patymaciel

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Everything posted by patymaciel

  1. I did Level 4 a couple of weeks ago and I failed miserably. I was spinning out of control and I kept fu***ing it up. Now I know what I did wrong, but my instructor had to stop my spinning THREE times. So I obviously failed. He was so sweet, that he didn't want to "fail me", so we were going to name the next jump 4.5, LOL. Anyway, I would like to get some tunnel time before repeating Level 4, as I feel that would give me some confidence. So if you just turned without wanting to, I guess it's not that terrible, I was spinning like a record!
  2. I am on my AFF course (had to pause for tragic reasons that I explain in another thread), but I do like to do just one jump a day. I'm a slow learner and this pace works for me. I would always arrive early, and be on the first flight (no wait time!!!!), then I would hang around the Dropzone for the rest of the day! I love to watch fun jumpers land, and watch my instructor teach other people, and I've made some new friends! When the last flight is done, we'd have beers and call it a day! I think it's worth the 2 hour drive from home!
  3. Hi again guys. Back here with sorrow. First, thanks again for your advice! I did a very decent 3rd jump, my instructor even congratulated me on it. A couple of weeks later I did jump no. 4, which I failed miserably (I was spinning and spinning, my instructor had to stop me three times. I was stable for a few seconds and it was time to deploy, when I did, I started spinning again, and it was kind of a hard opening. Got a little bruise on my face (that I didn't notice until someone back at the dropzone pointed out at me). I landed on my ass (again), but I did land right on the spot where I was suppossed to land (yay!). Anywho, I was going to repeat that jump (Level 4) and attempt Level 5 this upcoming weekend. And here comes the tragic part, which I am still having a hard time dealing with: my instructor had a terrible accident while doing a tandem jump and neither him nor the tandem student made it (it's in Spanish, but you can see the video of the accident in this link https://www.adn40.mx/noticia/mexico/nota/2019-03-24-19-47/mueren-dos-personas-en-accidente-de-paracaidas-en-morelos/). I believe you build a very strong bond with the person who teaches you to fly, and this hit me very hard. I was devastated and I couldn't even sleep on Sunday night. I just couldn't believe it, if someone was thorough with equipment checking and emergency procedures was this guy!! (he would constantly ask me questions of what I would do in different emergency scenarios, not just while training, but even while we were chilling having a beer!) I kept wondering all night what had exactly happened. Then at some point the next day I also started to think about my course. At first I thought of quitting (was this a sign that I shouldn't skydive?), but after his memorial service, I decided that I want to finish the AFF course, to honor his memory, and make him proud as I was going to be his first female graduate. I don't know when I'll finish, as I need to find a new instructor, I will look into my choices in the area, but I keep wondering if I will find someone like Mau (my instructor). He was very patient with me, and I trusted him since the moment I met him, he knew how to deal with a slow learner like me. Anyway, I needed to vent, since I can't think of anything else since Sunday night. Thanks for reading this.
  4. Thank you so much for your reply and the link to the cartoon! You have been very helpful! I feel just like the duck in the cartoon (BTW, a lot of people call me Pato, which means "duck" in English), specially that part where she says "Why was I doing this?. I wasn't a thrill seeker. It scared the @#$* out of me. It was something I'd watch from afar. That's cool, I'd tell myself, but I could never do it. This seemed reasonable. Then again, really something I could never do? What would happen if I tried?" I have confirmed to my instructor that I will be at the DZ 8:45am on Saturday for my 3rd jump. Wish me luck!
