oldnewbie

I don't backtrack then flip back over, but one of my instructors when we flat tracked would be on his back, flying just in front of me and below me motioning for me to speed up. No matter how fast i would go, he would just speed up alittle more, waving at me the whole time. And I am a fairly fast tracker. The when it was time to pull, he would really speed up then. It was totally amazing how fast he could go, and how much control he had tracking

47 now, been jumping for a year and a half!!! [;) I see that there are several people around my age out there, its nice to see that there are other *mature* people out there!!!

Gosh Deuce, whats wrong with getting your A when your over 40?? lol I didn't get mine until I was 46. I think it would have been easier when i was 20!!!

I think that she is a typical cute kid!!! Funny, laughing all the time, and having fun. She kinda reminds me of my nieces (one which also happens to go to MSU and is a redhead, and yes, i did check to see if it was her)(and no she isn't my niece). I teach high school, and i can assure you, this is more mature than the 16 and 17 year olds in high school. Besides, her website is better than mine (since i don't have one)!!

I think that is great that you now have a rig to use!!! Despite what some others have said, its great!!! Now if only i had a rig!!!

I've also come to realize that I want to fly like a bird!! I have always wanted to really fly in the sky like a bird, I used to have dreams about this. I didn't take up skydiving for this reason though, since i never even thought that this was flying like a bird Then one day we were loaded in the plane, and two birdmen loaded. I didn't have a clue at that time what they were, other than they had *funny * outfits. I later found out, and watched them really *flying*!!! After watching some of the video clips that have been posted lately, I really believe that that is how i am going to fly like a bird. I also am not that concerned about jumping with other people for the sake of points etc (although this is also fun) I love tracking!!! I love soaring like a bird!!! When i get 500 jumps in, maybe i will be able to *fly like a bird*!!!

Jenbubbles, I had almost the same problem. I didn't know why i was so scared!! I love airplanes, am a pilot, etc. etc. I'm not even sure why i made my first jump, other than my parents live next to Eloy and took me over there to see if i wanted to jump. I was Ok with the tandems, but as soon as I had my own rig on, i became very scared. I would talk to myself all the way up to altitude, wondering why I'm doing this. I was scared to death, and to be honest, i didn't know why i kept jumping. I didn't enjoy it at all!!!! But i do love *flying*!!! My vacation was over when i had completed my first solo!!! A year later i went to visit my parents again, and for some reason i wanted to complete what i had started. I didn't know why, but I did. I was looking forward to jumping again, knowing that i would be totally scared. I had a whole year to work up to being totally scared again. Well, i went, I jumped, I wasn't totally scared, and I kind of enjoyed it.. So I started my coached jumps, and had a great coach. For some reason i wasn't scared anymore. He made me laugh, and I started enjoying jumping. I don't know why I'm not totally scared anymore, but i'm not!! I hope this helps you!! Now if i would just go to a dropzone that is closer than 1800 miles away from me!!!

Yep, there are a bunch of dropzones closer than 1800 miles, i just got to get off my butt during a nice weekend if we ever have one, and start jumping there!!!

thank you for posting this, i keep trying to read all i can on this subject. How do we know what the wind speed at altitude is, and the plane speed at a place like Eloy??(sorry, but i'm kinda new)

The funny thing is, i'm a pilot and i've flown 182's, i just can't seem to figure out how to jump out of them!!

I've only been to one dropzone so i guess that HAS been my home dropzone. Well, i'm about 1800 miles from it, so about 8 hours by plane then car, or several days if i were to drive down. I think it is about time to find a new home dropzone closer to where i live!!! I don't get to jump very often this way

I think that during your training, you might want to make one jump out of the 182. The only planes that I had jumped out of were otters, and skyvans. Then the last time i went I was in a Porter. During the ride up all i could think of was (besides how small this is) how do we exit out of here. I was lucky, I was the last one to exit, so i just did what everybody else did!!! Now that i have to find a home dropzone, i'm sure that they will have a 182 to jump out of. I don't have a clue how to do this (i have seen some posts on this) but i suspect that I will do OK!!!lol But i wish that i had jumped one 182 during training. Although i do hear that they will seem to take forever and then some to get up to altitude!!!! I think we had 9 in the porter, and having student gear, it sure is cramped in there! I wonder how many they can stuff in a 182!!

Well, when you were only about 8 years old, climbing inside seemed like a lot more fun!!! I don't know if you remember the old fridges that had the handles on it that locked, and you had to pull the handle to open it again!!! Well i found out why they are against the law now. I'm glad my mom heard me pounding on the fridge door, from the inside!!! It was VERY dark in there!! I wasn't always the sharpest rock in the river!!! And now i jump out of airplanes!!!

