I Got My 'A' License!

I completed the exam and check dive at Carolina Sky Sports in North Carolina. The staff there is awesome. They spent literally ALL DAY tutoring and quizzing me, and answering a ton of my questions.
Their student program is top notch, with several instructors who really put a lot of effort into making sure their students know all the procedures and safety information. I was really amazed at how available and helpful they are. They drilled me on the information all day and were very encouraging through the whole process.
I also got a jump in at Sebastian on my way home and have 45 jumps.

I Got To Jump Today! Finally #43!

It had been over three months, so I had to do a refresher jump with Jason. He reviewed emergency procedures with me and asked me lots of questions. The review was well worth it.

We did a jump with a dive exit, two practice pulls, a back flip, and two 360 degree turns. There were a ton of clouds rolling in, so I spent nearly the entire canopy ride in a tight turning spin to lose altitude. Around 1,900 feet I was under the clouds and flew the pattern in for a perfect landing.

It was awesome!

Good News/Bad News

The rental rig I have complained about several times just got a new main canopy! This means the lines and risers will be replaced. That's very good. The bad news is that they replaced it with a 190sqft canopy.

The only 170sqft rental rig remaining is number 8. There are a few of us that rent the 170's, so we'll probably not be able to get gear some days now.

At least no one is going to die on the thing!
:-)

Only One Lousy Jump Today- Number 41

I managed to get a jump in on the first load of the day then had to hurry South to make it to a surprise birthday party for Korby. He's older than me again. I can feel good about that for five months.

I did some fall rate control practices in free fall. I think I'm doing well, but have no way of knowing without other jumpers with me or a logging altimeter.

The chute opening was dramatic again. Stupid thing opened about half way and stayed like that for a few hundred feet. That's called a Snivel, and is caused most often by the increased porosity of older canopies. Too much air rushes through the canopy instead of forcing it open. The jumper is pulled upright, but is still falling very fast.

I released the brakes and yanked on them several times very hard to get it open.

Once open it had a bad end cell closure on both sides. They opened up with more toggle tugging.

So, I had a good landing then sat by the taxiway to watch the next load of jumpers' chute openings. I feel like such a Drama Queen for all the recent bad openings I've had. I want to verify once again that I'm not crazy or making a big deal out of nothing.

So, a full load exits the plane. Nearly 20 jumpers. I watched every single chute open. THEY OPEN FINE!!! Nobody is up there white knuckling it while their chute stays closed! None of them are in a spinning dive or climbing their risers to get at a popped toggle.

They throw the pilot chute and the main opens up. It's just that simple.

I need to revisit the idea of buying my own gear.

Valentines Day Jumps

I got three jumps in. They have a special for free gear rentals Monday through Thursday. The weather was bad all week, but today looks great. Three jumps cost me $85.50. Normally they would run $141. Not too shabby.

Th first jump was uneventfull until I failed to land into the wind. It was a crosswind landing. The flare did next to nothing to reduce my speed and I slid across the ground on my knees for at least 20 yards then came to a stop and hopped up. Thankfully there weren't any rocks in my path. Another skydiver at a similar experience level was standing nearby and managed to conceal his laughter. A few minutes later he told me that his landing was a mess also.

The second jump had a hard landing when I forgot to look at the horizon on my final approach and flared the canopy at about 2'.

The last jump of the day was my 40th!!!! WOW. I pulled an accuracy landing so close to the flag that my lines came down over the pole. Sweeeeeet.

Jumps 36 and 37

These jumps were made on Saturday 1/26.

The first was a solid jump with some sit flying that wasn't too terrible. I held on the brakes for my final approach, then let off them just before flaring. This was the last 'in sky' requirement for my A license.

The second jump was a little more interesting. Free fall was great, mostly sitting. This opening was strange though. I don't know why it felt strange, but something was different than normal. On opening there were several line twists which put me into a spinning dive.

I grabbed the risers and kicked out of the twists. The twists were more extensive than I had seen on any previous jumps. Now that I'm flying the smaller 170 sqft canopy the twists often put me into a spinning dive like this one, which can be pretty scary until you remind yourself that you can kick out of it and that everything is okay.

Typically the most relieving moment of a skydive with line twists is watching the risers spread open. This time it turned out to be the most unnerving. As soon as they spread apart the right brake toggle ripped through the fabric that holds it to the riser. It shot up and lodged itself inside a small metal ring about one foot out of my grasp.

