TrickyMike 1 #1 May 3, 2013 I start AFF at Jumptown tomorrow. If that's your DZ say hello, I should be easy to spot. Just look for the noobiest dude there. That'll be me. Really pumped to get started. I did one tandem in the fall and got bitten by the bug pretty good. To be honest I thought I'd just do it once and cross it off the list. Wrong. I should have known better. I had hoped to get going with AFF in the fall, but I ended up crashing the DH mountain bike and spending some time on the couch. I did manage some (22 minutes) of tunnel time over the winter and hope to double that real soon. Hoping it pays off a little. I've also been reading the SIM, Brian Germain's "The Parachute and it's pilot" Parachutist magazine, etc. Advice is always welcome. I've got a ton to learn. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GooniesKid 0 #2 May 4, 2013 Quote Advice is always welcome. Leave your ego at home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigMikeH77 0 #3 May 4, 2013 Hi! Remember to smile - It's fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pandarism 0 #4 May 4, 2013 Hello hello, Welcome to the sport Just keep an open mind and listen to those old people Compromise, A Few Seconds Of Pain, For A Life Time Of Shiny :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mistercwood 287 #5 May 4, 2013 Quote Hello hello, Welcome to the sport Just keep an open mind and listen to those old people Yup, they're the ones who worked out how not to die just yet... You are playing chicken with a planet - you can't dodge and planets don't blink. Act accordingly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #6 May 4, 2013 Thanks y'all. My plan is to listen to everyone and do my best to filter out the BS. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 35 #7 May 4, 2013 Welcome to the forums! Good luck and let us know how it goes!She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pandarism 0 #8 May 4, 2013 You're going to need a pretty good BS filter Theres alot of it that gets around, hard not to step in it Compromise, A Few Seconds Of Pain, For A Life Time Of Shiny :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #9 May 4, 2013 QuoteThanks y'all. My plan is to listen to everyone and do my best to filter out the BS. Hopefully, you apply yourself to learning all you can so that you CAN determine what's BS and what is not. Good luck in your progression, eh?My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Whamie 0 #10 May 4, 2013 Was my comment BS? What I was referring to is I've seen young bucks come into this sport thinking they were bullet proof or think they know the risks just because they ride a supersport. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #11 May 5, 2013 Quote Was my comment BS? I don't know. What was your comment? Quote What I was referring to is I've seen young bucks come into this sport thinking they were bullet proof or think they know the risks just because they ride a supersport. You must have met some of the same guys I've met over the years. My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #12 May 5, 2013 Had a great day. Everything went really well, but I definitely have some stuff to work on. My instructors and everyone at Jumptown were fantastic. I have so much to learn and am perfectly happy to assume my FNG status. Respect is earned and I'm starting (justifiably) at zero. Can't wait to get back next weekend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #13 May 5, 2013 Congrats! Keep us posted on your progression, eh?My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #14 May 5, 2013 Will do. I'm hoping to add a little more tunnel time. Everything felt pretty good but I could feel (and my instructors verified with hand signals) some of the weaknesses we identified in the tunnel. I need to pay more attention to my legs. I'm a little too wide there and it affected my arch a bit when I did my practice pulls. Nothing major, but I could feel (and my instructors could feel) the instability creep in. Need to work on that. Also need to work on a bit of tunnel vision. I had real good focus during freefall and could recall all of the hand signals I received during freefall. Once i pulled and did a canopy check, though, I forgot to clear my ears and had a hard time hearing the radio. I had been taught to do this, i just kind of hit a mental saturation point (I just didn't do it). I made some notes to my logbook to remind myself of this for Cat B. Feedback always welcomed. This is a big journey for me. It's exciting to start from scratch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #15 May 20, 2013 Well, I managed two more jumps on Saturday. I really need to get to the DZ for a longer stretch. I'm hoping to do that over this coming long weekend if the weather cooperates. Got load 2 for Cat B and it went pretty well. Good leg awareness that was missing in my Cat A. The instructors said they were barely holding on as we went through heading correction drills. Maybe that tunnel time paying off? (I'm at 32 minutes now) Nice, stable solo pull. We had a bit of a long spot, so I was thankful to have a radio confirming that I really had to get back to the DZ. Managed to get back and into the pattern no problems (one of the instructors almost had to land out) I staged and flared in time with the radio instructor but either my flare wasn't symmetrical or we had a gust or something because I felt the canopy shift to my left as I touched down and had to PLF. Otherwise the canopy flight felt good. Passed Cat B. CatC1 was a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. We had a good exit, good practice touches, but we were a little too close to a cloud when we got into hover control. I started to turn left and did not correct. With nothing but white in front of me I didn't realize I was turning. I also started to potato chip a little bit which surprised me since I've managed pretty good, consistent stability in the tunnel. I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the whole process and am hoping that I desensitize over the next few jumps. Altitude awareness was really good. Nice, stable wave and pull with one instructor re-docked. Canopy control felt pretty good. I had much more time to play on this jump and I was all by myself. Tried some rear riser turns. I was still on the radio, but I felt like I was starting to get one step ahead of the instructor instead of just waiting to be told what to do. I ended up overshooting the X by about 10 meters but managed my first stand-up landing. Cleared for "advice only" radio instruction, but will be repeating Cat C1. I was pissed that I couldn't stay and just repeat right then and there. I hated feeling like I was running out with my tail between my legs, but not much I could do about that. Got 10 more minutes in the Tunnel on Thursday and hope to be back in the Sky Saturday, Sunday and Monday if possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JasonYergin 0 #16 May 20, 2013 Looks like you're doing pretty good and there's a lot of good news there. You might find that the chipping goes away with more time in the sky and you might find arching a little harder helps. My favorite good news bit from what I read is you're doing tunnel and sky stuff at the same time, early in your progression so you're (in my opinion) less likely to learn bad habits in one or the other. Good luck in the next few categories and jumps and even if you have nothing but good landings remember to be prepared to PLF if it turns out you find yourself in a situation where you need to. That's my 2 cents worth._________________________________ ...Don't Get Elimated!