Airhead 0 #1 September 3, 2002 Hey, thanx! The encouragement that you all gave to me the day before my first day of AFP training. It was truly one of those "Murphy's Law" Days!! It is that pretty usual with skydiving??? It kind of went like this: 5 Static Line guys and 5 of us AFF & AFP(me) had a 8AM class on Sat. Aug. 31. We were done with the class by 2PM and split up to get more info from different instructors for our jumps. So far so good. Well, by 3:30PM we learned that one of the two cessnas was out of commission due to engine difficulties and everyone would need to wait their turn for the one cessna! And this is on a busy Labor Day Weekend Saturday. Well all the Static guys were getting the go ahead and were beginning to get inthier jumps after the tandems were fininshed up with but for some reason the AFF&AFP were not getting any jumps in...Turns out there was only two possible AFF instructors at the DZ this past weekend and one was the instructor with us and the other was (unavailable)fixing the cessna! I guess he was being paged but was not making himself available. By 4:30PM my instructor said I was the only one who was gonna be able to jump due to being current & AFP. So... Every other AFF had to come back another time or reschedule. But I got to go up and make my jump. It was wild. The pilot who flew didn't throttle down when I exited so the 80MPH freaked me out. I took too long jumping off the strutt (20 seconds I was told later) so that I was made to pull at 7000 because we were way out of the DZ and with 10 MPH winds needed the extra time to get back to the airport. It was exhilerating watching the chute pop open (and fluttering noisily like a huge kite) and playing finally in the play area and landing it was so easy...I really was empted to flare harder than the radio guy was telling me so that I could've landed squarely on my feet instead of like I did..sliding in on my butt! I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN ON SEPT. 14TH....Literally, I may need to repeat STep#1. But thank God from here on out the prices are finally coming down. It will be fabulous when I can actually get a FEW jumps in on the same day! WELL...I HOPE THAT TAKES YA ALL BACK TO YOUR NEWBIE DAYS. AIN'T IT GREAT?! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seedy 0 #2 September 3, 2002 Congratulations, you lucky stiff! I have to wait till Sept 14th to do my first AFP. I am finding it very hard to wait patiently. Course the alternative is to wait unpatiently, but... I intend to live forever -- so far, so good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #3 September 3, 2002 ***instead of like I did..sliding in on my butt!*** I slid my first square jump in on my butt because I listened to Greg on the radio. I decided I was too smart to need a radio after that and starting ignoring it. On jump#3 I landed through (Yes cracking limbs and PLF) 50Ft tall pine trees. Hmmm...maybe I should have turned right like he told me to.... Amyway...I'm sure you see my point. Glad you got to jump!!! I saw a poor guy not get to jump after sitting through his AFF class on Saturday. The instructor was bummed. The same thing happened to him so he knows it sucks. Each jump just gets more and more fun!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoby 0 #4 September 3, 2002 That happened to me when I did AFF1. After being there all day long, it became apparent that someone wasn't going to get the chance to jump. I volunteered so my friends could go, but i was pretty bummed. I did get to ride in a helicopter as a consolation prize, though, so it wasn't all bad. The pilot autorotated down after the jumpers got out. It was pretty cool. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meathorse 0 #5 September 3, 2002 Ah good. Someone else who landed their first AFP ass down. Seems like it would be the common thing to do, but there were 4 of us students on my load and I got to watch the other 3 stand their landings after I busted my bum. Tried to stand my 2nd one last week but couldn't get my legs moving fast enough and rolled over forward (after getting lost in a cl.... errr, some haze and barely making it back to the airport that is). Damn I need to get a grip on this PLF thing :). QuoteWELL...I HOPE THAT TAKES YA ALL BACK TO YOUR NEWBIE DAYS. These ARE my newbie days :). I like hearing from other students. Enjoy the 14th! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jraf 0 #6 September 3, 2002 Hey, CONGRABULATIONS!!!! You are one brave girl - first jump out of a Cessna and all. Murphy's law applies to all - I sat through my AFF training and then all day long around as winds were way above the prescribed 14 mph. Next day however was perfect Im a wiseguy now - I bought a tent. As to butt landings - take my advice as I am the General of butt landers - LAND SAFE. You will have plenty of time to learn how to land gracefuly, swoop etc. First of all land safe. If safe is a butt landing for you - do so till you learn better. Anyway excellent job - you jumped you are unhurt and you have plenty of jump ahead. Look forward to jumping with you in the futurejraf Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui. Muff #3275 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luna 0 #7 September 4, 2002 I guess it happens a lot. My first AFF jump (a week and a half ago), we were done with the class by 1:30 and my husband and I let the only other guy in the class go ahead of us, even though we reserved before him so we should have gone first. He had to be somewhere by 5, and we had nowhere to be, so we figured why not. We went to lunch and got back in time to see him getting on the plane. After he was down, it started to rain. So we waited for the rain to stop, then for the black clouds to roll out. Finally my husband gets geared up and goes up for his jump. Only, on the way up the ground winds start gusting around 16-20, so they call up and tell them to leave him on the plane. He gets back down, then we have to wait out the winds. Then it's more black clouds. Finally he goes up and had a great jump. Now it's my turn. I get geared up, come out, and look up to another huge black cloud cover. We give it 15 minutes, and then the clouds are gone, but my instructor thinks that we won't make sunset, but she is told that it's later than she thinks, so we just make it on the sunset load. I jumped at 7:30pm! When they tell you to set aside the whole day, they mean it! There is no telling what can happen! Have fun Sep 14! My next one is the 7th. Can't wait! Luna I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quatorze 1 #8 September 4, 2002 After a while you will dig those Cessna exits, being able to hang on the strut and geek the pilot. Oh BTW, pilots don't really like it when you reach up and mone the aileron up and down, they have this weird thing about wanting to be in control of the airplane. And about the buut slides, I have to agree, that is one of the most imprtant things. Coolness comes with getting out of the airplane. After that there is not a whole lot to prove. Talk to the guys around your DZ who have been doing this since the 70's and have thousands of jumps and the majority of them are extremely conservative in their canpoy flight. Longevity is teh key to enjoyment of this sport. PS congratualaions on the jump, and I'll see you in the door I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluefingers 0 #9 September 4, 2002 Quote. If safe is a butt landing for you - do so till you learn better. We always get told NOT to land on our butts if we can help it - what if there is a rock hidden in the grass and you bash your coxxyx? EEEIIINNAAA! We get told to RUN! and if we dont think we can manage that, then PLF. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #10 September 4, 2002 Yeah what she said, your legs heal much better than your spine... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vidiot 0 #11 September 4, 2002 QuoteOh BTW, pilots don't really like it when you reach up and mone the aileron up and down I think I know just the right pilot to try this one...My Logbook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jraf 0 #12 September 4, 2002 Well, true butt landings are not ideal but neither are face plants The point is to land safely the best way you can - by the time you get to the Nationals you will do perfect landings. Though hidden things - you are right. It was raining really heavy out here in Florida last week. On Saturday I was landing and from about 300 feet noticed that there is one wet spot on our DZ. OK, so I chose the dryest looking spot in the grass. I mean it looked really dry. I did a masterful elevator ride landing....straight into knee deep water in high grass. Oh, my lovely new jump suitjraf Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui. Muff #3275 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
