All I have to say is "WOW!"

[loudawg 0]

Hey guys, as planned, I jumped this past Sunday, and did my first two solos! This was the best experience of my life! It was so incredibly fun.

I started the morning with a Nav 260 that Bill had just finished packing for me. I busted out one of those flight planners, and went through the entire rig thoroughly, using the checklist on the planner. I was surprised to find the main cutaway handle completely unstowed and hanging there, but I just secured it and made some extra checks to ensure things were still intact. Everything looked good, and now it was time to wait for the call for my load. In the meantime, I met a couple new friends...Valerie and Mike. Both are great people, and I learned a lot talking to each of them.

So we get on the plane, and we're climbing...8, 9 thousand feet, and I'm feeling great still. Eleven thousand approaches, and everyone is getting their helmets on and making final preparations. For the first time, I wasn't nervous! I thought it would kick in once we got to jump run, but nope, I was as ready as can be. I followed Mike out the door, doing a sit exit. I was excited to find myself falling in a stable sit, and after about 6 or 7 seconds, I just flopped over onto my belly. From there I did some front and back loops, barrel rolls, and some tracking. I was amazed at how comfortable this was, and how long the dive seemed to be! As 4,500 approached, it really seemed like the ground was coming up quick. LoL. I wanted to trust my altimeter that I was still plenty above pull altitude, but just to be safe, I reached back and pulled at around 4,100 or so. The rest of the ride down was fun, and ended up in a nice, stand-up landing, with the canopy veering slightly to the right as I touched down. I remembered not to reach down, and all was well.

The winds picked up so I was stuck for many hours on the ground. The evening approached, and I got on the first evening load. This time, I decided to try out a Nav 240. The winds were still a little bit up there, so this was probably a better choice given the conditions anyway. Plus I've wanted to try a slightly smaller size, and this one put me pretty close to 1:1. My instructor agreed this would be a good one to try anyway, so I went through with it. Mike, Valerie and I weren't paying enough attention to the calls, and we were just finished putting our gear on when I heard the now call. We rushed over there, but were the last ones to get on besides a 4-way. This was the first time I rode up so close to the door, and it was enjoyable to stare down at the lake as we ascended. As 12.5 came around, I noticed that with the sun so low, and with the haze, it seemed like it would be hard to see. This somewhat worried me, but I knew I would be ok. Once again, I followed Mike out the door, but this time, I decided to have a little fun with my exit. I poised myself outside of the plane, and threw myself backwards so I could watch myself fall away from the plane....well, I must've thrown myself too hard because I ended up doing a nice backflip and I tumbled a bit. It was so much fun though! I stabilized, and then proceded to try more flips, rolls, and tracks. I also threw in a couple arm and leg turns. Finally, before I locked on at 6k, I decided to try to slow myself down by dearching slightly (I had just learned this earlier in the day). I de-arched ever so slightly and, wow, I really felt the slowdown! Very cool, I thought. As I stared down at the DZ, I saw the 4-way dumping. However, there was one guy still falling, and we seemed to not have much horizontal separation (in reality, it was a lot, but being new to the sport, and from that perspective, it seemed kinda close). I turned and tracked a bit just to be safe, and pulled at 3.5, as intended. As the canopy inflated, I saw the lines were crossed over, and was preparing to handle the line twist. Then the canopy completely inflated, and since the twist was only 180 degrees, the abrupt tension whipped my body around to the right direction. Whoa! That was fun! I played with the canopy a bit, really enjoying the responsiveness of the 240. Came down, flared, nothing but a nice, smooth stand-up in some wierd, constantly changing winds.

I ended the day with a not-so-cold-yet beer, chatting with Dan, Mike, and Betsy. A little later, I drove home with a huge smile on my face, feeling more than satisfied.

