For those students struggling learning to skydive

[faulknerwn 38]

I just posted another friend's logbook as well as my own student logbook on my website. We both had 48 jumps when we got off student status! Read these for inspiration that just cause you have to repeat a jump or two, that you can still do it :-)

Cheri's http://crwdog.servebeer.com/CRWdog/Cheri.html
Mine http://crwdog.servebeer.com/CRWdog/HowCRW.html

They're both quite a laugh! I've got a little over 7000 jumps now and she is just under a thousand..

[GLIDEANGLE 1]

Bravo Wendy!

If hers is half as funny as yours.... it will be great fun to read.

I hope that new jumpers take encouragement from both of your stories.

Struggle as a student isn't uncommon or any kind of indicator of where a jumper can end up in this sport.

The choices we make have consequences, for us & for others!

[bluetwo 0]

Wow, thanks!! That is helpful.

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[NWFlyer 2]

Nice stuff, Wendy. Even when you were struggling you got props for your canopy control ... no wonder you went into CRW.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[andyvaughn 0]

Thank you so much for posting your journey as a novice to skydiving. I'm 28 jumps in, and have watched those that started after me gather up A and B licenses, head off to boogies, etc, And here I am, still struggling with the exit portion of the event There have been multiple times I've thought to myself I should just toss it in, clearly this sport isn't for me.
Sharing your journey really helped me not feel so inept ... thank you thank you thank you for sharing it!!!
Andrea

[popsjumper 2]

Wendy,
You don't know how many times I've used you.
Well, used your 48 jumps as encouragement for students who get down on themselves for a repeat.

They rarely believe me...now I can point them to this.
THANKS!

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[faulknerwn 38]

And heck - I had 48 jumps on the static line program - Cheri did 48 jumps on AFF! And didn't start skydiving until she was 54 - she's 63 now and still going strong..

[ciscobird 0]

Quote

And heck - I had 48 jumps on the static line program - Cheri did 48 jumps on AFF! And didn't start skydiving until she was 54 - she's 63 now and still going strong..

Wow! I never knew that! Kudos to both of you!

When I first jumped at Skydive Temple, I thought Cheri was an old-timer with 25+ years and thousands of jumps under her belt. I didn't find out until much later. Couldn't help but feel inspired!

[skyrider 0]

When I worked at Perris, some of our worse students became some of the best instructors...

Who better to teach, than someone that had a hard time learning?

[SKIandSKY 0]

THANKS FOR THE POST! I am at 29 solos (not counting the 3 tandems) and don't have my A yet. Of course I stopped at jump 12 due to last winter coming and only started back at 13 (back to PTO's too) this past June. I've gone more than 30 days since a jump at least twice, and had to go back to PTO's after being in freefall.

Right now the only thing screwing me up is overshooting my landing target. I did it again about 6 hours ago. I didn't used to overshoot.

Thanks for the message.....makes me feel a lot better.

S&S

[skyflower_bloom 0]

Thanks Wendy for posting this!! I did my 24th through 27th jumps today.. still no A license as I am having a lot of trouble getting my canopy where I want it (the opposite of your struggles lol)..

I am sticking with it though- I have one more A card requirement of a fifth landing within 20 meters of a preselected target, so will not be able to get my license until I improve my canopy skills and get the final accurate landing signed off. Nice to know that there are others out there who have had longer progressions or struggled with some aspect of the sport and have persevered.

S&S, I too am overshooting which is where my canopy/landing issues come in- I am getting closer to where I want to be but still often overshoot it.. so frustrating! I am on a huge canopy with very light wing loading at about a 0.6, so it is very "floaty," but I realize I should be able to do this by now.. it just does not come naturally to me and is taking me longer to figure it out than for most.

I think a lot of it is just doing the jumps and getting more experience (with any problem area really- you can get feedback and all which helps, but you really just have to DO it, in the sky, to improve, so I say the best thing is to keep discussing it and then keep making the jumps!) For people like you and me it just may take longer to get that particular part figured out fully.. but I have to trust I will get it down, and it is getting better, albeit slowly.

What I have been doing past few jumps, and plan to continue doing for the time being, is just 3.5-4 k hop and pops now that I have met all my initial A card freefall and training objectives.. just focusing solely on the canopy, and having the landing area to myself so that I can work on it without traffic around too.. something to think about perhaps.

Hope that everyone else who is in a similar position reads this and keeps working at it! I know it is worth it so I'll be hop n popping until I get the landing point down. It's certainly nice to see the perspective of someone who managed to overcome student progression issues and go on to succeed in the sport. Thanks again for this thread!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Gandhi