London86

Had an interesting day on Friday! I had two jumps to go to get my A license - went up to the DZ, got on a load and jumped using the new Javelin student rigs, i'd downsized the week prior from a 260 to a 230, and jumped the Javelin with a Saber 2, 3 times the week before. Opened up at 4k - the opening was absolutely disgusting, really really hard - the bruises around my thighs are still black! Had about 5 line twists which spun out by themselves, which i thought was odd. I look up and see a broken line on the left and immediately though "oh sh1t" - Check my altimiter and i'm at about 3.3k. Unstow toggles to do steerability check, then realize that the broken line was the left steering line, immediately plummet into a downward spiral. EP training kicked in and i run through the procedures as taught in my classes. Unfortunately lost the reserve handle, managed to keep the cutaway handle. Totally surprised at how quick i was under the reserve canopy, I'm pretty sure i didn't beat the RSL, but pulled reserve handle anyway. Managed a nice flight down and landed on my feet under the reserve despite the terrible flare. Shouts of "BEEEEEER" as i landed. Took a couple hours to get myself back together and went and done my 25th jump to get licensed

Media hype is valid, when something goes off in the US to do with guns the UK report on it quite a lot. I've taken a keen interest in it and actually explored more than media reports, due to moving i wanted to know if i was going to be in a good area etc. here's a link from the BBC - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34996604 - it states 11,000 homicides from guns in 2011 - Not sure how accurate this is, but the BBC are usually fairly good with their reports. Gun homicides in the UK in 2013 were 23 casualties My perspective with the walking around at 2am... If i was in the UK after a few drinks one night walking home, which is around 1 mile here, and also when i was in the UK. There would be people hanging around looking for the oppurtunity to mug you in certain parts of town, and that'd be knife crime. Knife crime in the UK is pretty big, and it's illegal to carry a knife. I don't make it a habit to walk around early hours of the morning after a few drinks, but in the UK people looking to mug you / steal money will approach you because you can't arm yourself - the only defense you have is your fists and running. On two occasions i've been attempted to be robbed, on both occasions i've managed to lamp them and run, luckily i'm a half decent runner and literally just ran. Why do i feel safer walking around here? i couldn't tell you, maybe people assume there's a possibility i'm carrying a concealed weapon... or maybe I've just been lucky and picked a good spot to live in. That said, there was a shooting in a club around a 10 minute drive from me last week in which 2 people died and 4 injured, this was on the opposite side of town. *edit 11,000 in 2011, not 2015

Keep at it fella, it'll honestly get easier. I failed the same level 3 times during my A license progression. but once you've nailed it, the feeling after is awesome :)

I'd like to put across my view, as a non american, but now living in Texas. Yep - i certainly chose the state to live where guns are pretty much everywhere I had a conversation at work with a few people last week about a similar subject. So from my point of view, i grew up in the UK, until i moved to Texas last January for my job. I had never seen a gun in real life before, except when i went to heathrow airport and you'd see police patrolling with either a handgun, or an MP5 - sometimes both. that was the extent of exposure to guns a standard UK citizen would get. Then i moved to Texas, i had floods of offers from people i knew in work to go take me shooting, so i accepted and went to a shooting range with 3 guys, who all brought their own weapons with them. when one of the guys turned up with 7 cases (BIG cases) i was literally stunned that people are allowed to own these sort of things, let alone bring them to a shooting range to fire them! I've attached a picture of the guns i fired, i was given tuition and instruction by the guys, and i have to say - it was mega fun, but all i had to do was show my drivers license and sign a form. What's to say i wouldn't turn around and go crazy and annihilate everyone? I've never understood the need to have the availability of guns, i do understand that people want to protect themselves, but for me - the number of people dying from them in the states alone is crazy. It's also incredibly strange, I live in downtown Fort Worth - and regularly go out on a Friday night, I feel a lot safer walking around at 2am in the morning by myself than what i did when i was living back in the UK after a night out, despite knowing the fact most people have guns! I'm never allowed to own a gun on the visa i'm currently on, but i can honestly say i probably wouldn't want to. I respect the gun culture, i know that the majority of people have been brought up with guns from a young age, but at the same time - I've been brought up without guns at all, it's two completely different worlds.

I've been jumping a 260 Navigator all the way up until this weekend, when i got downsized to a 230. I weigh 205lbs. However, i'm now jumping a Javelin Odyssey rig with a Sabre 2 230. The comfort of wearing that, and the opening of the parachute is soooooo much better. Although i did slightly panic when no one told me the parachute would take around 3-4 seconds longer to fully inflate than the navigator and thought i had a streamer malfunction.

