Last Weekend

[Doasfu 0]

Hey All,
Some of you may remember a post I made a few weeks ago about scratching from a load just before I went up. Since then I haven't posted very much... why is that, you ask? Well, have you ever had that, "I'm not really a skydiver, I'm just pretending" feeling. I sure did. I was getting hit pretty hard by the nerves, and stayed on the ground. Until Sunday, that is. :)
Not only did I get back in the air and have an awesome time, but I got my ex-whuffo girlfriend to make her first jump, too! We're not talking a tandem, either. The chick went through the S/L class and everything.
My bud who was going to take the class with her bailed on us, so I ended up driving both of us to the DZ, an hour away, in time for the 8:00 AM class. No fun.
The weather was beautiful that morning, but I was hanging on to the only jump ticket I could afford in order to go up with her, despite the predictions for worsening weather. Oh well, I was doing the scared shitless thing again anyhow.
The weather does turn pretty ugly, but the clouds are well above the 3500' we need. (ugh. Recurrency s/l jump. oh well.) We finally get called late in the day, and it turns out our JM is someone I know fairly well. Things get even cooler when it becomes clear he's going to video us for free. This was my beer video jump, but I'm pretty sure that's not a beerable offense, so I'm not sweating it. :)
The plane ride used to scare the living hell out of me, but these days the nerves really take care of themselves once I get geared up and in the air. Not so Laura, she's getting more and more nervous as we go. Eric's putting her out first, despite me being, umm, noticeably heavier. :) When the door opens, I can tell it freaks her out pretty bad, and the fact that we needed a go-around doesn't help any. Finally we get over the "spot" (see below) and Eric shouts, "CUT!"
To which the girl replies, "What?" which cracked me up a bit.
After a little gentle shoving she's out the door and climbing out on the strut. One foot off the step... hanging--Bam! She's off. Her right hand slips first, causing her to swing on an axis around the left hand for half a second before that one slips too. This leads to her hitting the step with her left arm, but she manages to recover, get into a good arch, and open with nary a line twist or closed end cell.
She landed across the street from the DZ, in a wide open field, and I myself barely made it on the airport. The radio guy even had to hop on and give me a bit of correction, which was rather embarrassing for my 11th jump. The culprit? A bad spot. Not a bad job spotting, as the JM put us out right were we thought the spot was, but the info we had wasn't current. I had to hold into the wind the entire time. No spirals for me, aww.
Laura (the aforementioned girlfriend) had a nice, soft landing on her butt. I also landed on my rear("You flared just fine, but you forgot to put your landing gear down." heh.)
What a great weekend! Between the long awaited return to the sky and my girlfriend's first jump, this weekend will be tough to top... oh, wait! This weekend is the 2nd Annual Skydive Hastings "24 or More Boogie." That might be fun too.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my earlier posts about my the nerves/sickness/etc.
Dan
"Oh, you went to a movie this weekend? That's nice. Me? Not much."

[PalmettoTiger 1]

GREAT to hear that you got back out there Dan! Is Laura hooked, ambivalent, or sure she's never going to jump again?
Blues, Squares,
PTiger
*insert sub-100 character sig here*

[Doasfu 0]

Whoops, meant to put that in there. She had a great time, but the ride to alititude was pretty scary for her. She says she wants to go again, and I'm pretty sure she will.
Dan
"Oh, you went to a movie this weekend? That's nice. Me? Not much."

[Donna 0]

Congratulations Doasfu... and to Laura, too!! Yahoooooooo! I'm so happy for you!! Glad you both had a good time!
Skies and fluffies,
D

[cloud9 0]

Hey Dan that is so cool. Its great to have a girfriend that jumps to. Now just stay with it!
Bleau skies

[Iflyme 0]

Good on ya, Dan... those first dozen or so jumps can be a bit stressful, particularly when you spend lotsa time on the planet between jumps. It's fun going up in the plane with someone you know from outside the DZ! Now get back up there and do #12.

[rhuurrr 0]

Hey man-
I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone. I did my AFF 1 jump (for the second time) about six weeks ago. I have had a really long and drawn out battle with the wind, spent quite a few days the the DZ with no jumping. Then a job came up that would keep me busy wed-sundays, my dz isn't open on mondays and tuesdays, so no dice for another couple of weeks. . So finally, it's time for me to jump again, this wednesday. I'm pretty nervous and hope I don't freak out on the drive out to the DZ, while gearing up, on the ride to altitude, or climbing out on the strut(we only fly a cessna on weekdays). Wish me luck. Hopefully I'll show up at the pub with at least two jump stories to share!!!!!
Blues,
Jack
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