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!!!