But wait. The next morning rolled around, the weather was once again perfect, and I couldn't get the skydiving off of my mind. I knew I had class at 2. I took care of a few responsibilites, got my hair cut, and I just couldn't resist going down to Elsinore for a couple more jumps. I can sacrifice class for one day, I thought! I went down there, grabbed two more tickets, and jumped with Mike again. I had a blast! I tried a few different things from the day before this time. First time out, I did that same backflip exit out of the plane. Flipped tumbled, recovered. tried a "faster" track, according to Dan. Palms up, de-arch a bit. It definitely worked! I felt like I was hauling ass. Dumped at 3.5, flew it down, and yet another nice stand-up.

Second jump of the day, I did a dive exit. I dove out, exteneded my arms, brought the legs up to my ass, and watched a reference point. Uh oh, I'm going down, I'm going to flip. Wait, I'm leveling off. Cool! Did some more 360's, practicing with only arms, only legs, and a combination of both. I tried to get into a sit from the belly down position by doing what Dan said and just kicking out and getting right into it. I failed. I became wobbly so I went back into the always-forgiving belly down arch. I tried to be smart and do a frontflip, but throwing myself into the sit once I reached the right point in the loop. I ended up just flipping some more. LoL. Oh well, I decided to just enjoy the rest of the ride down and try again next time. Nice deployment, a slightly bumpy ride down, but I ended it with a beautiful stand-up, about 20 or 30 feet from the target.

At this point I decided to get back to class. The past couple of days were better than I could have ever asked for. I keep thinking back on those skydives and the only way I can describe them is by saying "WOW!" I am more hooked than I ever was before.

I have also learned an incredible amount the two days I was there. I went over a lot of stuff with my instructor Dan, Valerie, and Mike. Bill also showed us how to maintain the 3-ring system. He pulled the cutaway, and showed us exactly how everything works and how to put it all back together. Plus I can say I learned quit a bit from my experience there alone in the air.

If you've read all the way to this point, then you must really be bored! LoL. Sorry for all the blabbering. I tried to keep it somewhat short, but there was just so much excitement I needed to express at least a little bit. Thanks for your interest!

ohhh, I can't wait to go jump again!

~Lou

[Michele 1]

Quote

I drove home with a huge smile on my face, feeling more than satisfied.

Go, Lou!!!!! See, that's what it's about. That weird sense of satisfaction, completion, and peace. YAYAY you!!

Quote

If you've read all the way to this point, then you must really be bored!

Nah, just catching the newbie excitement which is sooooo apparent in your post.

I am tickled you had a great weekend...and that you've met some really cool folks.

Congratulations again, and cheers to you!

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Snowbird 0]

Ditto what Michele said! I love reading posts like this where the raw excitement is vibrating my monitor!

And it will just keep getting better...

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

[airdvr 198]

Lou...really enjoyed reading your story. It is fun for the experienced folks to re-live the excitement of learning to fly again. I think we have a tendency to get a bit complacent as we get more experienced...and forget what fun this really is. I layed off jumping for over 10 years and just got back into it this fall. I never realized how much I missed it.

Continue having fun and be safe.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[wildchild 0]

I know the feeling. Even the people I work with occassionally walk up to me and say "You're mentally getting out the plane, aren't you?" and when I ask why they say, "Well you have that huge stupid grin on your face again".

____________________________
"If there is doubt, there is no doubt." - Tonto

[reese 0]

Hey, I read your whole story with wide eyes. Thanks. I'm on AFF L5 and hope to finish up this weekend and then on with some more learning and all the fun you're having. It's exciting to see that we can learn and do so much so quickly. Sounds like you have some great instructors up there. Nice job! And more fun to you.

[maxmadmax 8]

Sell all your extra junk...this includes golf clubs, fishing gear, boat, etc etc...............

Welcome to the wonderful world of skydiving!

Don't go away mad....just go away!

[fropvd 0]

I can relate to the goofy grin. I did my first ever jump a week ago and STILL have a huge goofy-ass grin on my face. I'm saving for AFF training now, and looking into a jumpsuit that will fit me so I don't have to jump in scrub pants and have them blow up to my knees. *grin*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just bitten by the bug and eager to start training and earn a license...

