Since I'm pretty sure that very few people are actually reading my blog on a regular basis (and at least two of those that are know me outside of skydiving), I'm going to go ahead and post about what's on my mind even though it does not pertain to skydiving in any way.
I am absolutely shocked tonight, but in a really good way.
A series of personal/family/financial issues have led me to consider taking a year off from school after graduation next spring. I went to one of my faculty members a little over a week ago to discuss this change of plans with him. When he realized that a major part of the reason I was considering taking a year off was my current financial struggles (despite the good news I posted about my mom's job a few weeks ago, not everything has been resolved), he actually offered to pay for some of my graduate school applications out of his own pocket. Today another professor asked to speak with me in his office. He had also heard that I am leaning towards taking a year off and wanted to let me know that if I needed assistance, the mathematics/physics department faculty had agreed that they would be willing to use departmental funds to help me out if it would make the difference between me going to or not going to graduate school. Seriously? Departmental funds? Aren't those supposed to go to things like... oh, I don't know... departmental expenses? When not even my own family is willing to step up to help me, I really never expected such kindness from my faculty. At most I thought they would say something along the lines of "Sorry to hear about that.... But good luck in life!" Instead they're going above and beyond, all to help a student they've only known for a couple years and who will be leaving them in just a few months' time. So I'm slightly overwhelmed and shocked by all this generosity. I mean, that sort of thing just doesn't happen, right?
At this point I don't know what I will be doing next year. I missed a major deadline related to my graduate school applications, so my options of schools to apply to are already limited. I still think I would rather take a year off and start with a fresh opportunity to apply wherever I'd like than settle for going to a school I really have no interest in attending. No matter what, though, I'm not going to take for granted the amazing professors I have had for the past four years. Even though this college was far from my top choice when I was just out of high school, I could not have picked a more amazing bunch of people to spend my undergraduate years with.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Injuries All Around
Last night was the Halloween party at the DZ. Everyone had a lot of fun until some guy visiting from out of town decided to go on a drunken tirade and smash a casserole dish into the side of our pilot's face. Said visitor is currently spending the night in jail awaiting his court appearance, while the pilot is left with a broken jaw.
Jump #26
This afternoon Pat and I went up for a 2-way so I could practice adjusting my fall rate. Our exit went well, but after we released our grips I started to backslide a little because I had my legs bent too far. Even though we didn't do much, the jump was a lot of fun--until it came time for landing. I flared late and upon impact my left ankle made a snap-crackle-pop kind of noise, and down I went. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my leg elevated and on ice. I don't know if my crash was due to the fact that I was jumping a different canopy for the first time and wasn't used to its flare, or if it was just a case of pure stupidity on my part. I knew I would eventually have to deal with skydiving related ankle injuries since my ankles generally find any way possible to hurt themselves. In the past I've had the same kind of injury as the result of walking down a flight of stairs and slipping while playing duck-duck-goose. At least when people ask why I'm limping this time, my story of injury is a little bit less pathetic than my previous experiences.
So I'm out of commission for a while to heal, and in no time I'll be going stir crazy wanting to get back up in the air. On a positive note, though, taking a couple weeks off from skydiving will definitely be a good thing for my checking account.
Jump #26
This afternoon Pat and I went up for a 2-way so I could practice adjusting my fall rate. Our exit went well, but after we released our grips I started to backslide a little because I had my legs bent too far. Even though we didn't do much, the jump was a lot of fun--until it came time for landing. I flared late and upon impact my left ankle made a snap-crackle-pop kind of noise, and down I went. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my leg elevated and on ice. I don't know if my crash was due to the fact that I was jumping a different canopy for the first time and wasn't used to its flare, or if it was just a case of pure stupidity on my part. I knew I would eventually have to deal with skydiving related ankle injuries since my ankles generally find any way possible to hurt themselves. In the past I've had the same kind of injury as the result of walking down a flight of stairs and slipping while playing duck-duck-goose. At least when people ask why I'm limping this time, my story of injury is a little bit less pathetic than my previous experiences.
So I'm out of commission for a while to heal, and in no time I'll be going stir crazy wanting to get back up in the air. On a positive note, though, taking a couple weeks off from skydiving will definitely be a good thing for my checking account.
Friday, October 24, 2008
The A License
Today was supposed to be spent taking the GRE for my grad school applications, but a flat tire on the way to the testing center changed my plans. I missed the test (there's $120 down the toilet) and, after getting the flat fixed, opted to spend the rest of the day at the DZ.
Abbie Mashaal, owner of Snake River Skydiving in Twin Falls, is in town this weekend for a pilot certification course (or something like that) and came by around 3:00.