This was bad news. I was put into the tightest spinning dive I had experienced. It was amazing how hard it was to pull myself up the riser with the centrifugal force of the spin pulling me away. I grasped for it three times and decided I would try once more before cutting away. I gave it all my strength and managed to get a finger through the toggle loop. It came down fairly easily once I had a grip on it and flew great except for the natural right hand turn that rig number 9 has every time I jump it. They tell me I'm not tightening my leg straps evenly. I guess I've done it unevenly to the same side on every one of my eight dives in the rig.... Not likely, but possible.

So, my scariest dive yet and I was fully under control of the canopy by 2,900 feet. Not bad. My hard deck is 2,000. At that altitude I must stop trying to fix anything and pull my reserve. This means I had between 6 and 15 seconds remaining before I would have had to cut away.

Serious Withdrawal

No skydiving since 12/30. Serious bummer.
Saturday morning I should be able to squeeze a few jumps in!

Jumps Update- 35

I have 35 jumps now and have completed everything for the A license except a braked approach and landing. This isn't a big deal, but I wanted to save it for last because it can cause a very rough landing if you don't know your canopy.

Since my last jump posts I've done a 2 way with a really good D licensed jumper, another coached jump (this one with Uwe), and a hop-n-pop at 3,300 feet.

The 2 way was pretty cool. We took turns turning 360's then I watched as he pulled right next to me and fell away from him. That was sweet.

The coached jump was pretty crappy from the start when I flipped head over feet on my way out the door. I didn't push off with my right foot so it decided to stay in the plane. Then Uwe was pretty tough to catch up to as we altered our fall rates. He has 12,000 jumps, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.

The hop-n-pop is a requirement for the A license. It worked out really well that we had heavy weather moving in on us after we were in the plane. We could either jump below the clouds or ride the plane to the ground. Ten jumpers went out one right after the other, pulling their chutes immediately out the door. Eight stayed on the plane (figure that out).

Brad Jumped

Sorry, no pictures as promised. Brad did jump and had a great time. He said it was awesome. I was on the same load and jumped twice that day

Brad Is Jumping Friday

My brother Brad is scheduled to do a tandem jump this Friday at 9:30. Should be cool! I'll post some details and pics afterwards.

I'll probably get to go on the same load also :-)

30 Jumps!- Wow

I have 30 jumps now! I should be getting my A license soon and am getting more interested in buying my own gear. The gear rentals are costing $25 each jump.

I'm working out the details of the payback on dropping several thousand $$ on gear and determining what the best bet is for resale value, maintenance costs, safety, etc..

I haven't figured it all out yet, but do think it will make the most sense to buy solid used gear with all the current safety features, low usage (# of jumps), and a container that will barely fit the smallest canopy I have jumped, the 170. This would allow several years of use, the ability to downsize canopies as I get better, and still have some resale value when it's time to upgrade.

Time to start poking around at the gear shop...

Coached Jump Details

The purpose of this jump was to accomplish some of the items needed to achieve an A license.

I stood in the door with Dee and dove out a moment after her. I kept my normal position out the door, but kept my head turned to keep track of Dee. She was about 150' below and behind me once I levelled off. Now the fun part- I dove down to reach her. This took much longer than I anticipated. I think I waited a little too long in the door and she got lower than expected.

We docked successfully, then she alternated going above and below me by four feet and I would rise or fall to meet her and dock. These all went really well.

OOOOPS- My job was to initiate a break off at 6,000', turn, track away 150', and pull at 4,500'. I completely screwed this up. She ended up just tracking away from me around 5,500' so we could pull. Oh well, I guess I'll get that right NEXT time!

Three Jumps- One Coached with Dee

I did three jumps on Sunday. Prior to the second jump Uwe (Safety and Training Advisor) downsized me to a higher performance canopy, 170 sq ft. What a difference! This thing goes where I want it to and really responds to tugs on the front risers. Here's a sample picture of a guy in a front riser turn- Two things to notice: his position relative to the Earth (diving, Earth is upper right of photo) and his left arm is pulling on the black strap which is the front riser. There are four risers. He is pulling on the one which is attached to the lines in the front of his canopy on his left side. This is a front riser turn.

My last jump of the day was a coached jump with Dee. I will need two or three of these to qualify for the A license. They are around $105 each, compared to $47 I am paying for normal jumps with gear rental.

I'll do another post with details of the jump.

Packing Class

One of the requirements for an A license is that you must be able to pack a parachute. No big deal, I signed up for a packing class- $50. Nice.

Okay this class was HELL. You learn to pack by trying repeatedly ALL DAY LONG until you get it completely right without any help, THEN you jump the damn thing! No room for cutting corners here, you will jump what you pack in order to pass the class.

