AFF 2 Jump

[skylord 1]

Good evening all,

I went back out to Elsinore today, Sunday, for my second AFF jump. I got hooked up with my JMs, and went through more great training. We covered many contingencies, and I was a little surprised at how fast we were going to go up. I learned about gear checks, and student rigs. Man, there are a ton of lessons obviously learned when it comes to the design of this gear.

For whatever reason, I was more anxious on this jump. I knew it from the ground up. We loaded first, and we were going to be the last out. As the door opened, I absolutely dreaded it. I don't know why. We didn't get out on the first pass, and had to go back around. Out goes the others, now it's my turn.

Again, I don't know why, but I was much more tense this time. I was OK jumping out, but my reservations led to the always enjoyable "fall out of the airplane" exit. I blew it for me and my JMs. The time it took us to recover from a bad exit (my fault, like I said before, I'm the man on the jump) ate up valuable free fall time.

My JMs told me I was very responsive to the hand signals, and I was, but I was getting much more than the first jump. I did grab my main JM's altimeter on the first PRCT, but after that I nailed the location. On the second COA, I still had some stability issues, not major, but time consuming nevertheless. By the time I got the two thumbs up signals, we were at 7,000. There was one to go to the lock on altitude, and I was lost as to how long it takes to make the 90 degree turns.

I decided not to make the turns and focus on locking in to the altitude, and pulling. I did just that, and had a great canopy ride that I LOVED on the way down. I released the brakes, turned left, right, and just flew around in my holding area. I even did a deep left 360 at altitude, This parachute was much noisier than my AFF 1 jump, with all sorts of flapping sounds. I checked the canopy 400 times, and it looked good.

The winds shifted during my jump, and I saw the windsock was 180 degrees from my flight plan. Robert talked to me on the radio about what I saw the windsock doing. He had me fly the regular pattern, and make a 180 to the downwind for the new winds. I loved it. Solid, and I rolled out on heading. When Robert called for the base/final turns, I was already making them. I made my second stand up landing out of two.

While I was walking back, I knew I'd have to do this one again. Elsinore had an 80 way going this weekend, which was really cool to watch. On my walk back, several of these skydivers came up (noticing my student jump suit and the fact I was walking back with the leg straps fully cinched) and asked how my dive was. I thanked them for coming out to watch my death defying three way. That got a good laugh out of them.

Anyway, I was pretty down when I left the DZ. I thought this may not be for me. But here I am tonight, practicing exit form in a mirror, and wanting to emulate some of the jumpers I saw who went out "skywalking" and were much more stable than I was.

My JMs were incredible. They noticed my mood, and highlighted the right shit I did, including the decision not to do the turns for the sake of pulling.

Just step out into an environment, you aren't plunging from the airplane to the ground. I can do this, I know it. It will take time, and I don't care how many times I have to repeat. I want it right, safe, and comfortable. No shame, I'll move up as I'm ready.

Bob

Bob Marks

"-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

Your stories are wonderful, Bob! I just read them both. Good for you for doing two in one weekend! Also, congrats for surviving your "death defying three way".
Don't worry about not passing every level on your first time. Trust me, NO ONE cares about how many times you have to repeat levels because your safety is what is most important. Some of the BEST skydivers in the world were some of the worst students. Pat yourself on the back for still being a great, heads-up student with killer landings.
Elsinore is my home DZ, so please ask Mark to point me out the next time that you go. but I hope to get some airtime REEEEEAAAAAL soon. Good luck with all. Maybe we will share a plane ride to altitude in the near future. Take care, and congrats on your two jumps!!!

[JeffD 0]

Well on the exits, They dont get a whole lot better until level 6 (solo exit). Just to let you know, trying to leave the airplane with 3 people sideways doesn't work extremely well no matter how good you are. Trust me they get easier, but the mental struggle gets worse until you get done with a high solo(usually right after Aff7).

