mww115

I gotta agree there... Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !

Bought a perfect Tonysuit. Love it. The pattern, the fit. Problem is it is slow and I'm above everyone in RW, despite a mean arch. Besides a weight belt, any other ideas? Mike Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !

Thanks for all your input guys and girls. This past weekend there was 3 or four of us doing RW, most with low jump numbers. Somehow, I wound up the organizer. The pictures gave me a few ideas. Now it's just nailing the exit and not going over my partner. She's out, I'm in (my feet aren't on my ass, they're IN it). And of course the RW skills. Thanks again. Mike Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !

I'm starting to work on formations. Doing some catting, accordians, etc. I seem to learn a new formation/ name everytime I go up. And that's good b/c the day I stop learning is the day I go in the ground. But I was wondering... Is there a book I could purchase and look at some pictures of formations? I checked the SIM and couldn't find anything. And we don't have a Skydiving U anywhere close. Thanks for any help. Mikey

Having just returned from Iraq, I had 8 months of tax free money to spend. Always wanted to get my license, just didn't have the time or money. Now with saved up leave and hazard fire pay, I had both. My brother got his license there in the early '90s. My sister in the late 90's. There must have been a reason why they went there. I did a combination AFF/IAF program. I had plenty of static line military jumps and a few civilian static line jumps from 172s. The plan was to stay for 5 days and jump as often as possible, then return and jump 5 more. The staff was amazing. I slept at first in a tent and had numerous offers to stay here or there. In those 10 days on my way to my A license I went through many 'firsts', and we all shared stories and beers at the ends of the day. They showed me the local bar, CAVU's (Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited), about 6 min away. The packing area is covered (great for those NY Julys), there's a small snack bar there, and the local pizza place is great. The aircraft are great, and even during the week the Otter gets up over a dozen times. I now know why my brother and sister got their licenses there.

Has anyone ever heard of a Boggie Reserve? Who makes them? When were they stopped? And most importantly, why? Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !

The 101st club is still in existence but poorly run by current management. They utilize one C-182 and currently have borrowed a Otter from Raeford for a few weeks. They max the lift out at 16 or 18 people. The SF guys have begun to go out there and jump to get their B license. Then Military Freefall school (HALO) is only 2 weeks. Unfortunately the one AFF instructor does not have the SKYDIVING mentality and is fairly abbrasive. To give youan example of the method of instruction, an SF Captian had 2 cutaways in 10 jumps. They all pack their own without any real oversite. People with less than 10 jumps packing their own, w/o an instructor or rigger watching; not their fault. It's the DZ's. I've seen worse in my time in the military as far as instructors go. The owner of the DZ ALSO manages the FT Campbell Parachute club (seems a conflict of intrest to me) Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !

What you experienced is a spontaneous pneumothorax, a leaking of the lung into the pleural cavity. Being an Army ER nurse and an EMT, we occassionally see these accidents. They occassionally happen during HALO operations with SF guys also. Nothing causes spontaneous pneumos, but tall thin white males are more prone to them. While cynical and implying that the medical community is 'prejudice' he should examine the prejudices he is informing. Billvon had the right idea, however, in the fact that it would be better to relate skydiving to SCUBA. And WMW999 was correct: find a medical professional who you can TRUST. Speak to a doctor who knows or specializes in hyperbaric medicine. He should be able to best explain to you how to approach the subject. I'll try to answer anything specific you have, but a doc is better suited for the questions. Mike Until you've stepped out at 800' in the dead of night with 100 lbs of chute and equipment.. you haven't jumped. AIRBORNE !