We started at 10:30. If you have never atempted to pack a parachute.. Don't! They have a mind of their own and do not cooperate at all. How would you like to be folded up and shoved into a bag?

So, the other student finished his pack job around 2:30 and jumped it. I was nowhere close to getting it. At just after 5 I managed to complete a full pack job successfully, catch the last flight of the day, and whine about my poor stubby little fingers to anyone willing to listen.

In retrospect I'm very happy I tackled this class and even though packing isn't something I am very good at I do look forward to doing it more often and getting better.

Saturday's Jump- Minor Malfunctions

Let's start positive. Here's a video of the landing. Very nice-



I had to use a rig with a larger canopy than the one I normally use and doesn't fit as well. No big deal, maybe... A woman who also rents gear actually put this rig on by mistake after I checked it over and everything. We switched back just a few minutes before loading.

We got out at about 13,000 in a bit of a hurry to avoid some incoming weather. I did a bunch of sit flying which went pretty well. Not perfect on the position, and I spin constantly, but I'm sitting :-) !

Just below 5,000' I waved off and threw the pilot chute... oops, nope I missed. Got it with the second try.

I feel it catch me and turn me upright. I start watching it ... watching it.. watching it o..p..e..n..
It stayed in a nice pretty square a bit longer than I'm used to, but eventually opened up, sort of.
It opened with the left side closed up a little with what is called an end-cell closure. Great, it put me in a left turn. No big deal though, all you do to open up a closed end-cell is release the brakes, called 'toggles', which are used for steering and hold them down until it opens.

So I release the toggles and pull both.....pull.. pull.... nope! They both came free but the left toggle's line is tangled up and won't allow it to come down. Now I'm spinning hard to the left and dropping quickly. The procedure for this malfunction is to counter the spin by pulling all the way down on the right toggle. I pulled the right side down and it mostly flew straight without dropping too quickly.

Of course at that point I started yanking VERY hard on the left toggle to free the line. It came free after a few tries and I believe I tore the fabric loop that holds the brake line clear off the riser. Whatever, it flew straight.

I didn't get to have any fun under canopy because all of this drama carried me pretty far down wind so I needed to fly straight into the wind to make it back to the landing area.

FUN STUFF!

This jump made me very happy that I do a lot of reading about malfunctions and how to handle them. I also read all the incident reports across the sport and participate in forums that critique the jumpers decisions. Dropzone.com and USPA.org are invaluable resources for self safety education.

The problems on this jump weren't very bad ones in comparison, but an unprepared jumper could easily have caused their own death with a spiraling fall if they weren't educated on the proper procedures. Too many jumpers are out there jumping towards a certification or attempting to learn something 'fun' without taking the time to learn about safety and improve their ability to make decisions in critical situations. It's a very, very rare malfunction alone that causes a death. Poor decision making in critical situations due to poor metal preparation is a root cause of a high percentage of skydiving fatalities.

Kiddos got the DZ tour!

On the way back from Blue Springs Sara fell asleep. Yes! I made a slight detour from our intended route and drove us to the drop zone before she could stop me! Lily and Marshall had never seen the place, so I thought I could give them the tour and if time allowed maybe make a jump.

They loved it! We saw the Otter (jump plane) coming in for a steep landing right after we got out of the car. They were really excited to see the jumpers coming in too. We walked around and Lily got in a few practice exits out of the mockup aircraft door which is located near the loading area.
They met a couple of the other instructors and got to talk with Dee too.

I did manage to get on the last load and make a jump. It was a little crazy and gets a post of it's own.

Lily helped me check my rig and learned a few things about how it works. It was her first time seeing one. Marshall called it my backpack. Lily is ready to jump. Anyone know of a drop zone that would believe she's 18??

Thanksgiving Jumps

I got two jumps in this morning! Left Blue Springs at 7:30 and made the two hr drive to Sebastian. This was my first time relying on Blackberry Maps alone to get me somewhere. Very impressed, but that's a different story..

I got two jumps in before I needed to head back. Very cool, but turns out the Turkey took a lot longer than expected so I could have made three or four jumps. Oh well.

The jumps were pretty uneventful, which was nice..
I did more sit flying and made progress on keeping myself upright. Now I get to work on holding a heading rather than spinning. The canopy rides were great also with a lot of turns being made with the rear risers and a couple feeble attempts at front riser turns and a dive. I need to try this at the beginning of the canopy ride as I'm a little hesitant to really pull on them below 2,000 feet.

Hope to get back on Sunday!

Thanksgiving Jump!?

