waveoff5500

i got the call thursday from my rigger that my container had arrived and it would be available for pick up on friday. so i rushed down with the anticipation of meeting a first child or something of the sort and ran into the basement of his house. there she was! all packed up sans main. i packed up the main and rushed off to the DZ. first jump was a 7 way freefly, went awesome tracked and pulled a bit high. first off being in the saddle felt super comfortable especially with the articulated harness, the safire2 handled like a dream and flared for milessss. got it to my home DZ this weekend and did a bunch of double front approaches and the flare just amazes me every time. im very very happy with my icon and i would recommend it to anyone who is in the market for a new harness and container system. ill post pictures tonight or tomorrow! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

exactly! you definitely are not the only one, i myself struggled with in the plane anxiety my first few jumps. i always got nervous about flying a good pattern, or landing off etc. but thats what is awesome about skydiving, there are tons of aspects that constantly push you to improve. just keep your head on straight, make sure youre listening to the instructors like sherry, because she will be able to help you very much. there is nothing wrong with taking a few seconds, watching the plane fly away and literally taking a big deep breath which will help you settle into your arch. then start your dive flow. your student progression wont be perfect, no ones is, but after you get that stability you will be so psyched! and if youre pumped on the canopy flight now, it only gets better. there will always be the anxiety of having a good opening, but if you knew it was going to open perfect every time it wouldnt be exciting right? everyone has malfunctions, everyone has problems, everyone has things they question themselves on, the environement of freefall just amplifies these. before you know it youll be licensed and this will be a laughable memory. keep at it man! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i had a little bit of this from my BMX friends. i think part of it was them thinking i had just gotten tired of bmx and was off to something new and would replace them as my good friends. (i still love bmx and it gives me a rush that jumping cant and vis versa) but i found it helped a lot to include them in your big achievements, i brought my rig up to show them how to pack, i show them videos that are stunning (like wind tunnel four way freefly videos or wingsuit base videos) and before i knew it they had become interested in it. a lot of them ask me how jumping is and how many i have etc. it was a big concern for me because these are the people who i grew up with, got hurt with and were there through good and bad so they are more like a family. i just urge you to keep trying, and if they dont eventually open up to it, then maybe they arent close friends. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

he doesnt need more of the obvious guys, cant you think back to when you struggled with something like stability when you started out? didnt you ever question yourself skydiving? someone with 5500 jumps should have some awesome advice for a lot of people, especially a student having trouble. people like him are the ones that help expand our sport. he isnt reckless or dumb, hes just having trouble with a fundamental skill that many struggle with. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

cant say ive done anything REALLLLY dumb yet haha, when we jumped down at start once, my first time, i checked the spot and hadnt really jumped there enough to tell that it was bad, people told me to go so our group got out and went. long story short, almost landed in a lot of trees and had to improvise an off landing in a back yard surrounded by trees and a horse kennel. looking back on it now i should have spoke up and not gotten out, even though tandem instructors arent big fans of that ;) landing off did turn out to be a good thing though, because before that i had been dreading landing off and it really reassured me that i could control my canopy in a bad situation. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i think i have once, what i do have is dreams that my friends go in and im sitting there under canopy watching. those ones suck "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

I suffered a traumatic spinal injury in a BMX biking accident a little over a year ago. flash forward to today and it is getting better but i am not completely recovered. after surgery i had a lot of doubt, i would sit in bed for hours, wouldnt want to go see my friends ride, and when i did start riding/skydiving again i was very nervous of injuring myself. this is normal, this is your body's way of protecting you, and your minds response to not being able to do what you love. what helped me a lot was talking to my friends, doing all the therapy i could because even though it wasnt fun it was still an activity that i could do to work towards feeling better. and looking back on it now im almost glad it happened because it gave me a great look at what can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. i was a lucky one and was told that "you are lucky to even be walking with a limp" from then on i changed my outlook on life in general and made me appreciate every day. hope this helps! it does get better! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i also jump at aerohio and ive seen your video, you seem to be getting a bit ahead of yourself. skydiving isnt about where you are in relation to other people (well it sort of is but not in progression ;) ) its about pushing yourself to over come natural fears, conscious or not, to be able to be completely relaxed in a totally foriegn environment. you are not the worst student there has ever been, and your ability to leave the plane without and mental issues will be a good thing as you progress. everyone has trouble whether its packing or turning or just getting out of the plane, the main thing you have to remember is to keep a level head. its not surprising you have had sensory overload on your first few jumps and to be honest it happens to a lot of people. so it seems like the biggest obstacle in skydiving will be for you to learn how to let go and really settle into that arch. this wont be the last time you ever get unstable, hell i took out a formation this weekend, but its still a learning experience even when you have thousands of jumps. ask around a lot of people will tell you that they had a ton of trouble as a student, even national champions had problems if you read interviews with them. ive also noticed you ask numerous questions, which is good, but a lot of what youre asking about will come to you later in your student progression. all you need to know now is what your instructors tell you and to RELAX, ARCH, PRACTICE and rock out man. keep at it, its an awesome sport and youll be happy when you get your license. and finally remember, you got past the fear to do something that not many other people have done, jump out of an airplane. youre off to a rough start, but that doesnt mean you have to continue. keep practicing your arch and just let go. ill cya next weekend, my names adam and i wear the red freefly jumpsuit with the flowers on it. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i was jumping my friends vector that has a loop cut away handle and i really liked the feel of it. thinking about being in a spinning mal it would probably be easier to cut away by snagging a thumb on it, than trying to grab a pillow. just my thoughts. what do you guys think the advantages or disadvantages of them are? "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

