So THIS is why I'm a little apprensive about starting

[dkvkb 2]

http://youtu.be/jMrGXCEIikk

I've never posted this publicly before. I've only sent this to a few people in emails. Last year, I did 3 tandems and then this jump. The rest of the story is that I was spinning so fast in the freefall, I got line twists after I pulled. Then it got worse and I knew I was going to die. I should have cut away, and I definitely will next time. That time, I pulled the risers and kicked out of it. I got stable at 1000'. I couldn't find the drop zone (later found out I was about a mile north), so I was able to land safely in a small field. I know I should not have survived that jump. But I am excited about starting again. I am posting because as I get closer to my start date (next Friday), I am getting more nervous about the freefall. I did spend 2 hours in a wind tunnel last month, and I was finally able to maintain stability. I have been working out, reading the manual, and trying to be calm. And I am starting from the beginning again on Friday with the first jump course. Any suggestions on how to stay calm for the coming week?

[yoink 321]

Stop thinking about it...

You've putting the most negative spin on it that's possible.

Focus on the good things and try to distance yourself emotionally from the bad. To be a successful skydiver we're compelled to LEARN from our own mistakes and those of others... Some fear and respect is a good thing for that. Too much is not. You become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Supposition: I did poorly last time! What if I do again?
Result: You perform poorly.

Find your centre again. Balance good and bad and then go from there.

Focus on objective lessons and remember THIS IS FUN. If you've worried, you 're tense. Tense skydiving is bad mmmkay? ;)

[dkvkb 2]

Thank you. I felt so much better after the wind tunnel sessions. Just slipping back into my doubts. I can do this.

[mattjw916 2]

yes, stop saying things like "I'm going to die... I almost died... there I was, about to DIIIEEEEEEE...."

relax and arch; I'm sure 2 hours () of tunnel fixed your backsliding problem or they'd be squeegeeing you off the glass by now

you got a canopy out quite high, I'm sure that it was scary at the time, but in retrospect you will look back at this and laugh someday

reeeeelax.... and breathe....

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[dkvkb 2]

Still laughing at your post. You're both right - I'm taking all the fun out of it:)

[pchapman 261]

You got into a spin. Plenty of students have done that. Scary for you, but we've seen it all before.

You did the right thing when you weren't able to to stop it; you deployed.

Sounds like you did indeed fight the line twists too long, to too low an altitude. But you've learned something about altitude awareness. (Normally line twists on a student canopy aren't a real mal, so it would be highly unusual if one couldn't recover from them, but anything can happen.)

You dealt OK with an off field landing on your first solo jump. Good work.

Hell yeah, that was an adventure!
You can put a positive spin on it all as long as you remember the lessons.

You then got a ton of tunnel time, which should massively improve your body position and freefall control skills.

Go and jump. Maybe you'll be really nervous the first few seconds out the door. Tough. Jumping out of a plane is supposed to be scary, and part of learning to skydive is overcoming your fears, being able to act despite them. Others have gone through the same. (These days it seems there's a "I'm scared" thread popping up every week from a new student looking for advice and reassurance!)

A few seconds after exit, then you'll just be floating on air like in the wind tunnel. Easy. But don't forget to check your alti regularly
Thanks for the video; as a AFF-style instructor, it is handy to see the issues students have. You sure did spin up fast.

[dkvkb 2]

Great advice. Yeah, I noticed that about all of us talking about fear. I think we're all just needing a little reassurance from those of you who have been there. And all of the posts have been extremely helpful. Even tonight, I am feeling less stressed about it after reading these posts.

[dkvkb 2]

STILL laughing.

[malooper 0]

What a spin!

I can totally understand your reservations about going further but I just want to say I really admire your resolve to pursue it. I don't know if I would after an experience like that as a student. Way to respond and learn from it!

It's definitely a question we all have to ask who are battling with our fears: Is the risk worth the reward? It's something I ask myself every time I'm at the DZ. So far, yes it is!

Thanks for sharing your video! Can't wait to hear about your journey through AFF!

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
-Raymond Lindquist

[frogerina 0]

You know I'm a student, too. Did one tandem, and then in my Cat A first jump, I pretty much swooned out the door, went into a tumble, threw off an instructor (oops...) and felt my main instructor working like a beast to get me flipped and stable again. He did, then the second instructor flew back and got my other side. The rest of freefall, they flew wide and held on tight (no arms released for this girl!).

