birdshit

*generally speaking* It is bad to try to learn here. I did the same thing. Just wait till you have the class. Learn from your jumpmasters because they know exactly what kind of gear you will use and what procedures you will need to know and etc, etc... I can say that it will be the most amazing ride you will ever take... Seriously, expect a good long training class. Then you go up, you jump out of the plane, and you land.. Guaranteed. For the particulars you should ask your JMs for because they should be able to give you 100% of what you need to know (not too much knowledge, not too little, just enough).. Don't try to become an expert here before you go. You may end up thinking too much. On aff level 1 the list of things you need to do to be successful is very short. Focus on that... Wink Wink. Thats all I can say. ;) Enjoy AFF Level 1. I did, Twice. ...because I tried to become an expert before I went to the DZ...

If you own the computer then it is legal. If not, it isnt. Just that simple.

Driving the thing is pretty easy. I mean, an XBox has more controls, right? And being alone under the canopy for the first time was the most rewarding experience of my life. There is nothing I enjoy more than the instant I know I have a good solid canopy over my head, and I can grab my toggles, check stability and take a few seconds to just look around at the world below... I can't describe it to you. You have to feel it for yourself.

Don't feel bad. I had really bad line twists on my first jump. That sucked, but I kicked em out and everything worked OK. I tried to call them a mal when I posted here and a bunch of ol timers laughed at me. BTW My JM says that the reason I got line twists was because I was tracking when I pulled and had too much forward motion. So my lines acted like a kids swingset when my chute opened. Maybe some upjumpers can clarify for me..

Uh, its really loud in the plane. Freefall is REALLY loud, about as loud as racing a motorcycle at the same speed, but without all the sirens and helicopter noise. I had congestion on my first jump and my head really did explode. My Tandem guy hated that! Brains all over, etc. Did make for a great video tho. For real though. Get some little rubber sponge ones. Thats all. Just make sure that you aren't all clogged up, because by the time you get to the ground, the pain can be excruciating. Oh yeah, and you are doing aff you may want to get the ones that little handles on them so you can take them out when you are under stable canopy, because JMs are always yammering at you over the little radio about turn left, turn right, yadda yadda yadda.

Dude your video was awesome! They did all kinds of slow-mo tricks on yours... LOL.. I saw the look in your eyes in the doorway and I know exactly what you were thinking. "Wow, thats a long way down". "Hold on". "Wait a sec here". LOL!!! Great video... On to AFF Level 1? Landing your own canopy is twice as fun...

How much do you have? LOL You can rent gear from most DZ. I have been looking at some rigs, and they vary. If you buy a used one, you can probably get out the door for ~2000 for the basic container, main, reserve. An AAD is 1200-1300 but I would never fly without one. As far as having somebody check it, inspect it, help me learn all of the rigging, etc I dont know. I wouldn't bother with gear yet. If you need something symbolic, buy an Alti. I did because the ones at my old DZ were sometimes scratched and hazy. ;) If you are serious, just go do AFF Level 1. If you are still serious after that, then worry more about what the AFF will cost you and not the gear.

Dont feel bad. I had overload too, and was unable to interpret commands from my JM. I spent about 5000 feet trying to remember what two fingers bent inward meant... They pulled for me at ~4500. I had a gut wrenching couple hours at the DZ trying to decide if I wanted to give up this crazy, stupid, expensive hobby or not. I did my second AFF L1 later that afternoon and nailed it they said that they couldn't believe that I was the same guy from the morning jump, and that they could have filmed it as the perfect Level 1. You may have failed in your objective, but if you pulled at the correct altitude, opened stable and landed without any bones sticking out of your pants then I say you did a great job for your 1st... On my third Jump (Aff L2) the intensity was there, but I totally controlled the situation and I did great. It is intense, but it won't be so overwhelming if you continue.

god I hope nobody saw this before I erased it... heh heh

hahahahha - that wasnt quite what I expected when I clicked the topic.. Thanks..

Owwww!!!! Hope he is OK.. Maybe you should do him a favor and shoot whatever he was chasing in the leg? You know, wing it so it's a little easier to catch? LOL I had worse when I was a baby and the scars went away completely..

