drdive

Ha ha!! :-) Not so heads up - or I would have pulled earlier. I am responsible for my own zipper - in fact, I even thought before the jump - "what happens if this son of a bitch blows open at 120 mph?" You should have seen the looks from the whuffo golfers. I landed safe, I learned, I had a nice walk back to the DZ. Ed "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "

I just finished AFF, have 4 post AFF jumps, and am trying to stay current, since my dropzone in WA is closed for most of the winter. I was in LV, and went to Skydive Mesquite to take my girlfriend for a tandem, and to do a jump. Photographer, tandem instructor and girlfriend exited the 182 first, I followed in 6 or 8 seconds. Did a forward roll, got stable, feeling great, altitide 9k. Started feeling wobbly, wondering why, flipped to my back, got stable again, checked alti - 6k. Thought "maybe should pull early since having a ittle stability problem". Reached for ripcord, wobbled, turned, whoops - back on my back - wondering again why am I so damn unstable? Flipped back to my belly, then started an uncontrolled tumble. Tried to get stable, remembered first rule - "pull", and pulled. After opening, checked alti - shit - 1500ft. Where the hell is the airport????? Saw the golf course, which I knew was next to the dz, yelled "fore", and zoomed over a green and landed nicely in the fairway. After landing, I noticed my jumpsuit, that had a zipper from the chest down to the left ankle had blown open the zipper from the left foot to my crotch, creating an asymmetric "sail". In retrospect, I had noticed the zipper had not completely closed by my left knee. The 120 mph must have blown the zipper open, and with my lack of experience, affected my stability. Lessons learned: 1. Get my own jumpsuit 2. The instructor was right - you fall FAST when unstable 3. If you are unstable, and nearing pull altitude - PULL ( I wasted precious altitude trying to get stable again) Oh well, lesson learned, bought beer, and ready to do better nest time. This sport is so awesome - and the experience shared on this forum is so helpful. Feel free to beat me up. Ed in Spokane "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "

Have fun, enjoy the drop. It just gets more and more fun from here. Let us know how it goes. I just completed my AFF - flew to FL (Lake Wales) to get some jumps in. Getting close to getting my "A". Ed "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "

Sarah, Look at the thread "AFF is not going well for me" under general skydiving topic - it will make you feel better. I was hoping to get through my AFF level 4 and 5 today, but darn - it is raining. "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "

Age: 51 (for 2 more days) Male Ave: .2752 Cable Modem "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "

I feel so much better after reading this thread!! I just started my AFF last weekend, did OK on level 3, but did level 4 3 times, and still didn't pass. As soon as I start my turns, I tense up, overcompensate, get out of control, did 720's instead of 360,s kicked my AFF instructor in the head. etc. I'm having a ball, but was frustrated that I couldn't get it right, being a Virgo perfectionist. I have 2 weeks to replay in my mind and learn (I hope) to relax before next try. "We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub" "