It was a great day out this weekend. Spring is definitely in the air and I was too. Soon after reaching the Skydive Carolina dropzone I was on a load to the heavens. As I quickly got my gear, inspected it, and sat on the plane ride in anticipation I reflected on how far I’ve come since last October. My nervous energy is gone, but I still get the last moments anticipation rush of less oxygen and adrenaline. A red light glows by the exit door, and we all grin, it flashes green, the door slides open, the spot is checked, and the teams and low openers jump out with glee. I generally float near the front of the plane (one of the last out), there are no tandems on my loads today just wingsuits and a few other AFF graduates pulling between 4k & 5k. I exited for my 13th jump and worked on many skill-sets Pete my AFF instructor, now coach, has asked me to work on. Cupping air, tracking, more granular leg control. 59 seconds goes by quick and yet slow. Yes, there is dualism present. For the last 3k feet I watched the ground and saw the beginnings of ground rush, when everything pops into realism like popcorn. Pulling at 4,000 ft my trusty student 260 opened on heading and I crabbed along the end of one of the runways till about 1k when I went into final.
For number 14 I got to downsize to a 230 canopy. Exiting the plane I tried to mimic some of our free/sit fliers in a sitting position. It lasted all of 2 seconds before I turned it into a flip and went back to belly down. I think I’ll stick with relative work for now, then work on other disciplines—but it’s fun to try. This jump turned a little sour when a loose strap from my helmet began to beat me in the cheek and neck. You don’t recognize the cold in the air usually, but as my strap beat on me it hurt, and that hurt led me to think of how cold it was because the pain was biting. That distraction really blew my ability to stay focused. Every time I’d capture the zone to do another exercise I’d inevitably be drawn back into this minor but highly annoying issue. I ended up at about 7k just waiting for pull time (5k) and working on slowing my descent due to frustration. Our new packer on the ground and AFF friend Allen packed my 230 and it opened like it should and on heading. I’ll tell you what though, jumping something new makes time slow down even further during that opening process. I would have ran my landing off had it not been for a hole I stepped into as I left the green short grass for thicker bramble. My down-scope angle was a bit off so I misjudged where the final spot would be of my landing. I think it’s to be expected when you change canopy sizes. Don’t let my sourness fool you, I had a good jump, it taught me about distraction and there are some great lessons there I might share on Nuance Labs soon.
After much hounding for a would be deal I decided it was time to lock down my rig. I worked with Gus of Rigging Solutions, our local Master Rigger & shop owner. Between his expertise and Pete we finalized my order of a Performance Designs Saber2, a PD Reserve 218, and a Wings container with a number of healthy, safe, and comfort options.
All in all a wonderful day. I’ve committed to the sport for a while by my purchase and Robin is getting into the swing by signing up to work at the DZ in manifest over the summer. Can’t beat that kind of support! If your in the area come on down and just watch. Just being in a spot where so many people are having such high-energy fun is exhilarating.
Fun statistic, I’ve currently fallen about 20 miles in about 9 minutes.
It might have been cold but we rose midmorning to head down to Skydive Carolina. The winds were calm and I was psyched to get a few jumps in.
I had packed my day-bag with care that it might be windy I would have everything I needed to work. Of course with that much consideration it was should not have been surprising that I would need none of it. Many of my original AFF class turned out and we were all glad to get at least one spin in the sky.
I took my air time to get back to basics. Four weeks out of the air makes one washy so it was good to stretch, spin, and flip your way back into comfort. My second jump I was getting a bit cold and just enjoyed some smooth tracking. Unfortunately I pulled early and had a lot of hang-time in the cold. I used the time to pull on my front risers for turning and to see the angles change. Finished it off parking my canopy near the flags for a running landing.
Robin ended up taking 48 pics which we paired down to 28 for keeping, then only posting 18 to flickr. Prioritization sucks, heheheh! Robin’s getting good at finding the action. Now it’s time to get back to the books and planning board. I’ve had my fun; my heart and head swim again giving me the momentum to run more.
Oh yea, if anyone spots a 230 rig, the more complete the better, I’m on the market for one.
Two down! The second jump was far far better than my first and leaves me with a great feeling of accomplishment. It can’t be described how wacky you get on a first jump. Your senses are overloaded and what that translates into is an easy ability to get lost, bewildered, and confused.
On my first jump I didn’t have a picture of what was to be. I had no map, no fore-knowledge, nothing for me to really be scared of knowingly besides the act itself in a general way. After my first jump apprehension was quick to set in since I now knew what to expect. I understood what was going on and being so helpless due to the influx of new information it was going to allow fear to edge in. I knew if I didn’t get another jump in soon my anxiety level would be raised to a point possibly stalling my progress. With a bit of hesitation and a nod from Robin I gave a call Sunday morning to register with manifest. Once committed a lot of my anxiety dissipated immediately. I think I had more of a commitment fear than an actual fear. Heading down there I was hell bent on practice.