I now live in Texas, but voted out - in the unlikely event i ever went back. Won't be long before other countries start doing the same in my opinion, there's been a lot of opposition to the EU from other countries inside it too. Also made me laugh how the remain camp have opened a petition to have a 2nd referendum because they didn't get the result they wanted

That level 6 exit looked super fun! Congrats man, i'm in the same boat as you, graduated AFF last month and half way through my coaching jumps, A license within the next 4 hopefully :) Awesome video's - hell of a lot more stable than i was on your early jumps!

oh wow, that must have been an interesting first attempt!! I'm not sure how it works on a cessna, but isn't there at least one instructor usually on the inside of the plane, and just the one on the outside? Either way, good effort on going back up to jump again after that.

There's no way an 18 year old me would have even afforded AFF, let alone taking it up full time. I earn good money now, but still put other things aside like going out with the missus to pay for getting through my student program. she's learnt to settle for chicken nuggets and fries

Good luck, no doubt you'll love it :) I'm a recent AFF graduate and working toward my A license, so know the feels you'll be going through. enjoy! :)

I graduated my AFF recently and had a similar problem towards the latter of my levels. My instructor taught me to tap my toes together twice, by doing so i was bringing my legs level with each other. it worked a treat for me. I also spent 30 minutes in the tunnel, and this helped no end - especially getting a video of it to see how my legs look when i'm belly flying. Obviously I'm still new to the sport and still learning, but just putting out there what worked for me, just run it past your instructor first.

yay :D I know the feeling, managed my first 3 in a row last weekend lol! That was after landing sideways in a 20mph crosswind and being dragged across the landing area so it made it all the better

Welcome :) For me, I went straight in at AFF - i'm nearing the end of my course and hoping to have my license pretty soon. I haven't done a tandem, part of me is curious to do one though. a 2nd tandem is a great idea - by the sounds of it you're pretty convinced already, and i think you'll be even more convinced to do AFF after a 2nd tandem :) Enjoy!

I had a similar issue on level 4, my 90 degree turns weren't great, but literally only just enough to get me on to level 5 - but i wanted to perfect these before having to do 360 turns. Went and had 10 minutes tunnel time, my instructor there was a skydiver, but not an AFF instructor - but we stuck to my AFF plan and concentrated solely on turns. Managed to get them stable in the tunnel, and my next jump was a breeze. Tunnels expensive, but so worth the money when learning. I still go regularly now after graduating AFF and making my way towards A license.

tried this once. safe to say i lost, badly. Then spent the rest of the evening regretting it

That's normal, first jump will always be the most difficult, but just remember - follow what you've been taught and you've got two instructors with you to look after you. I've just finished level 6 and am still relatively nervous. The bit that makes me the most nervous is the ride to altitude, especially when there's a ton of experienced skydivers in there! My last 3 exits have been with one instructor, and the first time I've actually been outside the aircraft whilst in the air before leaving. Those were 100x better than the exit strategy with 2 instructors. It honestly gets better

Thought i recognized the photo, i did my levels 5 and 6 Friday. Glad i ended up waiting until 5pm to get the jumps in! Congrats man, see you next weekend! Jack

I've got a Surface Pro 4 - it's a work's machine, but it's still my main system. I use it for literally everything, working at desk, in meetings, at home, on plane when travelling. Wouldn't be without it now i have one!

Good luck dude, sent some moolah your way. I've ran the London marathon twice so i know the pain you'll be going through, especially from all the months of training and eventually on the day! As long as you don't look as stupid as i did in the attached pic when i ran it (due to a lost bet) - you'll love the day. Yes that's me as snow white with orange hair. kids watching from the sidewalks that day no longer have any interest in snow white. Enjoy Jack

Haha that intro had me laughing Welcome! i'm in the same boat as you right now.. learning. I'm progressing onto my AFF level 5 this weekend, hoping to get the last 3 lessons done and finished this weekend, weather permitting! Good luck on the AFF when the time comes, no doubt you'll love it :)

Incredible video. It's video's like this that inspired me to get on my AFF course, i will be there doing that one day :) Great video

Impressive

Congrats on level 1! I done mine 2 weeks ago, and know what you mean. I'm on Level 4 next weekend. Don't worry, it honestly gets easier from here, despite having the nerves every ride up and whilst you're waiting for the wind to die down, they gradually become less and less. I managed to land on my feet on Saturday, no greater feeling than doing that for the first time :D