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!