dida

i've been told by riggers and packers alike to NEVER double loop the bands which go through the grommets...severely increases your risk of baglock. likewise, ALWAYS double loop your outside stows. if the stows through the grommets aren't tight enough, use smaller bands (i've also been told to use smaller bands on ALL my stows...but i haven't tried this yet to see what a difference it would make). spiral out...keep going...

the teeny-tiny thong panties??? spiral out...keep going...

you wouldn't want to be my bra...you'd be spending more time on the bottom of my closet than anywhere else spiral out...keep going...

i started playing piano when i was 3 years old. did all the festivals and competitions through high school when i decided i wanted to be a vocal major. so i studied opera and graduated with a bachelor of music in vocal performance. it really pisses people off when you sing show tunes on the ride to altitude

whilst doing my first jumpat an particular new york drop zone while wearing my many rings, not only was i told the story of the bloke who caught his ring on the door during exit and tore his finger off (while wearing gloves), i was told the same story FOUR times by FOUR different people. needless to say, you will never see my rings at the dz. spiral out...keep going...

i had a similar thing happen - i wasn't completely unaware of my altitude, but i would look at my alti in freefall and see that i still had time left...when we were on the ground debriefing, i'd tell my instructor, "i checked my alti", he would ask, "what did it say?" and i couldn't answer him. what he suggested was while in freefall, when you look at your alti, actually SAY YOUR ALTITUDE ALOUD. this will force you to be fully aware of what your alti says. it works! spiral out...keep going...

yeah, baby! i'll be there!!!! watch out for BOOBIES!!!!

my first skydiving dreams always found me in freefall, going to check my alti, and finding only my wristwatch there. oops! i had another where i was on a four-way with my boyfriend, one of the instructors at the dz, and some unknown character. at separation altitude, my boyfriend grabbed me and the instructor and pulled us into a head down with him. i was freaking out because i couldn't get away and i don't have a cypress, but finally i got away from him and pulled just in time for my canopy to open and land me safely. it seems in all of my skydiving dreams my canopy opens JUST in time for me to land safely. what's up with that??? spiral out...keep going...

i'm just as bad as bikerbabe. i don't spend more than $10 on a pair of sunglasses because they're bound to be lost some evening while i'm in a drunken stupor. i currently wear some cheap-ass purple plastic framed, yellow lens having sunnies i bought at the mindil beach markets in darwin, australia. the quality is completely lame, but they look cool...and, naturally, that's what is most important spiral out...keep going...

1(number of times my boyfriend flew his canopy into a tree *shudder*):1 (number of times my bare boobies were captured on video):5:1 first jump on my new rig- woo hoo!!! downsizing from a 205 to a 170 - flies like a dream!!! took the rig in for some modifications to make it safe to freefly...look out next weekend...i'm coming over to the dark side!!! spiral out...keep going...

we live a good hour and a half from the dz, so we've got a van that's all set up for sleeping/camping and we drive up friday night, sleep in the van, jump all day saturday, and drive back saturday night because my boyfriend has to work on sundays . our next move is to buy a bus - also set up for sleeping/camping/living - and travel around the country, going from drop zone to drop zone, living like wandering skydiving nomads. a couple of days ago we saw a huge completely decked out winnebago-type ultra-fancy camper and he said, "some day we'll have one of those". i said, "do we really need something that fancy?". he said, "well, we can't live at the drop zones forever", to which i replied, "why not?". he thought for about two seconds and said, "yeah, we can". spiral out...keep going...

for me it was five years married after two years of dating...when we realized we both wanted completely different things out of life. we had grown in opposite directions and our lifestyles were no longer compatible. we decided to split, which was an agonizing decision because we still cared for each other, but knew that if we stayed together, no matter what we did, one of us would be unhappy. as difficult as it was at the time, it turned out for the better in the end: he is remarried and very happy. i started traveling and skydiving and met my boyfriend at the dz! the moral of this story (good god) is that it is so important to be true to yourself. in the end the heartache will make you stronger and wiser. and you will ALWAYS have the love and support of your skydiving family!!! (big hug) spiral out...keep going...

i'm with you on this one. the best i could do from here would be a BASE jump from the 53rd floor - and land in the big hole where the world trade center used to be. spiral out...keep going...

usually a repetitive "in-out" motion is most effective spiral out...keep going...