[PurpleBadger 0]

The thing to remember when it comes to the exit, even if it doesn't come out the door stable, all you need to do is relax into your arch (i know... much easier said/practiced/done) and be surprised at the effect it has.

[rjf98 0]

Dude:

Your jump was fine. The whole point of a level 2 is to ensure that you can save your own life and fall stable. You did that. We were already to push you forward until you debriefed us.

For everyone's ettifcation:
This was not a bad jump. Little shakey on exit, but not even one tumble (for anyone who's been doing aff for any length of time that means a good exit
Good job man, keep determined you will have no problems in this sport from what I've seen.

[bodypilot1 0]

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Little shakey on exit, but not even one tumble (for anyone who's been doing aff for any length of time that means a good exit

And then you get the student that thinks the fetal position they were in was a great exit! Go figure?

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[cruzit 0]

Woo Hoo...you saved your own life and you didn't hurt the jumpmaster (some of my biggest criteria for a successful student jump).

Be patient with yourself. I mean put it in perspective...if someone asked you to learn how to ride a bike, then only gave you two minutes to do it...would you be proficient????

Sounds like you did great. You were altitude aware and could tell your JMs what went on in the skydive. Good luck on your level 3. Let us know how it goes.

[skylord 1]

Rich,

Thanks for the encouragement, man! It was fun jumping with you guys. I'm back in Washington DC with my associates for a meeting, but I showed a few of them my DVD from AFF-1. They thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and want to have the other eleven board members do tandem jumps together for team building. If I send you enough business that will help the DZ pay your six figure salaries

Anyway, I thought back to some of the AFF dives they have on skydivemovies.com and yeah, it was a good jump. I just didn't get to the turns.

Let me know when you want to jump out of my Arrow!

Bob

Bob Marks

"-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

[skylord 1]

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Elsinore is my home DZ, so please ask Mark to point me out the next time that you go.

Rosa,

Thanks for boosting my spirits. Also, if that's your picture with your post, I'll have no trouble spotting you on my own

I have never trained for such an intense sport as this, and I guess minor difficulties have a way of getting overblown. I realized the exit was not optimal, but I also knew as I saw the horizon go through about 45 degrees my part was to just arch and let my JMs sort it out, which they did.

I'll see you at the DZ, and hope to share a ride up when I don't cry during the climb

Bob

[skylord 1]

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Be patient with yourself. I mean put it in perspective...if someone asked you to learn how to ride a bike, then only gave you two minutes to do it...would you be proficient????

cruzit,

True. And the bike isn't falling to earth at 120 mph. My dad gave me two minutes to learn to ride a bike and I'm still in therapy over that.

Anyhow, I've thought alot about it, and the dive did go pretty well. I just want to do this right. The objective was turns, and I didn't get there. I'll make the turns next time, and the confidence to step into freefall will come. I know it. That's why I'm doing mirror drills, and the muscle memory stuff Mark told me to do.

I am sure the training wheels will come off in time!

Bob

Bob Marks

"-when you leave the airplane its all wrong til it goes right, its a whole different mindset, this is why you have system redundancy." Mattaman

[skyyhi 0]

Hey Bob, I only got a wimpy turn to the right and a pretty good turn to the left on AFF 2. . .exit was fine, except I was pushing Dan out the door because I just "needed to get out of the plane" or I would change my mind right there. Trust me, every jump gets easier. I repeated Level 3 because of that funny feeling pull handle (aka JM's Altimeter). My 2nd time through Level 3 was much better and level 4 was GREAT. Now if I could just learn how to flare properly. . .

You did great. Hope to see you around at the DZ.

