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He signed off one of the proficiency skills on my A license card! Needless to say I was intimidated when my packing instructor told me we would get his signature, but Jay is an awesome guy, and just seems to be doing everything, everywhere. Much better meeting him in person than getting Gov. Schwarzenegger's stamped signature on my diploma :)

I'm pretty much going to put a target on my back and show how little I know about this sport's history. Who is Andy McFarland...?

Same here! Tandems get down faster than me, and I pull lower than they do [usually]. It's all in the spiraling I think--sometimes I think I spiral pretty aggressively but its still the scariest part of the dive for me. I'm working on spiraling faster and harder :) Nothing wrong with last one down, everyone is paying attention to you ;)

Happy belated birthday [as of yesterday] to Skydive Elsinore, celebrating it's 52nd year. Here's to many many many more years of success in the skydiving world. I'm so glad and grateful that I was referred to Elsinore to do my first tandem, now its become my home away from home. To all out there who haven't had a chance to come out to California, hope you can come and experience the friendly people, talented skydivers, and chill atmosphere that Elsinore has offered me. Peace, love and blue skies.

I think an important thing I took from your post is, as a student also, is to always keep note of altitude, even under canopy. This is important to set up your landing pattern, and to be more careful to watch other fliers below you. I did the same actually last Friday on one of my solo jumps; I didn't exit last, but everyone else had pretty much landed before me [I take my time under canopy]. When I got to around 1500' or so I noticed one last jumper landing not the usual right-hand pattern into the high performance area. She actually didn't follow a real 'L' or 'U' shaped predictable pattern that I learned, but landed immediately from the final approach leg. It didn't immediately register what she was doing right away, as I was trying to control my own canopy. So I landed against the pattern, because I had never done a left hand pattern up until that point. And as the only/last one to land in our DZ's designated student area, further out, I felt I was not in threat of colliding with other fliers. But my lesson is learned--follow the first man down. :)

Ohh got it BillyVance, thanks for clarifying. Noted for future reference. :)

If you have a full-face helmet and ear plugs, it could be quiet no? I don't know because I've not worn one yet :) To the OP, I share your sentiments. My regular, everyday world is very different from the world I am a part of the moment I step onto the DZ. Although I jump only once a week, it's the one day of the week I look forward to forgetting about the everyday, focusing on myself, the sky and having a good time with people who know exactly what you're feeling. I'm also a new skydiver, but am slowly realizing how much the inhibitions and fears I've grown up with have impacted my way of thinking and life. But with every jump I make, I let go of something I didn't need to be worrying about before. It's a liberating feeling. I love that there's always something new to learn and the people to share those experiences with.

Punching the bag is definitely not what I was taught, I was taught to go straight to emergency procedures in a hi speed mal. But that is certainly good to know, and I know understand the reasoning behind it. Thanks y'all :)

A friend of mine showed me this video a student's AFF level 2. I was incredulous at first when he told me how the mal was "fixed": main side JM effectively punching the side of the student's rig to deploy the bag. Clearly if this student were jumping solo he would not be able to punch his own rig, and cutting away would be obvious. But I would have thought the student would think to cutaway or instructor would have signaled to the student to cutaway? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctXVPNyWKg

That's exactly why I wanted to start it too [in addition to me going to tunnel through the AFF and progressing beyond what is needed to learn to pass my levels]! FF looks very liberating; I'm always in awe when I see freefliers with such incredible control of their muscles/body to be able to dance in the air. I don't see how it can't be a "friendly" discipline, all skydivers are friendly in general :) However I may have to regress a bit, as I have my sights set on [in the very far future] becoming an instructor/coach. Most instructors have recommended if I know I want to be an instructor I should master belly flying first...I suppose freefly in the tunnel is very different from freefly during a dive also?

Yeah you're right I think it'll just take more practice and comfort, thanks for the advice. I think I have an innate fear that under canopy I'm going to somehow disengage the harness from the canopy by pulling the risers. That coupled with the fact that I still have to get a bit more used to canopy dives/spiraling; toggle turns seem more responsive, while I really have to pull hard on the risers to make a turn. This of course makes no sense now that I think of it--one of my instructors told me the actual pressure/force required for the rings on the risers to break. Its impossible for me to achieve this by me simply pulling on them. :)

Or at a later point in your training, have the instructor go over it. A big DZ like Elsinore probably has advanced student gear (a bit smaller) that the OP would advance to that would be suitable for stall training. I fully agree that it's an important thing to know. Airplane pilots are required to do full stalls as part of their training. Flight instructors are required to have spin recovery training. Thanks guys. Yeah I think I'm coming up on that point that I have to learn and become comfortable with how to deal with dynamic stalls and such. Last weekend I successfully stood up on a braked approach+landing: I thought I felt a small stall when it came but was able to execute the full flare at the right distance before landing. Don't worry I won't be doing any wrapping of toggles any time soon, that just sounds crazy. :) I was trying rear riser turns; pulling on the risers gets me a little nervous, I don't think I even did a full turn. Plus under I am still very hesitant to pull brakes too hard for a in case I stall/collapse the canopy.

