25/January/2009 - The Birthday Skydive Party That Wasn't

As the calendar advanced through the week, I kept checking the weather forecasts. I usually don't bother because there's generally not much of a reason to worry about the weather ahead of time. But this time, I wanted everything to be perfect for my Birthday Skydive Party today and as we progressed closer and closer towards today, I kept getting more and more worried.

It started with the days getting a bit colder and more overcast. Then there was the forecast of rain. Then there were the "partially cloudy" forecasts which turned into chances of rain, which turned into small windows of opportunities where it might be clear enough to jump. Finally, a phone call to Sky Dive San Diego at around 8am cleared up any possibilites of misrepresentation of the weather: It was much too cloudy to jump. BUT, things could change, so I was encouraged to wait an hour and call back.

Around 8:30, Peregrine showed up at my house, and we went off for coffee to wait out the remainder of the hour. As the clock rolled over to 9:20am, I called back to Sky Dive San Diego, but instead of getting better, apparently, it was getting worse. So, it was now settled that the jump was off--phone calls were made to let everyone know, and it was decided to reschedule for Saturday the 31st.

Peregrine and I finished our coffee and had a wonderful chat followed by my decision to find out about getting into the wind tunnel at Perris Valley Skydiving, in Riverside County. I made an appointment for 3pm and then went off to Dance Church to dance and see some friends and get a cardio workout. As soon as Dance Church was over, I jumped in the car and headed on my way up to Perris.

The drive wasn't too bad. It was mostly clear except for highway 76 from Oceanside to highway I-15. But, even without going over 60mph the whole way, I was arrived right on time. There's not much of interest to see along the way. Mt. San Jacinto off to the north east was ever present, but it wasn't very impressive in the clouds and moisture laiden air. What was impressive was being able to see the wind tunnel from the road and knowing that I was soon to be experiencing prolonged flight.

I parked my car and entered the office. The entry to the building seemed intended to emulate the experience of entering a ride like Space Mountain at Disneyland. I walked in to find that things weren't as high-tech as the futuristic conceptulizations implied. The schedule for the wind tunnel was pencil on paper, the computer system looked fairly old but the woman behind the counter was friendly and effective.

I was quickly registered and given some paperwork and a blank DVD and forwarded through the double doors to the launch pad. I climbed the stairs and entered the room, expecting, as I had been advised, that I would be approached by the instructor/coach once I got up top. However, I sat down and watched briefly why a young child was in the tunnel. When that was over, I noticed that someone walked behind the tunnel and there I noticed a desk. I proceeded to that area where I was greeted by Ivan, an older gentleman dressed in a jump suit, who I had just seen helping the child in the wind tunnel. He too had a schedule written on paper, but it was slightly different than the one I had seen at the front desk. Phone calls were being made to iron out what exactly was happening. In the end, everything was worked out.

I was suited up in a jump suit and given some ear plugs and a helmet and lead into the tunnel with the other flyer; a woman from Russia with 60 jumps from a few years back. A loud continuously ringing bell signals that the door to the wind tunnel is closing and gives it that 'lockdown' feeling. The Russian woman was first to go. We alternated back and forth, she had 2.5 minutes and I had 2 for five cycles. It started out very rocky for me. I laid down on the wire floor and waited for the wind to pick me up. I had no idea how to catch the air, so when it finally was lifted off the floor I had no stability.

The first 10 minute block was all about finding the center point for balance and stability. I worked on getting my feet in the right place and not moving my body in strange ways. The second 10 minute block was shared with a young kid who had 5 minutes, so I'd go for two minutes and then he'd go for one. By this point I was seriously starting to get the hang of things. I was much more stable and able to move around the chamber with relative ease. I could go forward and backward, up and down. I could do spins (which were way fun...I wish I could have just have done a few minutes of solid 360 spins!)

After the second 10 minute block I was frozen! I stood in front of a heat lamp but just couldn't get warm for at least 20 minutes. I then went and got my jacket and a balaclava that I had in the car.

