2wheeljunkie

One of my whuffo friends has started calling me "wind dummy" I call him road litterer (b/c he's a Harley owner) Don't give me crap about the HD crack. If you're on 2 wheels or in the sky, you're cool in my book. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

This might be a repost and may belong in Bonfire, but I found it amusing. http://teamhouse.tni.net/Misc/airborne/mishaps.htm P.S. For those at my DZ who may read this, I haven't walked away. I'll be back real soon (with some money!). By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Congratulations. AFF looks like a blast. My first was a tandem. 2,3,4, and 5 static line. 6 was hop-n-pop. Nice landing. I was so excited that I made soft landings on my first 3 solos that I forgot to collapse the canopy and got dragged. And I was warned not to get dragged or the JM's would laugh. Shut up JM's. It's not that funny. Anyway, get some more jumps in. I need to, too. If I don't hurry, they're going to make me do another static line. Missed the last 2 weeks. One due to hangover, one due to wind. Shouldn't have been hung over that first week. It was beautiful. Anyway, good luck and Blue Skies. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

I avoided caffeine today and did my last S/L and my first solo freefall today. I think I felt more relaxed. I don't know if the lack of caffeine had anything to do with it. It was a good day. I think I'll continue this trend. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

I got a bit of a fat lip from my radio (I think)on my last S/L. I think my leg straps were a bit too loose. I'm only 5'7", though. I'll make damn sure they are tight next time. It felt to me that they were tight when I boarded, but I guess this changes on deployment. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

I did my first tandem on 4-4. I'm not fond of the static line either, but I have learned a lot from the 3 that I have done. I'm learning to be a parachutist. I'll have plenty of time for freefall. S/L progression is a LOT cheaper than tandem or AFF. I have one more to go before first solo freefall. Like many others, I'm sure, I've had a little apprehension during the week, but I can't get it out of my head. It's easy to say now, but I don't think I'll ever be able to walk away. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

I'm glad I did a tandem first. I was overloaded for the first 10 seconds. Screamed "Oh my God!". Then I settled out and had a marvelous experience. I laughed hysterically most of the way down. Did great at turns and assisting ripcord pull. Stand-up landing. I think the tandem helped me get a better understanding of the landing flare and the initial exit. I'm in a S/L progression now. Get off the line after one more. I've had 2 weeks off from jumping and can't wait to get back. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

For anyone else that answers, I'm not questioning my DZ's judgement. I'm just stepping into this sport conservatively and plan to continue at a relative snail's pace. I want to do this frequently! The winds were a little higher than my previous 3 jumps for my last jump. I noticed it and had to limit my canopy experimentation because I was headed to the DZ pretty fast. I was not worried about it, but I'm just interested in some numbers, and some DZ info (do they display AWS). I'm getting off the training wheels (S/L) my next day at the DZ. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Or should I STFU and let them run the show (and my comfort level, whatever that is)? By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Yeah, I caught that. Pretty scary. I have no idea what that's like, but it's really eye-opening. How often does that happen...anybody? I really need to stop watching malfunction/cutaway/BASE videos...or do I need to watch more? By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Holy Crap dude. Soul Flyers II is unreal.

Thanks all. I know I'm verbose, but I feel the need to vent to understanding minds. I get something out of every reply. John, I'm not switching DZ's. I like where I am, and I'm sticking with it until license or longer. QL StL was dead by the time I got there today (high winds). Got a great 200+ miles in on the bike, though. Static line ends in 1 day at the DZ By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

I did PRCP 3 & 4 yesterday. I was really confident on the first jump. It felt really good. I felt stable. I did a good PRCP, stowed my cord, however, the following jumpers said they saw feet. My arch was decent, but I put my head down. My instructor told me to focus on the wing on the next jump. Well, I had good focus on the wing, but my arms were forward, and I apparently kicked a foot forward and did a back-flip. Must have faith in the arch. I was pissed for a few seconds. I actually got to see the line twist this time and compensate for it with the risers. Also got to manually move the slider down. Good experience. I remembered to do the PCRP, but it was waaaay late. My hands were already in the toggles. The wind had started to pick up on my second jump, and I had to limit my turns because I was moving toward the DZ fast. Both of my landings were soft, but with a pull down. Have to let go of ONE toggle. Oh, and take that step forward. The day was a good dose of confidence followed by a good dose of humility. Today I'm going to take a nice, relaxing m/c ride through some major twisties to the other DZ in the area and check it out. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Not a tandem. Talked to Gary and Kari and decided to do a S/L progression. More jumps - less money. See my general post for a description. Post reads "A little shook up" Hope to see ya at the DZ. By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. They helped a lot. I'm a lot better this morning. (Sweet, sweet beer) And I realized that I've got a weekend between on-call and my fishing trip. I'm going to spend this weekend away from the DZ and do some riding. I have to remember to close my blinds or my neighbors will think I'm crazy if they see me doing PRCP's and arches. Thanks everyone. Blue Skies By no means have I conquered fear, but I have knocked the crap out of it.