Can it be landed via remote control? LOL. It's pretty close to R/C Size..

he is wrong. I am the antichrist. He is a poser wannabe.

dz.com is a business. They have to pay for servers, hardware, networking gear, firewalls, intrusion detection, software, and lots of other stuff we don't know about that happens behind the scenes so that when you type the url into your browser that a page pops up. It is a complicated and expensive process to run a website. They might have discretion about whos ads they put in the banners, etc, but why should they be concerned about it? why wouldn't they have an army banner? Maybe I am slipping back into 'hoe mode', but if they are the highest bidder... lol.. It's a free market in action. With the burden that is placed on our soldiers, and the very visible daily reports from the front lines, they are probably having an enormously difficult time making their numbers... I have mixed feelings and I could go on for days about the damage that the fools running our country have done to it. But it is a pointless argument that will drag on for 27 pages. But I DO know that my buddies need backup out there, and not the burnt out shell of a guy they just rotated back to the rear 3 weeks ago. If they can trick some suckers into signing on the dotted line, more power to em. It worked for me... LOL.. If ever asked, I would advise against joining the Army though. I would say that back when I served, America only put people in harms way when it was absolutely nessecary to secure freedom for ourselves and our allies and to protect our interests and all other options had been explored. The dangerous new policy of preemption, extraordinary rendition, the utter disregard for the articles of the Geneva convention and Cheney's 2% doctrine makes our soldiers more or less 'expendable', and they could be sent wherever, whenever without much of a good reason at all. My $0.02

Uhh I guess posting it on Skydivingmovies under "Landing and Swooping" went too far huh? Sorry! Deleting now... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=category&id=21

Great, because there have been 8 new threads since you tried to tuck me in for 'night night' time. Just drink lots of corona and pinch her hard and she will never know the difference... hahaha I will be reading about the Saber 2..

Don't. It's just like heroin, only not so easy to quit....

Imaginary friends? Huh? I didn't know there was such a thing in skydiving. If I asked you for a pin check would you really look or just pat me on the back? Great plan!! Man, you should work for the guys planning the whole Iraq 'thing'! Dude, it's perfect! Now that is a plan I can sink my teeth into! Or at least, you know, gently nuzzle... nevermind... So anyways, where do you jump? LOL... I may buy you a beer for that one. LOL! See yall in a while... I am going to bed...

I spent half my time wondering how badly my wife would need electro shock therapy if I cratered in front of her eyes that I had a very hard time on my 1st few jumps. I mean, the whole "black death" part isn't so bad, it is more of an early return on a guaranteed investment, like a bond that magically matures after 6 years instead of the original 20. Yay! I win the "no insurance will cover me and now my kids will starve" lottery! It is the idea of my wife and son seeing me get sponged off the roof of my riggers (destroyed) car (I will know which car is yours so do a good job) that scares me 1000 times worse. After all, I am a bulletproof hero to them. I am superman, spider man, the plumber, don juan, einstein, builder bob, and the best dad in the world to them... If you know what I mean, then you know. Me breaking the unfortunate news to them that being alive is more like a fragile, delicate crystal than a hardened stone should never be my main concern on a jump. Awareness, EP's, Mals, watchfulness, technique, etc, should all be paramount, especially at my pathetically noobile stage in the game... I just need a good strong nipple ladies.. Is this irrational? I could go 160-180mph in front of my mom ding a wheelie wearing flip flops and sunglasses on my superbike but the idea of shattering the 'image' of me in the minds of those who are most vulnerable scares me. My mom knows I am a friggin dumbass and she would get over it. They don't. They assume that everything I do is in their best interest and that there is a 0% failure rate (for me personally at least). Anybody ever had a problem where they couldn't deal with the thought of their loved ones seeing them pay the ultimate price for something they love so dearly? To the point where it messed with their head and they screwed a jump because they knew 'they' were watching? An 'they' were more interesting than altitude or canopy and 'they' were more worrisome than that big blue and green mud-hole planet giving them the terminal suck-job? It does mess with me, and I wonder if any of you would rather have your relatives read about it in the more sanitary terms of the morning paper than actually seeing it happen and not having to imagine all the gory blank spots in the morning news? Freud would have a field day and ask me why I have attachment issues and whether I really liked my moms breasts or something equally as crazy. Whatever, the point is that I have this feeling like I both DO (out of pride) and DONT (out of protective instinct) want my family to see me jump. Do I just need another Corona? Throw me a bone people. It's a dark area we don't like to visit but for me this is a black hole in my mind that consumes my rationale to the point where I am dangerously sidetracked at the most inopportune times. I would be 100 times easier to crack a window and tippy-toe out to a drop zone in the middle of the night and do a friggin night jump in freezing rain on 20 year old gear than have my wife and 4yo son with me during the warm sunny afternoon and having me trying to perform the "don't die in front of your family" trick instead of "skydiving"... If I go in on the shit gear in the rain in the middle of the night my last thought will be "well, you ARE a friggin dumbass, you know", but I would rest assurred that the family would never get past the yellow tape and they could just see "1 skydiver was XXX last night doing something stupid like jumping out of a plane or something. Duh!". More details at 11. Performance anxiety? Cold-Pool Syndrome? Ball Shrinkage? WTF? Do I need another shot of Rum or a fluffy little pink teddy bear to carry around and make me feel safe? Am I the only one that wants my last meeting with the earth to be a private, intimate affair just between the two of us without a whole crap load of spectators like our family and children who will be forever traumatized watching me cry like a 6 year old girl the last 200 feet? Maybe I am overly buzzed. We ran out of beer, so I dunno... Cant stop dreaming abut how horribly ugly, horribly sexy, dusty brown and square Eloy Arizona is from 13.5 agl.. And how cool the windtunnel and the surrounding area looks from 4500. Damn you Skydive AZ. Damn you all to hell. Burn in hell forever. And your dark blue cloudless skies. And your ass-smelling, nearly vertical climbing Super Otter too.... Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill? Love u all - bs Give me your opinion, and I will ignore it as all Hot Shit AFF students with a printout of the USPA PDF Documents do. LOL!! Thanks! And please save the bowling speeches for somebody that is stupid enough to spend this much cash on something they aren't absolutely in love with and willing to die for. Mmmmmkay?

