2009-02-28 Jumps 12-15

It was a beautiful day when I looked out my window this morning. High whispy clouds added detail to a brilliant February blue sky. The sun was raising in the sky and I could tell it was going to be warm and the palm trees were gently swaying in a light breeze. But, the Weather Underground forcast for Jamul's "Pio Pico" called for weird winds out of the south and >30% cloud cover. Since Leucadia and Jamul have very different weather patterns, I called the dropzone to find out what the jump situation was like.

As seems to be normal for a Saturday morning, Sara answered the phone with her folksy good nature and friendliness. There's something about her voice that is titilating; without a doubt, her smile can be heard though the phone lines. The sweetness of hearing her voice was combined with the great news that the weather was absolutely perfect at Skydive San Diego.

I called Divya R. from work. She and her husband were planning to come out to do tandem jumps. I was excited that I was able to get someone else was interested in jumping, so when she said she was still on, and would meet me around 9am, I was really happy.

I rolled into SDSD at a minute before 9am and looked around for Divya and her husband, but they weren't there yet, so I grabbed my stuff from my car and went to wait near the office. There were only a few people hanging around at this hour. The first load had already gone up, and Sarah was giving the 15 minute call for the second load. That's when Divya and her husband showed up. Today was just going to be Divya jumping, so I got her going on the registration process and then after she was finished, I paid for an all-day rental and four jumps.

We were scheduled for load 4, so we hung around chatting for a little bit before one of the instructors started giving Divya the run-down on what she needed to do on her jump. I went and grabbed my gear and ran over the gear check. While Divya was getting harnessed up, I was approached by a young woman named Katie, who asked if I was interested in jumping with her. I explained that I'm doing C8 jumps and not allowed to jump with anyone, but it turns out she is a coach, going for her AFF instructor certification, so it was OK. She asked me what I was going to be doing on the jump, and since I hadn't planned on jumping with anyone, I changed the jump I had planned and decided I wanted to try the dive to dock exercise. She gave me a few tips on how to exit the plane and how the dive flow would go. We got the five minute call, so we geared up and headed out to the runway.

Jump 12
The plane wasn't terribly full, which was nice. Divya had that "I don't really know what to think, but this is exciting and I'm scared" look on her face--completely normal for a first time jumper. I felt a little scared too. I'm not certain why, but even Katie mentioned it when we were reviewing the jump. I suppose it was the prospect of doing something new and not getting it right with a bit of the "I'm going to jump out of an airplane." Katie got outside onto the camera flyer step and I got in the doorway. But everything was wrong. I didn't let go of the grip and I had my right foot forward even though I was going to jump toward the back of the plane. I didn't give a clear count indication (even though I thought I had). In any event, once I got stable, I tracked to Katie and docked. I then undocked, and we both backed up and then I docked again. We repeated that pattern several times until it was time to pull

The canopy ride down to earth was enjoyable with nice views of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean in the morning sun. My landing was good, but not as accurate as I had hoped. I met up with Divya, and she had a huge smile on her face. We chatted for a few minutes before she and her husband left to go take ski lessons. I then met up with Katie and we talked about the jump and how I could improve. I really appreciated her feedback and critique

Jump 13
I decided to wait around for a little while before going on my next jump. I filled out my logbook and then did some people-watching. Then I walked over to Gravity Gear to check out some jumpsuits. Bonnie was busy with a few other customers, so I looked at the used suits she had in stock and after not finding anything that I liked, I said I'd come back later. I sat around for a little while and then managed to grab an instructor to ask a few questions. Then, I went to Manifest and gave Sarah one of my flight coupons. I roamed around for a little while, chatting with a few people before getting my gear. I was jumping a 259 square foot canopy again, and after the gear check, I got myself ready to go. While hanging around waiting for the 5 minute call, I struck up a conversation with a guy named Doug who was trying to finish his A-license today. However, he didn't have the Skydiver Information Manual with him, so he didn't have any way to study the appropriate information he'd need for his test, so I told him he could borrow the sections I had in the car.

On this jump, the plane was filled with tandem jumpers and students, so I ended up having to sit on the floor at the back of the plane. Once again, a new situation introduced a bit of trepidation on my part, but I soon got over it. This jump was only to 10K feet because of air traffic, so we got to jump altitude fairly quickly. Two groups of two jumpers went, and then it was my turn. I waited until the last group of divers were out of the way and then I dove through the door.