After a less than graceful (but noninjured) landing, I remember asking my instructor if I had ANY chance at this, or if it was time to take up bowling (and I'm a terrible bowler...). He suggested tunnel, and I did find that to be wonderfully confidence-boosting.

When I came back, Cat B was textbook perfection in freefall.

Since then, I've had a couple of unstable tumble exits...but I've gotten stable again. I've had a few line twists and one case of of crud -- where's the airport!!?!? That was on my first hop and pop, where I'm not sure if it was my beginning spotting "skills,", my semi-slow climbout, rocky exit or a combination of the above...but it was a looooong spot from where I'd hoped to be.

I've also had a fantastic time exploring turning and tracking, ridden with an arm in the wind as my instructor guided and explained how that wind pressure worked, learned a diving exit, how to "step out" and to fly my body as I count for a front floater exit. I've watched other canopies soar under mine as my student canopy (my FJC instructor called it a bus!) floats slowly toward the ground, explored turns and playing under canopy, and am getting good at daisy chaining those lines. I've shared high fives and fist bumps with the "big kid" skydivers (i.e. the folks who actually know what they're doing!) and have been looked at with some measure of "wow" by the tandem students (while the TIs are busy making faces at me....).

There are learning opportunities (i.e. stuff that didn't go exactly...or even close to what I'd hoped) and celebrations, and through it all, my instructors and now coaches have been there to celebrate and to help me keep learning.

As I schedule my next jumps, part of me is saying "whee -- can't wait until I can get back there to do that again..." and on the drive up to the DZ, part of me is saying "you know, there's a really nice library in that town...how about you just go read a book?"

For now, I've got a firm goal of trying to get my A license before the end of the season (which I fear is coming sooner than I'd like). And it's been interesting watching that goal emerge. I had the option to pay for the full course up front or pay jump by jump. I chose the second. Even though it's gonna cost a little more, I liked the idea that I was just going to do a jump..and see what I felt like after that. It was just a jump. And each jump is an opportunity to learn something.

Glad you got to the tunnel. It really helped my body know what it's supposed to do (well...most of the time...if I don't overthink). Scary? I prefer to think of the sensation as "attention-getting." Then I tell my butterflies that they are just feelings of excitement -- because this is a choice I make, to play and learn in the sky. It's been some of the most overwhelming education I've ever done (nothing like curling up with the SIM, huh?)...but what a classroom!

[Kirky 0]

How come only one instructor? I thought you needed two at the start of AFF.

[ShotterMG 0]

Get a better instructor. One who wont let you go in while you're both spinning!

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Kirky

How come only one instructor? I thought you needed two at the start of AFF.

Oh like it's hard to peel an instructor! Buddy of mine peeled both of them on his first jump! He did what they told him to do and pulled... somewhere over 8000 feet. I reckon he had plenty of time coming down to think about what he did! Heh heh heh. I actually peeled both of mine on my second jump, too. They got back to me before I could deploy, though. I actually saw 'em coming in from above me and refrained from dumping (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

I was watching two AFF instructors train a new one recently and the "student" conspired with the other experienced instructor to peel him off as he did his exit. You spend all that time working on good exits, you gotta admire the skill of a guy who can not only intentionally do a bad one, but do a bad one in precisely the manner necessary to effect an outcome he wants!

With two hours in the tunnel, I wouldn't be worried about staying calm, though. I'd be worried about getting cocky and trying to back-fly my AFF jumps.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Backintothesky 0]

Nice spin!

Normally line twists on a huge student canopy aren't going to kill you. Static line students have line twists on virtually every jump thanks to the prop blast spinning the bag around. No need to cut away. Were you spinning around or was the canopy flying relatively straight?

Put it this way you did the right thing by pulling after being unstable for more than 5 seconds, you kicked out of line twists and you managed to safely land off in a small field. Good job!

Technically none of us should survive jumping out of a plane. Don't be so melodramatic

dkvkb

http://youtu.be/jMrGXCEIikk

I've never posted this publicly before. I've only sent this to a few people in emails. Last year, I did 3 tandems and then this jump. The rest of the story is that I was spinning so fast in the freefall, I got line twists after I pulled. Then it got worse and I knew I was going to die. I should have cut away, and I definitely will next time. That time, I pulled the risers and kicked out of it. I got stable at 1000'. I couldn't find the drop zone (later found out I was about a mile north), so I was able to land safely in a small field. I know I should not have survived that jump. But I am excited about starting again. I am posting because as I get closer to my start date (next Friday), I am getting more nervous about the freefall. I did spend 2 hours in a wind tunnel last month, and I was finally able to maintain stability. I have been working out, reading the manual, and trying to be calm. And I am starting from the beginning again on Friday with the first jump course. Any suggestions on how to stay calm for the coming week?

