hello! skydivers, i am hoping you can help me on this. i just did my level 4 AFF jump that went kind of wrong. on my level 3 jump i did not have my arch right so one instructor held on to me until the pull altitude. so on my level 4 jump, i didn't have my arch right also and as soon as the insturctor let me go i started to sopin violently. i saw the instructor but he seemed puzzeled..i kept on spinning and i froze i was stiff like steel..i tried to check my altimeter but my vision was all blured. then i thought it would be a good idea to pull and release the pilot. my chute opened with twists and i kicked myself out of it and managed to land safely. during the so called debriefing my instructor looked really ashamed and didn't really say much. but he did say i could go on to level 5 as i managed the situation well alone and had stability. he also said he could not reach me as i was falling slower than him so even with a reverse arch he couldn't reach upto me but i never saw him go below me..the only two times isaw him were about 10 feet away from me but above me. so my qusion is..is it normal for an instructor not being able to reach the student during freefall? what if i lost consciousness and could not open? is it right for him to pass me to the next level when this level went so bad and i couldn't arch? also i have been told the parachutes we are using all have more then 2000 jumps on them and none have their origenal fabric intact i.e. all are patched up from new pieces. from reading dropzone.com i gather that on average each chute is good for 1000 jumps, so i was wondering the reliability of these chutes also. please comment. also help me decide should i continue jumping at this dropzone or wait and but my own chute and then do the course under a safe chute? thanks for reading, please help! steve.
