My experience so far. Pretty long post ahead.

[Karen89 0]

Quote

When I did my first "5 second delay" I'm pretty sure it was about a 0.00000000000000004 second delay in all actuality

I told my instructor on my 5 second delay that most likely I am just going to reach back and pull right away. I did. What I didn't mention here is on Saturday I went to the DZ and was getting ready for the 10 second. But then I just had a really dreaded feeling. I was shaking more then normal and I felt like breaking down and crying. I told them to take me off that load and that I wasn't going to jump that day. I felt real relieved that I wasn't going to be doing a 10 second that day.

But then I still wanted to jump. I told them I wanted to do another 5 second. More like a hop and pop. They said they weren't used to people doing that, but they didn't mind. I went up and did a very good hop and pop. Saw the instructor give me the thumbs up after I let go of the strut. That right there gave me the confidence to do the 10 second the next day.

[DcloudZ 0]

Karen, how far do you live from a wind tunnel?

A 20 minute session at the wind tunnel would definitely give you the confidence you need to move on to higher delays and eventually full-altitude freefall jumps..

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way." -Alan Watts

[Karen89 0]

The closest one is 8 hours away! :( With that money I would use for gas, that's a bunch of jumps.

I actually have a pretty good arch. :) After those flips I arched like mad and went right belly to earth. Today is a jumping day, but it's rainy out. :\

[Remster 30]

Keep jumping. A whole bunch of us went through what you are going through without tunnels. Yes, they are great, but you dont _need_ them.

Remster

[Karen89 0]

For the longest time I was a kicker, and now I am a spinner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9-Ctc7CtTI

No one told me until after this jump to stop the turn, kind of look the other way. On my first 15 second, I know I started to spin like crazy. When I deployed and looked up, LINE TWISTS STRAIGHT FROM HELL were there. I pulled apart the risers and started to kick. Nothing. Okay...looked at altimeter. I have the altitude to work at this. I started to pull even harder and kick even harder too, and it eventually worked out. By the time I got out, I was exhausted! The guy on the ground started to talk to me (even though I told him no, unless I am going off course) because he was afraid I wasn't okay, I guess.

I'm still determined to get this all right. I'm on jump 23 and just started free falling, while there is one other girl I know who is on jump 12 and doing barrel rolls. Everyone learns at their own pace. I was also kind of nervous for this jump. In the video, you see me reaching back a million times to check that pilot. I do that on every jump, but this time it felt obsessive to me. Though I know if I don't feel good about being stable and I'm losing altitude I know I can reach back and pull. My brain was definitely playing tricks on me....for some reason 6,000 ft seemed really low to me. You can just imagine my thought process looking at my altimeter at 3,000 ft and saying to myself "I used to get out of the plane here?"

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

You really should get in a wind tunnel. Take a week off work, hop in the car and drive to the nearest one! Do 10 minutes each day for three days, then go back. 30 minutes of (mostly) uninterrupted freefall should cure what ails you!

Urgh... now I want to go do another tunnel session.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Karen89 0]

The nearest wind tunnel is like 8 hours away :( if I had the money I would lol. But today I did my 3rd 15 second and I did awesome! Instructor says I'm ready for 30 seconds. So that means more turns, flips, and finally tracking! I'm so excited!

[Remster 30]

Karen89

The nearest wind tunnel is like 8 hours away :( if I had the money I would lol. But today I did my 3rd 15 second and I did awesome! Instructor says I'm ready for 30 seconds. So that means more turns, flips, and finally tracking! I'm so excited!

Wow.. Someone learning how to skydive without a tunnel. Unbelievable.

Remster

[Karen89 0]

Surely makes it interesting

[joelgibson 0]

Remster

Wow.. Someone learning how to skydive without a tunnel. Unbelievable.

Tunnel?

SCR 15113
USPA Coach-C
Hellfish 1004

[vincenzo57 0]

Good effort on persevering with it. I've got a total of 19 jumps but I know how it feels to struggle with it. I started out doing static line years ago but decided this year on AFF and it's been the right choice for me. My exits are still not good but as long as you relax into your arch it will happen. The important thing I think is to believe that by just arching and not overcompensating you can achieve a stable freefall. In fact, on my AFF, I was happiest doing unstable back loop exits because I knew the arch and stable position would happen anyway, so it was one less thing to worry about. Good Luck and stick with it.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

joelgibson

***

Wow.. Someone learning how to skydive without a tunnel. Unbelievable.

Tunnel?

"Indoor Skydiving" vertical wind tunnel. It's a different experience than skydiving, but you fly a lot longer than you would in freefall. A lot of people use them to polish their body flying or freeflying skills. I'll PM you some links.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?