Namowal

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Howdy Dropzone.com made my first jump(Lvl 1 AFF) at Perris on 6/19, feeling very LOW at this moment, life on the ground just doesn't cut it anymore.

So I am introducing myself and want to give a BIG shoutout to VegasJoe for being patient with my ADD self and being an awesome instructor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh7LPku_u4U&feature=player_detailpage#t=292s Please show me no mercy, I want to be humiliated into jumping better. Always worked when Dad was trying to teach me something =).

You did a better job than I did on my level one. Nice work.

p.s. Around 5:15 I saw the March runway and thought, for a second, "Gosh, they're way far away from the DZ." D'oh!

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2. If you believe that the absolute high point—the unrivaled apex—of Western civilization's achievement in terms the comic is JACKASS: THE MOVIE wherein a man walks across a rope bridge suspended over alligators after having had raw chicken parts stuffed into his underpants...

It isn't?

Nope. . .

This is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDMNHvnIxic

Hard to argue with you about that...
Reminds me of this...

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2. If you believe that the absolute high point—the unrivaled apex—of Western civilization's achievement in terms the comic is JACKASS: THE MOVIE wherein a man walks across a rope bridge suspended over alligators after having had raw chicken parts stuffed into his underpants...

It isn't?

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I can't go up ladders that are too high

I'm the same way with ladders, much to the amusement of my non-skydiving friends.

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So you're simply ignoring religious history.
OK.

Well, you have a point there- lots of atrocious behavior in the name of religion- but I'm wondering if people would have behaved badly anyway? Cooking up some other excuse to mistreat each other?

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alah is clearly good

Morons do this. Religious fanatical idiots do this.
THIS is what religion gives us.

History continues it's repeat. Selective killing in the name of some magical fairy in the sky.

On the other hand, most religious people I know don't behave that way or condone that kind of thing. Heck, even the ones who know I'm an infidel don't give me a hard time.
That being said, I'm cynical enough to believe that if you waved a magic wand that somehow removed religion from the planet, there would still be pockets of fanatics here and there that killed selectively for some other cause they came up with.

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One of my main reasons for getting good at bellyflying is I want solid control of what I'm doing up there- whether I'm working with others or tracking away. Freeflying looks fun, but I want to be able to do the basics, and do them well, before I even think about freeflying.

You are a very wise young duck

I'm hoping to live to be a wise old duck.

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Let's hope he never find his way to Tail o' the Rat.

Heh. Well, I suppose he would liven things up in a Jerry Springer Show kind of way.

On a whim I googled "Perris Dude" and it seems he also has airports, motocross, and boating (possibly more but I got bored) on his crap list and is quick to chime in with crass comments. We probably shouldn't be giving him that much attention here, but I have a hunch he either doesn't come here (or has been thrown out).

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Well, sort of a 1-in-5millions accident. Premature deployment, but in freefly at ~250 km/h at the end of a cartwheel. Pics of the torn rig. The loop was tight enough, the rig was packed thoroughly. But the rig wasn't really suitable for freefly. The bridle must have gotten a little free from under the flap and caught some wind, resulting a hefty BAMM at 1400m. My right arm got caught by the riser and yeah...

Yikes!

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The butcher at the local hospital told me "Be lucky you live. You're responsible for this. Who with a sound mind jumps out of a plane?" Really. What a fartknocker.

Geez. Had you been hurt playing tackle football would he have said "What kind of person lets a bunch of guys slam into them?"

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Some impressing X-rays here.

Youch!

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Thus I'm now obsessed with "everything tucked in?" and "everything covered?" and "doncha do any freefly with an older rig!" and "better learn bellyflying first"

One of my main reasons for getting good at bellyflying is I want solid control of what I'm doing up there- whether I'm working with others or tracking away. Freeflying looks fun, but I want to be able to do the basics, and do them well, before I even think about freeflying.

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See it all the time: "I've got 35 jumps & working on my sit fly!"

I haven't been at this very long but I've heard similar stuff from a few fellow noobs. Sure, they're more skilled than I am, but freeflying? So soon? With rigs not designed for it? It's like racing a horse before you learn to ride one.

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and don't have an accident like me

An accident? What happened? Was it something you could have avoided?

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I've heard the same thing from other people who started at my age. I wonder if it's a physical thing, a mental thing, or both?

I think it's both. The older^Twiser you get the more you think, think again and again and then re-think what you do and why and when and how...
I noticed, however, that I progressed better after I started exercising regularly at a fitness gym. After 40 - at least the average person like me - got to do a lot of exercising to retain (or even build up) their muscles

Good points!

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Another aspect of course is what I call the "threshold effect". Once you have made a certain number of jumps, almost out of the blue you are able to do that exit, move, transition you've been working on so long. After a couple of hundred jumps your body doesn't need to pay attention to that many different factors (because it does it automatically due to repetition etc) and thus has more open channels for other / new things to learn

That would make sense. I'm looking forward to the day I get more of the basics on autopilot.

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I replied a couple of times. I know, you should never argue with people on the internet! But I've tried to be civil and reasoned - rather than telling him he's an idiot.

Clearly a lost cause, though...

If the article were about chess, his comments would be "It's just moving pieces around a board. Unlike REAL games blah blah blah..."