On this jump, my plan was to do some flips and tracking. I managed a really good backflip, but my front flip ended on my back again. I easily fliped over and did some tracking. By that time I was at 4500' and pulled. The canopy ride was pleasant, and even though I undershot the place where I wanted to land, I had a good smooth and soft landing.

Jump 14
After waiting around again for about a half hour and chatting with Rocco, I went and visited with Bonnie to talk about jump suits. I had kind of decided that I didn't want to get a jump suit because I was more than happy to just use the SDSD jumpsuits since they didn't cost me anything. Still, the idea of having my own suit was drawing me in, so I started asking her some questions. She asked me what type of jumping I was interested in: Relative Work or Freeflying. I wasn't really able to answer the question because I haven't had any opportunity to do either. Freeflying is probably a bigger draw to me because of the format, and as someone wrote in an article I had recently read, "Relative Work is work." On the other hand, another article I read mentioned that the skills learned in Relative Work create stronger Freeflyers. Bonnie's suggestion was to have one of each type of suit. Of course, at >$300 per suit, I have to think hard about whether I really want to do that. Fortunately, Bonnie said that if I want to freefly, I can start to do that in street clothes until I get good and then get a freefly suit. We then started talking about RW suits. She mentioned the benefit of buying one from a company that's not distant because of shipping times and the strong potential of needing to return the suit because of incorrect workmanship. She then asked me about my fall rate. I mentioned my speed based on what I get out of my Pro-Track jump computer, but she didn't understand the correlation and said I needed to ask one of the instructors about how my fall rate compares with other jumpers as that would determine what sort of fit I would need on the suit. I mentioned I had jumped with Katie in the morning and she said I should ask her, as well as getting some more jumps under my belt before I invest in a suit.

I then went and got myself manifested for the next load, grabbed a rig and got ready. Rocco and some of his buddies were going to be on the load too, and he asked me what I was planning for the jump. I wanted to do a floating exit and then practice the flips again. I was to be one of the first jumpers again based on my positioning in the plane, and this time were were going all the way to 13,000 feet. When it was my turn, I spotted to make certain that the previous jumpers were out of the way and that we were still over the correct location to jump. I then got out of the plane and did a "floating" exit that was really more of a bad sideways hop. The instability took me some time to control. I then did my flips, and then went into a track that was fast and furious. The canopy ride was nice and the landing smooth and soft.

Jump 15
After filling out my log book, I met Rocco. He immediately commented on the poor "floating" exit and showed me how to do it correctly. Wow, that should be much easier! No hop, just present myself to the wind and float off the plane. I got myself manifested on the next flight and went to get some gear. I wanted to downsize my canopy a bit, but the 230 square foot canopies were all in use. So, I went with the 259 again. On this jump I was going to be on the second Twin Otter, and there were only about 8 of us, so there was plenty of room for a comfortable ride. When we got to 13,000 feet, a group of 3 jumpers went and then it was my turn. I waited until they were out of the way and then I positioned myself for a floating exit. This time I simply floated out of the plane and I was stable immediately.

The freefall was fun. I did a back flip, and then another, and then I did a front flip and this time I went all the way over! Then I did some tracking and pulled at around 4500'. The landing was smooth and soft.

I really wanted to do another jump, and Katie approached me and offered to do another jump with me, but at that point money was more of an issue than anything else. I figured I could do another jump today, but that would reduce the number of jumps I could do next Sunday, so I decided to wait.

Jump 15 Fall Rate Profile

First C8

I rented my gear for the next jump and got my manifest ticket which I took to Sarah and got myself on a load 38 minutes later. I could have gone earlier, but I didn't want to rush it.

After hanging around for a while, buying a new log book and getting some water and food, I grabbed my own personal gear out of the car-my helmet, gloves and altimeters. Then grabbed my rental parachute. I flew a 260 sq. ft. main again, which is what I've been flying through AFF. I want to get really good at flying it before I start moving down in size. I am amazed at the smallness of some of the parachutes the instructors are flying. They are almost closer to kites than parachutes! With the gear in hand I did a gear check. Everything looked good. So, I suited up and went to wait. I started a conversation with a fellow named Josiah who was also doing his first C8 jump. We went through what we wanted to do on our jumps and then did a gear check for each other.

The ride up to 12.2K took a while. I was glad that I was going to be one of the first out of the plane because I didn't want to have to really spot the jump location or be the one to tell the pilot to circle back. The first group exited and I waited until they were visible at a 45 degree angle from my vantage point. I then did a poised exit and got myself stable.

