Thumper

The thing that's been getting me is wondering which instruction was the correct one? FF 1000', pull at 4000 regardless, or try to get stable and then pull? I understand that it's the JM's job to train me to jump safely, correct my mistakes and totally jump my ass if needed(didn't happen). But both instructions are mutually exclusive, but were given at the same time. Ideally I would have stayed stable when I pulled and everything would have been textbook. But as I said, this was my 1st and I don't yet have enough skill to stay stable throughout the ff. So if I begin to pull stable at 4k as instructed, tumble and try to regain stability as instructed, I'm going to open late. I kept my head and pulled, but I can't hover at 4k to do so. And I realize that if I ride a bad fall too long, there is going to be some serious problems. But I opened at around the same altitude that I'd been opening at on static. I guess I just feel like I ended up in a no-win situation. I'm not saying that the JM's were being mean and rude and intentionally hurtfull, they're great guys. But if the choices I made were the wrong ones, what would have been right?

I was under full canopy, placed the ripcord inside my jumpsuit and completed a controllability check before checking my altimeter. I was @3200 feet at that time.

I have an opinion question for you. This last weekend I started into actual delayed openings. On my final jump my JM told me to pay attention to my alt. instead of a count and to open at 4k. Then he told me that if I go unstable when I try to pull, try and get stable once and if it fails pull anyway. This was my first *real* FF. So I exit, badly. I get stable/unstable throughout my 1000' fall. I get to about 4k by my alt. and I start to pull. I immediately start tumbling/spinning as I fall. So I pop back into an arch and stay for a second or two and I realize that my situation is not improving. So I pull even though I'm in a bad position, the chute opens and I land on target. So on my debrief both my JM and the pilot are irritated with me saying that I lost track of my altitude and re-stressing that I'm supposed to 1. pull 2. pull at the right altitude and 3. pull while stable. My JM asked me what happened and I talked through it, I kicked on my exit, got stable, started spinning, stopped it, through to my pull. That didn't seem to help anything. So am I misinterpretting what I'm being instructed to do or did I just do a poor job of explaining what had happened? Thanks for your opinions on this, it's been bothering me for days.

S/L progression 4 jumps @ skydive AZ Incl. G/S =$220 16 jumps@ Spearfish SD Incl. refresher $42ea = $692 total = $892 using student gear and not incl. license or membership fees. After license about $30/day for rental (U pack) and $15 per jump ticket. True, S/L takes longer than AFF, but in my opinion it's a better deal. More flight time for less $$$

I was going to email her but I believe a vessel in my brain burst while I was making an outline of her instructions. I doubt that she'd be interested in a man who can no-longer move the left side of his body.

1st FF, glitch and PLF all in the same jump! I started the day off after my usual 350 mile drive by waiting 5 hours for the rains to pass and the floodwaters to wane. After we finally got in the air I saw a new guy perform what I was told was the worst static line exit in the history of the dz. He actually completed a full rotation before he passed from my sight, and I could only see out the door. But he opened (I'm assuming with mondo line twists) and landed ok, so congrats to him. Then my 3rd prcp (again, rained out of my ff last time), flew and landed my 5th standup w/o assistance for the 1st time. I was feeling pretty good for my FF. Anyway I had a good exit and arch but a stuck slider and end cell closures that took about 10 pumps to get straightened out. After my I started setting up my landing pattern I noticed that all 3 of the dz's windsocks were blowing in different directions and starting at 2k I was getting blown a different direction every 50 - 100 feet. So I decide to land in our farthest out field and focus on it's flag. At about 1200 that flag starts changing directions every couple seconds. I lined up with the most consistant wind for my final and everything's going fine, bumpy but fine. Then about 2 seconds before I was going to flair the winds change again into an instant tailwind, so I came in real fast and had to bounce and roll out of it. All in all I thought it went pretty well, I even managed to land in a fairly dry spot, so minimal mud on the studen t rig. Unfortunately the winds got *REALLY* funky after that so we called it for the day. I'll have to wait until my next trip to get more ff time. Just thought I'd post a yay me note. Thumper

I'm new to the forum but an expert at training for new sports. I do absolutely everything. Anyway, I've found that when I'm totally focused on what I'm doing when I'm doing it, I'm guaranteed to screw it up in huge ways. Snowboarding: doing fine at the start, start actually concentrating and my head's bouncing down the sloap. Rock climbing: like a fly on the wall until I think about what I'm doing and then I'll get the wind in my hair as my head bounces down the mountain. I'd continue, but it's fairly depressing. I do my absolute best if I think about what I will be doing only until I'm ready to do it. At that point it's time to shut off my mind and let my body act on instinct. Your body KNOWS what to do and when and how. It's your mind that interferes. Just concentrate on having a good time while you're flying. Enjoy the view, see what you CAN do and worry about how you did it later. You'll probably surprise yourself with a textbook jump. I imagine that some will dissagree with my training methods,but for me (and I can only speak for myself) it works every time.

