skycc

About 20 years jumping and 2,400 jumps

I hate spiders...last weekend I reached into my helmet bag and there was a HUGE wolf spider in there. I'm sure my scream was heard all over the DZ, or maybe the state of Texas.

I think it's way too soon for probably 99% of skydivers that I know with 100 jumps, and I jump with plenty of them as an organizer. Most of them have no where near the awareness or flying skills to be a decent coach, IMO. And the fact that the coached students are charged so much for a jump...seems to me they ought to get what they pay for, and they just aren't with some coaches. That may also be why when some graduate from SDU and we start jumping with them, we are still doing LOTS of coaching, even on very basic skills. Years ago, our students got their own AFF instructors as coaches for the most part....and that was a very tough rating back then to get so they got seriously good coaching. Oh, and we even paid our own slots. It was just part of giving back and continuing to monitor their progress. Ah, the good old days.

Oh and if you haven't already, I'd suggest you invest in a custom made jumpsuit as soon as possible.

Personally I would strongly recommend building a better foundation on your belly before starting other disciplines. It's not uncommon for those that start into freeflying that early, for instance, to not have belly skills they may want later. When we do hybrids, more than once, I've had the freefly LO ask me if I can hold onto one of his guys during exit as they didn't have the belly skills to get to the formation. Just a thought. And BTW, I think freeflying and other avenues are awesome, I just think you are better off to work on your belly first for a bit. All of your basic skills, including tracking, docking, etc., will need more work. Also, stick to the smaller formations. Get your SCR for a treat sometime if someone highly experienced can put together 7 other very experienced skydivers, after he or she has jumped with you on something smaller and has seen your track and how you fly. But you'll learn a lot more doing the 4 ways and smaller for a bit. It's an exciting time and the skydiving world will open up to you...but you also have to be smart and safe. Always ask your old instructors about stuff, be sure you don't get in over your head. This mother hen stuff comes from being an AFF instructor and organizer for years... cc

I was a late convert and was the only frap hat on many dives, and made quite a few jumps with no helmet years ago. Looking back I'm almost surprised I did that running out of a DC-3, as I have managed to clock myself with just a frap hat running out of an Otter door and it hurt. I finally got a full face and do enjoy some aspects of it. However, I never wanted to use it when teaching AFF (I preferred to have my students see my mouth/smile and also hear commands during climbout). Luckily, in all my years of teaching AFF, I only got one glancing blow to the face during a ride-thru, and one punch to the face at pull time. I also have an open face hard helmet I wear occasionally, but as an organizer I usually go with the full-face. I admit to getting a bloody chin once from a fairly new jumper when I wore my open face. The full face is without a doubt the best protection, but it is a personal choice. I STILL have my old frap hat, though, just haven't worn it in years.

My Spectre if out of trim and giving me hard openings so I borrowed a Stiletto for this weekend while I wait for my new line set. Never jumped one until yesterday, my elliptical experience was a Batwing about 10 years ago for a few years. Love the openings I'm getting...but the landings suck. It's a 120 and with gear I'd say I'm about 145-148ish lbs., my weight fluctuates. Anyway, I noticed on a practice flare yesterday it seems a line is pulling down on the canopy near the back before the tail is being pulled. Is this normal? When I land it, after I get a tiny bit of a plane out (granted not much speed with a fairly straight in approach)...when I go to finish a flare it goes DOWN rather abruptly, but I'm not stalling it. I was sure to get other's input that watched the landings. This canopy hasn't been jumped in quite a while. I'm wondering if something could be wrong with the line set on it? I've gotten conflicted advice that I need to try to build up airspeed with a bit of a turn on landing (which I'm OK with doing a smaller one and am used to doing that with my Spectre, but obviously this canopy turns very differently and I'd need to be careful). Others say I should be able to land it straight in. Thoughts? Trying to decide if I want to jump it again later today or not.

My last one was my 4th reserve ride, think it was in 1995, demo jump in the Caymans.

I had no idea these were kinda coming back into style. Had those on my first rig 18 years ago!