  5. LONG POST: So, I put my AFF on hold for a couple of months because I wasn't really confortable in the DZ where I did my Level 1/Tandem thingy. I switched to another DZ and started all over again. Did Level 1 and 2 last weekend (no tandems, 2:1 exits). I think I did a decent Level 1 jump (followed instructions, pretty stable for a first timer and I deployed by myself), except that I totally fucked up my landing. Have you seen those videos in which a driving student hits gas instead of brakes and they just keep on doing that until they crash? well, that happened to me on my first landing, I did a pretty good landing pattern, I was heading towards the landing area, and WHY OH WHY I made a right turn.... and I knew that I was going in the wrong direction, but kept doing it (just like those driving students). I landed on my ass and my instructor told me "thank God you are in a forgiving student canopy, otherwise we'd be waiting for an ambulance right now". So my confidence got pretty broken, that was so not what I had pictured for my first jump, I fucked up, and felt SO stupid. Then I get on the plane again for a second jump, and I was so focused on trying to understand the signals from the instructor flying in front of me, that I totally forgot to check my altimeter (*major facepalm*), so my main instructor that was grabbing me had to shake me to make me focus, and it was time to deploy and I did. But then, I fucked up my landing again!!!! I couldn't hear well on the radio in which direction I should land, and instead of checking the direction of the wind (another facepalm), I went where I "thought" I had heard. So.... I made my landing pattern, and I missed the landing spot, I was still too high, and I was heading towards some cars and a hangar.... I started to make the same mistake as the first time (turning right), but then realized what I was doing and corrected it and landed on my ass again on the driveway (luckily a car that was coming in saw me and stopped). Ego severely bruised, but no scratches. Still, I felt pretty frustrated and my confidence went to the floor. I didn't want to continue for the day. Later, I went to have dinner with my instructor and 3 other diver friends and they told me I should focus on what I did right, instead of what I did wrong, just learn from my mistakes, they were pretty supportive but at the same time very honest. I had a meltdown as soon as I got in the car and cried all the way back to the hotel (I'm a crybaby). I was still pretty bummed on Sunday, so I just hung around at the DZ, watching/shadowing my instructor teach a kid who did his last 3 levels that day and graduated. Two days later, I am still struggling with my confidence, I want to do level 3 on Saturday and maybe just do one level each weekend... take it very slow, as I seem to get new information slower than other people. Please, tell me your struggles when you were doing your AFF course...!! I need to hear I am not the only shitty student out there!!! If you were the perfect student, I don't want to hear from you, seriously!! I kind of need stories of shitty students that finally made it and are happy and safe divers today, please!! If you made it this far in this rant, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
  6. Yeah, paddles would work for you! I'm doing my AFF with radio, but I had started in another DZ that works with paddles from the ground.
  7. I'm just getting started on my AFF, so these are probably super cheesy, but my playlist has: - Best Day Of My Life - American Authors (title explains it all) - Sissy That Walk - RuPaul (because of that chorus that goes "and If I fly or if I fall, at least I can say gave it all, I'm on my way", and also "my pussy is on fire, now kiss the flame" lol) - Crazy - Gnarls Barkley ("even your emotions have an echo in so much space...") - Alive - Empire of the Sun ("lovin' every minute 'cause you make me feel so alive...") - Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters (too obvious, I know!) - Lose Yourself - Eminem ("success is my only motherfuckin' option, failure's not") - The Walker - Fitz and the Tantrums ("oh here we go, feel it in my soul, really need it, need it, so go, gotta feel it, body takes control..") And I came to this forum looking for more songs, because my playlist is so damn short, and the ride to the DZ is almost 2 hours long!!
  8. I had my first two tandems in this DZ and I absolutely loved them. However, once I started my AFF course in this DZ, I felt that they were more interested in doing tandems than on training students. If you are already licensed it's good, or if you're looking to do a tandem jump (they have done over 500 in ONE DAY, they are very good at that) it's great, the atmosphere is fun and people are awesome. I loved hanging around there. But my experience as an AFF student was dissapointing, I have started all over in a different DZ. I will go back once I'm licensed or when I need to do tunnel work (they have a small tunnel). It's open 365 days a year!
  9. *** Thank you very much for your input, I think it's a good idea to watch others land while talking to my instructor. My DZ is currently having a Boogie, so there is a lot of people and I am going to wait until it's over to schedule my next jump. They do not do radio on student landings, they do signals from the ground (you have to mirror them), which I think is a good thing for me, since I have the hardest time telling "right" from "left" (you should see how I make people scream when I'm driving and someone tells me where to make a turn, lol ). Anyway, I am planning on going the day after tomorrow to do some tunnel time (they have a small tunnel at the DZ). I think it will be helpful and there will be a lot of landings to watch! Any further advice you (or anyone reading this) may have, is welcome!
  10. Hi, I'm Paty, and I am getting started in the AFF course. I have done 2 regular tandems plus another tandem since Level 1 in my DZ is a tandem, but with altitude awareness, and deployment. I have 10 minutes in the tunnel and I've done pretty good. I love the exits and the free fall, but what freaks me out is everything that comes after deployment! from having the three Fs to landing! every video I see focuses on free fall, not on controlling the canopy and landing... am I freaking out over the easy part or what? I haven't scheduled my next training because of this... thoughts?