I'm hoping to get a jump in on Thanksgiving morning. We'll be camping at Blue Springs, which is about two hours away. I'll leave the campsite early (hopefully), get a couple of jumps in and return by early afternoon.

Unwanted Jump Excitement

The first jump on Sunday was a little dramatic. Here's how it went:

I've always known that I could look around during free fall and see other jumpers, but I've always been focused on what I'm working on and of course... the ground.

So my first jump Sunday I went out the door 5 seconds after a group of three belly fliers (doing maneuvers and relative work while on their bellies). I told them I would be pulling at 4,500', which is the reason I went out after them.

Here's what happened:

I jump out and start working on the sit fly position. It's not going too hot. I keep flipping over backwards.

After about 30 seconds I realize that I'm covering a good bit of ground (going NE) and no longer very close to the airport. I think 'No big deal' and start tracking back towards the airport. The wind is so strong that in my best tracking position I'm basically falling straight down, which is fine. I'm not allowing myself to get 'blown away' and should be able to fly back under canopy.

Ho hum, just tracking along without going anywhere and guess who ends up about 500' BELOW me! The group of three belly fliers. They are drifting with the wind while they practice their maneuvers without paying any attention to the airport (they are more experienced and know they can get back) so our paths cross. This is really really bad because if one of them pulls their chute I will fall through it at 130mph!! Uncool.

Immediately on seeing them underneath me I turned and tracked away from them to the West. It was awesome how quickly I moved away from them. During this leg of the track I did not check my altimiter. I was focused on moving away from them. Well, 200 feet per second eats up a lot of altitude very quickly.

Just as I finished my track the belly flier closest to me pulled his chute. I was about 150' away. Safe. Shortly afterwards I pulled mine, at about 3,200 feet.

Needless to say I got to have a strongly worded conversation with that belly flier back at the hangar. He was really nice, but very interested in making sure that didn't happen again. I don't blame him.

I think the appropriate action immediately upon seeing jumpers underneath me would have been to pull my chute. You can't possibly fall through people if you're floating under a canopy.

Regardless, the lesson learned is simple: If you say you are pulling at 4,500, PULL AT 4,500!!

Yesterday's Stuff

I added a slideshow of yesterday's jumps on the right side of the page. I think you can get it a lot bigger if you click on it.
Check out Sara's super skydiving safety shoes!
Her parachute is the one with purple. Mine is gold and red.

On our way there she asked me to make sure she was partnered up with 'some big hairy guy' as her tandem instructor. We did really good in that department, managing to line her up with Uwe. He's a big German/South African (I don't understand either. Ask him some time) dude with something like 14,000 jumps.

Sara did a tandem!

Today was pretty cool. Sara did her first jump ever, a tandem with Uwe. She was a little scared but had a really good time. She said it was great and she's really happy she did it. Not something she'll be doing often though :-0

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Way to go SARA!

Try Skydiving?!?!

Here's a short list of the crap people come up with when asked if they would like to join me/us for a skydive. To make it easy for you I've rated them on a scale of 1-10 so you'll know which ones work the best.

1. Money- Can't argue with that, but geez how many times do you eat out a month?
score: 8

2. Danger- Total crap. It's unfamiliar, not dangerous. Look up the statistics you wus.
score: 3

3. Physical limitations- If you're over 230lbs, have health problems, or are pregnant you're probably right and you can't do it.
score: 10

3. I am a Mother/Father- See #2.
score: 3

4. My Husband/Wife won't let me- Divorce or suicide, either would be an improvement for you.
score: who cares, find a gun

5. Time- You are full of shit.
score: 1

6. I'm busy on Sundays when you go- Pick a day. I would love an excuse to go.
score: 6

7. I'm scared- I can't blame you for that. I was pretty scared my first time too. See you Sunday.
score: 2

8. I have no one to watch the kid(s)- I was hoping you wouldn't read this far. I have no response for this one. You can't go.
score: 10

Thought of another one? Let me know.

Sit Flying

On my last few jumps I've been attempting to learn to sit fly. Sit flying is simply falling in an upright position as if you were sitting in a chair. It's been interesting trying to learn it. I usually end up getting very close to the correct position and then flipping over on my back.

Here's a picture of someone doing it correctly:

http://www.bpa.org.uk/
The key to any of this stuff is to force your body into the correct position and not worry about trying to move where you want to go. The relative wind will put you in the right place if your body is correct. This is very counter intuitive, and a real challenge for me.

When a newbie like myself learns a new position it usually involves a good few jumps spent flailing around in the sky like an idiot. I wish I had pictures to post. They would be hilarious.