My plan for this jump was to just jump. Maybe do some turns, but just to experience everything for the first time on my own. I had a few moments of instability, but just arched a bit more and everything was fine. I noticed that I was not really over the holding area so I turned and tracked until I was in a familiar location. I think for the first time, because I wasn't doing anything, I got to see what my surroundings looked like. I looked at the lake and the hills and then just locked onto my altimeter and watched it.

Then the alarms started going off on my audibles. I had set them for higher altitudes, but since this was my first time using them, I figured I could just see how they worked but still pull at 4500'. It's probably not a good idea to have two different audibles because the competing beeps was very nerve wracking, and I definately wanted to pull. So, I ended up pulling at 5500'.

I was still really excited about my first solo jump, and the ride down went smoothly. I had a soft but falling landing.

I walked off the field proud that I had made my first solo jump. It was a great feeling.

AFF7 Passed

I couldn't sleep for much of the night. I kept thinking about yesterday's poorly executed back flips and front flips, being stuck on my back falling at 144mph/230kph, and how the whole thing was caused by a complete lack of kinesthetic awareness. I was beating myself up all night for not doing what I had been trained to do. Then, I was beating myself up for not letting go of the stress and getting some good sleep so that I'd be well rested and prepared to today's jumps. So, around 5:30, I finally decided that the best thing I could do was get out of bed and get myself ready to go.

I looked out the window of my kitchen and it looked gray. The weather forecast had been suggesting around 50% cloud cover, but here in Leucadia, it was a lot more than that. On the other hand, it was still before sunrise, and Leucadia is often cloudy when other nearby locations are bright and sunny. So, I headed off to the office to check the computer. The forecast hadn't changed, but the report said it was clear and cold in Jamul.

At 8am, I called Skydive San Diego to find out if they were jumping, and I got an affirmative. I called Patrick J. and Divya R., two coworkers, to tell them that the jump was on. Patrick was excited and said he'd meet me there at 10. Divya, unfortunately, told me her husband was sick, and that she didn't want to go without him, so I wished her a good weekend and healing for her husband, and got off the phone.

I managed to get to Skydive San Diego just after 10. Steve, my CMG buddy, was also supposed to be there, as he was taking his AFF2 class, and Patrick was waiting by the office. I didn't find Steve anywhere, so I got Patrick all registered up, and got myself registered to retake AFF7. I decided I'd wait for my class until two loads after Patrick had done his jump so that I could take some pictures of him as he was landing. I had forgotten my camera in my computer bag which I had brought with me yesterday, but he had his iPhone, so he gave that to me and I went about clicking pictures. Then I saw Steve, who told me he had already done his jump, and had failed (sounds familiar...) I tried to encourage him to jump again, but he was worried about finances, so we just chatted while we waited for Patrick to return to the ground.

I had asked his instructor about the color of the chute, so I as soon as I saw the chutes in the sky, I started taking pictures. As Patrick landed, I noticed he was looking a little green, but he seemed ok. After talking with him, it turns out he was fine during freefall, but the carving corkscrew turns under canopy had made his stomach complain.

Patrick and Steve bid their fairwells, and soon after I was called by the instructor for my jump. We went over what I had done wrong on the previous AFF7 jump and on what I needed to do to have a successful jump. I felt confident that I would be able to do the flips without issue, and tracking and turns wouldn't be a problem for me. We went over the gear check, with me doing everything required without prompting. I suited up and put my rig on and waited for the call.

The ride up to 13,000'/4000m was uneventful. I got the usual quiz on hand signals and I watched as my altimeter rode its way upward. I'm trying to get an idea of what the gound looks like at different altitudes, but it's difficult when I'm in the plane because there's no good way to see outside. It will probably be better in the summer when I'll have the opportunity to be near or in the back and able to see out the door from a relatively close position. When we reached the spot, a group of four jumpers who had requested an early gree light went out the door together. They were followed by several others in smaller groups. Finally, it was my turn. I stuck my head out of the plane to spot that we were in a good jump location, and then got in position for the floating exit.

This time I was on the side of the door closest to the pilot, so I wasn't cramped for space as I had been on yesterday's attempt. I signaled OK then went through the step move and voila, I was out of the plane. I quickly got stable and then went into a front flip. For some reason I don't think I threw myself into it enough because I ended up on my back again. This time, I arched, and flipped right over. I then went to the backflip, which I nailed. It felt really good, and I nailed the restabilization too which felt awsome. I then did a turn to get into a northern direction for the track. Once I was stable in that direction, I started my track. I tracked for several seconds and then the instructor dropped down and called me forward. I kept tracking as he backed up. Then when we were done he went into a sit-flying position and transitioned to a higher position relative to me. I tried the move I learned while in the tunnel, but just as I did that I realized we were at 6000ft and I locked on and then pulled at 5000ft.

