j_gouge

A recent email conversation between me and Larsen & Brusgaard: Me: L&B: Me: L&B: Me: L&B: One week later, not only did I get the cable I needed, but a whole new software package, a lanyard, and a pull-up strap! And they didn't even charge me anything! Thanks to Steffen at Larsen & Brusgaard for making me a very satisfied customer!

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So I'm extremely new to skydiving (started AFF January of this year) and, as the new "resident expert" in the eyes of my circle of friends, I'm frequently bombarded with questions from those who are interested in taking their first leap. So, I try and provide them with as many answers as I can and of course, safety statistics are typically high on the list of questions. Now, I know 15 fatalities a year is the average in recent years (please correct me if this is wrong), but I'm hesitant to share that with newcommers as most of those fatalities are typically experienced skydivers (again, please correct me if this is wrong). So, here's my question: does anyone have any statistics on fatalities or injuries for first-time tandem students? I would love to be able to tell those who ask that there has not been a first-time tandem fatality in many years. Thanks in advance for the responses and please let me know if this question is misguided in any way.

This is a must read for students with spin problems. So here's my story: I did 5 hop n' pops at the Air Force Academy (AM490 program through AFROTC) Summer of 2008 and was hooked. It took me a whole year and a half to finally have the money to start AFF and began January 1 this year. All my jumps went great and I was feeling confident as ever until the jump when my AFFI released grips, and that's when my troubles began. I injured my back (herniated L5S1 disk) a year or so ago lifting weights. What that translated into a year later was a small, but relatively significant inconsistency in my hips/legs whilst in the neutral arc position. My left side just had a tendency to sag lower than my right and, as I progressed through my AFF, I was continually fighting a spin. Needless to say, this became increasingly distracting and discouraging, especially when I had to repeat Category D several times. After talking with my instructor and reading several posts on this site, I determined that I was in desperate need of a wind tunnel. But, living in Texas, that would be an incredibly difficult/expensive endeavor. My salvation came mid-February when I had a chance to visit the Air Force Academy again for a symposium. After the conference, I paid a cadet to drive me 45 minutes to Skyventure Colorado for10 minutes of tunnel time to work out my spin problem. And the verdict: WOW! Spending those 10 minutes in the tunnel could not have had a better impact on my skydiving. After returning from Colorado, I finished my AFF in one jump and am now only a few jumps away from my license. So, the moral of my long narrative is this: if you're a student and having spin problems, take the time and money to visit a tunnel because chances are, regardless of how much it costs you, the couple hundred bucks you spend for those ten minutes will inevitably save you hundreds on re-done AFF jumps.

Are there any AFA cadets on here? If so, I'll be up there for the NCLS this week (Feb. 18 & 19) and am looking for a ride to Skyventure Friday night. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please PM me if you can help.

The funny thing is that I've lived here all my life so I should have known this would be a bad time of year to start jumping. Oh well. Lesson learned. The good news is that I paid in full up front for the whole license progression so any money I save can go to beer. Sounds great. As soon as the weather gets better I plan on being out there every weekend until my wallet runs dry. Maybe we'll bump into each other and you can teach me a thing or two. You and me both!

Hello all. Long time reader; first time poster. I got my first five jumps in the Freefall program at the Air Force Academy a year and a half ago and instantly fell in love with the sport. Spent what seemed like an eternity saving up for and waiting for the time to actually go jump seeing as I’m a full time college student and ROTC cadet. Anyways, I finally started AFF this New Year’s Day and it just fueled my desire to jump even more. Unfortunately, I never considered the fact that Texas weather this time of year is less than accommodating to skydiving, much less for students. So, now I’ve found myself spending more time reading about skydiving than actually jumping. Hell, I’ve read the SIM back to front twice already. Needless to say, it’s quite frustrating. Anyone else have a similar experience when they started?