Then again, you made it pretty clear to any non-skydiving reader that the troll was blowing smoke. Who knows? Maybe some of them will think Hmmm.... ...it's not just a bunch of adrenaline freaks? Doctors, lawyers, and teachers do this? Maybe I could...

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Good job!!
Stay safe to jump another day!!!

It can be tough to scratch- I'm sabotaging the planned jump, I'm passing up a chance to "get my money's worth" on rental gear, the inner critic saying "Ah, you're just chickening out!" etc...
...but as you said, better to scratch then to get hurt.

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Glad to see you've got the beer rules sorted

Some five-year-olds at the DZ seem to have them sorted too.

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Don't worry about the (purported) name-calling. If you end up with a duck nickname all will turn out well! Smile

Name calling? People are calling me names? I figured between my sloppy jumping and, as a amateur, taking up pages of Parachutist that I'd get on some people's nerves. Boo freaking hoo.

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Like you, I did not progress as fast as I thought I should (who did?), but then ended up doing some really fantastic things.

Now you're talking!

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And if it is any comfort to you - I also progressed much more slowly than I wanted to, due to a number of reasons (#1 of which is I started skydiving at the age of 40

I've heard the same thing from other people who started at my age. I wonder if it's a physical thing, a mental thing, or both?

Here's the latest. I'm not progressing as fast as I'd like (boo freaking hoo) , but I am learning...
Over Fifty Not-so-Nifty

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I hope it attracts lots of new ducks for you.

Me too!

Nice homepage. I wonder if we should start a skydiving ducks society?

Thanks. Yeah, the five of us out there could hold our own boogie in Anaheim or some other duck-associated place. BTW, my duck also has a FB page, under Jill Canard. If more people 'like' it I can start putting more photos in it, including the fun dz ones.
If there's eve a Skydiving Duck boogie, I'll find a way to attend.

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OMG, have you read the comment section of that article. Perris Dude is at it again.

I can't believe posters here haven't slammed the guy yet.

I was tempted to take a swipe at him, but that'd be like barking back at a yappy chihuahua...

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"Skydiving has more in common with loners and losers seeking an adrenaline rush, much the same as slot machine addicts and gamblers."

I for one have been unmasked How did he know!?

Am I the only one who thinks the troll may know full well that he's talking nonsense, for the sole purpose of pushing our buttons?

Back to the book- I downloaded it to my Kindle a few months back but didn't expect to like it. After all, the writer was one of the skydiving big shots while I was (and still am) a bumbling beginner. Then I started reading it. It was good! I think even non-skydivers would get a kick out of it.

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It's perfectly normal. There's this Duck that's gone through AFF (and has gotten her A). Her story of the fears and everything else are pretty much dead on. And funny as all hell too.

Thanks for the plug. My early jumps scared me silly (at least on the plane). I still remember the dry mouth and jelly legs. Heck, I would actually start shaking as I got near the freeway exit that lead to the drop zone. Before those jumps I don't think I knew it was possible to be so freaked out.
Believe it or not, back then even videos of people exiting planes triggered the fear response!
But, as others have said, the fear calms down after awhile. I still get nervous, but it's more of a "pay attention and check the equipment" prompt as opposed to the "Aaaaaaagh! You're gonna fall out and it's gonna be so scary and you'll die." feeling. I figure it will help keep me on my toes.

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Does anyone know how I should go about it if I'm trying to get a copy of the original full resolution photo for the June 2012 USPA mag? What a great photo.

photo by Jim Harris
USPA #160885
Over Skydive Spain in Seville, freefly team Volare (from left, Daniel Parker, Frazer Smith and Mike Carpenter) trains for the 2012 FAI World Parachuting Championships to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 29 to December 10.

From here

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Many thanks to Namo who designed the wonderful logo (see link below) for freifallvergnügen.de - the first school of tandem instruction for skydiving ducks. Which - inevitably - also makes me a skydiving duck, or drake, to be correct. I'm the duck in blue, as to be seen here.

To attract more ducks I had this beautiful rear window ad made by an advertising business and intend to sport it for quite some time.

I hope it attracts lots of new ducks for you.

Welcome aboard! :)
I'm new at this myself- and one of those "Had you told me a fear years ago that I'd be doing this I'd have told you you were insane" folks. You're in for a lot of fun.
p.s. I bet your school supplies the gear when you start out, so you don't need to get it right off the bat.

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Does being surprised at yourself count?

Ha! I know the feeling.

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I'm a regular apherisis donor...
...It takes a bit more time to donate platelets verses whole blood...

I've done this a few times too, and would be doing it more often if I wasn't turned away for low iron levels (not sure how this affects platelets but they still sent me away). It takes a bit longer, but it's super easy. And the places I've been to let you either watch tv or a movie during the process.

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...but so far nobody wants my marrow.

Not even for soup?

Not even then.

Actually on Monday I almost got booted out of the Bloodmobile for not having enough iron, but they ran a second test and I squeaked through.

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I donated blood today, did you?

Well, I donated blood a few days ago. :)
I've also been signed up for the Bone Marrow Registry for about 12 years, but so far nobody wants my marrow.

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doing a one week course!? best way to do it IMHO..

I think so too. I did my early AFF jumps several weeks apart and I think that made it harder for me to get used to freefall.