A Licence Grad.. advice por favor?

[kalaniwavo 0]

ok, so I just got my A licence and have around 30 jumps. my question is where do I go from here? Progressing through my A licence syllabus was pretty structured. I read my skydivers manual, practiced techniques and manuvers, etc etc..

I would like to try some new exits or manuvers in freefall or under canopy but I haven't been able to find much guidance at my dropzone except for small tidbits of info from the instructors who usually stay pretty busy. Are there any books or material relating to skydiving progression?

Basically, I would like to become more knowledgeable, have more control in freefall, and a better canopy pilot. How should I get there?

ANY suggestions, reccomendations, advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Nick

[darkwing 5]

Have fun. Shut up and jump.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[NWFlyer 2]

What part of the country do you jump in? How easy is it for you to travel to other DZs?

Some DZs are better known than others for "raising" young jumpers - if we have an idea where you are we might be able to point you towards those if you feel like your DZ isn't a place where you're getting that kind of guidance from other experienced jumpers. But it could also just be that you haven't met the right people yet. Who are you jumping with? Are you going out and doing solos at this point? Unless you're doing hop & pops to work on canopy skills, solos at this point aren't going to teach you much - small jumps with other jumpers are where you're going to learn the most and improve your skills, whether it's a simple two-way with someone else who just got an A, or a four-way with some jumpers with a few thousand jumps.

But like darkwing said, get out and jump. Plan a few simple points for a jump, have a solid breakoff plan, always practice tracking like your life depends on it (because it does), and always do some canopy drills and practice being a solid, responsible pilot and being responsible and respectful of the pattern whether there's four canopies in the air or 23.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[tdog 0]

Watch a lot of videos on skydivingmovies.com to get ideas of what is possible.

Never go on more than a two way until you (a) know everyone on the jump and (b) have the skills proven at the two-way level.

Always orient your body on solos perpendicular to jump run so you don't backslide into another group. (I have twice seen head down and sitfly jumpers join me).

Find a lot of new friends.

Ask to jump with the friends.

Buy snacks/beer/something for your friends.

Read Brian Germain's book on canopy control.

Download the Brian Germain Skydive Radio interviews at www.skydiveradio.com.

Have fun.

[kalaniwavo 0]

I've been jumping at skydive hawaii.. there is one DZ next door but thats about it for a couple thousand miles.

Thanks for the info! I'll check out the books and keep a eye out for some recent A licence grads to jump with.

[AggieDave 6]

Take a look at in the SIMs at the canopy maneuver stuff. It was written by
Scott Miller and is pretty straight forward, but all that stuff about flat turns, landing patterns, etc will save your butt. Practice the canopy maneuvers until you've got them down. Canopy control is the one more important thing to practice since your butt flat out depends on it. Beyond that, the in air maneuvers are endless. This is a great time to spend a couple of jumps just screwing off. Go do stuff you've seen in videos or have just simply thought about.

Once the excitement of getting to do whatever wears off, go buy some beer, bring it to the DZ and spend that beer drinking it with the experienced people at the DZ after sunset. Tell them what your goals are (FF, RW, etc) and I bet they'll help you get there.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[L.O. 0]

You need to apraoch the experienced skydivers who jump there.. Jumping with other recent grads would be like a sacrifice to the volcano. It will take a long time to get anywhere with other new people. Be persistent, ask to jump with them, beg, even pay if thats what it takes. If you want to get better that is the way. Jumping only with other low timers will be frustrating and unproductive. Make those experienced people spend some time with you. Don't let them rest til your satisfied. Good luck.

HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

[JohnRich 4]

Do you want your advice in English or Spanish?

[countzero 7]

Quote

Are there any books or material relating to skydiving progression?

basic canopy and body flight DVD

kinesthesia DVD

skydiver's handbook

diamonds are a dawgs best friend

[orbitjunkie 0]

I agree with LO you need to jump with more expierienced skydivers. find some friends with over 200 or so and do some 2 3 4 ways. Remember this when you have 1000 jumps and promote the more exp jumpers helping out others

[superwoman8433 0]

Have you ever ventured to the PISC deck?? I am sure if you bought Guru some beer and provided him with a camara, considering his current condition, he might be willing to help.

I know it goes against everything out there, but wander over to PISC. There are lots of experienced jumpers there. I did part of my AFF at skydive Hawaii, just take beer and your golden!!

[Skydivesg 7]

Beer seems to be the international currency of our sport. And the exchange rate is always one to one.

On a more serious note: Try to remain humble when asking for help. Also the experienced jumpers are often busy working at the DZ.

I always like to work with newer jumpers early in the morning before the DZ gets busy and late in the day when everyone else is already drinking beer. And I don't charge anything and pay my own slot. We have one guy who is always asking me to help him
but he doesn't show up until about 10:30 and he's drinking beer by 5:00. As you have already figured out 10:30 to 5:00 is the busiest time for any DZ.
This guy just doesn't get it.

If you approach them in the right way there are always a couple of very good jumpers who will be willing to help you.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[jeremy_o 0]

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And I don't charge anything and pay my own slot.

You are a good man Sandy. Cya in Iowa and hope we can get a jump together if you aren't too busy.

http://planetskydive.net/ - An online aggregation of skydiver's blogs.

[Auryn 0]

Quote

Beer seems to be the international currency of our sport. And the exchange rate is always one to one.

On a more serious note: Try to remain humble when asking for help. Also the experienced jumpers are often busy working at the DZ.

I always like to work with newer jumpers early in the morning before the DZ gets busy and late in the day
when everyone else is already drinking beer. And I don't charge anything and pay my own slot. We have one guy who is always asking me to help him
but he doesn't show up until about 10:30 and he's drinking beer by 5:00. As you have already figured out 10:30 to 5:00 is the busiest time for any DZ.
This guy just doesn't get it.

If you approach them in the right way there are always a couple of very good jumpers who will be willing to help you.

This rings VERY true. If you want to learn, you have to show it. Spending a total of 6 hours sober/day/weekend is not the way to do it. Early and Late in the day is the time to get into the game. Often, early/late loads are literally LOOKING for people to get on them, make them fly, etc.

Get there early, get on first load.. let the instructors, packers, manifestors, DZOs etc. do their jobs during midday, and in the afternoon, stay sober! You WILL find a jump to get on. And perhaps a gorgeous sunset to boot!
The experienced people KNOW who's out there that want it. It may not seem like it at times, but they do.
Blue skies!