Jump #24
After sitting around waiting for other jumpers to arrive (though no one else ever showed up), Abbie, Kevin, Brad, and I went up for a 4-way jump. I docked with Kevin, then Abbie and Brad joined us. We all released and did a left-360, and then tried to get back together but ran out of altitude. I, of course, fell below everyone else. I flared a little early (I think...), and although the touch-down was a little rough, I stood it up without a problem. As soon as I got back into the packing area, everyone was sure to point out that this was my FIRST 4-way, so now I owe another case of beer.
Jump #25 (woot!)
Abbie went up with me for my A license check dive. I spotted the load, watched Brad hang from the wing by his feet on his exit, then climbed out with Abbie right behind me. As dictated by the SIM, the dive plan included a right-360, left-360, back loop, and then docking. Abbie started to come in for a kiss pass, but then realized I'd said Kevin had already done that FIRST. Instead he went vertical, pulling me (head-down) along for the ride. I screamed a little out of surprise with that one. My flare and landing went well--not such an impact on my legs as last time.
So I'm done with everything for my A-license (guess what? yep... that's yet another case of beer), except a bit of on-ground emergency review. Tomorrow night I'm going out to the DZ after work for the Halloween party. Kevin and I are going to attempt to find some time to get the review done during the midst of the party, so by Sunday my application will be off to USPA and I'll be able to start jumping with everyone else. In the 7 weeks (plus 1 day) since I started jumping in Idaho, I've jumped 21 times. My non-skydiving friends say I'm obsessed, but an average of three jumps per week doesn't seem like so much to me. I just wish winter, along with a big decrease in jumping opportunity, wasn't so close.
Abbie Mashaal, owner of Snake River Skydiving in Twin Falls, is in town this weekend for a pilot certification course (or something like that) and came by around 3:00.
Jump #24
After sitting around waiting for other jumpers to arrive (though no one else ever showed up), Abbie, Kevin, Brad, and I went up for a 4-way jump. I docked with Kevin, then Abbie and Brad joined us. We all released and did a left-360, and then tried to get back together but ran out of altitude. I, of course, fell below everyone else. I flared a little early (I think...), and although the touch-down was a little rough, I stood it up without a problem. As soon as I got back into the packing area, everyone was sure to point out that this was my FIRST 4-way, so now I owe another case of beer.
Jump #25 (woot!)
Abbie went up with me for my A license check dive. I spotted the load, watched Brad hang from the wing by his feet on his exit, then climbed out with Abbie right behind me. As dictated by the SIM, the dive plan included a right-360, left-360, back loop, and then docking. Abbie started to come in for a kiss pass, but then realized I'd said Kevin had already done that FIRST. Instead he went vertical, pulling me (head-down) along for the ride. I screamed a little out of surprise with that one. My flare and landing went well--not such an impact on my legs as last time.
So I'm done with everything for my A-license (guess what? yep... that's yet another case of beer), except a bit of on-ground emergency review. Tomorrow night I'm going out to the DZ after work for the Halloween party. Kevin and I are going to attempt to find some time to get the review done during the midst of the party, so by Sunday my application will be off to USPA and I'll be able to start jumping with everyone else. In the 7 weeks (plus 1 day) since I started jumping in Idaho, I've jumped 21 times. My non-skydiving friends say I'm obsessed, but an average of three jumps per week doesn't seem like so much to me. I just wish winter, along with a big decrease in jumping opportunity, wasn't so close.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Falling Like a Rock
Jump #23
Tonight's jump was fun. I did a coach jump with Coy, one of the AFF instructors who's not around the DZ very often these days (and who, oddly enough, I met on an internet dating site about a year and a half ago... it's a small freaking world). The plan for the dive was to practice adjusting my fall rate to match his. I did a poised exit and watched Coy follow me out the door as I fell away from the plane. He caught up to me and then sped up to go low. I arched a little harder and caught up to him within a couple seconds before leveling out again to fall with him. Then he popped up above me, and I spent a few thousand feet trying to flatten out and slow down enough to join him. It didn't work out very well. I got my torso de-arched as I was supposed to, but I didn't have my arms and legs out far enough. Around 6000ft I adjusted my limbs to try to slow down more, and then I got really unstable and started wobbling and turning to the right. At 5000ft we turned and tracked away. I took a few extra seconds to re-stabilize before deploying (though my body position still kinda sucked), so I actually pulled a little bit lower than planned (3500-ish instead of 4000ft). On landing I flared a little bit early, but compensated for it as best I could by slowly going to full flare rather than punching it there right away. I was able to run off my extra speed in a few steps for a half-way decent landing.
I was really happy to make it out there for that jump, especially since it had been a full week since my last one. I spotted independently and got us out right where we wanted to be, so there's one more thing checked off of my A-license application card. Now all I have left is some on-ground emergency review and two more jumps. I'm not going to bother saying I'll get everything done this weekend, since every time I do that something gets in the way and I'm not able to jump at all. Instead, I'll just point out exactly how close that license is... only two more jumps!