The final 10 minute block was by far the best. I alternated with Josh from Perris Fury and his student. The opportunity to watch the two of them was incredible. They were so smooth and solid. Their movements were so tight. Simple movements of their hands or a dropping of a knee had them flying all around the chamber with precision body placement. I learned a lot just by watching them. By this point my stability and skills were so much better than when I started. I played a "game of tag" where the coach would fly around and touch a spot on the wall. I would then have to maneuver myself to that spot and touch it too. This really had me working on my forward and backward movement as well as turns and translations (up and down). It was really cool!

I was sad that my time had ended, but I felt much more secure in my ability to pass the remaining AFF courses without needing to re-do anything.

4/Jan/2009 - AFF2 Passed (Third time is a charm!)

I slept in until about 7:30 this morning. I know, 7:30 isn't really considered sleeping in, but when you normally wake up at 5, it's quite a bit later than normal. I looked out the window and wasn't enthused by what I saw. It was mostly gray, although there were some patchy blue spots. Looking east didn't look much better. By around 9am, there was a lot more blue visible, but I still wasn't certain there would be any jumping today. I was worried because the 30-day bubble for continued jumps was on the 6th, so, if I couldn't jump today, I'd either have to go back to level 1, which would just mean more money. So, I called Skydive San Diego to ask if they were jumping and the woman who answered the phone said that they were on the 20 minute call for the first load. Yippie!!!
It still took me a while longer to get moving, but by 10, I was out of the house and on the way. The drive was uneventful, but I missed the exit again. This time though, I know that I need to take the "L Street/Sweetwater Rd." exit, and that it comes right after the "H Street" exit. When finally I got to the drop zone, I was filled with excitement. The sky over the DZ was patchy clouds, but there was almost no wind. I checked in at the office, paid for my class/jump and went off to wait around.
One element of the experience at San Diego Skydive that continues to bother me is the absolute lack of recognition by previous instructors. I know I've only been there four times, and I spend only a few minutes with each instructor. I also realize that these instructors probably see hundreds of students per month, and there has been a month between each of my visits. However, if I was the instructor for the 4 hour ground school for AFF1, I would recognize someone from the class that I saw later--maybe not name, but certainly a face. And if I was the instructor that gave a post-jump briefing to, I'd remember that student too. And in that remembering, I would at least make eye contact with someone I'd seen before and say hello. One of the instructors I had today did my first AFF2 attempt with me, but didn't remember me. The instructor who did the post-jump briefing after the second attempt at AFF2 walked past me on multiple occasions, and never bothered to acknowledge me even though I attempted to make eye contact with her. And the guy who did my AFF1 ground school was sitting on the plane next to me but had no idea who I was.
Anyway, I have been running through the jump in my mind now for a month. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I was going to do it. I had the flow of the dive committed to memory. The pre-jump instructor, Shawn, the one that didn't remember me from the previous attempt, ran me through the dive, a few practice exits and then I got suited and kitted up and waited for the plane. As I waited I listened to several instructors commenting on how cold it had been just above and just below the cloud layer.
As we made our way out to the airplane one of the instructors started asking about the student rule for gloves and it was determined that it was 40 degrees F, which they said was "just below" the temperature that they had experienced.
The ride to altitude was comfortable and exciting. As Shawn ran me through the jump, I was getting a little nervous, so thankfully he told me to stop, take a deep breath, and start over. Wow, relaxation has a wonderful effect. Everything came out in the correct order and I was good to go. When the door opened and the cold air rushed into the plane, I was glad I had worn my jacket under the jumpsuit. I moved toward the door as the jumpers ahead of me exited the plane. I snubbed the perceptible tinge of anxiety that was brewing up from my sympathetic nervous system. My thoughts were completely on the task at hand rather than on any variety of potential rewards. I knew what I had to do, I knew how to do it, and I was ready to do it. I find it somewhat perplexing that in these instances it is easy to shut down the recognition of my fear and act, but don't do it in other activities where the only potential negative result might be rejection. In the case of skydiving, it might come down to having a plan of action that allows me to focus on the task and enjoying the thrill of doing it without focusing on the outcome, but also having a contingency plan should something go wrong after the point of no return. Hmm...things to work on.
Anyway, I got into the doorway, did my checks with the instructors, looked forward at the prop, moved my body downward and pushed myself through the door into the imperceptibly cold air. I arched as hard as I could, but felt the instructor shaking me to relax. I relaxed somewhat, but he continued to shake me. Soon, though, I let go of the tension in my body and felt myself falling smoothly through the air. I don't know how much stabilization was afforded me by the instructors holding on to me, but everything was going smoothly.