I went there two years ago, but at new years time. We drove from vegas, lots of people were getting speeding tickets but only the ones that were passing the rest of us that were speeding. Most things are kind of expensive there, so i would take a few credit cards. a few hundred i suppose. I usually get one to two miles per gallon more than the highway ratings on my car, for what thats worth. I would think that your friend would offer to split the gas with you. The only driving tip i have is to make sure you have a good spare tire. There are not many tire stores around. (actually none) I think there is an entrance fee for the park, but i can't remember. You need a national park sticker also. Don't speed in the park, they do give tickets!!! As far as other fees, there are lots of other fees. Riding the donkeys, etc. I think that in the summer you have to take the bus around the canyon due to the huge number of visitors there. Helicopter trips are expensive!!! The way we did it was we made a quick trip into the park in the afternoon, just before dark to look around a little bit. Then we went back into the town outside of the park and got a motel (very expensive, but not bad if shared) There is a great steak house next door also. Then the next day we got up early and saw everything. We could drive our car all around the rim, since it was the winter time, and nobody was there! We spent about 10 hours inside of the park. (I was in a hurry to go skiing, so we left early) I would think that you could and probably should spend two days there. (if not more). If you are going to walk down and spend the night (its a two day trip i think) i believe that you have to pay to do this. I started walking down when i was there, but didn't go all the way down since it was the winter, and it can snow so i'm told. Take lots and lots of water with you, whether you walk down the canyon or not. I plan on walking down next year. That looks like a great trip, but i hear that its pretty difficult. Take a camera etc. You might also see lots of cool animals while you are there, like wolves, deer etc. Just remember, everything is kinda expensive (although some of the meals were not that bad pricewise). Have fun!!!

Sorry Loudiamond, but i just received a phone call from PD telling me to look at my emails. I did, and they said that they had changed their minds, and awarded me the prize!!!!

I kinda use to clutch both ways, but i usually as i'm slowing down put it into neutral before i'm stopped. I worked my way through college driving a gravel train. Talking about having a huge left leg, 13 speeds and all. P.S. keeping the clutch pedal in doesn't wear out the throw-out bearing on the newer cars, but it did on the older ones, so i'm told by one of the engineers that designed them.

My freezer has a light bulb, and yes, i did crawl into it and it goes out when the door is shut!!!

Its also possible that the $1000 is a good price, and she actually needs everything that they said she does!!!! I'm glad that I do all of my own work, it sure can add up quickly paying for it!!!

Yeah, i know what you mean about the prices!!! I've painted a couple of suburbans with custom paint jobs, and i had about $1,000 in materials. And people keep asking me why i can't paint their cars and trucks for $400 and have them look like mine do!! I sure do like a good paint job!!

Sorry to hear this!! My thoughts and prayers will be with him

Can you tell i like PPG paint!!!! Yeah, any automotive paint store will have the *real* stuff.

Best thing is the 10 weeks off in the summer, 2 more at xmas, 2 more at Easter, and 10 more days that they just let me have to visit my parents in February that live in casa grande. They also throw in a paycheck every 2 weeks. Is required to be on the internet one hour per day (so old people can learn how to use the computer) while i'm at work. Most of my co-workers are kinda boring though, they think i'm weird for skydiving, flying airplanes, and racing cars. Ok, maybe i am!!!

Yep!!, Go to your nearest PPG paint store (automotive) and they sell the trim paint and have the instructions that go along with the paint. In the instruction, they explain what products to prep the metal, plastic, or cloth. I've used these several times, and all of their products and cleaners/prep stuff has worked quite well. I think the trim paint is produced by a company called SEM!! You didn't mention if the trim was plastic or metal. If it is plastic, if you use the cleaner and prep, it kinda softens the plastic up so that it grips the paint better. Good luck and have fun!

When i first started (not that long ago) I was also scared to death. My coach would notice that I wasn't smiling at all. He kept asking me if I was having fun. I of course would say "yes" (which i wasn't, i was too scared). He would keep telling me to *smile*. When he would see me not smiling, he would put a huge smile on his face. That would make me start laughing. When we would exit, he would be right there with that huge smile on his face. which would make me smile and laugh. As soon as i smiled/laughed, i would relax, and then it seemed like everything i did was very good. After 5 jumps with him *making* me smile, I now enjoy skydiving!!!

Great Vids, thanks for posting them!! Sure looks like fun.