I believe you absolutely made the right decision. FYI, I had about close to 1000 jumps when I decided to land a small elliptical canopy called a Batwing on risers (broken steering line), this was about 10-11 years ago. Poor decision for me apparently, that I still regret many years later as I deal with daily back pain that can't be fixed. Wish I could go back and chop it. cc

I loved watching this show last year or whenever it was, and didn't know it was back on. Funny thing, just after reading this post about it last night, went to watch TV and there it was on Discovery! So I watched 3 hours of Everest. :)

I need to find a way to keep my hands warmer for winter jumping, I'm an organizer and so it's a bit harder to just not jump if it's cold. I'm one of those with extremities that get cold easily, and my hands are so small I normally jump with youth large size batting gloves. I can squeeze some ski liners underneath, which seem to be about the same as the latex gloves, but that isn't even enough when it's cold. I've read a couple of posts about the neoprene gloves..do they make those in kids size or very small womens size? If so, where I can I get them? Cost? Other ideas?? TIA!

I'm with ya. Sick with a bad cold and maybe sinus infection. Haven't jumped in a while and this weekend was last chance for a while, and it's gonna be nice weather. Hope you feel better soon! cc

I agree with you on many points, and like your ideas for requirements. I see we started jumping at the same time...and when I went through the course in '94 I think it was about a 50% passing rate. cc

I'm a total wimp and don't do hot stuff, but I have seen at least a few of my skydiving friends cover their food in salsa or pepper. cc

We did this stuff in '91-92, guess I was jumping "back in the day" according to your definition. cc

A JOB! On the skydiving side...a weight belt.

I landed a little Batwing (older elliptical canopy) that had a broken steering line about 13 years ago. I was not able to get any flare from risers, no wind, hit so hard feet/butt that I STILL have daily back pain in my sachral joint. I have been wishing every day for years I had cut that one away! Hope your foot feels better soon. At least it wasn't worse.

Congrats on your sky anniversary! I started about 6 months after you did, and can't believe that before too long I'll have been jumping half my life (20 years).

I just wanted to say that I really like my Dolphin that I've been jumping for several years..and Mike F. is a great guy who provides excellent customer service. My first rig was a Racer.

Tough call between my Nimbus (whacked so hard it had to be roll packed) and years later my first elliptical experience on my Batwing. Took 1500 feet to open, cut hole in slider and brought it down to 1000 feet. Cut bigger hole in slider.. Flew GREAT in the air, hard as snot to land well in no wind. But I got REALLY good at accuracy, put it in the peas almost every jump for years. Normal protocol during Batwing opening was grabbing toggles and pumping to help the canopy open! So I never wore gloves, wanted to be able to grab them quickly. Found after downsizing it opened less bad. Years later...I came back from 2nd pregnancy and off for 7-8 months, and at 165 body weight only with a 116 Batwing...landings were scary! So I borrowed a Spectre and wow, it opened all by itself!!!! Sold!!! Been jumping one ever since, lol. Ya got the long answer, but I thought it might be a good story. :)

Something else to think about, if anyone tracks that long from such a high altitude, you greatly increase the chance they can track into another group of skydivers on the same load if there are additional groups. I believe in the stay together as much as possible until breakoff plan, freefly or belly.

I have been jumping a while now, and taught AFF every weekend for many years. Can't remember once getting a tip, and can't remember a single time I didn't put at least 110% effort into my work as an instructor, with much enthusiasm due to my passion for the sport. It was an honor for me teach both S/L and AFF. Of course, I'd still want to teach AFF even if I won the lottery. I now feel the same way about organizing as well. I just love doing these things, and the inherent rewards I gain from knowing I've helped someone in the sport, or just from sharing in their first jumps, are worth much more to me than any tip. Not saying tips are "bad" or anything, just my own random thoughts.. I seem to vaguely remember the TM's getting tips on occasion years ago..but I think it was kinda rare. To the original poster: hope the weather cooperates and your son gets to make his jump soon!

Sorry you had a scary experience on your jump. Personally I would talk to instructors at your dz and also see if you can get someone to video you when you jump again. And yes, leg turns and increasing leg awareness are good. Legs/knees tend to cause spins. Honestly I'm surprised to read about several here that had these issues after AFF training was completed. I got into a spin during one of my own AFF jumps many years ago and still remember how scary it was for me as a student. And remember, if anyone jumps out after you, or if the pilot isn't expecting a parachute opening extremely high, that can be a huge safety issue. I think you ought to have confidence you can self-recover from any freefall issues at this point. Again, please talk to your instructors. If I had signed you off of AFF and this happened, I would want to jump with you again (no charge) and see what is going on.

I was 20 when I started over 18 years ago, will be 39 years old in a few weeks. Can't wait for another year or so to be able to say that I've been jumping half my life.