Run away while you still can. One hit won't make you a lifelong junkie. Run! But once you take that second, you are totally screwed. "A fatal attraction is holding me fast How can I escape its irresistible grasp?" Pnk Floyd - Learning to Fly when I say run away I am not kidding... I know it feels good but so does heroine and cigarettes. Or, see ya next week!!! Whatever... Great job on#1. That s probably the hardest. Only fools and birdshit fall from the sky...

grow up... I am a rabid liberal and I see the writing on the wall. When you own the AG, and Appoint a few Justices, and you have control or at least some level of sway with every major corporation in america you are bullet proof. They could catch these assholes with blood covered diamonds and they would get off Scott free... It makes me disappointed that I gave four years of my life in service of this country.

Only if they are behind you. If you are behind them, then YOU are the pain in the arse. It is preferable, I would say.. lol

Nonsense! This was very reassuring and I feel a lot better now... Thank you so much everybody... Beerlite -- yes I was amped. I could see my heart beating through a sweatshirt and a jumpsuit and a chest strap. ;) It's prescription tho, and as a total wuffo I put zero thought to it before hand... :) I was fine on my tandem, because the other guy was doing all the worrying... When it came time for me to have to look around, push buttons, read dials and pull knobs I kinda locked up.. I Imagine my adrenal glands were operating at about 270% capacity... 3 hours later I did another jump and nailed it perfectly. I guess adrenal glands can only put out so much juice in a 24 hr period... lol Hey Phil at Skydive AZ, I still owe you a case of beer, a couple lapdances from my 300lb sister, whatever you want man... Just ask. Thanks..

A month ago, I weighed 239. I weighed 224 on the 22nd. This morning I weighed 214. Don't ask me how I did it, because it is a very stupid, expensive and dangerous way to do it... Then again, Stupid, Dangerous and Expensive apparently hasn't been a big stumbling block for me... LOL... I'm here, instead of working on my bowling skills between slices of pizza and pitchers of beer... The jist is to keep my calorie intake to around 100 per day (can of tuna or one boiled egg), swim for six hours each night, lift weights every night, take two vitamins every day and drink about 7 gallons of water. If I don't die of a heart attack or some god-awful brain hemorrhage I'll be on the DZ in < 2 weeks... Four pounds to go... My goal is 180, but 210 will get me back in the saddle, which is what I am really killing myself for... Once I hit that I can go a little more conservative and throw in a carrot or two or even a beer to reward myself.. If anybody wants to see something funny, I can go shirtless and my AFF Instructors can just grab my loose skin instead of my jumpsuit on the way down...

On my last night in Korea, my buddies got me horribly smashed on a bottle of tequila. I woke up several hours later, climbed out of bed and calmly started to take a piss on the coffee table... With everyone sitting around it drinking beer and playing cards. ...and then I had the nerve to get pissed at all my buddies for sitting around (what I thought was) the john and watching me take a leak. 'Wash wrong wish you people?!? Are u a bunsh of homos? can't a guy take a pish in private?" Two of them wrestled me to the ground, punched me a few times and dumped my drunken ass in the bathtub. At least thats what they say... Dont remember much.