Duvain

During my AFF, instructors warned students not to do spiral turns as what lots of fun jumpers do. But after I got A, until now with around 230 jumps, I normally like to do several spiral turns (no more than 3x360deg turn) above 1500 - for fun, or get under someone to have a less busy pattern. 

Fun jumpers talk about “spiraling down to get down faster” all the time. And with more than 100jumps I did in my home dz over 1 year, no instructors/S&TAs had problems with it. So as long as I’m aware of the airspace/traffic/altitude, I thought spiral turn is just a normal maneuver.

But recently, another (the very safe kind of) fun jumper lectured me about not doing more than 90deg turns, and also said spiraling down is not even allowed in some dzs. What do more experienced jumpers think? 

3 hours ago, wolfriverjoe said:

Stay teachable. By that, I mean don't ever forget that you know very little and have a lot to learn. Don't become the '100 jump wonder' who knows everything. 

Continue to learn. I've heard it said that some skydivers have 500 jumps, others have done the same jump 500 times. 

 

Keep showing up. Even if the weather is 'iffy', show up anyway. There's a lot that can be learned on weather holds, just sitting around and talking. Listen more than you talk. 

At this point, there's very little you can do to impress them with your skills. But you can show a good attitude. 

Those are very good suggestions for a beginner! 

But if weather is not ideal for jumping, will people even go to dz?? Would it be awkward to just be the only student there sitting alone...?

10 hours ago, skybytch said:

The students that I have worked with who impressed me most were those who went far beyond what I've done.  It took a few years for them to get there of course, but watching one of "my" puppies go on to excel in the sport and knowing that I was a small part in that progression is very gratifying. 

 

That sounds awesome!! Can’t imagine the day that I can visit home dz and instructors as an experienced skydiver and then thank them again for guiding me at the beginning!

it will take many years tho...  

I just graduated aff and REALLY want to surprise my instructors (to thank them all for the whole process!!) Then i realize there’s no way I can impress a swooper/ JM as a rookie... 

Except for being stable/ finishing every level perfectly/ buying beers, how can a student impress instructors (learn some freefly skills or is there anything I can do for them in dz)? 

It’s a tough question...

Ok I JUST GRADUATED AFF!! While I’m excited, I’m curious about how stable students/new skydives are generally? I took all AFF after I passed wind tunnel bellyfly, but I kinda remembered the feeling of my first 2min in tunnel... not quite joyful...  

I watched YouTube AFF videos. Some are stable as hell while the rest kicked out of balance, so not sure about what instructors generally expect to go through...