Great weekend, disapointing 1st solo...

[DZDANK 0]

Hey all, new to the sport and the forum, just finished AFF and my first solo jump this weekend! For some reason im a little disapointed with my first jump...

Sunday I went up for my first solo - i had manifested for a light load, but got bumped onto a heavier one. I was second last out (aff cat a behind me), gave plenty of seperation before exiting after the group before me. Diving exit got me a little head down and upside down (had my legs out leaving the plane) but arched it out very quickly. From 11000 to pulling at 4K, i didn't do much of anything at all. I wasn't frozen by any means, I just kept my heading and waited for pull time... I had a very soft opening and was under a good canopy at 3K.

I made the decision on the plane ride to do no maneuvers during freefall. My main goals were a stable body position and a canopy out at my stated altitude, and i accomplished these. Looking at the previous jumps ive done for AFF, I think I far prefer to have a diveflow and a task, or tasks to complete... I was stable in the air, was not tracking or backsliding and was a little bit surprised by the proximity of the instructor canopies opening above me. Back on the ground, I was told one of the intructors had to track over top of me to gain seperation from their student. I find this a little bothersome, cause if my canopy had deployed early for whatever reason, bad things would have happened. I do recognize the fact that the instructors pulled higher than they usually would due to seeing me below, and also that i am not used to opening in any traffic at all; so seeing canopies deploying anywhere around me is new...

This jump made me realize several things: I like goals! I will have a diveflow to complete on my next jump. Seperation is going to be a issue for me throughout my jumping career (I plan on doing this for a long time). How can I ensure that people behind me give me enough time out of the plane? After gaining more jumping experience, do you become progressively more aware of others around you in freefall?

[PhreeZone 15]

Winds were really stong in the midwest this weekend, seperation delays in our Otter were going at 10-12 seconds at least. If the AFF exiting after you had to track over you then one of 2 things probally happened.
1) The instructor didn't give enough seperation. This is possible but a Cat A student takes a bit of time to line up in the door and exit so they probally needed at least 10 seconds to go.
2) You were backsliding/driving/moving in freefall even though you didn't mean to. One thing you can do to prevent this is to turn 90 degrees from the jumprun direction when you are in freefall. Then if you move anywhere you won't be moving towards or away from any other group.

Good thinking on the creating a dive flow, its also a good idea to run the diveplan past a coach or instructor and see if they have any pointers to help you.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Bill_K 0]

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Hey all, new to the sport and the forum, just finished AFF and my first solo jump this weekend! For some reason im a little disapointed with my first jump...

Welcome to the sport and to dz.com!!

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Sunday I went up for my first solo - i had manifested for a light load, but got bumped onto a heavier one. I was second last out (aff cat a behind me), gave plenty of seperation before exiting after the group before me.

You did the right thing. You can only worry about the group in front of you.

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Diving exit got me a little head down and upside down (had my legs out leaving the plane) but arched it out very quickly. From 11000 to pulling at 4K, i didn't do much of anything at all. I wasn't frozen by any means, I just kept my heading and waited for pull time... I had a very soft opening and was under a good canopy at 3K.

I made the decision on the plane ride to do no maneuvers during freefall. My main goals were a stable body position and a canopy out at my stated altitude, and i accomplished these. Looking at the previous jumps ive done for AFF, I think I far prefer to have a diveflow and a task, or tasks to complete...

Sounds to me like you had a goal, to do nothing other than hold a heading and pull, both of which you did!!

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I was stable in the air, was not tracking or backsliding and was a little bit surprised by the proximity of the instructor canopies opening above me.

How do you know? The only thing you can be sure of when flying by yourself is if your belly to earth and holding a heading. Tracking, backsliding, etc are very, very hard to judge when by yourself. Not bust'n your balls, just saying you 'may' have been tracking back up jump run and not realized it...

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Back on the ground, I was told one of the intructors had to track over top of me to gain seperation from their student. I find this a little bothersome, cause if my canopy had deployed early for whatever reason, bad things would have happened. I do recognize the fact that the instructors pulled higher than they usually would due to seeing me below, and also that i am not used to opening in any traffic at all; so seeing canopies deploying anywhere around me is new...

This jump made me realize several things: I like goals! I will have a diveflow to complete on my next jump. Seperation is going to be a issue for me throughout my jumping career (I plan on doing this for a long time). How can I ensure that people behind me give me enough time out of the plane? After gaining more jumping experience, do you become progressively more aware of others around you in freefall?