[Toddnkaya1 0]

Why was there only one instructor , not two??
Why did he let go of you before you pulled?
Did he make an attempt to get to you?
It seems to me your instructor/instruction is at fault here.

[3mpire 0]

Quote

It seems to me your instructor/instruction is at fault here.

Once you leave the airplane the only person responsible for the outcome of your jump is you.

Which is why I give credit to the OP.

While their post focused on all the negatives, let's look at the other side of the coin.

Despite having a wicked spin in free fall, despite being alone (THE HORROR!! ) without an instructor docked, despite opening in line twists, despite the off field landing... the OP didn't have a scratch because the OP took action using their own brain and their own body and took control and made it work.

It may not have been pretty but you can't argue with the outcome. Lessons were learned, corrective action was taken, and all by the jumper's own initiative. A proactive, self-reliant jumper is the best kind in my book.

[good-natured-rant]

While it's not "cool" to learn on S/L, I would say that one benefit is never building a dependency on someone else to solve your skydive for you. Once you leave the plane you're on your own and I think there is something to be said for that mentality starting with Jump 1. (.... and you learn how to spot... and exit stable ...at 3000 feet ...heyo!)

[/good-natured-rant]

[pchapman 261]

Since she did 3 tandems, likely they would have been working tandems with things to learn, so it would be one of the tandem to AFF systems, where usually the first AFF is already just 1:1. (I don't know the details of such programs in the US though.)

If the instructor wasn't perfect, well, it's only on the internet that we require perfection.

He did let go with one hand for the practice pull. She pulled away from him so fast that he couldn't stick that right hand in front of her face to call for legs out. He probably figured that with all the tension on his grip and her rapid backslide it was easier just to let her go... which yeah I guess would be a bad call instead of fighting the problem. He did let himself get flung off her a ways -- it seemed like he hadn't been giving strong forward input to stay close. He had to fight by getting really flat to get back up when she floated (which spinning students often do in relation to their normal speed), and before he could get close, she tumbled a little and dropped, and then pulled. So he was trying to get back to her.

[GooniesKid 0]

dkvkb

http://youtu.be/jMrGXCEIikk

I've never posted this publicly before. I've only sent this to a few people in emails. Last year, I did 3 tandems and then this jump. The rest of the story is that I was spinning so fast in the freefall, I got line twists after I pulled. Then it got worse and I knew I was going to die. I should have cut away, and I definitely will next time. That time, I pulled the risers and kicked out of it. I got stable at 1000'. I couldn't find the drop zone (later found out I was about a mile north), so I was able to land safely in a small field. I know I should not have survived that jump. But I am excited about starting again. I am posting because as I get closer to my start date (next Friday), I am getting more nervous about the freefall. I did spend 2 hours in a wind tunnel last month, and I was finally able to maintain stability. I have been working out, reading the manual, and trying to be calm. And I am starting from the beginning again on Friday with the first jump course. Any suggestions on how to stay calm for the coming week?

you're doing it wrong

Aching would help.
Extending your legs a bit would help...your feet were almost to your ass.

[diablopilot 2]

Do you know what you did incorrectly and how to fix it? Did you debrief? How did that go?

Does your instructor know what not to do next time? Have you talked about that?

If the answers are positive, go for it.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[diablopilot 2]

Quote

Oh like it's hard to peel an instructor! Buddy of mine peeled both of them on his first jump!

No excuse for that. Period.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Di0 1]

GooniesKid

you're doing it wrong

Aching would help.
Extending your legs a bit would help...your feet were almost to your ass.

Well, at least hindsight is 20/20 here.

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

[faulk04 0]

Kirky

How come only one instructor? I thought you needed two at the start of AFF.

Tandem-AFF progression. Do a few tandems then move onto AFF with a single instructor

[Remster 24]

Let me guess: you're not an instructor....

Remster

[dkvkb 2]

Wow! I feel like a new person after reading all these posts. I'm encouraged and excited about next week. Haven't felt that for a few weeks. There's so much wisdom in this one thread. I think I can feed off of that for a while. This is pretty much my only support, as there aren't many people (actually, only one that I know of) who skydive in my very-rural area. I get a lot of "you're crazy" remarks! Got another one today, in fact. Anyway, I'm super excited and so looking forward to this!

[dkvkb 2]

Definitely worth the reward! Thanks for the support!