rhyswynn

Sky, I've been following this for a while, and I have to comment. You state in several posts that the fingerprint records were altered - why would you quote ANY prison records as definitive proof of anything? If fingerprints could be altered, every other piece of information could be altered, too.

Skydiving...if you have to ask me why, its not for you!

I just bought a Neptune Alti-2 not long ago. Easy to use, easy to read, but I had one jump where it didn't automatically switch to freefall mode. I'm a newbie and that isn't exactly the best variable to introduce...fortunately I had enough presence of mind to push the ALT button and all was well. I also had a line twist one jump and it didn't register Deploy until the twist was cleared.

Wise guy! I'm not planning a trip for tomorrow, I've got at least a few more weeks of training before I'm ready...

How difficult is it to summit El Cap in prep for a BASE jump - technical, or straightforward?

I learned at what I would call a fairly large DZ (Cross Keys) and they have what's called AFP, which includes several tandem jumps before ground school, followed by something akin to AFF. I don't know about anyone else, but I seriously doubt I would have performed well on my first jump without doing a tandem first. The experience was so overwhelming, not a thought went through my mind other than WHOOOOSH! A few jumps on tandem, as well as introduction to canopy flight and control was a huge help in moving forward, IMHO.

Actually, I thought there was one nearby in Northern New Jersey, but now I can't find any reference to it so I'm not so sure anymore. I don't have any trips to Vegas planned in the near future, and I won't be able to wait that long before jumping again. Yeah, I'm not relaxed, I know that. Easier to say it and know it than it is to really do anything about it other than keep jumping. I'm not nervous about what could go wrong, I'm just not letting go and giving in to the air flow. Thanks for the responses! You bet I'll be keeping at it

I know this is a really old thread, but it is entirely relevant to my experience today. Had my AFF4 a few days ago, and after an AFF3 with slight stability problems, I was able to get stable and perform my turns without any problems after instructor release. Little bit of instability when I reached for my handle, but otherwise, AOK. Today I had my first solo exit. The exit was fine, but I just wasn't able to get stable. Point being, I think I'm going to head to the wind tunnel. I know I'm over-analyzing what I need to do with my arms and legs and I'm not relaxing - I'm trying to force my limb positions. I somewhat considered a wind-tunnel, but now I'm convinced that it would be the best way to break through the only real problem I'm having at the moment. I'm so interested in this sport, and as someone else said, failure isn't an option. I'm not used to doing things poorly, but my focus on the problem is causing the problem. Thanks nerd - hope you're well along the path of skydiving.

Whoo hooooo! Tandem sucks, thank goodness I've got that phase behind me! Stand up landing, successful pull - what a great sport in which to participate!

I'm finally done with my first 3 tandems. I think I could have handled AFF without all 3 tandems, and you probably can too, but like everyone else has already said, the more you jump, the easier it gets. I wasn't nervous at all my first jump, but after ground school, I was a little bit nervous - just because the reality of what can go wrong was made absolutely clear to me. I thought my first jump lasted for 5 minutes, not 5 seconds! It wasn't until I watched the video that I realized how quickly it all happened. Sensory overload is right! And it diminishes with experience. Hopefully this weekend's weather is better and I can get through AFF... As far as the sanity check is concerned, you can die doing just about anything. If jumping out of planes was entirely safe, you wouldn't be here, and neither would most of the people who post. I snowboard and I'm actually more concerned for my health on the mountain than I am jumping out of a plane - hundreds of people with waxed boards on their feet zooming around oblivious to everyone else is much more of a risk, IMHO. Good luck and have fun as you progress!