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #17 May 24, 2013 10 more minutes in the tunnel last night. Cleared to start back flying. Was hoping to get in the air Sat-Sun-Mon this weekend but the weather up here in MA doesn't look good. Oh well... Maybe I can get a packing class? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #18 June 3, 2013 Great weekend at Jumptown. A bit of wind both days kept me from jumping as much as I had hoped, but I managed 3 jumps on Saturday and one on Sunday (I knew the wind was coming on Sunday, so I was happy I got up at all). Did 10 more minutes in the tunnel on Friday (52 minutes total now). Started to backfly. Didn't quite get it in my first attempt. Going to take some work there... Anyway, on to Jumptown. Spent the weekend working with Al King. Great guy (ask him about his skydiving themed romance novel audio book... coming soon :D ). He has really helped me a lot so far. Pretty stoked on Jumptown in general. Everybody there has been so incredibly cool and helpful to me. So... Got load 2 on Saturday for my repeat of the C1. Went really well. We were first out of the plane which for some reason helped me relax a bit. No time for the nerves to creep in. Open the door, check the spot, deep breath and go. Nice smooth exit and stable freefall. Did need one leg reminder, though. Cleared for C2. Flew the canopy on advice only with no advice given. Managed a stand-up landing but overshot my target (again) by 15 meters or so. C2 went really well too. Maybe my best jump to date. No input needed from the instructor. We worked on my arms a bit on the ground and I found that it helped a lot in freefall. Instructor released and stayed undocked. Managed really good hover control. Stable solo pull at correct altitude. Really felt good. Like the tunnel work was worth it. Canopy flight again on advice only with no advice given. Stand-up landing but this time I overcorrected my past mistakes and came up short Started to "get it" a little, though, which is to say that I saw that I started to recognize the mistakes. Had to sit a bit for the wind/clouds and was about to call it a day when it finally d broke and Al and I got up for D1. Nice and uneventful. No input needed. I did an extra 90-degree turn, though. Guess I had a bit of a brain fart. we did 5 90's and two 180's. Stable solo pull. Canopy flight felt good. Advice only, none given. Lots of tuns on the rears. Stand-up landing a bit closer this time. Got load one on Sunday. I knew the weather was going to get bad, so I was hoping to get at least one in. Solo floater exit, a couple 360's. Al docked in front of me, which was a really cool first for me. Another 360, stable solo pull with Al undocked. Winds were a bit stiffer on Sunday than any of my previous jumps. I could tell I wasn't moving forward much at all when facing into the wind. It was really cool to feel the difference when I would turn downwind and really start moving. Played it real safe and stayed well upwind just inching towards the start of my pattern. Much better accuracy this time... Maybe 15 feet from the "X" but flared a tiny bit early and had to put a hand down. Cleared off radio. Can't wait to get back up... Hoping to get solo status next weekend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #19 August 1, 2013 Well, at 29 jumps (I did a handful of fun solos) I finally got my "A" last weekend (and my first cutaway). I even emptied the bank account and got some gear. I finished with a really fun checkdive. Did a bunch of flips out of the door, a couple of docks. some 360's, some fall rate adjustment, etc. Broke off and tracked to 4K for my wave and pull. Had what felt like (and looked like) a typical deployment. As the main inflated I noticed it was not at all right. I had initially thought it was a line-over, but after running it through my head I believe it was tension knots. I pumped the rears a bunch but it didn't seem to change anything. In hindsight I should have unstowed the brakes and flared it, but the shape looked pretty bad and I was worried (perhaps unnecessarily) that it would collapse. It had what looked like an asymmetrical bow-tie shape. Almost pinched together just past the middle on the right side. I pitched right over the DZ, so folks on the ground actually saw that the main was bad from the ground. Took a deep breath, double checked my altitude (2800) grabbed my handles, actually yelled "fuck YOU!" to the main and cut away. The student rigs have RSL and the reserve was out pretty much immediately. Needless to say I was relieved to see that it opened perfectly. Stashed the cutaway handle in my jumpsuit (lost the reserve handle ) and did my checks. Actually flew a really good pattern on the reserve. Nice soft stand-up maybe 20 feet from the target. I was also pretty happy that I was directly over the DZ. My main landed on the DZ. All in all a fantastic week at the DZ. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TEB6363 0 #20 August 1, 2013 Landing your reserve 20 feet from the target will count as accuracy for your B-LicenseGook Job - write it down in your log and keep jumping Once the plane takes off, you're gonna have to land - Might as well jump out!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toddnkaya1 0 #21 August 2, 2013 Really enjoyed this read Mike! I think hearing about your experiences may be a help to those going through AFF or those considering it. Thanks! Todd Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boomerdog 0 #22 August 6, 2013 Welcome and congratulations...you just took a bite out of the biggest Lay's Potato Chip out there and you thought you could "eat just one?" Silly you! Not to worry, we all ate that "first potato chip once and look where we are at? Screw world peace, as long as I have a drop zone, I'm good! Again, Welcome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyMike 1 #23 August 8, 2013 Thanks y'all. My rig is arriving tomorrow. Can't wait to get some more jumps in! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
