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Nightingale

AFF 6,7,8 Jumplog

By Nightingale, in General Skydiving Discussions

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Nightingale    0

Nightingale
Ok...here it is...


AFF 6: I went to the dropzone today with the plans of graduating AFF. I had two 6 packs of guinness in the trunk (what the guys requested) and a little gift for Shelly (who doesn't like beer) because she'd been my JM more than anyone else.

Its about 11 am, and I go in and sign up. Shelly's teaching FJC, so I couldn't jump with her for level 6. Raoul told me to ask for Kai, so I did. We chat out at the picnic table behind the school for a bit. I was very nervous, because I didn't get to jump last weekend, and the longer I go without jumping, the harder it is to get myself out the door of the plane the next time.

Kai explains to me that all I have to do during this skydive is fall out of the plane, get stable, and smile. Ok. I think I can handle that. He tells me to make sure I get in a flip or two before arching, because the point of this level is to experience instability and recover stability. kewl.

We chill out for a bit after going through the harness room, and then its time to get geared up. I am taught how to do a complete gear check on myself. Cool! Nice to really know what to look for.

So, I get my gear on, and get a second gear check from Raoul, who's shooting camera for a tandem. There are two tandems on our load, which is cool. Its fun to talk to the tandems to get them to relax, because it helps me to relax too.

So, its time to jump. I'm not all that nervous now... I grab the rope at the door and stabilize myself. Kai asks if I'm ready, and I take a deep breath. He tells me to lean forward and grab my ankles. I do. He asks again if I'm ready. I say "yeah." and all of a sudden I'm flipping, spinning, falling and WOW! This is cool... oh yeah...I'm supposed to arch now, aren't I? ARCH! uh oh....I'm supposed to be seeing ground now, not sky... I'm on my back. Ok...tuck arm, roll shoulder...ah! There's the ground!

Practice Ripcord Touch. Its right where it ought to be. Altitude Check! 8000 feet! Oh! there's Kai! Smile, wave...he gives me thumbs up. I give him thumbs up back. This is the first time I've been able to play a bit in freefall. Now that I know I can stabilize myself, I'm not so scared of instability.

He motions for me to do a turn... 360! Whee! Ok...there's Kai again... 6000 feet. 5000 feet... wave off...PULL!

Good canopy! Control check is fine. I'm still on radios for this jump. Still working on the flare issue. Kai's going to tell me when to flare.

Set up landing pattern...looking good. Oh shit, I need to flare! Oh shit...oh shit...oh shit...oh shit... "**FLARE**" crackles over the radio. I flare. Tiptoe landing.

Hehe... now I know... From when I think I need to flare, count four "oh shits" and then flare!

I pick up my canopy and hop into the truck. I'm grinning like an idiot. This skydive is the first one where I really enjoyed freefall. Life is good.

AFF 7

In the school, when I asked for Kai for level 6, John gave me a hard time because I didn't ask for him... I didn't even know he did AFF! I'd only seen him do tandems (he did both of my tandem jumps). So, on level 7, I asked for John.

No harness room this time...I already did it today. We just spend a few minutes going over the skydive. He wants me to control my fall rate. Hard arch, and de-arch. De-arch is kind of like a position I used to do in yoga (was either called cat or dog, I don't remember which) so I was familiar with the body mechanics behind it. At 7,000 feet I was supposed to track off for six seconds, and then pull.

We get on the plane. We're going last because there's a tracking load in front of us. The plane's going to drop them off and then let us out three minutes later. Ok.

The tracking load goes. I'm getting a little nervous. John had me sit on the ledge right behind the pilot. I don't really like this seat... sitting totally backwards is making me feel a little sick. Ok. Our turn now. We walk up to the door. Up, down... ok..try again...up, down... um...one more time. Up, down, stepback, ARCH!

On the ground later, John said he could see it in my face, that last exit try... he knew that at that point, I'd told myself to get my ass out of the plane NOW!

Good exit. Stable. There's John. PRCT. 11,000 feet. Oops, he's above me... De-arch! Ok...now below me... Hard Arch. I'm checking altitude every few seconds...

De-arch...oops... little bit of instability there... I feel like I'm bouncing... After a few seconds of this, John grabs hold of me to stabilize me. We're now at 6,000 feet. No more manouevres. 5,000, wave off, pull.

Nice good canopy.

I was scared to death of this jump, because John and Kai said no more radios. I'm all by myself up here. Control check. Good toggle release. Toggle control check.

I play with the parachute a bit. Turns. Trying to burn altitude. I just want to land this thing so I can stop worrying about landing this thing. Ok. 1000 feet. No more fancy stuff.

I set up my landing pattern with the direction I think the wind is going. At 500 feet, I see I read the flags wrong. Oops. I'm going the wrong way. So, instead of doing a J shaped landing pattern, mine was a little more Z shaped. Uh oh... I have to flare... no...not yet... "oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit! FLARE" half a second too late... I landed on my feet, but my momentum took me down to one knee. I bounced up and began collecting my canopy, again grinning like an idiot. I'd landed all by myself!

