The "Magic" 50th?

[Zennie 0]

Just did my 50th skydive this weekend. Not necessarily anything special (other than meeting the "B" threshold), but this weekend also seemed to be one where things started "clicking" for me, both in freefall and under canopy.
I'd been doing some RW with some other friends and had probs moving in & docking, maintaining relative fall rate, the whole bit. This weekend, I swooped in and docked just fine. Turned points on two way pretty well also. I'm still a little shaky, but we were able to turn about 5-6 points after a swoop dock on two way. I found myself driving with the legs more and reaching less. Besides the jump numbers, the only thing I changed was that I bought a full-face, which seemed to help my RW work as well -- I think because I could focus more.
Under canopy, I also found that I was more easily finding my slot in the landing pattern and staging the flares much more effectively than before. I'm starting to get a much better feel for how my canopy flies and hardly consult my alti anymore on my landing patterns.
So I guess my question is for some of the higher-timers. Did you notice the the puzzle pieces starting to come together around the 50 jump point? I'm no expert by any stretch, but I really felt like I made some progress this weekend.
Just coorious.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[Joolee 0]

Hi Zennie,
I think everything came together for me on my 40th jump...my first completely deliberately unstable jump with my boyfriend and then having to put my reserve procedures into action because I couldn't find the toggle at pull time...
My 50th was exciting because I knew I could get another BPA certificate to put on my wall and show my friends Joolee

[wingnut 0]

i think it started to fit together for me around my 60th or so jump (first 9 jumps where static line).i got to jump with one of the tandem masters (non pasenger carrying this time though) and we pulled of a 8 point 2 way from 10,000ft and it just seemed to click after that. i'm still not that good at rw but i know what i have to do to get where i need to be.

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[frost 1]

Absolutely. I didnt start "feeling" the air until my 60s or 70s. Then on one jump it kinda just made sense and I felt my legs and the whole body working together. It was a good feeling, too. It just all fell together, you know?

[Zennie 0]

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It just all fell together, you know?

Yep! So to speak.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie

[Grogs 0]

For me my RW started clicking in the 30's or 40's. My canopy work really took off after 100 though. I hit 100, then the next weekend I visited a different dropzone (Louisa, aka Orange for those of you who remember ). I think I was trying to show off a bit at the new DZ, and I was cranking front riser turns and really playing with my canopy and having a great time, landing right where I wanted each time, etc. Ever since then I've really been enjoying my canopy rides rather than just trying to get down so I could freefall again.

[skyhawk 2]

i think rel clicked about aff 5 which is wierd i was having a lot of trouble then sudnly everything just happened without even conciosly thinken about it everything i learnt about rel after that i got first attempt i was really happy because i was really down in the dumps since then i have never had a problem get into my slot and turning points ect (well ect for the fall rate/weight issue lol) though i really wish my freeflying would just click . My canopy clicked around jump 45 and i really started throwing the canopy around

[Nitro 0]

That's an interesting post Zennie. I think the whole "clicking" procedure is spread out over a few jumps (for me at least). It's a little process.
This weekend we had a boogie at Eilat, and I finally made a half decent RW jump with my friend. We exited connected, a good stable exit with me being the floater. Then we gradually let go of each other and stayed together (yay!). After a few seconds we drifted apart, and then redocked again at 7000 (yay!!!). This was sort of a breakthrough for both of us, since he weighs 25 kg (55 lbs) less than I do, and we've never been able to do that before. It was my 36th jump. :)
But the thing is, we've both trained at the Airodium Eilat wind tunnel a day before that, and we've both jumped a few semi successful RWs before that jump. So I think if you look over your few previous jumps you'll see the pieces falling into place gradually... This is just the first time your puzzle got some recognizable semblance to the picture on the box. :)
Oh, and after that jump I did with my friend Dan (we jumped wearing Kimonos - martial arts suits) we made a banner jump, the banner advertising our Martial Art - Dennis Survival, also in Kimonos. I was holding the banner and Dan tried to get to me. It was really fun, though we were so nervous in the plane that at 12000 feet Dan suddenly thought his FT 50 was broke because it was "stuck on zero" :).
Nitro

[cdunham 0]

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at 12000 feet Dan suddenly thought his FT 50 was broke because it was "stuck on zero" :)

OK, admit it. How many of you have "zeroed out" your altimeters at/near this altitude?
Doh!

[Zennie 0]

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I think the whole "clicking" procedure is spread out over a few jumps (for me at least). It's a little process.

Yeah, actually from about #45-50 was when things started falling into place for me. It's funny because just the previous weekend I was starting to get frustrated thinking that I'd never get the RW stuff -- that I couldn't dock or turn points without going low or backsliding. All our exits the previous week funnelled and this week went without a hitch.
This week I really worked on driving with the legs more and keeping the hands in and it really made a difference.
Everything, exits, fall rates, tracking, canopy control felt like they just notched up another level. Funny how things like that happen. You get in a rut and then "bam" you plateau.
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Blue Skies!
Zennie