I wanted to ingrain what I was learning into rock solid reactions. You don’t have many luxuries of time to wait and think, you must be ready to act. Utilizing the drop zones tools I began to just exercise what I learned in class and through my first jump. Then I met my instructors for the day Delfina and Pete. I was instructed that we would be jumping in the next few hours on load 12 of the day. Pete walked me through what was to be expected a few times and then left me to my own devices to continue practicing, and practice I did. The exercises of the day including 90’ left, 90’ right, sky tracking forward, along with the prior lessons of circle of awareness’, checking parachute ball, and altitude awareness.
We boarded a Casa. A 22 passenger plane that has a rear hatch door that we get to hop out of. Quite nice! The Casa took us to 14000ft which gives me about an extra 4-5 seconds of free fall which being a heavy guy, the more time the better! Exit was clean, awareness on queue. I was a little soft in my right 90’ rotation. I firmed it up for the left 90’ and was on time for my sky track forward. What a great sensation burning through the air. My instructors said when I came out of my sky track they momentarily were given a little zero G (they are a lot lighter than I am hehehe). I checked my altimeter and it said 6500, and for some reason I locked eyes with Pete and like a programmed monkey told him. He shook his head grinning and told me to pull, so I did. Upon pulling I was very careful to be aware of the 3S’s; Square, Stable, Steerable. Unfortunately my chute had malfunctioned in a common way in a line twist. Quickly I got the direction of the twist and kicked myself counter to it freeing up the lines and being in control at about 3000-or-so feet. The rest of my air time was spent doing circles while tandem flights landed. I enjoyed myself throughly and let Danny guide me down. I would have walked the landing but I started about 3-4’ft too early and ended up doing a PLF onto my side.
I was really happy with myself and Delfina & Pete were too. My debrief went without a hitch. I only wish I had more time in the next few weeks but scheduling conflicts are upon me. I feel fantastic though and am ready for more.
Friday, September 29th I went back to Skydive Carolina in Chester and with the help of Joey & Gene launced into the air at 11,500ft. I made a number of small mistakes and took a lot of lessons away from the jump. I had a great time and am looking forward to accomplishing more. Skydiving is like any new task. When you first started driving a car everything seemed too fast. If you are a motorcyclist you remember this even more acutely. The same is very true if not moreso with skydiving. Everything happens very quickly and you have no time to go backwards to fix things you feel you err’d on so you must go forward. That’s why you train with multiple instructors, review, practice, and work very diligently at aquiring muscle memory and good reactions to unknown situations. Even if you never want to aquire a license, I heartily recommend you try a tandem jump. It will give you a perspective you won’t soon forget.
Ah how we love quickies.. well maybe I’m just talking to the male readers haha. Life is spinning and spinning so I might as well throw out an anchor and try and give some details. My car started making noises a few days ago. After taking it in last night I get a call this morning that my transfer case is blown to smitherines and will cost somewhere around four-thousand to fix. Can you understand the depth of joy I feel right now? /sarcasm I love my Nissan dealership but this really puts a crunch on. I’m only 2,500$ off paying the beast off. If I assaulted you lately and disbalanced my karmic-chi-love please forgive. hehe. Oh well, repairs are in progress but I’m without wheels until Monday. Great.
As the photoblog of my feed shows I’ve been quite busy learning how to grill on charcoal, hardwood charcoal to be precise. It’s been a joy. The smell of smoke, the char of meat and veggies, what could be finer? I’m about ready to try something slow roasted. I can only imagine how good it will be, and I bet it will.
I also aquired a used Mantis UL from Debbie on the GWTW forums. I was in debate over what kind of UL to buy and was helped out by some kind forumites. I was able to run out yesterday before the storm and test it out and I think I’m going to be very happy after my experience level rises. The kite is pretty large, with the spreaders out it seems about 9-10’ wide. An awesome sight to behold. I can’t wait to do more flying.
Flying, nice segway, parachute jump date is quickly approaching. While I am very excited for my upcoming jump I misplanned my date. I thought the South Eastern Barista Competition (SERBC) was going to be held last weekend, but that was the year before. I cancelled my faux hotel reservation and do’h, I already have the upcoming (9/23) weekend booked to jump. I’m going to try and get up there on Sunday for the finals but with all this running around I’m not sure if my energy level will be where it needs to be to make the drive. All things willing however and I’ll be there. Back on the mentioned parachuting; I’ve done some research into the odds of fatality and I was really surprised. You have a 1:6000 chance of dieing every time you get on the highway vs 1:100000 you have from jumping out of a plane. You would have to jump 17 times a year before you get close to the car numbers. So for all of you out there that think I’m nuts. We’re all nuts for doing what we do on a daily basis. If anyone wants to take the course I still need a buddy and no one will go hahahaha!
Lastly in our spare time Jeff and I have been busting tail to get this new super secret app we’ve been working on fleshed out. We’ve got another few days of screen designs before Jeff can hammer out the DOM. Once that is done though we’re going to be canvasing those smart minds out there in the UI design world to see who can take on our project. At least whoever we work with will be rewarded with some smart folks who understand what a spec is. If you are someone who is interested in design drop some commentary and we’ll put you in the pool.
After much hounding for a would be deal I decided it was time to lock down my rig. I worked with Gus of Rigging Solutions, our local Master Rigger & shop owner. Between his expertise and Pete we finalized my order of a Performance Designs Saber2, a PD Reserve 218, and a Wings container with a number of healthy, safe, and comfort options.