I did manage to hold the position for a few seconds on my last jump, but was much more upright than the guy in the photo. This causes you to have a much faster fall rate. I was approaching my pull altitude so I went back to belly down after a few seconds.
I'll get it figured out!

'A' License Update!

I nailed two accuracy landings and Ian signed off on them for me. I'm getting to know the flag on the South side of the field.
Just a little closer to my license!

Today's Action

Keith came along again today and did his AFF levels 2 and 3. Last Sunday he did ground school and level 1. He's passed all three with flying colors, so he's already doing better than I did!

I got three jumps in today. They went pretty well, with a couple minor issues..

I had some pretty rough line twists on the first jump of the day from a rather hard opening, and ended up with a closed end cell on the last jump of the day. Here's a sample pic of an end cell closure:Two minor malfunctions in a three jump day! Not bad. :-0

Seriously, I happened to review all the malfuntion procedures three times during the week, so I was very confident in handling them as they came up.

The line twists were pretty bad compared to what I've seen previously, but the canopy flew straight so it wasn't a big deal. A few kicks and I was out of them. Here's a sample picture of line twists: The end cell closure was really minor and popped open immediately with some input on the left steering toggle. This was my first end cell closure.

Time to start working on my 'A' License!

The next step after AFF is to achieve an A license from the USPA. This requires 25 skydives total and proven proficiency in several areas. I've completed a few of the requirements, but have many more to go. Here's my A license proficiency card:

(click for a larger picture that is readable)

More Jumps!

Well, I've done five jumps since graduating. The first couple jumps without an instructor watching were pretty nerve wracking, but I'm pretty comfortable now. Here are a few pictures (BIG thanks to Korby for taking these):

Wind Tunnel!

Wow, we did the tunnel.
Sara, the kiddos, and Korby all came. We all had a great time. Here are some pics:

Korby

Me

Marshall

Lily

Sara

AFF Training Level 8- "Go now?"

If I had waited any longer I think Dee would have pushed me out the door.

What a terrible jump! Rob got me a helmet with a large frizzy black wig, which is tradition for graduating students. Excellent. I was a good sport and wore the thing.

So I end up sitting in the middle of a group of divers who are all doing some group thing. I have no idea, but they are getting out at 9,000 a mile away from the airport. They didn't seem to like the fact that I was getting out ahead of them.

I go to put my seatbelt on and there is no clasp on one side! I ask the guy next to me and he says You're Fu**ed". I took the longer side of the belt strap and tied it around my leg strap. Good enough.

As soon as I finished tying my seatbelt the pilot let off the brakes for takeoff and I practically ended up in the lap of the guy who gave the excellent advice on the seatbelt situation. The entire rear of the plane had a good laugh.

Dee got up at around 4,500 and moved to the door. I have no idea what's going on because my jump is supposed to happen at 5,500. At 5,000 she motions for me to climb up and jump out. I freaked a little b/c I don't know why we're 500' lower than expected. I hesitate in the door and think for a moment that she is going to shove me on my way.

So, I dive out the door, sideways, hips nowhere near the correct position. I tumbled around like an idiot for about five seconds then calmed down, leveled off, and pulled. The landing was good.

I caught a lot of crap from EVERYONE about this jump, but I pulled in time and that's the only requirement to pass!

I graduated!!!!

graduation cigar, a Rocky Patel-

AFF Training Level 7- "I heard you were fast"

Warren expected me to be a little crazy since he heard my last jump was really fast. No worries, we slowed it down a little to make sure I got the maneuvers all right.

This is the first jump I was completely comfortable with and really enjoyed from start to finish. No butterflies or anything.

The tandem passenger behind me on the plane reminds me of somebody I went to high school with, but I didn't ask... just sat in his lap for 20 minutes and didn't say a word. :-0)

So, I dove out the door a little sideways and the wind turned me a bit before I got stable. No big deal, it just took a second to level off. The back loop went great, followed by 5 seconds of awesome delta tracking (very fast forward flying). No shake or anything.

The 360 turns went really well too. No hesitation or corrections needed. I just spun around and faced Warren again.

After the last 360 Warren and I flew to each other and shook hands. Shortly afterwards we reached 6,000 and locked on for the pull.

The pull and canopy went great. I came in rather high in the landing pattern. Having a radio really messes me up b/c it's hard to hear and I never know if they are talking to me or someone else. So, I hear chatter and think they want me to start the pattern or turn.

Anyway, I came in pretty high on the final and did a couple low (and scary) flares to peel off some altitude. It worked out great and I landed very nicely without even taking a step.