DSE, thanks! :) Sorry I don't recognize you by name/handle--I don't believe we've met. I'm pleasantly surprised to finally see someone on here that is from Elsinore because I thought I was the only one who is so active on this site [it's the only thing I can do when I'm not jumping on the weekend]. Though there are many instructors on the weekends that I haven't met yet but see pretty regularly. Anyway thanks again ! Weather is looking more promising Sunday :)

Even if I wanted to try I'd have no idea what you're referring to. What's a wrap? I've been successful with landing just making sure that I full flare properly. Thanks! DesertDevil, cheers! :) I'm looking forward to my coach jumps!

How many times have you heard the phrase "You'll understand how I feel when you become a parent". When I do tell my mom certain things, try to stand up for what I want to do that she doesn't agree with, I can be met with this form of resistance. It's always the most powerful weapon in a parent's arsenal.

With all do respect, Skymama, I must disagree with you, at least for me. I have a very good, “adult” relationship with my Mom. So much so that I don’t see the need to cause her lots of unnecessary stress and anxiety. And talking about the fatality rate??? You jest, no? I'm going to have to say +1 also. You may say that I'm not doing a good enough job to have an adult relationship with my mom but respectfully, you don't know what my mom is like. And being Asian. I don't like stereotypes, but Asian parents certainly can be particularly traditional, conservative, protect them from the world that it means they don't let us live the life we want to. At least without being classed as "rebellious" or "disobedient". Open relationships are best with parents, and I would love to be able to share my experiences with my mom about this but there is much more pain and heartache involved with trying to fight for what you want without breaking that very relationship you have with them. It's their way or the highway.

Right on :) I had a temporary relapse of insecurity but I feel better now.

I just realized something that's way worse, is friends who are less than supportive of you jumping. I kind of expect parents to worry and care about your safety, etc. But friends I'd expect something different than making me think of time and money that goes into this sport. I spent the day at the dz with a non-skydiver yesterday and he was respectful of the sport, community, etc. but somehow during dinner, in the middle of him talking about his life plans and wanting to settle down, find a new place to make home, etc. he made me feel guilty for what I do for fun. The first time I didn't love skydiving as much as I normally do. I think its much worse when you have friends you want to understand why we do this but cannot.

I believe that. A friend of mine finished his AFF in two days and once getting into solo jumps said he was already bored. He had never gone to tunnel, and wasn't really interested in trying anything new. I don't think he could even look forward to coach jumps which involve the docking and movement, where you get to see how good your body position really is relative to another flier. I definitely look forward to my coach jumps for that reason. I still get a bit of the anxiety when the door opens and I realize I have to jump out, watching people fall is still crazy but gets me going every time. And each time I learn something new in tunnel I get excited by how much there is to learn. Its hard to balance wanting to do tunnel and wanting to jump, except when it's raining then the choice is very clear. :)

Yah, I don't know how this sport can ever get boring. :) I had a feeling you were going to say all this. I've only heard in passing that freefly is one of the most difficult disciplines to learn, and in part is why I want to learn it. However, what you say is a bit daunting, if not discouraging. Especially with how much tunnel time costs, I don't know if I can afford to keep up my interest in FF if it takes as long as you say...

Well I'm no instructor, but speaking as a student I think I can safely say that my instructors taught me a little differently. At least they had a more confident attitude about my ability to a point that they were changing the dive flow for my levels a bit to accommodate for what I could do in tunnel, and one instructor wanted me to skip another AFF level because of all the tunnel time I've done [at that point I had 45 min of tunnel time] and performance. It definitely was a nice confidence booster for me and helped me relax and fly much better during my levels :) Hope this helps!

+1 ...especially on being dead before I hit the ground part.

Just because I'm a newbie and I'm interested in learning how to freefly, I wonder if you can elaborate on the fact that freeflying is not "friendly". Do you mean it is very exclusive to the skydivers who call themselves freefliers? Or that no one else wants to jump with freefliers?

It's always right after exit, transitioning on the "hill" that's the scariest. :) I remember that feeling on my first tandem, but never felt it again through the AFF...does it have to do with the added weight of an instructor harnessed to your back?

Cheers guys. :)