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tdog

End of summer - summer success stories

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Labor day weekend - the last weekend of summer...

I thought it would be fun for instructors to post their happy stories from the summer.

I just got my AFF rating earlier this year, so this was my first summer working weekends as a AFFI. I think I taught over 100 people in the FJC and maybe 100 AFF jumps too.

Today I looked around the hangars and realized the impact I had in skydiving, for better or worse, there were students I worked with everywhere I looked. I saw three finishing their A licence cards. That alone felt good.

But there were two students this weekend that made me feel real happy.

#1
This student attended the FJC I taught on Saturday - and he did his AFF 1 and 2 that day. Sunday he did AFF3, AFF4, AFF5, AFF6, AFF7 and two solos... Today he did a few more.

I did his level 7 - and it was one of my most fun skydives of the summer. He just was having so much fun in freefall, and got the diveflow done by 10K, so we geeked out and both were laughing and smiling and high fiving in freefall.

#2
Today I jumped with a student I worked with in the beginning of the summer - AFF3, who had failed level 3 two times prior, and had trouble with level 1 and 2 also. He was just not able to get "in the game" and stumbled over the dive flow and his responsibilities.

I was scared to do his jump - because I did not think I could tell him he failed if he failed again. But we started practicing the jump and I was confident he was ready.

He got on the plane and as we took off he put his index fingers and thumbs together with his hands in front of his chest, closed his eyes, and I saw him meditate in a calm and quiet way - followed by him rehearsing the dive in a way that I have only seen the best 4way teams in the world visualize - all without prompts.

When we asked him to walk us thru the skydive at 8K, he stopped himself and said, "Too fast".

We got out in freefall, and it was the best level 3 I have done yet. His heading control was perfect, he just nailed it.

He landed and asked if we let go. I laughed and said, "You just did the best Level 3 I have seen yet. Your heading control was perfect."

His ability to identify within himself the issues at hand - and fix them, and correct himself in the rehearsals ("Too Fast") - made an impression.
_______

Now, you post your happy stories for the summer of 2006.;)

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We're just starting summer here...

But a former AFF student of mine from 5 years back placed 5th in Speed at the Canopy Piloting World Championships in Austria, and he was also a High Fiver during AFF!

It's great to see how our students turn out. I love doing AFF!

t
It's the year of the Pig.

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One of my former students is profiled in this month's Parachutist. B| Last week, one of my students who's just about A-qualified emailed me a link to an article on dz.com about canopy control for beginners, and asked me "Legit? Or not so much?" (My answer was "I'll take Not-so-much for $1000, Alex") Nice to have a newbie touch base with me before taking internet drabble as gospel. :)
Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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