AFF Level 1 Self-Critique

[BeeTee 0]

Did my Level I yesterday after 9 days of waiting. After I took the class last Saturday, the winds and clouds finally broke. Here is my self-critique. Please chime in with ANYTHING you guys think would help.

Exit - D

Forgot the Hotel Check. Even though I arch-counted, I forgot the most important thing. Despite the fact that I did arch, it took them a while to get us stable on exit. I believe I may have hopped out instead of stepped. The only reason I did not give myself an F is that I managed to exit the plane intact with two jumpmasters.

Next time: Keep running that mental checklist on the way up. Hotel Check, Arch, Up, Down, OUT!!!!

Body Position = C

I kept a good arch and was complimented by the JM’s afterwards. I only received one arch signal in the whole dive. My arms were good, but my legs were not. The JM said that my heels were getting reacquainted with my ass for most of the jump and that my feet were too close together.. Does ANYONE have any tips on how I can practice this on the ground before AFFII? I want to have very good body positioning. Any tips are appreciated.

Next time: Keep my legs out.


CoA/Altitude Check = A

Checked about every 5 seconds or so. Stayed on top of it and started my waveoff/pull right at 6000. Even I was pleased with this!!!

Next time: Continue keeping awareness, but try to begin to develop a feel for what the landscape looks like at certain altitudes. (Is this something I should or shouldn’t do?)


Practice Throws = A

JM said they were awesome. The best advice I got is to be steady even if it meant doing them slowly. I did three, found the hackey every time and did not appear negatively alter my stability.


Pull at Altitude = PASS

I’m hesitant to give this a score. Either you do or you don’t. I did.

Canopy Control = C+

Average I guess. Practice flares went ok. Parachute steered. Nothing bad or great.

Next time: Continue to practice under canopy and learn the handling characteristics of the canopy.

Playground/Naviagation = D

If it weren’t for the radio…. I was totally disoriented as to my approach. I remember making a RIGHT turn to final approach (?!?!?). I was really confused.

Next time: I don’t know. Guys, how can I get better at this? Landings are where I’m most nervous.


Landing = C-

The instructor thinks I did good, but it was a PLF due to not flaring all the way. I did not land hard at all, but it wasn’t a walking landing either.

Next time: Practice staged flare as I was taught in AFF.

Fun = B

I had a ball, but I want to do this right and learn to do the fundamentals as cleanly as possible. I will have more fun as I get these down, but there wasn't a lot of time. The jump seems so fast and by the time I could admire the view, 6000 was approaching. But I had a great time and can't wait for level 2.

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Please chime in with ANYTHING you guys think would help.

Actual critique is between you and your instructors. Any of the advice you see on DZ.com, even if written by an instructor, should be checked by your instructors or S&TA at your DZ.

Each DZ teaches students a little bit different, so this is important.


Also, without having been on the skydive or atleast seeing video, everyone here can only tell you to relax, smile and enjoy it.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[pilotdave 0]

Don't be too hard on yourself. You get an A for not being this guy: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1004.

Your "fun" score is one reason a lot of people do a tandem first. Much more "relaxing" and more time to just enjoy the ride. But now that you've done one, it just get's better and better. You'll be very surprised by how much you can just enjoy yourself when you do your first solo after getting off student status.

Dave

[BeeTee 0]

Fair enough, Aggie Dave.

I was mainly asking for things tips that you guys may have used for those specific things . For example, my buddy who told me to relax on the PT's said to think of my arms as that drum on Karate Kid II (yeah, he's corny). But as one arm moves to throw, the other moves as a wing near my head.

The critique is self. What I'm sort of asking for is if anyone had similar circumstances and what they did.

Of course, on your advice, I will bring all of these to my instructors to see if it would help. But it is good to know where to start, perhaps.

[AggieDave 6]

The biggest advice you can get is to breath and relax. That sounds corny, it really does and I understand that, but it will do lightyears of good for you to be able to be more relaxed in freefall.

You can talk to your instructors about practicing your body position in front of a mirror as well to get some practice at home.

Breath!
Relax!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[mattjw916 2]

Ditto for the relaxing and breathing!

Personally I would try and get more than one jump in per weekend if it is technically and monetarily feasible. That way, if you make a mistake, you can get right back up there and try again. Video is a great learning tool as well if available. Remember there is no such thing as a perfect jump.

Good luck, welcome to the sport.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[bacillus 0]

I just wanted to share my experience as a newbie with your "keep my legs out" statement. I found that this was my main problem in acheiving rock solid stability. For some reason, no matter how far I thought they were out, I was told to get them out further. One jump, I got frustrated and thought "Okay, whatever, I'll show them what legs out means", and I stuck them as far out as I could, and bang, rock solid. Turns out there was something preventing my brain from accepting accurate feedback on my body position, and when I thought they were straight out, they were in perfect position. My instructors always got behind me while practicing my arch on the ground and lifted up on my toes, and had me push back down to feel what the air should feel like. I think that helped too.

With that said, my body type is such that I do really need a lot of positive legs, and you may not be like that. Just wanted to share my experience...

[koz2000 1]

First I completely agree w/ AggieDave about the info you get here. All info here is superceeded by info from your instructor.

One question, what airplane were you jumping from?

Exit - a big % of cat A students forget the hotel check. That's minor compared to the arch. A LOT of students go fetal.

Body position- most students will see more than one "legs out" signal especially if they have done a tandem. Couple things that might help as far as legs - first get on a creeper - build muscle memory with the proper position, (2) toe taps might help you realize where your legs are. However now that you're aware what you did on your first jump, you'll probably do much better.

Navigation - try to look out of the plane on the ride up. When you open, after you do you checks, look for the other canopies and where they're going. That should help you find the dz, pattern, etc..

Don't be too hard on yourself. At least from this critique it sounds like you did a pretty decent job.
There are a lot of students way worse than your "debrief."

Again look to your instructors FIRST for any information, rather than this forum. AFF can't be taken by correspondence.

D

______________________________________________
- Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

[kelpdiver 2]

You're way too hard on yourself. AFF1? If you pull on time, land ok, and have fun, you did good.

Of course most of the details were wrong. The main reason my buddy and I went to do more jumps is we wanted to prove to ourselves we could do a "good" one.

[Icon134 0]

So you jump at ASC... perhaps we'll meet one of these days.

Landing can be somewhat disconserting as the LZ is sort of small and the only flat area is right in the middle otherwise it is basically a big hill.

I've land in the grass along the runway before because I didn't want to make a low turn or make my base leg approach over the parking lot.

Once you get use to the placement of the "X" relative to the airport navigation is easier.

Scott

Disclaimer: I'm still relatively new to the sport but it sounds like you did fine on L1.
---------------------------------------------------------

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[BeeTee 0]

Koz, it was an Otter.

I understand that I'm being a bit hard, but I want to do most of the hard work as a student so that I can get the fundamentals of control and safety down. That way, I can enjoy the sport (safely) as I progress.

I know it was a first jump (I never even did tandem before) and expecting too much is a mistake. But I always want to look for ways to learn and improve.

Thanks for all the kind words and advice. I will run anything and everything past my instructor. THAT, I have retained. But I want to learn as much about the sport as possible.

[Reginald 0]

Dude,

You jumped, You lived. A+++++

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP