Night Night Night Jumps!

[goose491 0]

Did my pre-second Night Jump on Saturday!

Man what a rush that was!!! We all had Glow sticks taped to our legs and arms. Pure darkness in the plane safe for them. 'twas like a mini-rave in the Twin Otter. Did two practice passes to spot the DZ. There was talk of "where is it?!?!" and "I don't see it!!" lol

Went out solo and flew on my back... the moon was big and bright and the view of the lake and shore was unparalleled by anything I've ever seen before! The glow of the chemlights was pretty neat in my peripheral vision too, gave the whole jump a real floaty, supernatural tone. I lost sight of the DropZone while under canopy though when I noted another coming straight at me. "Heeeeeeelllllloooooooo!" I shouted and we passed eachother happily. By the time I had the small conflict delt with, I could not spot our landing area. (it must have been just behind me!) I finally found it but I had flown quite a bit past it. Landed way off (well, a field over anyway) I could probably have made it back but there is a significant ridge of trees between our field and the one I landed in so I made the decision to go for the out.

If the farmers happened to of looked out there window, they might have thought there was some sort of Alien invasion going on, what with the crashing into their crops from the air (no wind, half-brakes, plf), the glowsticks, the funny clothes, helmet and goggles... heheee.

This older couple drove by me on my walk back, they stopped and asked "Are you on your way to that skydiving place?"... I looked blankly at them, then at the parachute I had flung over my back, then at the helmet under my other arm.... "What skydiving place?" I asked.... "Get in the back, you've got a bit of a hike to make here."... They drove me back, it was quite an entrance. lol

Man what a rush!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[poohbeer 0]

You can smoothmouth it all you want but this was your FIRST nightjump!! Congratulations!
Ow and euhhm.. be nice to whuffo's giving a ride back the the DZ will ya. Who knows if I might ever need a lift of those folks

------- SIGNATURE BELOW -------
Complete newbie at skydiving, so be critical about what I say!!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

[dterrick 0]

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Did my pre-second Night Jump on Saturday!

Mine was three weeks ago. We had 13 participants at Gimli and 7 of us owed BEER!! for the experience.

sounds like we have an easier time of the landings than you do, being on a prairie WWII airfield and all. Still, I hear ya wot with the glowsticks and strobes and sunglasses at night... first time I've worn an audible... Mars looked awesome... the near-full moon erected a column of silvery light from the edge of lake Winnipeg all the way up the sky
One of our participants has sent Ned a submission for CanPara - might want to do the same and have them combined into a superspecial

-Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[pilotdave 0]

I did my second night jump saturday night. My first was a two way last January. So this time I planned to do a solo (backwards, I know). There were 9 of us jumping, with most people wanting to do 2 jumps. Instead of just firing up the twin otter and making a few passes, they decided to take us up 3 at a time, plus a loadmaster to spot, in the 182, making one pass per person. A LOT of overkill to keep traffic down if you ask me.

But anyway, I was supposed to be last out. As we circled back toward the DZ, the pilot asked the spotter if he wanted to jump or ride the plane down. They were discussing how long it was taking and weren't too thrilled by a 4th pass. So I suggested he go first, open at 3000, and I'd give him some room and open at 4. With his tiny canopy, a conflict would be almost impossible. So we discussed the details of that as the jumprun started. Finally we just decided to do a 2-way. "Dirt" dived it just before opening the door. It went great. We went out docked, got stable, let go, I did a 360, redocked, he did a 360, redocked, and broke off at 4. I pulled at 3.5, he pulled at 3. Didn't see him again until I was on the ground.

Night jumps are awesome. I think I'll probably do them every chance I get.

Dave

[goose491 0]

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You can smoothmouth it all you want but this was your FIRST nightjump!! Congratulations!

caught that did you? hehee

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Ow and euhhm.. be nice to whuffo's giving a ride back the the DZ will ya. Who knows if I might ever need a lift of those folks

Oh I was nice. It was real nice of them to stop for me! I just found it funny that they had to ask you know? They got a good laugh at it anyway... It's like "No, I always walk around with this combersome fabric or sort and strange backpac that can't hold nothing, and a helmet and goggles and .... etc... hehehee.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[goose491 0]

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Mars looked awesome... the near-full moon erected a column of silvery light from the edge of lake Winnipeg all the way up the sky

That's right! I didn't even mention Mars! How cool is that! It sure did look pretty nice! Could see it, and then kinda see it's reflection in the water. Just a beaute!