...comes out loose. spiral out...keep going...

hooray for you! not only a day full of valuable learning experiences, but a well-written descriptive piece of prose, as well! i really enjoyed reading this! i'm sure with your attitude and your desire to learn, you'll have your landings in no time (i blame mine on my desperate need of a new line set )...and i thank you for this much needed diversion during a long, monotonous afternoon in an office high up in lower manhattan... spiral out...keep going...

the first day of my solo training, my instructor told me this, "there are only two reasons we jump out of a perfectly good airplane. one: there's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. two: we do it because it's FUN!!!!" of course, it's important to concentrate on safety and the tasks you're trying to accomplish, but at the end of the day, if you didn't have fun, it wasn't worth doing. ENJOY!!! let us know how you go...welcome to the family

i'm not going to argue that anything in this article is not factual. to my knowledge, everything stated here is true. Roger's history with drugs is no secret - i was told the whole story by Ron Passmore himself. i wouldn't be surprised to find that Ron may have had alcohol or marijuana in his system when he was jumping. but this article insinuates that somehow there is a connection between the two. just because Roger has a history with drugs and a jumper at his drop zone had drugs in his system when he died doesn't mean the two are directly related. i don't see why the reporter found it necessary to juxtapose these two pieces of information the way he did (media whore...?). spiral out...keep going...

if you are really lost and need some direction, sure, you can watch the other jumpers - but as a rule of thumb, it's not a good idea to rely on them. i've seen a load come down with people landing every direction imaginable . now who are you going to follow???? it's important that you can spot the indicators yourself. typically, before the load goes up, we'll all confer and decide on a landing direction. this serves as a great safety measure as well as giving you peace of mind...unless, of course, the winds do a major shift while you're in the plane...but that doesn't happen TOO often spiral out...keep going...

no - i've been getting the same error message. at first i thought my job was cutting me off because i logged on to dz.com too many times!

i had the same problem...and i had to repeat the stage TWICE! i tend to push myself really hard and have very high expectations for myself - this oftentimes results in tensions and frustration when things aren't going the way i want them to go. as everyone's been telling you, relaxation truly is the key. i finally was able to "feel" the drop in my pelvis when i emulated the posture of Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton) from "Slingblade". sounds strange, i know, but it was that posture - hips thrust forward, belly out - that did it for me. after landing one of my botched AFF level 4 jumps, i whined to my instructor, "...i'm not doing this and it's not doing that and i'm too tense and blah blah blah blah..." he stopped me and said, "Amy...you forgot to have FUN!" isn't that the only reason we're doing this??? spiral out...keep going...

I know a lot of people that have a great deal of loyalty to The Ranch in Gardiner, NY. if you want cheap, this is the place: $17 to 14,000 or $15 if you become a club member (if you plan on jumping like you say you are, this would definitely be a good idea). SUPER friendly people, exceptional skilled coaches and instructors, beer, pizza, and bonfires. in the immediate area you will find beautiful hiking trails, swimming holes, rock climbing, horseback riding (for those cloudy days)...the only drawback might be your timing. if you are planning to do this during the winter, you're going to freeze your b@lls off. spiral out...keep going...

apparently no one was flying head down in those days... "hmmm..i should have a good 60 seconds of freeffffffffffff..."*boom* spiral out...keep going...

WRONG!!!!! anywhere in PUBLIC. the ruling was that is it unconstitutional for women to be required to be covered where it is not required for men (anywhere in public). this is sexual descrimination...or so it was ruled by the new york state court of appeals (the people vs. santorelli) spiral out...keep going...

bra???? what's that??? spiral out...keep going...