Tonight's jump was fun. I did a coach jump with Coy, one of the AFF instructors who's not around the DZ very often these days (and who, oddly enough, I met on an internet dating site about a year and a half ago... it's a small freaking world). The plan for the dive was to practice adjusting my fall rate to match his. I did a poised exit and watched Coy follow me out the door as I fell away from the plane. He caught up to me and then sped up to go low. I arched a little harder and caught up to him within a couple seconds before leveling out again to fall with him. Then he popped up above me, and I spent a few thousand feet trying to flatten out and slow down enough to join him. It didn't work out very well. I got my torso de-arched as I was supposed to, but I didn't have my arms and legs out far enough. Around 6000ft I adjusted my limbs to try to slow down more, and then I got really unstable and started wobbling and turning to the right. At 5000ft we turned and tracked away. I took a few extra seconds to re-stabilize before deploying (though my body position still kinda sucked), so I actually pulled a little bit lower than planned (3500-ish instead of 4000ft). On landing I flared a little bit early, but compensated for it as best I could by slowly going to full flare rather than punching it there right away. I was able to run off my extra speed in a few steps for a half-way decent landing.
I was really happy to make it out there for that jump, especially since it had been a full week since my last one. I spotted independently and got us out right where we wanted to be, so there's one more thing checked off of my A-license application card. Now all I have left is some on-ground emergency review and two more jumps. I'm not going to bother saying I'll get everything done this weekend, since every time I do that something gets in the way and I'm not able to jump at all. Instead, I'll just point out exactly how close that license is... only two more jumps!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sick of Waiting
So this weekend is out. After I get off of work I need to help my mom with some more moving. I WILL eventually find time to get my A license... and then my B license... and then...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Docking, Part 2
Jump #22
Tonight I did a coach jump with Bill for another dive and dock. I waited in the door a little longer after he let go of the strut so I would actually have to dive. I didn't dive for very long, though, before I fell below him. I need to lose some weight--I fall like a rock and will definitely have problems jumping with people who can't arch enough to keep up with me. I made an effort to slow myself down by flattening out, and Bill sped up as well. In any case, I got back up to him and briefly docked just before 5,000ft, then turned and tracked before deploying. I'm a little bummed because I don't know how much of the fall rate adjustment was due to my actions and how much was Bill helping out.
That A license is definitely within reach. I'm looking forward to being able to jump with other people without having to pay extra for a coach to come with me. If I make it out to the DZ and the weather is nice, finishing up the last few requirements this weekend is a good possibility.
Tonight I did a coach jump with Bill for another dive and dock. I waited in the door a little longer after he let go of the strut so I would actually have to dive. I didn't dive for very long, though, before I fell below him. I need to lose some weight--I fall like a rock and will definitely have problems jumping with people who can't arch enough to keep up with me. I made an effort to slow myself down by flattening out, and Bill sped up as well. In any case, I got back up to him and briefly docked just before 5,000ft, then turned and tracked before deploying. I'm a little bummed because I don't know how much of the fall rate adjustment was due to my actions and how much was Bill helping out.
That A license is definitely within reach. I'm looking forward to being able to jump with other people without having to pay extra for a coach to come with me. If I make it out to the DZ and the weather is nice, finishing up the last few requirements this weekend is a good possibility.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Docking
Jump #21
I made it out to the DZ before 5 tonight and sat around until a little after 6 when the pilot arrived. We went up for the sunset load and I did a coach jump with Kevin for my dive and dock. I apparently didn't wait long enough after he left to get significant separation between us (he was supposed to be 100ft below me), but I did manage to dock with him--just barely. As I got close to him I pushed my right arm down a little bit and started to turn. After we docked, he came in and kissed me. On landing I flared a little late, had too much forward speed to try to stand up, and went with a PLF. For my first kiss pass I now owe a case of beer. Earlier in the evening Kevin also kissed Keith (yes, Keith is a guy). Kevin is all about free beer.
I made it out to the DZ before 5 tonight and sat around until a little after 6 when the pilot arrived. We went up for the sunset load and I did a coach jump with Kevin for my dive and dock. I apparently didn't wait long enough after he left to get significant separation between us (he was supposed to be 100ft below me), but I did manage to dock with him--just barely. As I got close to him I pushed my right arm down a little bit and started to turn. After we docked, he came in and kissed me. On landing I flared a little late, had too much forward speed to try to stand up, and went with a PLF. For my first kiss pass I now owe a case of beer. Earlier in the evening Kevin also kissed Keith (yes, Keith is a guy). Kevin is all about free beer.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Boogie
Between Friday at 1:00pm and 11:00 this morning I left the dropzone for a grand total of 30 minutes to get food.