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[dterrick 0]

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they decided to take us up 3 at a time, plus a loadmaster to spot, in the 182, making one pass per person. A LOT of overkill to keep traffic down if you ask me.

We had loads of 4 in our 182. I experienced NJ'er and 2-3 newbies. All had strobes to be used under canopy. All had dytters set for 4500 and 3500 depending if you ere 1st or 2nd out on the pass. 2 jumpers per pass. glowsticks galore. We were prety much going to the letter of the endorsement and I'm glad we did. There were no problems but the whole thing was like a hands-on FJC again.

The moon didn;t riste till after 11 and I was on load #1 - I think I logged it as Saturday's date but landed on Sunday! the3 Beer light didn't come on till 2:45 ayem!!!!

I got no sleep. Still wired from the experience, and due to be working the sports car race next door starting at 9 ayem, I opted to stay up and fire up the grille for the concession at about 6:30 ayem. Man was I wrecked by the end of that weekend.

Again!!

-Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[Unstable 9]

LOL i was more terrorfied my first night jump than i was my first Skydive ever!!1 THey are a total rush, arn't they????!?!?!

=========Shaun ==========

[goose491 0]

Certainly are!

We also followed the endorsement to a tee. I felt like I was in the first jump course again. Espesially when it came down to spotting the DZ from the air hehee.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[jimmytavino 16]

sure does make for a memorable jump..
Our club ( Frontier) sent the Otter up about 11:15 pm this past Friday Night.... .... We were just just east of Niagara Falls,,, and yes,, the sky was beautiful.....We could see an entire ring of lights running around the lake shore , all the way across to Toronto and points East Not only did we do a night jump,,, but we completed a 12 way Night POPS dive.( ALL club members)......hahahaha It flew great,, we had 12 in the formation, ( over 30,000 jumps total) a video in the formation and a video outside, and 2 "flood light fliers".....the dive went great, everyone did his/her job and , we believe that the 12 way may eclipse the current POPS night RW jump of 10...... Maybe there was something magical in the air above Lakes Erie and Ontario,,, this past weekend...
We will be planning to do a night 16 way POPS dive yet this season,, since many of our POPS members,,could not be there on Fri.
Congratulations on yet another accomplishment in YOUR jumping career... jmy

[dterrick 0]

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Espesially when it came down to spotting the DZ from the air hehee.

Maan, I'm strting to feel like a night jump weenie after all your 'troubles' Goose. Ours is a 6800 ft runway, still in use by the military on occasion, with all the lights and beacon and everything else needed to find it. Five keys on the mic during jumprun and voila there it was.

Go ahead, call us wimps. Our bowl is a 50 metre 'sea of peas' used by the SARtecs just to top it all off.

Now, landing 'off' DZ when we're pushing the technical limit of 'day jumps' can be a challenge, but springtime's freshly plowed fields are nice and soft...

-Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[HRHSkyPrincess 0]

We did night jumps at our dz Saturday night, too! It was so beautiful to step out into the stars and three-quarter moon...the dz was just below, easily seen (thanks to the perfect spot by our pilot, Heath). The first landing was a stand-up and the second was a plk (parachute landing knee). Woo woo~~! And yes, it was my 'first' night jumps and, I hope, not my last. I loved it!!!!!

*****************
Attitude is everything!

[brycewitcher 0]

I'm glad that USPA requires night jumps in order to get a D license...otherwise I probably would not have done it. I did 2 night jumps last weekend. Nervous at first, but as soon as I found myself resembling a Christmas ornament, hanging in the sky, I felt at one with the nature around me. It was a somewhat spiritual experiance. It definately taught me more about myself. From where I was freefalling, I could see Phoenix and Tucson. What a remarkable experience.

Before I did the jumps, I though "how stupid that the USPA requires this." But afterwards, I am glad that this is a requirement. I hope it remains. It helps in learning how to deal with limited sensory input, but the side effect is pure enjoyment. Bravo USPA. And Bravo to everyone who has done it. I love this sport.