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[newsstand 0]

You have one more PITA AFF jump (AFF-3) and then the rest of the progression becomes fun. Hang in there man. I am also 45 and restarted this whole thing over the summer. The progression here is two training tandems and then AFF-2. After AFF-3 I was thinking, I am going to finish the training and then get my A-license just to finish something I started over 25 years ago. I figured I would probably quit after that. Now I live for the one day a month I get to go play in the sky.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[cesslon 0]

i did AFF 2 last weekend (raining this weekend )

and as far the doing the 90 degree turn goes

ealier on in the day the instructor told me he thinks its roughly 180 turn and i said nah the book says 90 and he is like well 180 , 90 what ever

so when i was in the sky i did 90 looked down at my alti and it read 5500 and i was having to much fun so i went to 180
then on the ground he tells me i was only meant to do 90 and i said "yeah but you said close to it " and he said "the book says to do 90" lol
so i think it was his fault hjhaha
but good thing was straight away he asked me how much i turned and i said about 185 degrees
and he said about 175 degree's although i reckon it was 185 i wasnt gunna start argument as i would sound like a dick head lol


cant wait for AFF 3 except they told me i must do 3 and 4 in 1 day and its not physically possible for me to do more then 1 jump in 7 days
i get to badly bruised
i need 2 weeks off from my first jump
as my hips got smashed when the chute opend
my leg straps rammed me legs up into me hips lol

[newsstand 0]

If you are getting that beat up you need to look at how you are getting into your gear. For me it usually means that I don't have the leg straps tight enough or the student gear is sized to big. I sometimes forget to check that it is set to medium for me. I jump three times each time I go and get some minor bruises on my thighs and I have had a couple of hard openings - need to work on those packing skills some more.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[cesslon 0]

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I sometimes forget to check that it is set to medium for me.

what is set to medium ?

im gunna try making sure this time im standing up straight and get some1 else to do them up real tight
so im not like bent over when i do them up and stay bent over as its to tight for me to straighting up lol
although they have never been to tight to hurt me legs like cut of circulation or anything

Matt

[newsstand 0]

The student rigs we use at my drop zone, and I assume most student rigs, are adjustable from small to large so that they don't need to own as many rigs to cover all possible students. You should ask you instructor to double check the sizing if you rig is adjustable. Bent over a little bit sounds about right. Is it you landing that is beating you up or the opening? If it is the landing then work on your PLF and your stand up.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[cesslon 0]

the opening
landing is fine
although i have fell over both times lol

[bodypilot1 0]

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ealier on in the day the instructor told me he thinks its roughly 180 turn and i said nah the book says 90 and he is like well 180 , 90 what ever ***

I doesn't really matter as to what degree of turn you do. We just want to see CONTROL.
The point of doing a 90 is that we start you off with something small so you only have to do slight input and be able to stop somewhere around 90 degrees.

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so when i was in the sky i did 90 looked down at my alti and it read 5500 and i was having to much fun so i went to 180.***

Maybe what he should have asked you was, "What altitude are you to stop all turns and focus on your pull altitude Dude?

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

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[cesslon 0]

ive been told my altitude awarness is excellent
but im not sure if that is anything greater then useal
maybe 99% of students have excellent atli awarness


i pulled at 3500 like i was supposed to and waved at 5000

[TribalTalon 0]

huh??? you're supposed to wave off at 6-5,5 and pull immediately after.

[cesslon 0]

not at my dropzone on AFF level 2

we jump out at 10,000
and wave off at 5,000
look reach grip at 4,000
and pull at 3500

[bodypilot1 0]

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huh??? you're supposed to wave off at 6-5,5 and pull immediately after.

He is from Pacific/Australia, so it may be different there?

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[cesslon 0]

i dont think falling only 4,000 feet would give a stage 2 person enough time to do a turn and a delta

if our drop zone went to 14,000 then maybe they would pull higher up

[bodypilot1 0]

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i dont think falling only 4,000 feet would give a stage 2 person enough time to do a turn and a delta

***
4000 feet is PLENTY of time to do it!
Trust me

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

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[cesslon 0]

i probably took a lot less
but time seems to fly so more the better

plus first 500 would take a while to level out for some