Sooooooo good to be BACK!

[krispy 0]

Friday was the day.
The forecast called for clear, warm, sunny weather. The kind of weather that's worth the exorbitant taxes, outrageous living expenses, and snooty luxury-car-boob-job attitudes out here in San Diego.
And I was ready.
I was actually ready the day before. But landing in 20-25 knot winds was a bit much for my gimpness.
Yeah, I'm shameless enough that I'll whine about weather. I was *really* ready for this two weeks ago, when Mom Nature stepped in and saturated the skyscape with a wonderfully thick blanket of rain-heavy cloud cover. Needless to say, we had our words...
Less than an hour's drive from my new-found home in North County, and I'd be there. All the sounds and smells and sensations I've been dreaming about over the last three months. Three months of visualization and preparation. Three months of talking people's ears off about how wonderful it is, how much I *needed* to get back. Three months of healing.
Everything went by in an instant -- harness room, gear, ride. I was engulfed in wind, clutching the ever familiar float bar before I realized where I was.
And I smiled.
I turned back to Brett, the lucky winner of my currency-jump-lotto draw, and gave him a ready check. He smiled and mouthed, "O-K," before I faced back into the wind. A quick exit count later, I was in a slow, graceful back flip, watching the otter drift dizzily off into the sun.
It was about damn time!
Dock, maneuvers, track, pull... everything flowed like a well-rehearsed show. Even the Spectre snivel, like clockwork. Control check, then time to play.
Then came the oh-shit. When we took off, there was a steady 7-9 knot wind that was just perfect for a feather-soft landing. On approach, however, the sock was as limp as a viagra-starved hugh hefner.
This wasn't gonna be pretty.
I figured that I should avoid the semi-crowded grass area and try to land beside it. Targeting a small flag in the dirt nearby, I S-turned and played with the risers a bit, then turned on final.
"Watch the flare response," I told myself; that's where I got in trouble last time, and I wasn't about to let it happen again. At about 8-10 feet, I initiated my flare. With the ground still rushing up fast however, my soon-to-be slow, smooth flare quickly became a stab. I popped up a bit, and seeing that my no-wind forward speed was a tad high for me to gimpily run out, I went for the PLF.
Man, would those black hats be proud. I mean t-e-x-t-b-o-o-k. Popped right back on my feet, reaching over to unwrap a few lines from around the flagpole.
Current, with another accuracy to boot. Deciding to call it a day, I headed back home, spun some records with a friend on his new system, and attended a high-school-grad-ceremony-and-dinner thang. I slept well that Friday night, despite my excitement and anticipation of what was to come the next day...
Winter boogie, A-Star helicopter jumps (Awesome!!! *PICS TO COME*), Jump #50 and the license upgrade to go along with it... YEEEEAHHH!
It was another no-winder, so I was PLF'ing and buttsliding like a mad fool, and Kimmer went and sprained her ankle pretty bad (trying to show me up, hmmmmm??? ), but the day as a whole still rocked.
It's good to be back.
Steve

[skybytch 273]

Woooooo Hooooo!!!
Welcome back! I know the feeling, oh so well!
I saw kimmer sitting on the steps at the school nursing her ankle when me and my kid went in to see if he'd lost enough weight yet; what a bummer! Hope you heal fast girl!
Two more pounds and my son will be in the air... appointment is made and deposit is paid, next Sunday will be the day. pull and flare,
lisa
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[AggieDave 6]

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Two more pounds and my son will be in the air...

Two pounds? Is this a goal that you set for him, or are the ppl running the DZ being real sticklers about weight. Personally, I'm a believer that weight doesn't really matter, as long as you're in good shape and there's gear to jump that fits you. I know with me atleast, my exit weight is about 250lbs, but there has never been a problem except for going low on formations. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.-General George Patton-

[PhreeZone 20]

Congrats in getting back in the air!!!! I can't wait to do that again in like 6 weeks.
I want to touch the sky, I want to fly so high ~ Sonique

[skybytch 273]

It's a gear limitation more than anything; the mains, reserves and harnesses are only rated up to a certain exit weight. Since this is my kid we're talking about, and knowing someone who spent months in a hospital and rehab center from landing a blown up reserve that he was overloading... I'm glad they are sticklers about it; wouldn't have it any other way.
He's jumping at Perris so I'm not worried about the instructors being able to keep up with him; you gotta be good to work for either of the schools there. pull and flare,
lisa
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[SudsyFist 0]

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Too bad we didn't know each other were going to be there; I did two yesterday, one from the Super Otter and one from the Skyvan. Hey, you weren't on that 10 way with Mark Saturday were you?

Ya know, I was gimpin' down to manifest and turned around thinking, "Hey, that was Lisa, wasn't it?" By then, there was no way I could catch up to ya!
Just did two, too. One out of the AStar, and one from the Skyvan.
As for 10-way... me? NO WAY! Unless it's on my head...
Actually, I've been tossing around the idea of asking Mark to let me in on some RW soon. I'm about a third the way through the SkyU course, and, once I'm back up to speed, I'd like to start putting some of this stuff into real practice.

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Two more pounds and my son will be in the air... appointment is made and deposit is paid, next Sunday will be the day.

Great! If I'm there, I'll stop by and make up for missing y'all yesterday!
Steve
Was krispy, now SudsyFist (Don't ask, don't tell )