9. PAC 750 10. DC-9/MD-80 11. AN-2 12. Casa Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

Nine. No brats, and one Dad was nice enough to let me know I left the dome light on in the truck. More candy for me! Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.

How about someone from your AFF class? I met my jump buddy there, and we're helping each other a lot through our levels. Makes jumping that much more fun too! Burn the land and boil the sea, You can't take the sky from me.