So level 8 is next. A couple instructors told me that I could do a solo jump or two before doing level 8. They said some people are nervous about it. For level 8 you dive out at 5,500 feet, level off, then pull and land. It sounds really easy, but I guess some people are hesitant to jump so low.

Cloud cover cut this day short, so I'll be back this weekend. CAN'T WAIT!!!

AFF Training Level 6- "Don't wait for me"

On this level you get to do the delta tracking two times if you finish the first early enough. I have a tendency to get out of the plane and really wait to level off before doing any maneuvers, so Ian let me know I might want to get on with it this time.

This jump is the first dive exit, which is a nice change. I dove out great with an excellent arch right into the wind. I was still coming down horizontal when I felt in control enough to do a back loop. The back loop was really fast and I recovered very quickly.

I immediately started the first 5 second delta track which was really cool. I kept steady and it was awesome. When that was done I spun a 180 and tracked the other way for 5 more seconds. This one got a little squirrely, but I made some adjustments to keep flying straight.

I still had a few seconds of free fall after all that. The pull went very smooth. While I was flying around I realized the wind was changing direction a lot. I decided to run a pattern then adjust it as needed to get into wind on the final. Ian left me alone on the radio except a reminder to get back into wind at the end.

AFF Training Level 5- "This one's easy"

I thought "Yeah Ian, I'm sure it would be easy for YOU!". I felt pretty good with this jump. A little jittery in the pane, but I got pretty comfortable once standing in the door.

I took this jump nice and slow and did pretty awesome on the 360's. They were a little slow, but WHO CARES? I had plenty of time and took it easy.

My forward movement to Ian could have been started straighter. I flew a little sideways trying to reach him because I was pointing a little to the side when I started. Lesson learned.

I had a pretty good pull with only a little bit of instability. Much better than my last jump. Under canopy I did several 360's and had some fun with tight turns.

My landing pattern was great. I peeled off some altitude at the begining because I was a little high. I did a great job on the final, flared very well, and landed on my feet with a few steps forward.

Wind Tunnel Time Reserved!!

I called Jason today and reserved 25 minutes of wind tunnel time in Orlando on the 11th! I'm taking the wife (Sara), kids (Lily and Marshall), and anybody else I can talk into making the drive.

Lily is excited to go and has practiced her form with me a few times. She's really good at it. Marshall is excited too, but I'm afraid the real thing might scare him a little.

I can't wait to do it! I plan on jumping level 5 this Sunday, 9/2 also.

AFF Training Level 4- "Ease into it"

Finally I'm past level three. One less instructor means the jumps are cheaper if I must repeat a level.

Dee's best advice prior to this jump is to "ease into it" when I'm going for the turns. She said I have a tendency to over steer which throws my stability off.

I was much more comfortable with my fear of heights on this jump. Approaching the door I had butterflies, but once I was there with my head out of the plane I felt great.

I got a sign to straighten my legs out and realized I had them tucked in behind me a little too much, as is my tendency when I first come out the door. I did two '90 degree' turns that really turned out to be around 120 degrees. This was no big deal because the important part of this jump is showing that I can start and stop turns while maintaining control.

I went forward for 5 seconds and felt a little shaky. It didn't feel like I was moving as fast as I had on the level 2 jump with instructors holding on. I don't know why.

I had a few more seconds of free time and stayed locked on the alti almost the entire time. I felt a bit unstable in the pull. Dee told me later that I twisted my body to reach the pull handle and this caused a left hand turn and some instability. The canopy's jerk was a welcome feeling.

I looked up to the canopy and realized my lines were twisted. For just a moment I panicked and started to think about cutting free and pulling the reserve. This was retarded because my chute was open just fine so I wasn't plummeting to the Earth. I only was unable to steer or brake. Very important functions, but nothing to panic over... yet.

After that brief second my mind decided to start functioning again and I started going over the malfunction procedures in my head. For twisted lines I needed to leave the brake toggles stowed, grab the risers, and kick to spin myself out of the twist. I did this and just a moment later was relieved to see the lines all back to normal.

Once I had that all straightened out I realized the winds were now coming from the East and the landing pattern needed to be changed. I decided to watch the people below me, but the two who remained didn't fly the same patterns. Changing the pattern due to wind was no big deal, just another first for me.

My landing pattern was pretty good. I flared at the correct height with one little problem. I yanked the brakes down rather than a smooth motion. This caused a big, quick flare followed by a drop of about 8'. I stayed on my feet and it felt like jumping off a roof. Not too painful, but the legs complained for a while. Later I would realize that somehow I hurt one or more of my teeth on this landing. Still need to have them checked out...