I performed my Circle of Awareness, calling out my altitude to the instructors. I was just about to perform my turns when I remembered that I needed to do the two practice handle touches. In the past I've I did those by actually just "touching" the handle, but the instructors always took my hand and had me grab it. So, this time, without the instructor helping, I wrapped my hand around the handle. I also made sure that my movements were slow, controlled and smooth. I did another COA and then went into a left hand turn. After a few seconds, I corrected to stop turning, did a COA and then went into a right hand turn. The instructor pushed down on my shoulder to force the turn. I had been more concerned with not over-doing it, but with two guys hanging on to me, it was necessary to make it sharper than normal. In all reality, I forgot to pay attention to where I was supposed to be turning to. I looked in the right direction for the turn, but forgot to actually pay attention to what I was looking at to realize if I was actually turning or where to stop.

After the turns, I did another COA, saw that I had enough time left to do a forward track, went into position and counted to 5. Then I went back into an arch, did a COA, realized I was at 6000' and locked my sites on my altimeter. At just above 5500' one of the instructors signaled me to deploy the chute. I waved off, carefully reached back, grabbed the handle and threw the pilot chute. Soon, I looked up and saw that the canopy was opened above me. I unstowed the toggles, did a practice flare and left and right hand turns. All was good. I was enjoying the ride, looking off at the ocean and down at the parachutes below me. As I hung out over the holding zone, I did some hard and fast turns, which were really fun as I got whipped around like on a carnival ride. I tried the flares as the instructor had asked me to do. One slow downward pull, one medium speed, and one fast. As I let go of the flares, it was very evident that the training I had received about not letting go of a flare upon landing was important I was flung forward very forcefully. At 2000' it was a blast. At 10' it would have been very painful.

The remainder of the ride down was smooth and enjoyable. This time, the walkie-talkie worked, and the instructor gave me directions on what to do and when. Of course, he told me to turn right and I turned left. Duh, the other right :) As I cruised down the landing area, I felt very secure in what I was doing. I flared, briefly ascended and then came down smoothly and softly. It felt like a really good landing to me.

I grabbed the chute and headed over to the packing barn to drop it off and get my debriefing. The post jump instructor asked me how I felt about the jump. I expressed that I felt pretty good about most of it, pointing out parts where I felt really good. He then went into his observations. The only thing that he pointed out were the right hand turn and that my use of the toggles was too fast for the conditions and that it would be possible for the chute to collapse under itself if I turned too hard for too long. He also said that I flared a bit too low upon landing, but that all in all, I had done a good job. Then he looked to see when I had done my last jump and cautioned me that I should really pound out a few jumps, and get through AFF as quickly as possible because of the improved learning that comes with doing one jump after another and from the improved safety of ingraining the skills. I'd love to do it, but $$ is a big thing right now, so in the short term, it's going to have to be one per month. Hopefully next month, when my bonus comes, I'll be able to pay for the rest of the jumps and put down $1050 for 50 jumps.

It may not be the cheapest sport in the world, but I can see how it could get really addicting!

3/Jan/2009 - No jumping today

I had planned to jump today, ready to ace AFF2 and possibly even AFF3. But the weather today is ugly. Rain, clouds and generally stormy conditions. I'm hoping I'll get to go tomorrow.