Sharksblood

Well, I finally got my jumpsuit from EG Jumpsuits. After still no jumpsuit when he promised yet again to ship it when he got back from traveling, this past Sunday I gave him 1 week to get it to me or I would call my credit card company, report him for fraud and reverse the charges. My jumpsuit arrived, three days later. This was the jumpsuit that I ordered on January 4, that was listed as "in stock", and that I was charged for immediately. It took almost 2 months and 10 e-mails to get it, but it looks nice, fits well and I am looking forward to trying it out this weekend. Not sure it was worth the hassle to save a few bucks, but you live and learn.

I am having similar problems getting a jumpsuit I ordered. I placed my order on January 2 for a suit that he listed as in stock that should have shipped right away. He charged my credit card immediately and after not getting the suit for 2 weeks I e-mailed on January 15 to ask what the status was. He wrote on January 17 "just I traveling at the same time, and was really hard to ship.. as soon as back home(1-week) I will ship your suit....thank you" As of January 29 still no suit so I e-mailed again. He wrote back on February 3 and said "I don;t forgot you... just I am so busy.. and now I am traveling... I" ll be back in 2 week and I will send your suit... noone is in my shop then could send you that is becouse I am late with you and others order.... please wait i will send you as soon as be home....thank you" Based on some of the other experiences here I am wondering if he just lists jumpsuits claiming they are in stock when he doesn't really have anything. He collects your money and delays as long as he can until you threaten to cancel the order and only then he makes a suit or pulls anything he has on the shelf and ships it whether it is what you ordered or not so he can drag out the process some more. Maybe I will actually get my suit soon and it will be what I ordered, but it seems this is a case of buyer beware.

My second jump was scheduled for this morning after the past week of apprehension, fear and wondering what the hell happened on that first jump, whether skydiving was for me or even if I could do this again. I was feeling confident this morning after the time in the wind tunnel yesterday and hoping to get some feedback from the instructors based on my video from the wind tunnel. I got the same two instructors as I had for my first jump and they said they wanted me to repeat the AFF level 1 even though they had passed me in the log book last week. They said they only did that in case the DZ operator might not have given me a free repeat jump, but since I did get a free jump, they thought it would be better for me to repeat level 1 than to try to move on to level 2. They then took the time to review my video from the wind tunnel and commented that my body position and stability improved considerably from flight to flight. They felt my work in the wind tunnel would help with the fall rate. Also to help address the fall rate issue on my second jump, one instructor wore a 15 pound weight belt, the other said he would fly in a sit if he needed to and I had lost 5 pounds since last week, so I was down to a fully clothed weight of 218. They also put me in a 2X jumpsuit. All in all I think I just felt more relaxed, confident and better prepared for this jump. We went out at 12,500 above ground level. This time the wind was familiar. No more than the wind tunnel. I did my count to 4,000. Did my altimeter check. Checked the horizon. Checked with instructor on the right. Big thumbs up! Checked with the instructor on the left. big thumbs up! The rest of the skydive was a flawless AFF 1 dive. I was actually able to look around me and see what an absolutely incredible view and experience this was. During my leg extensions and forward motion I was having so much fun I was actually making faces and "thumbs up" to the cameraman. This time my log book reads: Jump#2 Date 9/2/12 Aircraft: Otter Equip: Nav 280 Exit altitude:12,500 Skydive: AFF Level 1 Repeat Exit: Set up and exit good Maneuvers: COA good, 3 PCTs- good w/ assist, good on alt awareness, good on fwd movement, legs out on signal in Freefall-good, continue w/arch thru deployment, pull by self by 5,000' Canopy control: Excellent! Min. Radio Assist Tunnel Time Made The Difference! Landing: PLF modified! Flare at 10-12ft. Passed to level 2. (I was told our fall rate averaged 132 mph- down from the 154 we clocked on the first jump) The only thing I had to deal with was after my chute deployed I looked up and the damn thing was in a line twist about 8 times. I thought I survived the skydive and now I am going to have to do a cutaway on my second jump. But I checked my altimeter and was still at over 4,000 feet so I started kicking like crazy to swing and spin and it started to untwist. In just a few seconds I was straight and steady. I checked the canopy and it was smooth sailing from there. OH MY GOD!!! This is the the most incredible thing I have ever done in my life! I can't wait to do it again! I am so glad I screwed up my courage to get back in that plane and jump again. Thank you to everyone on the forum for your kind words of encouragement, advice and support. It helped me with some focus and direction to get back out there today and jump again. I don't know yet if this will become a lifelong avocation, but already it has been a life changing experience. Thanks a million.

