whamac

All signed up!

FINALLY!! After all these years, I finally got a taste of freefall last week, when I did my very first tandem jump! 14,000 feet and 60 seconds of freefall. Did a few altitude checks, pulled the handle myself, and did some of the steering. WOO-HOO! What a feeling! And I learned a valuable lesson. Old geezers should not enjoy a milkshake right before doing a bunch of corkscrew turns while under canopy. For a couple minutes there, I thought I was gonna lose my cookies. Tomorrow is Ground School; here we go.......

Don't look down when reaching for the handle. I did that on my first PRCP; and as I was admiring my own feet, I simultaneously saw my canopy opening up. I knew right away, that wasn't proper.

PLF's are definitely your "friend"!

Not really strange; just MUCH better! It's no fun landing under one of those round Army surplus things. I was one of the fortunate ones; the day of my very first jump, there were students landing on the tarmac, between hangars, coming in directly over power lines, you name it. I was lucky to land in a rocky, scrubby field.

Howdy! Just found this forum, and I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Doug, and I recently did my fifth IAD jump at a (fairly) local drop zone. I'm 57, and I actually made my first jump way back in 1978 at a drop zone in South Dakota, using surplus military chutes. Didn't jump again until 1981, at a place in IL; again with military chutes. After several years of starting a family, nine static-line jumps in 1984, at yet another IL drop zone. Square canopies this time; what a difference!! (and forgive me if I don't use proper terminology; I'm pretty green) Now it's 27 years later, and I was wondering whether I could still do it; I'm pleasantly surprised! I'm thinking of switching to the AFF method, though. Just gotta work up a bit more "nerve" first. Cheers, Doug