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!