[Shark 0]

Lou,

Do you realize that you are the first student out of your FJC that has completed AFF? Well, actually that's because Dean only completed level 2 and hasn't jumped in a few months.

Congrats! BTW, did you buy yet?!

[loudawg 0]

Quote

Lou,

Do you realize that you are the first student out of your FJC that has completed AFF? Well, actually that's because Dean only completed level 2 and hasn't jumped in a few months.

Congrats! BTW, did you buy yet?!

Wow, the first out of a class of 3 people...LoL...that's cool, though. And yes, I did bring down a case of MGD. If there's any left it'll be in the fridge there in the packing room. By the way, thanks for bing my FJC instructor, Mark!

[Zeemax 0]

Great story
as some one else said, sell eveything you own now, get it out of the way and learn how to live without food, afterall, its just valuable jump tickets

One thing, while i was reading through:

Quote

I tried to be smart and do a frontflip, but throwing myself into the sit once I reached the right point in the loop

I know i'm a newbie myself, and no doubt your gear was checked, but it sounds like your jumping rental gear. Just make sure its free fly friendly before attempting a sit. Most student/rental gear i've seen isn't suitable for free flying and it would sure suck if you hurt yourself.

Also, you may want to get some coaching so you have all the basics on your belly before attempting free flying.
Anyways, happy jumping and welcome to the dark side

Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE
Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies

[andyflylife 0]

Nice one dude!

'You know your a skydiver when before you buy anything you work out how many jumps it will cost!!'
Then you start with working out how many jumps your belongings are worth!'
Then its either, get a good job, or become a DZ employee/bum

Blue skies.

"swooper 24/7, 365!"
ME on Myspace
My Project playlist

[loudawg 0]

Quote

I know i'm a newbie myself, and no doubt your gear was checked, but it sounds like your jumping rental gear. Just make sure its free fly friendly before attempting a sit. Most student/rental gear i've seen isn't suitable for free flying and it would sure suck if you hurt yourself.

Yeah, well Lob asked me specifically if I was going to be doing any flips or anything when I picked up my rig. They have a few rigs with the pilot chute handle on both sides of the container, and those supposedly are more prone to pre-mature deployments. So we made sure I used the single handle rig that uses a pouch for the pilot chute, as opposed to that wierd way those double handles have it.

Quote

Also, you may want to get some coaching so you have all the basics on your belly before attempting free flying.

I'll agree with you there. At the same time, I wasn't doing anything that I wasn't already taught during AFF, and these were all maneuvers they want us to try. Well, at least a sit exit out of the plane, I guess not necessarily getting into a sit after exit. Oh well.

[loudawg 0]

Quote

Nice one dude!

'You know your a skydiver when before you buy anything you work out how many jumps it will cost!!'
Then you start with working out how many jumps your belongings are worth!'
Then its either, get a good job, or become a DZ employee/bum

Blue skies.

You know, it's so funny that you say that, because it is sooooo true. I went out to dinner last night (an expensivce one I might add, turned out to be close to $20), and when we were finished I complained to myself out loud, saying "Well, there goes half of a skydive." My friend responded, telling me how everything that has any value is looked at in terms of skydives to me now. LOL!!! I guess I must talk about it more than I realize.

[Zeemax 0]

You were taught sit fly exit on aff? which level?

Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE
Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies

[flr169 0]

Congrats Lou..........

Makes me look even more forward to starting my AFF course this summer...


Mike

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting - "fcuk me what a ride!"

[loudawg 0]

Quote

You were taught sit fly exit on aff? which level?

I was taught a sit exit on level 7. The idea was to incorporate instability into my dive, to ensure I could handle it and get back into a stable position. I believe some schools push their students out on this level and have them flip a few times, but apparently at Elsinore it was decided that a sit was the way to go. And I really, really enjoyed it. What a fun position!