AFF#2 Redux - 2008-Dec-06

It was overcast when I left Leucadia for Jamul, and just about 7:45am. I drove down the freeway and when I got to the Telegraph Canyon exit off the 805, I couldn't remember the name of the street and wizzed past, but immediately recognized that it was where I wanted to go.

The next exit down the freeway seemed to take longer to reach than its distance would require, but that was probably just my being anxious to reach the Skydive San Diego Drop Zone. When I arrived at the DZ there were a few other cars in the parking lot and some people standing around. It was bright and sunny and very pleasant. The wind was light and out of the west. It was a perfect day for skydiving.

I had forgotten my logbook on the last jump and I got a little bit of hassle about it, but fortunately, the instructor who had taken me on the last jump was there and remembered me. He filled in the log book while I registered for the re-take. After paying, I asked how long it would be until my jump. In true Skydive San Diego fashion, I was told, "I don't know." Not only did she not know, but she didn't know when she would know. She just knew someone would call me when it was time. It's rather disconcerting to be in this position. Will it be five minutes, an hour or five hours? No one knows. Just don't go anywhere, because as soon as you do, someone will come looking for you.

I went out and sat in under the umbrella, reading my copy of Parachutist magazine. I hadn't even turned a few pages when I was approached by one of the instructors. After very quick introductions, he ran me through the jump. It seems to me that each instructor asks the same questions but in different ways. I felt very confused by his question because I had never heard it before. But I asked him to rephrase it, and then it became understandable.

He had me practice turns on a small purpose built device that allowed him to turn my body in the direction that my body would turn during freefall based on the movements I made. It was very uncomfortable, with a bar pushing into my chest. I had to move into a more comfortable position, which was not ideal for practice, but which didn't hurt. After about 5 minutes of practice, i was suited up and ready to board the plane.

Once in the plane, I was excited, but no where near as anxious as I was on the first two jumps. As the plane took off, I actually enjoyed watching the earth get further and further away. When they opened the door and the fresh air rushed through the cabin, I was relieved and excited. The fresh air was cool and the unobstructed view of the earth below was beautiful.

As we climbed, I noticed that my altimeter was significantly off from all of the instructors that were around me. I was a bit disturbed at the inaccuracy, but when I pointed it out to my instructors, they said it was OK because it was telling me I was lower than I actually was and if it had been showing me higher, there would be a problem. I accepted the explination and worked through the jump with my instructors. When we finally reached 4000m, the first group of jumpers exited and it quickly became my turn.

One instructor got positioned outside the door, I moved into position in the doorway and the other instructor grabbed ahold of me from inside the plane. I ran through the sequence and in short order was out the door. Funny thing, just thinking about this is giving me a flashback of the experience. I quickly stabilized myself by relaxing and arching. I felt really positive about the jump as I went into the skills. I did my Circle of Awareness and then started my left turn. The only problem was that I was supposed to do a practice handle touch first. So I was interrupted by the instructor who grabbed my arm and started to pull it back. I immediately knew what I was supposed to do, but that threw me for a loop. I had trouble getting my mind about what I needed to do. I did another COA and then started my left turn again. After doing the left turn, I did a COA and then started the right turn. It felt good, but a bit sharp. I then did another COA, but to be honest, I wasn't noticing the altimeter. I looked at it, but wasn't really aware of the reading. I then started to do the forward track, but one of the instructors signaled me to pull the rip cord. The flight down was beautiful. As I got closer to the ground I started to become very aware of how the parachute worked and the landing was smooth and soft.

I felt that I had clearly improved on some things while other elements of the jump were off. The debriefing went as expected. I had once again failed AFF2. The reason for the sharp feeling of the right hand turn was that I had bent my torso to bring my right elbow closer to my waist rather than rotating my torso. I still had a great time and enjoyed the experience, but the cost is starting to get to me. For the next jump, on 3/Jan, I'm going to do a lot of visualization so that I can operate at peak performance and nail the jump.