ThreesAndSevens

It's a 185 and my wingload will be about 1.0, so it seems like I would have some fast landings mentioned in the thread BIGUN posted. Should I even be considering canopies if they are no longer in production?

I'm a newly licensed jumper who is looking into buying his first rig. One of the rigs I'm considering has a Turbo Z main, and I haven't been able to find too much info about this model online. Anyone know anything about them? Would it be a good starter canopy? Thanks.

So I don't know what exactly happened, but yesterday everything seemed to click. I felt so much more comfortable in freefall. Arch was better, I could actually control turns, and if I ever lost stability I was able to restore it. Landing patterns went well too. After AFF 4 I asked my instructor to not give me instructions over the radio unless I was doing something really wrong. Having to actually think about it for myself helped a ton. I did accidentally land in a bush on one of my jumps, but I kinda just plowed right through it I ended up completing all my AFF jumps and did two solo jumps. Did another three jumps today, just practicing turns, tracking, flips. I hope this weekend wasn't just a fluke, looking forward to jumping next weekend.

Haha what? You look awesome in these.

No, but I was kinda close. We all jumped too early so most people landed far off. I'm looking forward to my first on target landing.

I appreciate all the feedback guys, thanks a lot. Maybe I am expecting a little too much from myself. I've watched a ton of AFF videos on youtube and it just seems like they all know what they're doing and I felt like I wasn't progressing at the same rate. So I ended up going to Eloy in the morning and did 5 minutes of the tunnel. For the life of me I could not get stable. The instructor coaching me pretty much just said that I need to arch more with my pelvis (not my chest) and to relax. I left feeling pretty frustrated with myself (Seems to be a thing I frequently do, eh?) and then went straight to my DZ. My confidence was shit so I was extremely nervous to jump again, so I just hung out for a few hours, unsure if I would even jump today. I must have looked extremely nervous because so many people came up to me today to tell me to relax. My instructor said it would be perfectly fine if I needed the week to gather myself and then continue my jumps next Saturday, but I decided to go on the last load out. Holy shit I was nervous. But when the time came, the jump actually went pretty well. Good exit, maybe my best. Arch was definitely better, legs are still a little too bent though. When my instructor released me my legs were uneven though and I started spinning to the left. I tried to counter it, but nothing happened. It's weird, I thought I was making the adjustments to spin the other way, but when we watched the video it was like I didn't do anything. Pretty much what happened on my first level 3 jump. I think the main stand out from watching the video was just how tense I am. I don't even look like I'm enjoying myself. But hey, I passed level 3, and I even managed to hold on to my rip cord this time. My instructor keeps stressing that I need to relax more, but I'm having trouble doing so. Any tips with this?

So I did three jumps today and I'm not quite sure how I should feel about my overall performance. Level 1: Awful. Arch was non existent, legs were kicked all the way up. I actually lost my instructors for a little bit and was on my back. I have no idea what the hell happened or how I got back up. All a blur. I however passed as I was still able to get set and pull on time. Landing pattern was bad too - I had no idea what to do. Radio helped a little but I still ended up way off the drop zone. Landing flare was perfect though, so there's that. I couldn't believe myself after I watched the video for this jump, it was such a mess, it was like I knew nothing. Level 2: Awesome. I was really nervous because of my first jump but this one went really well. My legs were better (though still not perfect), but my arch was still pretty flat. My right turns were good, left not so good, but I never really felt out of control. The video showed that I really twisted/leaned my body when going to pull the cord which almost caused me to roll over, but luckily my instructors was there for support. My lines were a little twisted but they were pretty easy to fix. My instructor forgot to turn his radio on until late so my pattern was off again. Still kind of outside the dropzone but another good flare gentle landing. Overall a good jump. Instructor was happy, I was happy, felt good. Level 3: An OK jump, I think. Good exit, better arch, still some leg issues though. When it came to the separation and heading, I started turning left immediately and couldn't counter it. I ended up pulling a little late but nothing too bad. Another shit landing pattern, landed way outside of DZ and almost landed in a bush. Unfortunately my instructors camera messed up and we didn't have video to review, but I guess we will get the video soon because I failed and need to repeat the jump. Oh, and on top of all this, I dropped the rip cord on all three jumps, a dropzone record! Easy way to lose $45. It's now the end of the day and I have this weird feeling. I don't feel like I'm good at this, at all. This shit is hard. I'm having a really hard time thinking while falling, most of my freefalls just seem like a blur. Even during the post jump briefing my instructor will ask me questions about what I did and I'm just clueless. It's like I check out during the fall. I'm forgetting everything. I never feel ready for a jump, but I'm not sure if I'm actually not ready or just nervous. I ended up booking 5 minutes of tunnel time tomorrow morning at Eloy. Right now I feel like I have no awareness or control over my own body. I'm really hoping this helps.

If you're on Radio for the first jumps the BEST thing you can do (and it was hard for me to do with all the excitement) while in the air is note your spots and where they have you turning. You'll get the hang of it soon enough. If you can, get a picture of the DZ (or google maps) and go over at home what your instructors taught you. Ask lots of questions, thats what you have instructors for :) Thanks, I feel a bit better after checking it out on Google Earth. I will have a radio too, hopefully it works.

Hey everyone, About five years ago I did my first tandem, thought it was great, but I never even considered taking it any further. But two weeks ago I did another tandem (Skydive Phoenix Inc) and I haven't been able to stop thinking about anything other than skydiving since. I just completed ground school and a learning tandem yesterday and I start the AFF jumps on Saturday. I'm pretty nervous (mostly about my landing pattern) but really excited to get things started. Reading about other people's journeys through AFF on here has been extremely helpful and encouraging, and I hope that I'll soon be able to share all my positive experiences with you guys. Thanks for reading!