FallingMarc

Hehe, when I left on Saturday, Anita asked me, "Now, you're not totally converted, right? You're still going to do RW from time to time?" Hey, it's all skydiving... I'll try anything... Marc

I can do the thumb thing, I used to be able to make a couple of teeth fall out and snap them back in. That was fun to sneak in when only one person in a crowd is looking, then act like I had no idea what they're talking about when they freak out. Oh, and I can leave a perfect circle on my forehead by enthusiastically attempting and failing to crush a beer can... Marc

Wow. What a weekend. So I bought my first rig on friday afternoon, then go out with a couple of friends and have an excellent political debate over a pitcher of Killian's. Now I'm feeling good, and I meet up with some skydiving buddies and we all go see Run, Lola, Run on the big screen... what an awesome movie! I highly recommend it. Saturday morning: up at 7 and to the DZ we go! The weather is *gorgeous* and I am in the mood to try something new... I plan on skydiving a lot, so I take the first jump of the day to just relax, feel the air, take in the view, and pull a bit high to play with my new stuff. The rest of the day is spent learning to sit! What a rush!! Sitting on the air... it took some doing at first just to stop the "arch" reflex when I flipped onto my back, but once I got there... and I finally got some video of myself in freefall! I'm geared up, on less than a five minute call, and one of the freeflyers asks what I'm doing on this jump. Trying to get into a stable sit, I tell him, but it's only my second try. "Want video?" Haha I guess it's true about the freeflyers and their cameras... but it helped me out on my next jump, and it's cool just to see myself with that big dumb grin as I tumble through the sky! Finish the day with a sunset solo, and that time I could actually hold a sit for a while before corking... it's a wonderful feeling... first successful sit-fly...! Then upon returning home I realize it had totally slipped my mind that it was a friend's 21st birthday. I get back just in time to meet up with everybody, so we all take him out. Then... um... I don't remember much, except buying him shots, and this girl that kept ignoring me. Hehe, anyway, a good time was had by all. But then today, damn, the weather was even better than yesterday! I'm not feeling up to the 4 hours down and back to Archway... so one other guy and I decide to check out Illinois Sky Sports in Rantoul. It's a very small DZ, a couple of 182s on an old air force base. Anyway, we get there in time to fill out the papers, have them check our rigs out, and get on a load before sunset. Good, friendly people there... most of the time I'm willing to drive for the familiarity(and turbine) at Vandalia, but it was a good experience for my first jump at a new DZ. ANYWAY... those of you that actually read all that, cool, and those that didn't, won't be reading this anyway, so there's no point in finishing this sentence. But I just had such an incredibly great weekend. Ah! I'm still giddy! I don't make sense! Yay! Blue skies Marc

Great to hear you're both in the air again! Blue skies always, Marc

Yes the thread is wide, I blame Clay... Vector III, all black except for the pinstriping, Triathlon 135(I load it at barely over 1:1, yeah, I'm small), Tempo 150 reserve, Cypres, woohoo! And I put 6 jumps on it this weekend, now I'm a bit sore, but again... woohoo!

Brian, I didn't know you were on DZ.com... welcome to the group! If you'd really like to try an AFF jump, you could ask if there's any way they could do that. I don't know yet what the situation is on instructors since the USPA changed everything around. To clear things a bit, the general feeling I get from our DZO is that he just doesn't like the idea of sending first-timers out on a solo freefall, hence the IAF program as opposed to regular AFF. I believe this is similar to how the USPA generally feels as well... that starting out with tandem(s) is the ideal way to get into the sport...? In any case, it never hurts to ask at the DZ. Plus, ask your instructors anything you can think of that you think would help. Not just during the debreif, too... I've found that when I have problems, anybody out there wearing a purple shirt, actually, is willing to help anytime. One last thing--don't be too hard on yourself. It's not easy, starting out. Just realize, in the air, it's all mental. Practice your arch on the ground, all the time, then in the air, just relax and let your body do what you practiced. That's what it took for me, anyway... I had a nasty habit of doing barrel rolls off the strut. So, all week, several times a day, I would lie down on the floor and arch hard, and hold it for 10-20 seconds. Look at all your limbs to see if they're symmetrical, then hold them there. You'll look wierd. Don't worry. If you mix in some sit-ups and push-ups, people will assume you're working out, and leave it at that. But seriously, once I did that for a week, I really had it in my head, and then that weekend, I thought to relax, and it really worked. See ya around, Marc

I had a somewhat similar experience this weekend... here I am with a month-old license and I'm getting complacent. I'm on my last dive of the day on saturday, a solo sit(attempt), and I belly out for the last two thousand feet or so, just to have time to deal with anything, because I'm not very stable in a sit yet. So I reach, and just as I start to pull the PC out of the pouch, I start to go over on my left side. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn't thinking at all, that's the problem. Anyway, as soon as I felt it happen, I remember yelling "holy SHIT" loudly, throwing the pilot chute very hard, and coming right back to a hard arch, and it ended up fine... it was just the beginnings of some instability due to lack of thought about what I was doing. But it was enough to scare me into being quite sure to think very much about what I'm doing. You don't necessarily get many warnings in this sport... Marc

Congratulations dude!