Design some custom t-shirts and sell them around your area and on the internet. Find someone with a digital camera or a scanner and start offering jump photos printed onto a tank or a Tshirt. Just don't take any of my designs or slogans : )

Thanks for the sympathy. Of course I'm not upset at the JM, scheduling conflicts happen and I don't expect anyone to re-arrange their lives for me. It's just that the overall experience was miserable. On the plus side my ears have finally stopped ringing. 5 hours w/o a helmet makes you wind-deaf for days. And I got my boat's outdrive down. It won't go up for some reason, but at least I can get out on the lake. And I'll try to hit the DZ this weekend or next, whenever they are doing a sat. jump. I'll let you know how they go. I *can* fly.

Well here's the update. Hands down the worst trip I've ever taken. Since gas is so high I decided to bike down (300 miles) in the middle of the night (waterskiing all day) and froze my butt off(freak cold front), right knee was swollen and aching the whole way and I now remember why I hate long trips on my crotch rocket. Sat. morning ran the last 100 miles on 4 hours sleep, nice sunny weather, found the hanger door closed and locked. Called the JM and was told they decided not to jump today and that he'd tried to call me. JM asked, was I still at home? heh. I decided to take highways instead of the interstate for a little variety and the fact that it should knock 100 or so miles of the trip. Starts off with mountain roads and small picturesque mining towns (75 through the 35mph twisties) and I think that the weekend might not be shot. 30 miles later the mountains end and all I can see are the plains and bare road. Not a cloud in sight and the nice sunny day had turned into an all day ride on the surface of the sun. I feel like I'm sitting in a mircrowave, so off come the leathers and the helmet. Now I feel like I'm in front of a blast furnace. Lovely. My butt's getting pretty tender also. At this point I'm pretty sure that I will never again forget why I hate long crotch rocket road trips. Long story short, 5 hours later (what the?!?) I arrive home. Both knees are now swollen and killing me, as are the joints in both arms from supporting my body weight, and both arms and my face are a lovely maroon color, with the exception of where my watch and sunglasses were sitting. Mental note: CR RT's are on my fun list right behind being covered in live fire ants, but above dropping the soap in prison shower. So I decide to play with my boat for the last of the afternoon and my motor won't lower. I'd say that the only thing missing is a kick to the groin, but I hit 2 nice bumps during the trip that covered that nicely. Moral: car w/AC and CD, multiple phone calls the night before, next trip I'm going to fly!!!!!! I've vented, thanks for listening, donations accepted at the rear of the building.

Just thought I'd say hello and introduce myself as I'm new to the board. If you post on jeepboard.com or rockclimbing.com you may have spoken with me before. Anyway I started static training about 2 months ago @ skydive phoenix (14 hour drive each way) and after a 6 week wait have started jumping in spearfish SD (only 4.5 - 5 each way). I'm leaving tomorrow night to jump on saturday and I will be doing my first freefalls. I'm a little nervous about this weekend. All I know is that I've wanted to skydive since I was in the single digits and at the ripe old age of 24 I've finally begun doing what I'd hoped and am finding do, love to do. I'm sure that tonight and tomorow night will be sleepless, I feel like it's Christmas every weekend! Anway, hello again.

Just thought I'd say hello and introduce myself as I'm new to the board. If you post on jeepboard.com or rockclimbing.com you may have spoken with me before. Anyway I started static training about 2 months ago @ skydive phoenix (14 hour drive each way) and after a 6 week wait have started jumping in spearfish SD (only 4.5 - 5 each way). I'm leaving tomorrow night to jump on saturday and I will be doing my first freefalls. I'm a little nervous about this weekend. All I know is that I've wanted to skydive since I was in the single digits and at the ripe old age of 24 I've finally begun doing what I'd hoped and am finding do, love to do. I'm sure that tonight and tomorow night will be sleepless, I feel like it's Christmas every weekend! Anway, hello again.