Track to live!! You can only really worry about giving the group that just left in front of you the right amout of seperation based on your dive type and theirs. Beyond that you have to trust those behind you to do the same. As for becoming more aware as time goes on, yes you will. In time you'll have a very good idea where others are in the air. I like to go out and do solo sits from time to time and I use the group in front of me a a target to hold my heading. I usually pass them in free fall and am below them at pull time, but well off to their side in horizontal distance. I also agree with you though, having a goal is a LOT more fun. I love to jump with others for this reason and many others. As you progress you'll find you like some things more than others, etc. Don't worry about this experience, look back on it and ask what you can learn, and move on to the next skydive.

Again, welcome to the sport!!

BK

[DZDANK 0]

What kind of distance (laterally) do you like to see other jumpers opening at? I think the seperation was probably fine per standards, but being new and all, I want plenty of space!

[Bill_K 0]

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What kind of distance (laterally) do you like to see other jumpers opening at? I think the seperation was probably fine per standards, but being new and all, I want plenty of space!

As much as I can get!! :) Sometimes that is more than others. With time you'll see it so often that you'll realize when it really is close and when it just seems close, when it's safe and when it's not. Best thing to do is get with a coach or instructor and express your concerns and ask how 'you' can improve, change, learn, etc. to make it safer for you and in turn for other skydivers that are in the air with you. Take charge of your learning. Now that your off AFF you get to really start learning. The end of AFF does not mean that all that stops, that's when it really ramps up and starts in earnest!!

BK

[DZDANK 0]

Well I appreciate the good advice! This weekend im going back out to get a coach to work on my tracking (seems like an important area to work on). And maybe I'll RELAX a little bit, I was a bit nervous on that jump, it affects me in the air in a huge way

[jheadley 0]

Sounds like you'll enjoy learning RW (Relative work, formation skydiving). You have a plan and a goal on every jump.

[laughn_gas 0]

I can't see why your first solo was disappointing. You made a dive flow... It went according to plan. Your alive to give it another go.
I was out at the DZ the other day doing some solo's. I was working on spotting other skydivers below me, and it was great!!! I wasn't sure how well I was going to pick up on it, since I'm also new to the sport. But it was fairly easy, and I had fun just looking around and seeing other skydivers and being aware of their locations. It gives me more added security that I'm aware of what is going on around me.......

See ya in a minute. Peace out!

[DZDANK 0]

I dunno, i think i should have gone right back up after that jump. I did a clear and pull the day before, but it had been two weeks since i had any real fall time - jitters kept me from enjoying it as much as i could have... I'll be back out this weekend getting some coaching, i have to make sure to get a couple jumps back to back. The most fun and relaxed jumps have been the second ones of the day when im more chilled out. There are so many dimensions to this sport, its a lot to think about! Also looking forward to getting my own equipment for consistency reasons - jumping a different rig each time adds yet another element to the equation... I probably worry to much, but it keeps me on my toes. Anyway, one boot before the other

[Bill_K 0]

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I dunno, i think i should have gone right back up after that jump. I did a clear and pull the day before, but it had been two weeks since i had any real fall time - jitters kept me from enjoying it as much as i could have... I'll be back out this weekend getting some coaching, i have to make sure to get a couple jumps back to back. The most fun and relaxed jumps have been the second ones of the day when im more chilled out. There are so many dimensions to this sport, its a lot to think about! Also looking forward to getting my own equipment for consistency reasons - jumping a different rig each time adds yet another element to the equation... I probably worry to much, but it keeps me on my toes. Anyway, one boot before the other

Yep, try and get more than one each outting. In this sport MORE really is BETTER!!! That will also help build confidence and get you over the jitters. In time the first of the day won't feel so rough. I know for a fact that I still get them when it's been a few weeks between jumps. Some of the people I jump with either know me well enough or just sense it and on the ride up start cracking jokes and giving me the hand signals to relax.

[tdog 0]

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I was stable in the air, was not tracking or backsliding

I bet you were backsliding... Most people don't fall straight down, especially when learning. (remember this for your solo sitflies - as I have had a solo sit hit me in freefall due to their backslide).

There is a simple solution:

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i didn't do much of anything at all.

That is your problem. Most students/solos are doing so many flips, turns, etc - that it is not an issue...

If you sit still, you can backslide a lot in the same direction.

So - if you do any sort of solo jump - orient yourself perpendicular to jump run so if you move forward or backward, you go away from jump run, not closing the gaps to your friends.

This applies for every discipline.

[popsjumper 2]

Congrats on graduating AFF and doing your first solo!
WooooHoooo!

You had some goals and accomplished them! Great stuff!
What a good confidence-builder.

Indeed, as others have said, backsliding was probably going on and you didn't realize it - it's hard to know what's really going on in the air without a reference near you.

My first solo after static line clearance, I remember it like to was yesterday...just floating looking at the beautiful view, no performance pressure and anxiety...just beautiful... and when that big 'ol T-10 opened up and I discovered my nuts were still in place and not crushed...I yelled like a little schoolgirl with joy. The backwards PLF was icing on the cake.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239