AFF 8

Graduation jump! Shelly was finished with FJC by this time, so I requested her. Seemed kind of appropriate, since she'd been there from the start. I want a video of this one, so I ask for Raoul, who's an amazing photographer. Both Shelly and Raoul have really been there for me, so this was a way for me to have both of them in the air with me on what feels like the second most important jump of my life (the most important being the first one, of course).

Shelly briefs me on how to do barrel rolls. I have to do one in each direction. The exit is up to me. I choose a running/dive exit, because that way I don't have to look out the door... I'm fine leaving the plane as long as I can't see the ground.

We're on sunset load, so we've got some time to sit and chat. Shelly goes over a lot of stuff about planes and safety with me.

Ok... our turn. I tell Shelly that if I stop at the edge of the door, just give me a good shove. She promises she will. I didn't know this at the time, but Raoul told me later that the two of them had already discussed doing just that if I hesitated.

We get in the plane. Raoul's waving the camera in my face. I'm not nervous. People are chatting with me and wishing me luck on the graduation jump. We're the last ones out of the plane. Someone talked the pilot into extra altitude. An extra 1000 feet. Awesome! Raoul's hanging out by the door, spotting for us. Shelly squeezes my shoulder "ready?"

I grin. "Yep. Lets do it!" I try to get up a bit of momentum, so I couldn't stop at the door if I wanted to, but stopping at the door didn't even occur to me! WHEE!!!! I love this exit! ARCH! Uh oh... upside down. Roll over. Ok.

PRTC. Altitude. 11,000. Wave at Shelly.

Barrel Roll to the right. Uh oh. not enough momentum. I'm on my back again. Arch! Flip over. Ok. lets try that again. Left side this time. Whee!!! Perfect barrel roll. I'm loving this jump! Altitude check.

hmm...there's Shelly. Lets play with fall rate. I pop up a few feet above her, and then hard arch to get back to even.

I mug for the camera a bit. Smile, wave, thumbs up. The sun's right behind me, so Raoul must be getting some awesome shots!

7,000 feet. Time to track. I wave bye-bye to the camera and track off. I pull at 5,000.

Good canopy. Good control check.

Shelly wants me to play with turns. Okay. I turn hard to the right and then left immediately. Pendulum effect... WHEE! I straighten out and try that again. This is fun!

Ok... bout time to set up the landing pattern. I see the wind direction and realize that if I set up a traditional landing pattern, I'd be over the runway at 500 feet. That would be bad. So, I just took the canopy fairly far out and did a straight in landing pattern. I was the only one in the sky, so I wasn't worried about getting in anyone's way.

Hmm... should flare about now... "oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit FLARE!" PERFECT and right in the circle! Tiptoe landing all by myself and its all on camera!

I collect my gear. The truck is ferrying people out to the swoop pond, so I'm walking in. Shelly's waiting for me over on the grass. I've got the perma-grin thing going on again. I know I passed. Shelly confirms this.

We walk back to the school and I take off my gear. I duck out and dash to my car to collect the beer and Shelly's gift. When I get back, she's making notes on my A License Card. Raoul gets us together for a final shot for the video, and he takes off to go edit. I tell Shelly to close her eyes, because I have a surprise for her. She does. I take her gift out of my backpack and set it on the table. "Okay. you can open your eyes now." She does. The gift is a skydiver teddy bear. I'd gotten the bear at build-a-bear in the mall and made a jumpsuit and rig to match hers. I even found little bear sized helmet, goggles, and shoes. The rig is closed up with a real closing pin, and the pilot chute is in the bear's hand. I warn her that if she pulls on the pilot chute, the pin will pull and the rig will open. There is a parachute in there, but its a pain to repack. She laughs and points out she's a rigger. The bear seems to be a hit. Cool. I'm glad she likes it. I had fun making it.

Raoul and I walk over to the bar. We get drinks and he bugs me to watch my video. I finally give in and let the bartender put it on the tv. The video is amazing! I can't wait to see the still photos!

So... that's the end of AFF for me... I'm completely thrilled, but a little sad at the same time. I can't wait for the next part of the journey. However, at the moment, I've got $15 to last me til payday, so the next part of the journey will have to wait until next weekend, after I get paid.

Next weekend, I'm going to go out and do a fun jump and just play in the sky.

Blue skies!

-Nightingale

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ripper0289    0

ripper0289
Congrats on graduating AFF, and thanks for sharing that. I'm still an AFF student and have been having problems with my landings, but to this point I haven't tried the oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit FLARE! method ;) I'll have to try that the next time I get out there.

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Fast    0

Fast
Awesome! Congrats on passing AFF. I am sure that in the years to come we will be hearing some great stories from you :)
Good luck in a quick trip to your A lic and have fun


Blue Skies!
~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

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cindee    0

cindee
This was so incredibly fun to read! I can't wait to get back to AFF! Thanks for posting this and congratulations on passing AFF. :)
__________________________________________________
"If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow, why oh why can't I?"

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CrazyDave    0

CrazyDave
Quote

This was so incredibly fun to read! I can't wait to get back to AFF! Thanks for posting this and congratulations on passing AFF. :)



ditto.... apart from I cant wait to start mine next summer. hopefully ill have enough cash to do the continuation jumps as well!

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