But of course! Next weekend I will be staying at the DZ... and actually jumping this time...! There will be no cheap beer for this celebration... Marc

Just closed the deal on my rig... skydiving has now put me several thousand dollars in debt to my parents... in spite of everything that's gone on recently, I still have to say WAHOOOO!!! This weekend is gonna be a hell of a time! Blue skies, Marc

Ok, but what if I'm not coming on to anybody in particular, but just want to get nekkid anyway?

Hey I've never done this before... cool... beer! Anyway, this is about as un-PC as I could find... and results are best when told very loudly, in a public place like a restaurant or movie theater. Q: What's the best thing about having sex with a 9-year old girl? A: If you pull her hair way back, she looks like she's 6. Q: What's the best thing about having sex with a 6-year old girl? A: Hearing her pelvis crack. And of course... Q: What's better than having sex with a 9-year-old boy? A: Nothing! Hehehe... Marc

Haha... my roommate thinks I'm wierd because I keep laughing at the computer... Though I laughed at the Special Olympics joke too, I admit! Marc

Funnel is a dirty word? I thought it was standard procedure.... Marc

My only reserve ride has been under a 26' round... it was a slow spinning mal under a student main, all I know is it opened frickin fast...! Chop, arch, look up, and there it was... I'd be interested to hear the differences in opening characteristics of round reserves vs. squares... Marc

Oh, well that just takes all the fun out of it, doesn't it... So is it just me, or--he said, abruptly changing subjects--is everybody friggin dying for a skydive!!! Saturday can not come soon enough... Blue skies Marc P.S. Hanging out with a bunch of skydivers and having who knows how many rum & cokes could have had an effect on my attitude tonight maybe...

Everybody always says "just relax"... a good quote I read on some forum a while ago referred to the difficulty of relaxing while someone tried to "shove a planet up my ass". But it really is the important thing. On the ground, lay down and have an instructor or someone watch your body position while you arch, so you get the muscle memory there. Then in the air, don't let it be any different than when you practiced on the ground... for me, I had to think all the way up in the plane, "relax," climbing out thinking "relax," leaving the plane thinking "RELAX!!!" But once you finally get it, it's the greatest thing in the world... don't worry about it, it's not like you're risking death or anything... Marc

Shit... I gotta remember to stop grabbing my crotch in public then...

A subscription to Parachutist comes along with your USPA membership. It took a couple of months after I applied for membership before I actually recieved a magazine though... Marc

Ok, thanks Chuck. That's more of what I was looking for... I'll make sure if I try it to let someone know so they can watch me, for feedback on technique. Marc

Hehe Viking it took me a couple of minutes but I got it...

Ok, thanks everyone. I read somewhere that the Triathlon is good for occasional accuracy, since it's 7-cell...? I guess my best course of action would be to practice slow flight up high to find out where exactly I collapse my canopy, and if I do ever need to sink into someone's backyard, get my ass ready to PLF... Marc

I've seen people shooting accuracy sinking in on final approach with half brakes, and not coming back to full glide before landing. I know that's a nice, slow way to approach for accuracy, but on my student training, I was always told to be at full glide for the last hundred feet or so, to have enough speed for a full flare. So what's the correct way to sink in? I'd hate to find myself in a tight off-DZ landing(though there's not much around my home DZ except for miles of corn, but still) and accidentally collapse my canopy when I want to flare, or something like that. Although I guess I just answered part of my own question, get to know the way my canopy reacts at different speeds and inputs... but is there a "correct" procedure for this type of approach? I fly a Triathlon loaded at just a tad over 1:1, by the way. Marc

That's awesome! I really want to try skysurfing someday, it looks like a blast... 'course I should probably learn to fly in a stand and headdown first... and I should probably learn to sit before I do that... and I should probably learn to fly on my belly worth a damn before I do that... and... and... Shit man, I'm just gonna keep jumping, and whatever happens, happens... Marc

Man, if you really did that... you wouldn't be able to walk for a week, and it'd be worth it... Marc