The canopy ride down was great. I had been informed to move to a specific location for my holding area to make room for an AFF 3 student. So, I flew the canopy south east from the normal holding area and hung out there checking out the different terrain and view. When the time came, I moved into position for the downwind leg of the landing pattern. At 500 ft. I did the base leg and then at 200 ft I went upwind and had a nice soft 3 step landing.

Everything about this jump felt awesome. I wish I had been able to do a forward flip, but I got myself out of it without any problem, so that was still OK. Really, the only thing that didn't feel good about the jum was that having to pay again for the class meant I didn't have the money for 3 C8 (solo) jumps. I guess it just means I have to deal with delayed gratification as I wait until the next influx of money.

The instructor's comments were all positive about the jump, so I passed. Now, though I have an added expense: I owe beer.

2009-02-20 AFF5, AFF6 and AFF7

I needed a mental health day, which my boss kindly ceeded to me.  With the day off and secure that my finances could handle the stress testing, thanks to receiving my bonus check today, I headed off to Skydive San Diego. The sky was clear and the sun bright as I arrived around 11am. I headed first to Gravity Gear to buy some gloves and then headed over to pay for my jumps. With my credit card swiped and my signature on the waiver, I started the wait for my name to be called. It only took a few minutes before Vanessa called my name.

AFF5
We went over AFF5 which includes 360 degree turns and re-docking. I was pretty secure in my ability to accomplish those skills, but it was good to practice them. Vanessa also went over the gear check with me, which was good because I learned a lot about how everything works and what to look for when checking the gear. The gear check is actually pretty easy, but definately one of those things that needs to be methodically done.

The ride to altitude was pretty cramped and we ended up having to circle back just before our jump because we had gone too far past the dropzone. I was wearing both my mechanical altimeter and my new Newton 2 digital altimeter. Since I had never seen the Newton 2 in action, I wanted to make certain that there would be no surprises. However, on the ride up, Vanessa asked some of the other instructors about it, and while one said it wasn't an issue, another said he wouldn't allow it. So, playing conservative, I had to take it off and Vanessa stuck it in her pocket. I was kind of bummed, but oh well, there'll be plenty of opportunities to use it.

I had to spot, which entailed sticking my head out the door of the plane to ensure we were over the dropzone. It was kind of scary at first, but once I got used to it, I was fine. The exit from the plane was not the one I'd done up to this point. Instead, it was a poised exit, without holding onto the door frame. The exit went well, and it didn't take long before I was stable and Vanessa let go of me. I went into my turns and then the docking, and it all seemed to go very well. I was a little under aware of altitude for a while, but got back on track quickly enough. As usual, I locked my gaze onto the altimiter at 6000'/1850m and waved off and pulled at 5000'/1540m.

The canopy ride down was comfortable and enjoyable. When I got down to the ground, I felt like I flared a bit too soon, so I prepared for a PLF (Parachute Landing Fall). I was about 6'/2m off the ground when the chute stalled, so I went into a roll. All went well with the PLF, and I grabbed the chute and headed back to the packing barn with a big smile on my face.

AFF6
As soon as Vanessa had signed my logbook, I headed into the office to get myself hooked up for AFF6. I was pleased that I was going to be jumping with Vanessa again because she takes her time and makes certain that I practice the skills several times on the ground. This jump was an unassisted poised exit which meant that no one was holding on to me. I helped spot the jump location and when we were at the target, I got in the door, signaled OK, and jumped. I had to do a back flip, which I completely flubbed, but the idea is less about doing a perfect flip and more about being able to get stable after being in an unstable position. I was falling back to the earth, but flipped myself over without any problems. I tried the back flip again, but still wasn't able to get it. So, I went into the tracking (horizontal movement) and did that well. I tracked several times and then at 6K I locked onto my altimeter and at 5K, I waved off and pulled. The ride down was uneventful and the landing was softer, but I still wasn't able to stand up or run it out.