you just need to get in your head straight that now youre falling by yourself, youve acquired the skills necessary for stable freefall. you are now saving your own life by pulling for yourself. it might take a bit of effort to get over this hump, but pick a spot on the horizon, make sure you have a good neutral position, and continue with your dive flow. if your instructor needs to give you a signal, they will come give you the signal. but in general the signals are helpful while youre just learning how to fall stable because they can see what youre doing wrong better than you can. good body position will come with time, but if they are having the conversation with you like you said, then it should be a note to you that you are able to keep a relatively good body position with out them. so now just focus on doing what you need to do, because its up to you now. but as always, take what you hear here with a grain of salt and first talk with your instructors because this isnt the first time anyone has had this problem. good luck! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i tried the app out this week when we jumped the otter at canton air sports, idk if something was messed up with my gps signal but it said my max speed was 63 mph, we were freeflying, thats some slow freeflying ;) it was very user friendly though and i think the free fall time was accurate. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

yeah i used to bring up skydiving a lot, but now i hardly mention it unless someone asks, and even then im pretty brief about it because you realize every time it is the exact same conversation haha "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i think it was last months parachutist that had two students colliding under canopy and both died. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

Wow i just called its $45 PER jump, i asked if i could get a deal because i wad planning on jumping there all weekend but they said no. Doesnt that seem steep? "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

anyone know how much it costs to rent a rig at start skydiving in ohio? "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

looked good man, just remember to fly to the grips and resist reaching. other than little things, it looked great "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

my i5 should be here this week or next, and im putting a smart 160 and a icarus safire2 169 in it so ill let you know how it fits/put pictures up! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

My bad guys i did interpret it wrong my bad! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

during aff i had just finished a jump with a coach and i turned and tracked pulled around 3.8k waited for that tug and didnt feel it, looked up and just saw my bag in massive line twists just twirling above me, moved straight for my cutaway handle, but the movement let the bag catch some air and it opened, that got my adrenaline going and reminded me of how fast the sport can turn on you. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

thats a pretty ignorant take on the sport. "action" or "extreme" sports are built upon the foundation of progression. skydiving isnt alone in this trend, and as sports progress to more dangerous levels, youll get people who arent ready to push through those boundaries, attempting to do the newest thing and getting wrecked. just because you arent a fan of progression, doesnt mean you should nay say the people who get excitement out of pushing the envelope. at the end of the day, this sport isnt golf and is inherintely dangerous even if you do everything by the book. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

i am jumping a 190 sabre 1 while im waiting for my container to arrive from aerodyne. i also had back surgery for a herniated disc back in march of 2011. that canopy is definitely not back friendly, no matter how i pack it that thing opens like a rocket. ive been slammed on it once, but all the other openings are uncomfortable to say the least. i jumped a safire 2 169 last weekend and that thing had the most amazing on heading openings, felt awesome on my back and i wasnt worried about having to make quick rear riser turns to pick a canopy free heading after the sabre spun me around 180 degrees. just a thought, you might want to look for something like a pilot, spectre or safire 2. youll appreciate it when you dont have to get back surgery later on "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

im pretty sure it says somewhere in one of the CATs to be careful because aggressive turns can put you into line twists, especially when doing reverse turns, idk if youve gotten to those yet, but be careful when you do if you put yourself into line twists with a half toggle turn. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

annnnddddddd boom goes the dynomite. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

thanks! i didnt pack it myself (i did get signed off on packing today though) but i mentioned it to the packer and it seems that the lines had just been waxed, so that with the combination of double stows must have caused the bag hesitation. im happy to be packing myself now though because then if anything happens i know who caused it! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653

so yesterday the ohio weather cooperated for a little while long enough for me to get two coach jumps in. i was doing the long swoop and dock dive, and we broke at 5000' i turned and tracked and pulled around 4000. i waited to feel the tug and immediately i knew something was wrong. i looked over my shoulder to check my canopy and all i saw was my bag above me unopened. i was still in quite a bit of free fall, so i didnt hesitate and reached for my cutaway handle, thankfully the motion of my reaching for my handle caused the bag to come off and i felt the tug of the main opening. opened up with a ton of line twists and spinning slowly. managed to kick them out and still land safely on the dz. it was quite an exciting minute or so and got my heart beating. im pretty happy with how i reacted to a malfunction without hesitating to cut away. thankfully i didnt have to. just thought i would share my first encounter! on a better note four more jumps til im done with my card for my A and 9 more til ive completed 25! blue skies! "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653