dreaming13000

That is awesome!!! I had talked to quite a few people about the old dropzone there, as when I first started skydiving I drove to jamul and lived in oside. GOOD LUCK!

Interesting.... I had a line over the left side on my canopy on jump number 23 as well I thought about a cutaway, but somehow? the line over corrected and I had enough altitude to kick out of severe riser twists...the good thing is, it is on video congrats on a successful cutaway and reserve ride! beeeeer! "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

I think this is the video from the Switzerland post in the incidents forum... wow "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

A friend of mine from the Navy and his wife were gettin' it on and right after the big "O" she cried out in pain, fell off the bed, they couldn't figure out what was the matter, after rushing into the Navy urgent care, they discovered she had an abdominal hernia that had formed during intercourse? yikes! "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

talk to a rigger at your dropzone, look for someone selling used gear who will do a third party sale, ie, send the gear to your rigger for inspection, in the meantime your rigger would have your cc number. That is one way I know of. There is a karnage krew website that helps new jumpers get gear in their budget, I think they'd probably take a credit card too. Congrats on the A!!! Blue skies! "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

"A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

BEER! "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

where is that? "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

I'd say this began in the early 50's and 60's (post depression era) as I know those who are "babyboomers" who behave just as badly (sometimes worse) as any of the younger generations.... it is a sense of entitlement, it comes from having to do very little to have a whole lot. "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

I will agree with previous poster, go to the dz and watch for a day or even more, make sure you are comfortable with what ever decision you make. As I mentioned the landings were (and still are) one of my biggest concerns with this sport, as that is where the majority of fatalities and injuries come from these days. I did spend two weekends at the local dz before deciding to take the FJC....my primary goal during those two weekends was to watch the students land their parachutes. IMHO you can never be too cautious or too careful when making decisions in regards to skydiving.

To the OP, hello there... I am still a low number jumper. As far as learning to land the parachute and soft vs hard landings. There will always be hard landings, even for the most experienced skydivers of them all. During my student progression I had soft tiptoe landings about 50% of the time. the other 50% were always interesting, not always "hard" but often times my feet would be stinging, and I really didn't have a difficult time learning a flaring technique (compared to many other students I have watched throughout the years)... Even with a nice big forgiving student canopy I've seen students flare at 20 feet (too high) then let the toggles back up which creates a surge towards the ground and then a nice little thud! I've seen downwind landings (in 10mph) which means the student ends up running like a mad man or tumbling like one... it is a learning process, even with an instructor on the radio, the radios can fail to work, the student can be so fixated on landing they just don't hear radio instructions etc. I began this sport with no previous injuries and in perfect health and I was still very concerned about landings, in the SIM (skydivers info manual) it says "EVERY SKYDIVER HAS HARD LANDINGS" so..... food for thought... "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

jumping out of an airplane has way more "tension" to it then simply flying around the tunnel, I agree with others, it is most likely your tension /anxiety about the jump and passing/failing each level. Smiling is a good way to relax during freefall, plus this is fun ya know. I also found that around 9k (jump run at 13k) practicing deep breathing, just to control the nerves a little helped me throughout my student status (and even now!) Long deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, i have learned that deep breathing will help one run 10 miles, give birth to children and skydive good luck to you! smile and have fun! "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

Happy skybirthday!

We're getting just over 17 hours of sunlight today. Sunrise at 504am, sunset at 1007pm.

Oh yeah, I thought it was yesterday

No problem on redoing a level, you don't want them to pass you if you aren't ready yet!

A personal favorite of mine, "As the prop turns" "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

you pass a dead camel (road kill?) on the side of the road. "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

I saw someone "grounded" (and removed from a staff position) due to improper conduct on exit from the jump plane (he repeatedly climbed on the top? and broke something) um, only other one I can think of is a DGIT who got enough complaints about his unsafe behavior reported to dz management and he was "grounded" and you know, I never saw him again. "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

Skydive San Diego, Perris and Lake Elsinore california. I would say skydive san diego has the most predictable, tame and skydive friendly winds most of the time, and they are open 7 days a week, number of loads that go up depend on the number of jumpers that can fill the otter at least halfway and tandems of course. "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

good luck with this addiction! It is awesome, but consuming! Blue skies "A man only gets in life what he is believing for, nothing more and nothing less" Kenneth Hagen

This is the closest dropzone to where I am living at this time. I have jumped in 4 different states at 4 entirely different drop zones. Everything from a huge (rich) tandem factory dz to the small parachuting club. This is by far the friendliest dropzone I have jumped at. The jumpers here are not cliquey and I was invited to jump with other more experienced jumpers repeatedly. They treated their beginning students as equals and everyone made it a point to introduce themselves. This summer there will be two c-182's in operation during their weekends and both aircraft were the nicest 182's (and even nicer then the otters and caravans ) i have ridden in, clean and by all appearances very well maintained. The packing is indoors and there are "packers" if you are looking for that sort of thing. The landing area is great for all experience levels and there are lots of great outs. The rental/student gear was well maintained and in good condition. The amount of energy and training given to the tandems while I was there was superb! The video about the waiver was very informational and captivating (unlike the reallllllly boring ones I've seen) The tandems all left with huge smiles on their faces. I would recommend this dz to anyone who wants to extend their skyiving family!

hmmmm, sounds a lot like my story, only I refuse to give up on skydiving, I've now moved away from SD to a more affordable place and have cut alllll the corners I can, and I am still staying current even though I have to drive 4 hours to the nearest dz!!!! good luck with everything!!