AFF7
I switched instructors for AFF7 to Shawn, who, while being a really nice and friendly guy, doesn't take the same amount of time to go over skills. With him, it's more about dive flow than about the skills, but I still felt confident that I'd pass this level and be on to C-8 jumps. The skills for this jump were forward summersault, backward summersault, 360 degree turn and tracking. After briefly showing me how to do a forward summersault, and going over the dive flow several times, I geared up and we headed out to the plane. On the ride up, I had been asked to tell him what I would do at various altitudes without prompting, and I did so. The exit on this jump was new to me. It was what is called a 'floating exit' and entails standing with the body out of the plane while holding on to the bar just inside the door. Then, in a move reminiscent of a 'step class' at the gym, taking a step backwards while simultaneously turning the body to orient into the relative wind. This exit, like AFF6, was unassisted, and all I can say is that I forgot the whole arch thing and was very unstable. I managed to get on my back again, but it was very difficult to get back on my belly for some reason that I learned about later was because of my lack of arch. I checked my altitude and started into the dive flow: forward summersault. But I ended up on my back again, and no try as hard as I could, I couldn't get turned over for quite some time. When I finally got back on my belly, I tried the backward summersault, and once again ended up on my back. By this time, I had lost a lot of time and altitude, so the freefall part was almost over. I locked on the altimeter and pulled at 5K. The ride under canopy was uneventful and the landing was perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't pass, and have to redo level 7. I'll be going out again tomorrow with some friends from work, so I hope to pass it then and get on to a C-8 jump.

The Craving

I am having a difficult time right now with the waiting. Learning to skydive isn't cheap, and the rush has an addictive element like crack. Combine the expense of instruction with the gear intensive nature of the sport and the counter-effective limitations on fiscal resources and you've got a recipe for waiting. To top that off, even if I were somehow to find a way around these, there was shitty weather for past weekend, and forcasts of the same for the coming weekend. Rain, clouds, cold and winds have rolled into the San Diego area. So, even if I wanted to go jumping this weekend, it's not going to happen.

Yet, every day, all I can think about is jumping. In my head, I go through the back flips of AFF6 and the sequence of turns and front flips of AFF7; I been watching a video of someone doing AFF 7, and I get so excited seeing the student leap out of the plane with no one holding on to him. It is such a powerful image for me: Freedom; trust; advancement; skill; understanding.  I have so many questions I want to ask, and so many jumps I want to do, and so many things I look forward to being able to try. I'm looking forward to this great adventure, but I want it to start happening NOW!

While it's not immediate, my plan is to go on 21/Feb, weather permitting. I'm trying to round up other people at work who are interested in going, and I've got a few nibbles. Regardless, my plan is to complete AFF5-AFF7 and then do a C8 jump. Four jumps is a lot of jumping, and will probably take the whole day not to mention a load of cash. The last part might be pleasantly mitigaged as I received a suprise today when the CEO announced at a company meeting that we are receiving bonuses. I haven't received my notice yet, but I know exactly where that bonus will be going. So, even though I've lost a bit of money on the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (at least as of today) I should have more than enough to fill the pockets of the dropzone owner, staff and instructors. Plus, I might be able to get a bit of my own gear...

Oh no, now it's going to get expensive!

2009-01-31 Belated Birthday Skydive Party - AFF3 & AFF4

I hit up the Pannikin for some tea and a sweet and then headed over to pick up Peregrine. While I was there, various discussions happened, and it was soon determined that it was best for him to drive on his own so that neither of us were hung up on the other's alternate schedule. It was silly on a fuel consumption basis, but it made a lot of sense on a logistical basis since I was planning on doing two jumps which I estimated would have be leaving around 2pm.

So, we jumped in our respective cars and drove to Skydive San Diego in Jamul. Along the way, I received a text message from Hanh to tell me that she was running a bit late and would be there around 10.  When I arrived, at just about 9, I was greeted by my buddy Steve. Peregrine was already getting registered for his jump and after a few moments of greetings with Steve, I headed in to get registered for AFF3.

There's a certain level of chaos that goes on at Skydive San Diego. Everything seems to work fairly smoothly, but it seems like there are things that fall through the cracks. In any event, for the first jump of the day, this time, the chaos was managed well.

Since Steve had arrived earlier than the rest of us, he had already gotten himself signed up and was manifested on the second load. Perigrine and I got manifested on load three, and Hanh, who arrived just about 10, got manifested on load four. It worked out nicely because it allowed pictures to be taken of everyone.