I just got back from the wind tunnel. Thanks adagen for the advice to give this a try. I feel like I got to make all the mistakes in I would have made on my next 8 skydives in one afternoon, without the added fear and pressure of the actual skydive. I had a great instructor at the iFly facility that I told all about my first jump issues and that I am doing the AFF 2 tomorrow and he worked with me through each successive flight to improve my arch, arms, legs and body position. I had a video made of all my flights that I can show my instructors tomorrow and that I can use to help myself see what my issues are. I already could see that I was arching so much I was almost folding backwards. I was also letting my arms and shoulders push back behind me. -I learned to arch less, that I need to pull arms and shoulders forward toward my chest, to move my hands more forward, relax and unclench fist/fingers. -To make turns I only need slight movement of hands and arms, not to pivot or twist my entire shoulder or body or it will make me flip over. I feel much more confident and ready to take on my AFF 2 training and jump tomorrow. I have my video and a list of questions for my instructors. Thanks again to everyone for your words of advice and encouragement.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice. You have given me some points to follow up on and helped me set up a plan to "get back on the horse." 1. I think my impressions of my instructors are that they were very good and skilled. One had 11,000 jumps and the one who pulled my chute had 17,000 jumps. My problem and reason for questions is my own self-doubt. 2.i wil ask about a bigger suit and I am sure someone will consider the instructors wearing weights, etc. to compensate for my fall rate. (I guess I am an "Anvil", I weight 215 lbs and am 5'11" tall but the at the DZ the morning of the jump, after breakfast, and 3 coffees, with all my clothes, they weighed me at 225. 3. I am booked for my AFF level 2 tomorrow morning at 8am. 4. I am going to do training in a wind tunnel where I signed up for 8 minutes of flight time this afternoon. I feel better knowing I did a lot right and I am ready to give this another try. I am still nervous, but I am going to ask a lot of questions, make sure I go through everything I learned last week all over again and have a kick ass jump. Thanks.

I did my AFF Level 1 class and jump last Saturday and thankfully everything ended well with a nice landing, but the skydive didn't go as planned and I am still not sure I understand what happened even after the debrief with the instructors. I feel I need to get this clear in my head before I try to jump again. I took my position in the door, right foot forward on the ledge, left foot behind it, hands on the forward door opening. I leaned out the door, Chest out, I looked right and "Check in" with My first instructor, I looked left and "Check out" with my second instructor. Rock forward "1", rock backward "2", AND JUMP!!! I remembered "I must arch my pelvis forward and count to 'four one thousand'"as I ride out of the prop blast and settle into the stable belly down flying position. But Holy Crist, the turbulence was unbelievable. I was trying to do my count, but my body was being blasted and trying to twist from side to side. It was like someone was trying to flip me over on both sides and shaking the hell out of me. I was trying to keep the body position I was taught, but my arms were flailing uncontrollably and I was shaking so much I couldn't even focus on the sky. I tried to keep my focus on my count to 4,000 and look at my altimeter for the prescribed check, but my arm was still shaking and flailing so much I couldn't see the altimeter to get the reading. I tried to check my heading and the horizon, but I still couldn't focus on the sky or anything else when I looked ahead. I decided I would just go to the next item in my maneuvers, which was to check right and left with my instructors. I look to my right to check in with my first instructor. HE WAS NO WHERE IN SIGHT! I remembered in training they said if you are separated from your instructors, just pull your chute. I needed to see about the second instructor first. I look to my left. HE WASN'T THERE EITHER! ---But before I try to pull my chute, I saw out of the corner of my eye that The second instructor was still with me, but he was not next to me, but kind of behind and above me. I couldn't pull my parachute then or it would deploy into him. Since The instructor was still with me and not telling me otherwise I thought maybe I should try to continue with my planned practice touches of the ripcord. The violent shaking had not gotten any better and I still had no idea what my altitude was, but I tried to move my right arm to make the first practice touch. I couldn't get my arm to move past my shoulder for the shaking and twisting I was being thrown around with. I was thinking this is not good. I had to see what my altitude was... BOOOOM! Everything suddenly stopped. I realize my parachute had deployed. I looked up and saw that the chute was open and everything looked good. I made a normal safe landing and went to find my instructors to see what happened. I thought I must have screwed up really bad. My instructor said "You didn't do anything wrong. We had a problem matching your fall rate. It happens sometimes where some people fall at a faster than normal rate. We weren't prepared for it and couldn't keep up with you." "They clocked you at 153 miles per hour. You made a perfect exit, but as soon as we went out, The other instructor and I were vertical above you hanging on and trying to stay with you. We were crashing into each other as we tried to stay with you, but we couldn't keep up." "The other instructor peeled off and I stayed with you to try to stabilize and catch up, but I still couldn't keep up, so I pulled your reserve at 6,000 feet." When I went out I felt all the violent shaking and I thought I had bad body position so I kept trying to arch more. The instructor said "Your body position was great. The shaking was the other instructor and Me banging into each other while we were hanging onto you trying to keep up." I weigh 225 pounds and wondered if my fall rate had anything to do with my weight. But the instructor said "No, I have jumped with hundreds of students who weigh the same or much more than you who don't fall like that. This is just one of those things where some people just fall fast. The instructor wrote the following in log book: "Jump #1 Date. 8 25 12 Aircraft. Caravan Skydive: AFF Level 1 Exit: Great Exit Maneuvers: Jumpmasters had fall rate problems, so maneuvers could not be completed. Jumpmasters could not stay down. Reserve side pulled out @ 6000'. 150 mph fall rate Canopy Control: Great Get to holding area quicker. Landing: Soft landing on target Passed to Level 2 So now I am wondering if this explanation makes any sense. If I have this fall rate issue, what can I, or the instructors do any different on the next jump to make sure the same thing doesn't happen? The school offered to give me the AFF 2 jump at no charge and wrote "FAST" on the card I am to present to whoever I get as the next instructor, but frankly, I am more nervous now than before the first jump. I want to "get back on the horse" so to speak, but would like to figure some of this out first. Any thoughts from the forum would be appreciated.