jamiesmum

Just in case anyone out there is still following any of this and would like to know https://www.facebook.com/Volosity/videos/1313819452077550/ he just got Bronze at Freestyle at The World Cup in Germany

Just for those who are interested, so ignore if not - he won the 2WD at The Bodyflight World Challenge last weekend with his team The Dynamos, as well as coming 3rd in artistics and 15th in AAA with his flat flying team Co-motion. This is the interview they did with him afterwards which shows their final round https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3UsET5aZD0 He's still stuck on 960 jumps due to a disastrous trip to Dubai in February where everyone but Jamie managed to injure themselves so he didn't make it to 1000 jumps at 18 but c'est la vie.

Hello! I only just saw this thread. I finally put my foot down and we went on a "non-skydiving" holiday sailing the Greek Islands and had no internet. Jamie decided he wanted to fly when he was tiny. He then spent A LOT of time in the tunnel. Mostly because we found it very therapeutic for him. He has high functioning Autism (but it's usually just to say Asperger's to people as they understand that), Tourette's Syndrome, severe dyslexia and dyspraxia (they usually all go together). He went from being a curled up ball in the corner that wouldn't interact with anyone to the point that unless people know, they rarely think he has a diagnosis of anything at all. You can tell at times when he's on the ground, especially at briefings as he can seem a bit "vacant" but actually he is taking everything in and processing it at such a speed that he appears not to be doing anything (think vampires in Twilight). He has 506 jumps now and spent the whole summer just travelling round the different skydiving festivals. 95% of the time people are brilliant with him. They sometimes expect him to "prove himself" before they are happy about him flying, but generally once they've flown with him a couple of times they chill out and don't have an issue. We have come across some prejudice (but it's rare) and I've said to people that's fine - it's normal to be scared of something you don't understand and we'll make sure he's not on the same lift as you. For anyone considering taking to the sky for the first time I would strongly recommend spending time in the tunnel first. It gives you the chance to get used to the noise, and the sensations of flying and to know that you can be in control of you body. I did the same thing when Jamie learnt to drive (another thing he wasn't supposed to be able to do). I got him to do off road driving lessons from the moment his feet touched the pedals so he 100% had the mechanics of driving down first and then when he was 17 and could do lessons all he had to do was learn how to cope with other drivers on the road (exactly the same principle as skydiving). Jamie is in the top 1% for processing speeds, this is massively helpful when skydiving - it means he is hyper-aware of what is going on, where people are etc. I got him to do a canopy course early on so he knows how to fly his wing and how to get out of trouble. The biggest thing I think that keeps him safe in the sky is that he doesn't have an ego. For Jamie it's all about being safe and perfecting his flight - it's never about showing off and that is what seems to get people into trouble (but then I'm a whuffo and what would I know). I'm really glad I let him jump. I'm glad I got him the best preparation I could find for him. I'm glad I got him the best coaches and most off I'm glad I let him do it at 16 so I have two years when I can control where he flies (mostly Empuriabrava in Spain), who he jumps with (mostly Adam Mattacola - thanks Adam

Hi no idea what the bonfire is? Sorry if I've offended you. I have no idea what the rules are on here. I only came across the website because of a sudden jump in the number of people who were looking what I thought were my private home videos and I thought it only fair to comment as people were making all sorts of assumptions about my son. I won't post anymore. Kate (Jamie's mum)

people were just a little confused as to why Jamie was doing a head down tandem in the first place - but he knew how to fly head down before he ever jumped out of a plane (being a mega tunnel rat) - since he turned 16 and can now jump without being attached to another human being he's been progressing really well, and some people enjoy watching updates on how he's progressed - sorry if it's caused you some confusion - it's just there for any of the people who are interested in "what Jamie did next"

next update (for those who enjoy them) this is Jamie on the British Head Up record last weekend [/url]http://youtu.be/bMRx4BhY0L8

90% did an article on him, they sent me a list of questions to ask http://www.90percent.it/images/Nr4%20013.pdf (pages 39 to 43) - it was interesting for me as he's never really talked about flying much with me, it made it feel like all the time/expense is worth it

Just for those who wanted to be kept updated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8A1P2_JUCk

another post note - he's now 16 and nearly 2 months and so far he has his A Licence, BPA CH1, FS1, FF1, FF2, CH2 and now his B Licence - but the best thing for me is when I get to see videos of his jumps and he looks SO happy

Just another post note The World Challenge just finished Jamie competed in two events His team Volosity Freefly came 5th in the freefly His team The Dynamos came 4th in the dynamic He plans to do AAA next year Thanks Jamie's Mum

Hi, thanks for the advice. This trip was four years in the planning. Jamie has been surrounded by the very best instructors all of whom have been impressing on him the differences. This jump was carefully planned and a one off. He is set up to spend the entire summer focusing on belly flying. The plan is to aim for a couple of hundred jumps over the summer all carefully controlled and he is going to be moving on to learning FS. There are no plans for him to start doing freefly until his canopy handling skills are well and truly up to it. The reason I agreed to him learning at 16 is that I can then control who he is jumping with and where and he knows how serious things are and if for one minute he began to try and get ahead of himself i would stop him flying until he's eighteen. Jamie is very aware that he is responsible not just for himself but also for the safety of those around him and for the good name of the sport. If I was in any doubt whatsoever of his ability to behave i would not let him jump. I may not be a skydiver myself but members of my family are and sadly we have lost a couple of friends to this sport. We are under no illusions and neither is Jamie. At the end of the day though Jamie wants to fly and I am so grateful that people have been so supportive and made that possible for him. Just in passing this is some footage his team mate just posted of them training for the dynamic: https://vimeo.com/63438058

here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEK2NmVhVXo&feature=share

Just another note in case anyone is interested in what happened next, we are in Empuria (again - good to be back) and Jamie, having turned 16 on March 7th has just done his AFF - this is what Nigel (Holland) kindly said about it: Just did the most amazing AFF Level 7 with 16 year old Jamie Arnold. Linked Head down exit, belly star, compressed accordion, open accordian, back layout, sitfly with grip, then a game of 'rock, paper, scissors' with time to spare.....all with alti checks He's now on his way back to do FF and Dynamic at the World Challenge and then straight back out for consoles Thank you everyone xx