While I was registering for my jump, I encountered the DZ owner, Brent, and mentioned to him that I had spent time in the tunnel at Perris. He immediately started to badmouth the operation there, saying that they didn't turn the wind speed up to real conditions. Therefore, he speculated that I had wasted my money and time, and should have gone to the tunnel in Hollywood.


I had a few minutes to talk with Steve before his instructors called him away. He seemed to be very much at ease. He said he had gone through the jump about a million times in his head over the past week since he took his ground school. We bid him good luck and watched him head out with his two flight instructors to the plane.

When he finally came back to earth, it was just about time for me to head out to the plane, so I didn't really get a chance to talk to him about his jump. Even though his landing was a bit hard, he had a big smile and had that look of "I want to do that again!"

I was suited up and ready to go at that point, and Hanh grabbed the camera and started to snap some pictures before I was escorted to the plane by my instructors. I was feeling very confident that I would do well while at the same time uncertain of myself because of the comments made by Brent regarding the tunnel. In any event, I demonstrated to my instructors what I was going to do on the jump and after some initial confusion as to who was going to be my jump instructors, I headed out to the plane. Peregrine was on this load as well, so he was in the group, but as seems to be the case this early in my jumping career, I was so focused on my jump that I hardly noticed him. I'm sure it was the same for him, but he seemed to be fairly stress free.

The climb to 13000 feet seemed to take forever, but when we got there, I was really ready to go. When it was my turn, I got into position in the doorway with my instructors holding on to either side of me. I did my checks with the instructors, and then just recited and acted "prop, down, arch".

This was the first time that no one shook me to relax, so I felt good about that. I performed my altitude check and practice handle touch. In no time at all, I noticed out of my peripheral vision that the instructors had let go of me and I was flying on my own. At some point I noticed that I was turning, so I refixed my heading and stuck to it. I continued to perform altitude checks and at 6000' I locked onto my altimeter and at 5500', I waved off and threw my pilot chute.

The canopy flight was pleasant and smooth right up until the very end. Because there was almost no wind, my upwind section was at a much steeper angle than I had ever experienced before. As a result, I flared a bit too late and had a somewhat hard landing, sliding on my butt.

After I landed, Hanh headed out to the plane and before I knew it, she was gone. Peregrine, Steve and I chatted for a while about our jumps. Peregrine then bid us farewell and Steve and I continued to chat. Before long, Hanh was back on the ground, all smiles about her jump. We all chatted for a bit and then the two of them also left, and I went to register for my AFF4 jump.

While I was waiting to find out which load I was going to be on for AFF4, I stopped by the Gravity Gear store, and purchased a helmet, analog altimeter, sun glasses and an audible altimeter/digital logbook. After a bunch of time, I headed back to check on which load I was on, but I couldn't find myself on any manifest. So, I went to inquire at the manifest window about what was happening.

It appears this was one of those places where things, in this case, me, fell through the cracks. After getting everything squared away, and giving myself enough time to figure out how to use my new audible altimeter, I finally met my AFF4 instructor: A fellow by the name of Nix White. He was an affable man, who just today had officially retired from the Marine Corps. He'd been jumping for 14 years. We shot the breeze for a while, went over the jump and then I learned that I wouldn't be able to use my own helmet because it didn't have a way to connect the radio. So, I grabbed my audible altimeter from the ear pad, stuck it in my pocket and stored the helmet in my car. We then proceeded to the practice area where I showed him my turns and then we got the call to head to the plane.

I was in the third group to leave the plane at 13,200'. The first group of two were fun jumpers. The second group was a fellow doing a coached jump for his A license, and then came Nix and I. I went to the door, got into position, checked in with Nix, and then jumped.

I immediately felt stable in the wind and after an altitude check and a practice handle touch Nix let go and moved out in front of me. I then proceeded to perform 90 degree turns. First to the left and then back to the right. I felt really good, and at one point I wanted to just do a 360! (but I knew that would probably get me a fail, so I just did the 90-degree turns.

7000' seemed to take quite a while to reach as I was somewhat bored with just doing turns, but when it did, I stopped my turns. Then as usual, I locked on to my altimeter at 6000' and at 5500' I waved off and pulled. I felt really good about the freefall, and while I was under the canopy, I let out a hoot of excitement.

The canopy ride was pleasant, and thanks to some wind out of the west, the upwind approach was much more gradual. As I came in, I flared at just the right moment and landed softly on my feet.

I ended up being on an adrenaline high for the rest of the day, and wished that I had enough money to just do the rest of my AFF jumps. But, those will come in short order, hopefully by the 21st of Feb.