wndrer73

(where was I? oh yeah... ummm...) N........................ dammit.. this is getting too difficult! hell with this! i'm going back to reading!

A........................

M........................

Matt, QUIDDIT! before you know it you'll have more posts than me at this rate!

I've heard you can go to wind tunnels in Las Vegas and Orlando, but are there any other places in the U.S. which offer wind tunnel-training? Difficult to believe they're the only ones! Although, it WOULD be fun to go to vegas!!!

Yeah, I've got all 3 jumps on video... A few people have said i'm nuts to be spending that much money, but i figure, if I'm having the time of my life, I want it captured on video -- it's worth any amount of $$$!!! I actually have a "2nd copy" of my 2 tandems + Matt's tandem jump + another friend's tandem jump (who was in same flight as me on my 2nd time) + my AFF-1 jump all on the same videotape, and that will be added to!!! I dunno how many tens of times i must have seen that tape of everybody's jumps -- every time I see it i wanna go again! Hell, even when i DONT see it I still wanna go again! I wanna go again. I wanna keep going... again... and again... and again.... and again.... and again-n-again... as they say, "skydiving is good to the last drop!" I'm ALREADY thinking about what I want to do on my 100th jump!

Hey Matt, ya finally replied back huh!! hahah.. and Clay: "baaaaaa". (sorry, the suspense is killing me, i just HAVE TO find out what's the big deal... Clay, if I offended ya or anything, I'm sorry, but I just have to know why!)

In reply to: "tandems do count as jumps(you exited the aircraft didnt ya???)" Well, once I entered the plane and we were 14000 feet, i didn't really have much of a choice did I? And I'm not one to back away THAT late in the game!!! I did learn something on both of those jumps though -- 1st jump = what it feels like to be flying! 2nd jump = had a better sense of where I was immediately after exiting the plane (body position, etc).. then maneuvered the canopy more after it opened.. Still, there's nothing like having your OWN chute open up above you!!!!!!!!!! (err... if it opens, heheh)

1 AFF/L-1 jump. 2 tandems ... errr, do they count, if I was the "passenger"? 1 month 5 days 6 hours 28 minutes from my first tandem...* 1 day 11 hours 31 minutes from my first (and only) L-1.* 0 cutaways. (banging hard on wood) (* : Times used are approximations, +/- 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds).

"I think that is just depends on how you feel!! You are the only one to who knows your limits!! " See that's what I was getting at actually.... *HOW* do I know what my limits are, after just one jump? After coming down after L-1, I was too psyched up to think clearly! And yeah, I wanted to go again, and probably would have if I didn't have other things to do... but is it good to be pumped up on adrenalin and say "YEEEAAAHHHH LETS DO THAT AGAIN!!!!"

Hahah, I can sympathize about not finding good radio stations on that stretch of I-80 (or did you take 50?)... I've gone down that way (both ways) many many times on far too many roadtrips to count, usually going to Bryce Canyon (aaahhhhhh if only I could skydive over Bryce!!!!) Anyway, I keep a pretty decent-sized list of radio stations across the country, and I have a few for I-80 and U.S. 50 stretches... although you're out of luck for most of 50 anyway.. battle mountain = 99.3 elko = 93.5, 97.3 ely = 101.7 fallon = 99.3 each one is available for about 40-mile radius around the town; some like elko's last longer. they're all 80's-90's-00's rock/pop kind of stations.. either that or old rock-n-roll oldies from 50s or 60s.. no country in them! but i think most of THESE fall in the first category.. (yes, that is what i call "decent-size" list.... cant do much better than that across the nevada desert!!!)

WOW, a local!!! Do you also go to Byron? Maybe we'll see each other.. Do I know you already? If you were there on Saturday then I probably saw you coz I was there almost all day (oh and uhhh... sorry about not buying beer yesterday -- had to go to that thing called work! Next time!!!) And yeah, they're all a fantastic bunch of people! Always having fun but always having safety in mind too!

Keith and Garrett (sp?) Dont know last names! Oh, and my Tandem JM on both jumps was Connie... Why, do you know any of them? ;)

i would LOVE to go on a night-jump when the moon is like that! Too bad i'm not ready yet for a night jump! GRRRRRR... why am i still a student?!

I dunno Viking, how far along are ya? You're scaring me there, saying you started in Aug '01 and still haven't got your A yet. I've only done AFF-1 and I'm hopin' to finish by summer, so I can enjoy the weather! Funny thing though... after the jump yesterday my friend (who also had his AFF-1) looked at me and said, "you wanna go again?" I turned him down... had to go to work! :-( Aaaah well.... now I wish I had flown again! Has any of you done AFF-L1 + L2 (+L3 +....) all in the same day? How many? Is that too much of a rush for a single day for a "pre-second"-timer? (Thanks marc - I'll remember that one!!!)

Hahah.. I just jumped out of a perfectly good plane today, and i did it VOLUNTARILY! do *you* think I'm ok? ;) Actually, the coke/tabasco sauce combo (with about 5-6 drops per can -- any more and you start sneezing!) and the sprite/cranberry sauce/etc combo are actually pretty good, if you're into that kind of a taste... I like a little more on the cranberry sauce... sometimes I wont put the salt in... just experimenting!

I've had the "4 parts sprite" portion, but not the rest..... ;) Actually, I like mixing non-alcoholic drinks around, sometimes with non-drinks!!! Let's see, so far I've tried Coke with tabasco sauce... Coke with pepper and ketchup.. Sprite with cranberry sauce and a pinch of salt and a couple of drops of soy sauce.. (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....)

I went at Byron, California... about a 1 hour drive (or ~3 minute flight) from san francisco.. It was a GREAT day today... My friend and I had gone yesterday for the ground-school, and intended to jump yesterday itself, but the winds picked up quite a bit so we had to wait till today.. :-( The freefall was good, had to work on my legs position.. Pulled on time... had a great canopy on opening, and yelled at the top of my voice, "WOOOHOOOO! YEEEAAAH!!!" Did a control check, started enjoying the view and the ride, and before I knew I was on the ground! Anyway, everything was FANTASTIC until the landing... I had my "pre-second" landing on my side - I guess I turned the canopy to one side while flaring, so I fell over to one side... still, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, so I'm happy to just have made it!! WOOOHOOO! Thanks for all the replies... looking forward to read more about your experiences!!

Howdy everyone... I just had my first AFF jump this morning and LOVED IT!!! (of course!) So now I'm just surfing the related websites and signed on here... i've been on a couple of tandem jumps before, which was what got me hooked... and now i'm on my way to getting my license!! Well, just wanted to say hello and lookin' forward to read & learn about your experiences!