Newbeegirl from California

[linus2270 0]

I don't do roller-coasters and I don't dive into a swimming pool head first because the sensation of dropping for both is very uncomfortable for me. For whatever reason, I can't breath on the way down!
I tried a few more times to see if I can enjoy them like most people do...Failed. Won't do either one without a at least a 6-pk of liquid courage...

About a month ago, I did my first tandem skydive. I amazed myself for not getting nervous for one moment. I only told my friends that like roller-coasters, I might not be able to breath, and oh-well with that! They told me to just make sure that I had my chin up when I left the plane. I did just that and the whole experience was just incredible.

Having an addictive personality (Thank God I don't do drugs), I could not get over the adrenaline rush and high that I got from the dive. For two weeks, I tried to google and youtube about skydiving to get a fix and they were not cutting it. So I went online and enrolled my first AFF class.

During the class, I started getting nervous for the first time when we started talking about problems and malfunctions. Then to make it worse, when the class went out on the field to observe landings, we actually saw somebody do a cutaway! I asked my instructor about the odds of that happening and he said 1 out of 1,000. Okaaaaay then......

I wasn't nervous about getting into the plane and jumping out of it. I was nervous when I pulled my ripcord and looked up if my canopy opened perfectly. Those were the longest 6 seconds of my life. I said "open....open...common.....YEAAAAAHHH!"

I forgot to do my left & right 180 canopy check. Bad! I just remember looking and trying to recognize the landing area. I didn't want to land on somebody's backyard. I landed two feet away from the marked spot, landed on my a** but at least I did it smoothly!

My instructor didn't tell us how to pick up the chute, so I just bunched it up like I would do when I washed a big blanket. With short arms that go with my 5'1" frame, it was a challenge because I didn't have the 4 corners as a guide to fold properly, and it felt like I was trying to hug and lift a tree. Then some guy started yelling at me, and that's when I realized that I was dragging the pilot chute and it was collecting weeds...oops.

Two of my classmates did the AFF2 right after but I wanted to go home and just internalize what I did right and more importantly, what I did wrong so I can fix it next time.

I just scheduled my AFF2 yesterday (a week after my AFF1) and if all goes well, I'll do 3 & 4 right after.

Here's a video edit (also a first) that I did from the video & pics that I got from my tandem package.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CpdO68rw3I&sns=em]

Like they all say...
Blue Skies!!!

[mutumbo 0]

grats on your firts jump. glad you enjoyed it! yeah the big student canopies are a pain in the ass to get together without dragging it, but you wont be on one forever and the smaller canopies are much easier to handle :D

good luck. and welcome to the forums

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[thrillstalker 0]

welcome to the sport.

same thing happened to me after my tandem, as soon as my feet were on the ground i knew it was going to be an expensive summer.

poor and happy is fine with me, skydiving is the reason for both.

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[jim_32766 0]

Congrats on completing your 1st AFF jump! Isn't that an amazing experience? I liked it much better than the tandem. There is something comforting about knowing you have your own chute.

Interesting that you commented on the lack of the "dropping" feeling that is common to roller coaster rides. I am often telling my non-skydiving friends that sensation doesn't occur much in skydiving.

Great write-up too. Keep us in the loop as you progress.

Blue skies!

The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.

[linus2270 0]

I'm thinking of doing 5 flights at the wind tunnel tomorrow to prepare myself for Saturday's next AFF levels. They offer an AFF Wind Tunnel Pkg for $100 that comes with 5 flights, coaching & DVD, which I think is a good deal.

They gave us two WT flights on our AFF1 class last week and watching myself on the video afterwards was an eye-opener for me. Watching my instructor float like a steady asteroid gave me a close-up visual of how it should be done and it clicked in my head.

I wish there was a newbie club at my DZ. It would be nice to hang-out and brain-storm with others before & after dives. Everybody seems to belong to an intimidating group of licensed & experienced divers and I feel like a dork wandering on my own. I wouldn't mind if my buddy Budlight kept me company but I was told I could only have airbeer before I dive...sigh.

[billvon 2,991]

>Everybody seems to belong to an intimidating group of licensed &
>experienced divers and I feel like a dork wandering on my own.

If you are up there this weekend look me up; I can introduce you to some people who won't think you're a dork. (Ask anyone at the school if you want to look for me.)

[linus2270 0]

Thank you, Bill!

[jim_32766 0]

Definitely take Mr. Bill up on that offer. I am sure you will be well cared for with him making the introductions.

Don't worry about all the high jump numbers. As you can see I am just a beginner myself. It's amazing how welcoming most of the community is and how much help and advice they willing share. Just keep asking those questions and keep absorbing the knowledge!

Oh, and $100 for 5 flights in a tunnel sounds pretty good. That will really help make the control become more natural.

Blue skies!

The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.