SO- I feel great! I signed up for Level 5 on load #8. Load #7 ended up coming back due to weather and I decided to head home rather than wait out the storm.

AFF Training Level 3 (Repeated)- "You've got this"

I was out of town last weekend, so no jumps. I've been getting the shakes for a few days and need to feed the addiction.

This jump felt really good. Dee went over the jump with me a couple of times. Ian and her were great at getting my confidence level back up.

Everything started great with a couple hand signals for minor corrections. They released me and I did really well at keeping my heading. I got a little shaky once or twice but straightened it right out by relaxing. I did so well that I thought they were holding me steady. Ian told me afterwards that I fell solo for 25 seconds!

They redocked for my pull. I forgot to wave off and ended up reaching for the chute a second time a little panicked. It worked out fine.

I flew the canopy great, and really started to enjoy it. My landing pattern was good, but a rather high flare and I ended up rolling around a little bit on the landing.

Overall I couldn't have expected better and am excited for another jump today!

AFF Training Level 3- "Just Relax"

Jason's favorite advice was a little ovewhelming at times.

Dee and Jason were my instructors for my second jump of the day. I was very excited and confident after the last jump. After going over this jump a few times I became very nervous about getting this one perfect and staying relaxed.

We had a good exit. Once our normal checks were done I got very freaked out when they let me go and I began to spin to the left. I corrected with my arms, but went back into the left spin right after the correction. This process repeated itself once or twice. Dee told me later that I had my left leg bent back a little more than my right, causing the left spin.

I didn't check the alitimeter from the moment they let go of me until 6,000' when Jason shoved my alti in my face. At that point I realized what was going on and did a proper wave and pull at 5,500.

From the start I was too high in the landing pattern. I was so nervous about dropping too low that I entered about 200' higher than normal. I attempted S turns to lose some altitude. I think I did them too tight, because they didn't seem to help much.

Half way through the final approach I started to think I might overshoot the landing area and end up on the taxiway. I applied full brakes for a moment in another attempt to lose altitude. I did manage to lose altitude, but also slowed to a near stop while still quite high. When I attempted to flare my landing nothing happenned beacuse of the loss of speed.

This was an incredible landing. In order, I hit my feet, head, feet, then landed face down. Purely as a reaction I jumped up immediately after coming to a stop. I wish this one was on video. I left mud streaks all over the rig, jump suit, and helmet. OOOPS.

I was hurting after this landing and decided to call it a day after the debrief, which confirmed my failure of the level.

AFF Training Level 2- "Check your alti"

This was an awesome jump! Dee and Warren were my instructors.

Just after we levelled off I started the maneuvers. My form was great, turns were awesome, and I kept a close eye on the altimeter. The turns were actually turning all three of us, so a good bit of input was required. The 5 seconds of forward movement was really cool. I could really tell I was flying forward.

I pulled at 5,500 and had a perfect landing. Two or three steps on the ground and it was all over.

I am very, very happy with my performance on this jump! Ready to hit level 3!

AFF Training Level 1- "No, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

Jim's response to an inquiry by one of the regulars as to whether or not he is an instructor really had me ready to hop out of a plane with this guy.

Jason and Jim are my instructors for this jump, level 1 of the AFF program! I had come running back to Sebastian as soon as I could to begin my training. First was the ground school from Dee. After 4 and a half hours the other student and I were VERY ready to get a jump in. I hadn't eaten anything all day and had only drank coffee, but I was so preoccupied with learning everything and the apprehension of my first jump with my own chute that the butterflies kept the hunger away.

So, here we are making final preparations for the jump and another nugget of stress comes this time from Jason's lips- "If you pull, you pass". I thought over the other option for the next few minutes as we board the plane and taxi to the runway.

I don't remember much of this jump at all. They told me I got hand signals to arch more and extend my legs, but I have no recollection. They showed me video of my practice pulls which were a laugh. I was reaching back and grabbing Jim's hand. He would try to help me reach the handle and you see me frantically fighting him off. It was really very funny.

Next thing I know one of them has shoved their altimeter in my face. I have a hard time reading it for some reason, and had never actually read a dial style alti before so I spent several seconds trying to figure out what it said.

At 5,500 one of them gave up on me and gave me the pull signal. I frantically waved off and began twisting around to reach the pull handle. After fighting Jim again for a few seconds I did finally throw the pilot at about 4,600 feet, 900 feet low.

I cannot describe the feeling of relief once I looked up and saw a normally opened canopy over my head. The emergency training we were given was great, but knowing all the possible failures is a little scary at first. I spent some time visually checking the chute, then grasped the brake toggles. I performed each of the control checks very methodically to ensure I did them correctly. Great, it steers both directions and brakes fine, whew.

Uh oh, this is when I realized that there was no airport in front of me. As a matter of fact, there is no airport anywhere near me! We were the last out of the plane and my control checks took so long I had spent a good time drifting the wrong direction.

I was many blocks into a residential area. I turned around and saw at least 8 blocks of houses, a full golf course, and after that, the airport. Oh, the WRONG SIDE of the airport. I turned myself around quickly to start heading back.

Did I mention that at this point I am just above 2,000 feet! I have no idea how far I can fly this thing before it reaches the ground and I need to make a landing decision pronto! Oh, one more thing- the wind is at my back. That sounds good and I'm sure it helped me fly further, but it means I've got to pull a 180 to land into the wind.

I keep my heading and hope the thing will fly me far enough to land an opposite landing pattern on the wrong side of the airport. They taught us to make a landing decision and stick to it, so this was my decision.

Around 1,800 feet Jim came on the radio. I couldn't have been happier to hear his voice telling me to keep my heading and prepare to land on this side of the airport. He walked me through flying in and essentially turning a 180 into wind just before hitting the ground. This was similar to my plan, but more or less gave up on a landing pattern all together.

I flared the chute at about 2' (should be done at 10 - 12') and came down very hard directly on my butt. This hurt very much. I stood up and waved to show them I was okay. Amanda had the wonderful task of driving the van across the airport to pick my dumb ass up.

Well, that could have gone better and I spent the next twelve hours or so really worried that I had hurt my lower back. So, I decided to be logical about it and jump again as soon as they would let me. :-)

I planned to return the following morning.

Jump #2- "Do you want to have fun or learn something?"

Rob's response when I asked him about 'having some fun' on my second jump made me think for a second. I replied "I think I'd rather learn something". He walked me through some basic left- right free fall steering maneuvers on the ground and told me I could pull the chute for us.

Pretty cool.

Again my brain decided not to participate in the first few seconds of the jump. On realizing what was going on I lifted my head and started us into some turns. It was AWESOME!

I grabbed Rob's arm and yanked it to my face to read his digital altimeter. I pulled the handle at 4950 feet!

He handed me steering toggles and I steered us around until we entered a landing pattern. There was another chute near us so Rob needed to take over at that point.

The landing was great and I left the place certain that I would be back very soon!

Jump #1- "Don't worry about safety. It's overrated"

My tandem instructor Uwe really had a way of putting my mind at ease as we suited up for the jump. Those words repeated in my mind like a broken record for the entire 20 minute flight to 13,500 feet.

The flight was uneventful. I was a little surprised that I was the only person without a helmet and that the door stayed open for much of the flight, but no one else seemed to care.

As we waddled to the door my brain decided it was time for 'drool mode'. The next few moments I know only from the same perspective as my friends who have watched the video.

Once we had fallen for 10 seconds or so my brain started processing information again and I started to enjoy myself and interact with the camera guy.

I don't know why, but the chute opening really caused the leg straps to dig in to me. I mentioned something about wearing a cup next time. So, what did Uwe tell me? "Hold on", then I felt a quick loosening of the straps. One fleeting moment of sheer panic was quickly replaced by the realization he was only attempting to make me more comfortable. In hind sight I should have kept my mouth shut.

Soaring around was awesome. Uwe did a couple of turns that were cool and caused my stomach to wonder about the location of a doggy bag. The landing was interesting with both of us coming down on our butts.

There I sat under a spider web of parachute lines, the happiest 30 year old in the world!

I am ready for another one!

Intro 2- Why?

Well, a few days before my 30th birthday I decided I needed to do something a little crazy to commemorate the special day. I'm sure my family and friends already had something planned that was absolutely INSANE and wonderful.............. hmmm, but I thought I would steal their thunder and sign up to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft.

The fear of heights was a little bit of a worry, but what better way to welcome my 30's!

I actually managed to keep my intentions secret also. I did tell my good friend Korby just in case something went wrong. He's the guy I knew wouldn't spill the beans.

Intro 1- Here we go

This blog is an effort to save my friends and family hours of boredom.

Anyone with a Skydiveaholic in their life can certainly appreciate this. I hope it will ease the pain of those who have felt trapped into listening to my ramblings about skydiving. It may (unlikely) also serve to help and inform someone who may be considering an addiction of their own.

I'll post descriptions of my jumps here and also scanned images of the verbal beatings and/or constructive comments posted to my log book by the instructors.