About to leap into the unknown

[kayenox 0]

Hi all,

Been reading through the threads - great board.

I'm about to head off to Seville on Tuesday to do the AFF course - such a weird combination of fear and excitement! I've done a couple of tandem jumps which has given me the bug and have been waiting for a year or so to get round to doing the AFF. My wife has grown sick of me talking about it, so gave me the best Christmas present and called my bluff...

Hopefully will post back here in a week's time, well on the way to getting cat A.

[shropshire 0]

Welcome and have fun in Spain.

She'll be even more sick, once you start jumping and disappearing at weekends to be in the sky.

Good luck and post back about your experiences.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[skymama 37]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[roundcanopy 0]

Great on getting out in the air!
Made my first jump in 28 years yesterday so yes I know about the fear and excitement
But .01111 seconds after I stepped out the door it was thrill and excitement.

[Peej 0]

welcome to the forums!

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[kayenox 0]

Well, what a cock-up! Did well on the ground school on the first day - great instructor. Cloud was too low and thick to jump, so planned for the AFF level 1 jump the following morning. All good gearing up, nervous but focused. Good exit from plane, then lost all sense of body position! Secondary instructor giving me signals to adapt position, but I had no idea where my legs were in the first place! Far too tense in the air, didn't get through the practise pulls so was dumped out at 5,500 ft.

Good canopy ride with ground radio instruction until around 1500 ft when the radio died. Flew the plan we'd agreed but, being my first jump, didn't have the awareness of height coming in and flared way too high (25ft or so) and then crashed down. Ouch. Twisted ankle.

Bugger. Very annoyed with myself, however didn't want to walk away having made such a crap jump, so took some painkillers, chilled out for a bit, then went through the whole thing with the instructor.

Second jump - marvellous. Much more relaxed and therefore much better arch and position and stability. Thumbs up from both secondary and primary, three good practise pulls and then good deployment. Good canopy ride, radio working, flared at correct height and landed ok (even if it was on my arse...)

However, as the adrenaline subsided I realised I'd twisted my ankle more than I thought on the first jump. Pain increasing alongside rapid swelling, so unfortunately decided that it would be too risky to carry on jumping, so had to curtail things at that point.

Never mind - I think I need to lose some weight before I come back to try again - instructors did say that I dropped like a stone. Hope to post again in a few months when have got through all 8 levels.

[shortyj 0]

don't get discouarged

blue skies and I hope your ankle has a speedy recovery.

Playtime is essential.

[Just_Chute_me 0]

Way to go and hang in there. Remember to always ask questions and seek lots of help and advise. Focus and listen to your instructor in the air. My first Free fall was a rolling tumbling mess until I remembered my training. Once I focused on my arch and body position I got stable and finished the dive. I was pumped.

I understand the ankle. I only wish mine was twisted. I'm out for at least 8-12 weeks. But I'll be at the dz talking things up and having a good time anyway.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups"