Sunday, August 26, 2007

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.

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