The nerves will go away again right?

[sundance 1]

Punky, Hope you get some good weather soon to do your flippin routine. Like you, I was concerned about the out of control thing early on. It's natural. Funny how with more jumps it just evaporated. It soon sinks in that whatever cockeyed position you may get yourself in on exit, you quite naturally know how to get to belly down. Kinda like riding a bike... at first you think about it, then you just do it without any thought of how you do it.

Be one with the flip girl.

One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

[LearningTOfly 0]

Speaking about flipping... here's my story:

Went down south for vacation and jumping. I hadn't jumped in five months and was jumping a new rig at a new dropzone... links in a chain right? Well I took a look at the winds, the layout picture, thought about my experience and decided that the risk was acceptable. My canopy skills tend to be much better than my freefall ones, so I thought that a h&p would be last risky. Risk being the chance of having to deploy on my back or spinning. Anyways, I get the (semi-reluctant) okay to go, gear up, get a gear check, and board the plane. It was built for 14 or so jumpers and there were six of us- four of those were tandem assemblies. The ride up was fantastic- no pressure at all- mostly due to the lack of a nagging jumpmaster or coach (this can be a good thing othertimes, though). It turned out that I couldn't get out low because of traffic above the airport at the time, so I was 'stuck' going to the top floor. Heading through 7000' I realized "Hmm, I guess this means freefall time" At that point I thought "Eh, f-it, lets have fun" and the nervousness was gone- totally. I knew I was going to botch the exit anyways, so I decided to try a backloop exit... actually, no... I can do a perfectly fine stable exit, I just love doing backloops on exit and watching the plane as I fall away- even though I've only tried it twice. The video afterwards showed a not so graceful half loop half roll flail out the door, but that's not the point- the point is that I didn't worry before going out the door and it turned out to be my best jump yet... fifty seconds of stability except for the part halfway down when my goggles flipped up and I tried to put them back on... unsuccessfully. The landing was un-eventful and stood up... I could have put it in the peas even, but I was told specifically to shoot for the student landing area, and so I did.

My advice would be: arrange to do a fun jump- don't put any pressure on yourself by trying to do planned turns or loops or whatever... it'll be ugly, but lots of fun, and a confidence builder- and that's the point of this sport, no? (Just make sure it stays safe)

[HeyRobin 0]

Hey man... check this out. Not suggesting that you go this hard core... This jumper has over a 100 jumps and has gear that's rated for this kind of stuff. Student gear may not be...

You know... ask your instructors...

But I thought ya might get a kick out've it :-)

http://www.heyrobin.com/fu2/Aarons_first_dig_me_video.wmv

Be safe,
Robin

[bigorangemd 0]

Robin, I'm assuming you didn't redock. That's a great video. Best one I've seen since I flared too early and did a BLF (butt landing fall). I still get tears when I see it (or sit for that matter)!

[funks 1]

damn that seemed like one hell of a LONG skydive!

[HeyRobin 0]

damn that seemed like one hell of a LONG skydive!

---

Yep. Kinda long.

[Punky_Monkey 0]

Thanks for the video....Wow!!! And to think a couple of flips makes me nervous..

That actually looks like fun. Oops did I say that? I will continue to work on flips until they don't bother me...Through repetition the nerves of flipping should diminiish.

*******
Punky Monkey
You may never get rid of the butterflies, but you can teach them how to fly in formation

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Quote

Thanks for the pictures...

They really help...
Seeing these pictures helps me to realize that people do flip from time to time and that this early on I have already learned tools to get myself out of them.

I actually can't wait to jump this weekend....I already told my coach I am doing one jump where I totally mess up the exit and then I am just going to keep fliping...

I guess I have to realize we all flip from time to time and it's wait you make of it.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Because I had learned to fly before learning to skydive, I had two major benefits: I was totally unafraid (un-nervous?) about being in the plane, and I was also unafraid of flying the canopy and landing it. (It really is so similar to flaring a Cessna for landing.
But that didn't mean I did not feel apprehension when I was doing my training skydives. I mean, I knew that I was a creature of the sky -- I had always felt that, and felt like I belonged in the sky -- so tucking that feeling deep inside kept me going and kept me believing that I was eventually going to feel really natural there.

I distinctly remember being nervous about getting to the door for my turn to jump. I remember being a bit weirded-out standing in the door of the Caravan, a palm on either side of the airplane's skin, feet poised along the edge of the door, looking down past the floor to the ground 13,5 below. There were times I was sitting there on the ride to altitude thinking to myself that I didn't "have" to go through with it. But then I reminded myself that I really did enjoy this, deep down, and I really did want to be here.

I never looked at a single skydive as a lost or botched one. If I flipped my diving exit, I knew what not to do next time. I never worried about flipping (and you shouldn't either) because I had thousands of feet left during which I could SURELY manage to arch hard and get back to my belly! What is there to worry about?

My jumping philosophy is just keep at it. Don't stress about a single thing. Enjoy skydiving, even if you suck at it. You WILL get better. (I currently am just on the happy side of competent, I realize, compared to what else is out there to be able to do.) PATIENCE epitomizes my attitude about skydiving learning. It can't be rushed, so just go along for the ride and take what learning comes along as it comes along.

I had some really experienced skydivers around me treating me like a well-loved little brother when I was a total newbie. That made me feel great. Each time I was doing a pre-A solo jump, one of these fun-jumpers would ask me what I planned to do on that skydive. Often my only answer would be, "Oh, just practicing stuff I've been working on: turns; barrel rolls; practice throws; loops..." They would come up with ideas. I remember my friend Kim suggested that I do three forward loops out the door. Who was I to question the advice of a serious skydiver? LOL! So that's what I did. It was jump 22. Then on 23, my instructor Dave added, "Do them with your eyes closed!" So that's exactly what I did! I loved how they pushed me gently to expand what I was willing to try.

And anyway, when you've just flipped all crazy-like through a freefall, isn't it cool to think about what you just did?!
-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Alanaos 0]

Hi

I'm pretty new at this sport and like you was a little nervous in the door. Then one of my instructors played me back a video of myself in the door and I saw how weak my exit looked. After that I figured that as I was going to jump anyway I might as well do it with a bit of panache. It's the best thing I ever did. I love the exit now even though I still feel the fear.

Oh and don't worry about dive exits, they got me doing them on my level 5 AFF and they're the best. It's much easier to get stable from a dive exit (at least I think so).

Happy jumping this weekend and remember to give it your all in the door!