BeeTee

Koz, it was an Otter. I understand that I'm being a bit hard, but I want to do most of the hard work as a student so that I can get the fundamentals of control and safety down. That way, I can enjoy the sport (safely) as I progress. I know it was a first jump (I never even did tandem before) and expecting too much is a mistake. But I always want to look for ways to learn and improve. Thanks for all the kind words and advice. I will run anything and everything past my instructor. THAT, I have retained. But I want to learn as much about the sport as possible.

Fair enough, Aggie Dave. I was mainly asking for things tips that you guys may have used for those specific things . For example, my buddy who told me to relax on the PT's said to think of my arms as that drum on Karate Kid II (yeah, he's corny). But as one arm moves to throw, the other moves as a wing near my head. The critique is self. What I'm sort of asking for is if anyone had similar circumstances and what they did. Of course, on your advice, I will bring all of these to my instructors to see if it would help. But it is good to know where to start, perhaps.

Did my Level I yesterday after 9 days of waiting. After I took the class last Saturday, the winds and clouds finally broke. Here is my self-critique. Please chime in with ANYTHING you guys think would help. Exit - D Forgot the Hotel Check. Even though I arch-counted, I forgot the most important thing. Despite the fact that I did arch, it took them a while to get us stable on exit. I believe I may have hopped out instead of stepped. The only reason I did not give myself an F is that I managed to exit the plane intact with two jumpmasters. Next time: Keep running that mental checklist on the way up. Hotel Check, Arch, Up, Down, OUT!!!! Body Position = C I kept a good arch and was complimented by the JM’s afterwards. I only received one arch signal in the whole dive. My arms were good, but my legs were not. The JM said that my heels were getting reacquainted with my ass for most of the jump and that my feet were too close together.. Does ANYONE have any tips on how I can practice this on the ground before AFFII? I want to have very good body positioning. Any tips are appreciated. Next time: Keep my legs out. CoA/Altitude Check = A Checked about every 5 seconds or so. Stayed on top of it and started my waveoff/pull right at 6000. Even I was pleased with this!!! Next time: Continue keeping awareness, but try to begin to develop a feel for what the landscape looks like at certain altitudes. (Is this something I should or shouldn’t do?) Practice Throws = A JM said they were awesome. The best advice I got is to be steady even if it meant doing them slowly. I did three, found the hackey every time and did not appear negatively alter my stability. Pull at Altitude = PASS I’m hesitant to give this a score. Either you do or you don’t. I did. Canopy Control = C+ Average I guess. Practice flares went ok. Parachute steered. Nothing bad or great. Next time: Continue to practice under canopy and learn the handling characteristics of the canopy. Playground/Naviagation = D If it weren’t for the radio…. I was totally disoriented as to my approach. I remember making a RIGHT turn to final approach (?!?!?). I was really confused. Next time: I don’t know. Guys, how can I get better at this? Landings are where I’m most nervous. Landing = C- The instructor thinks I did good, but it was a PLF due to not flaring all the way. I did not land hard at all, but it wasn’t a walking landing either. Next time: Practice staged flare as I was taught in AFF. Fun = B I had a ball, but I want to do this right and learn to do the fundamentals as cleanly as possible. I will have more fun as I get these down, but there wasn't a lot of time. The jump seems so fast and by the time I could admire the view, 6000 was approaching. But I had a great time and can't wait for level 2.

I'm a newbie's newbie. My first AFF jump is tomorrow. I'm excited. Only a tad nervous.. I'm sure that will probably change. But that's not the reason for this post. As long as I could remember, I had a reoccurring dream. Different places, but the same theme.. I would be on a bridge. Sometimes walking, sometimes riding a bike and sometimes in a car. When I was younger, I was TERRIFIED of heights. I still don't like them too much now, but I do what I have to do. But in this dream, I would get halfway across the bridge and then it would get dark and stormy. The bridge would then start to shake. The tighter I hung on, the more it would shake. To me, this was the most terrifying dream I ever had. I'd wake up sweating, screaming and sometimes even crying. A grown man, mind you. Until one day I got sick of it. Same dream, same shaking. I was so angry at who or whatever decided to torture me that I jumped over the side. Everything got quiet and faded to black. I then woke up feeling as peaceful as I've ever felt. I had that dream once or twice since then, but for some reason it never scared me. I'm sure a dream is WAY different than a life of death situation, but I think it's about facing your deepest fears and taking power over them... Great thread and great honesty here. I'll let you guys know how things go.