Friday was cloudy and miserable. A few of the people coming in from out of state arrived late in the evening, but most didn't get there until early Saturday morning.
Jump #18
I was on the one load that went up in the evening, and we only made it to 4,000ft because of the cloud cover. I managed to hit the step with either my chest or my arms (I thought I felt my chest hit, but Katie said it looked like I hit my forearms from where she was) as I exited. I didn't end up bruising from it, so I'm no worse for wear. I've never had to think about avoiding the step before, but you can bet it will be on my mind for many climb-outs to come. Hitting the step knocked me vertical, and it took about 10 seconds to get back on my belly and stable. It was pretty windy, and after I landed the wind pulled me over and then dragged me about 5 feet before I got my steering line pulled in far enough to collapse the canopy.
Saturday was even more miserable. The winds were between 20 and 30 miles an hour for the majority of the day. A total of two loads braved the weather. After watching their landings, it seemed pretty obvious to me that they probably shouldn't have jumped at all. A couple of people got dragged all the way across the landing area and only stopped because spectators ran out to help collapse their canopies.
Saturday night was interesting, to say the least. For dinner we had a whole pig, with an apple in its mouth and all. Watching the guy who was carving it pull the skin off like a peel on an orange made me almost sick to my stomach. Seeing the cooked blood that had dripped down from its ears wasn't exactly appetizing either. I got up the guts to go ahead and eat some, and of course it was delicious, but I could definitely go without having such a vivid reminder of where my food comes from ever again. We had a huge bonfire, and the fire department showed up after either a neighbor or a passerby called to report a structural fire. Our only guess is that, from a distance, they saw the frames of the old worn out couches we were burning and mistook them for a house. In all the time I spent standing around the fire and listening to the cover band play inside, I had a chance to talk to a huge number of new people, many of whom had come from Washington and Montana for the weekend. I love listening to the old timers talk about the crazy stuff they did in their younger years, even though some of the stories they shared seemed so outlandish that they couldn't possibly be true.
Late in the evening we had a toast to Michelle who was among the 10 people that died in last October's plane crash over the Cascade Mountains. Even though I never even met her, I got teary eyed several times as I listened to Michelle's friends and family share fond memories and express how much they miss her.
Sunday the weather was decent. There was still some wind, but it was at least jumpable. Midway through the day was the 8-way ash dive for Michelle. It was a very somber moment to see the puff of white as they released her ashes into the sky. Kevin was one of the 8 jumpers. He had pretty severe line twists on opening, and because he had opened so low and the canopy he jumps is highly loaded and descends really quickly, there was no time to try to get out of the twists. He ended up cutting away and going to his reserve around at 1500ft. That was the first time I've seen someone cut away.
After the ash dive, there was going to be a record attempt for a women's 9-way jump, but several of the women who had planned to participate got caught up elsewhere. Thus the record attempt had to be rescheduled.
Jump #19
As the afternoon turned to evening, I finally got back up in the air for a coach jump with Ben. After diving out on his count I was supposed to dock with him, but I couldn't seem to get my body position correct to move forward. Instead I literally flew in circles around him. I was extremely relieved to have a nice soft opening with no malfunctions on this jump. Why? Because after my hop and pop on Friday, I packed it by myself. Granted, Rick watched me pack a lot of it, but I did everything myself.
Jump #20
As soon as I got down from the jump with Ben, I went to manifest to see if there was time for me to make one more. John, one of the very experienced jumpers who usually jumps over at the Caldwell DZ, asked if I would do a two-way jump with him. I kept trying to explain to him that I don't even have my A license yet and that considering the fact that I couldn't even successfully dock on my previous jump there was absolutely no way I would be able to pull off any relative work, but he was insistent that I'd do fine. He got the approval of the DZO to jump with me (since he's not actually a coach or an instructor and I'm not licensed yet we had to get permission), and then proceeded to brief me on what we would be doing on the jump. I continued to remind him that I was very new to skydiving and that the jump would be a mess. He continued to tell me it would all work out. Since the jump would at very least count towards the 25 needed for my A license, I went ahead with it. I quickly packed my parachute, this time unsupervised. Fortunately for me, someone walked by and noticed a stupid mistake I made in my line stows, possibly preventing what could have been my first malfunction. We exited the plane, John docked with me, we turned a couple of quick points, but then fall rate discrepancies between the two of us made the rest of the jump a total mess, just as I had predicted. I spent the final 20 seconds trying to flatten myself out to slow down, while John spent it trying to arch harder and speed up to catch me. At 4500ft we both gave up, turned, and tracked. I pulled just below 4000ft. Once again, I breathed a huge sigh of relief to see a good canopy above my head.
Even though not much jumping went on for most of the weekend, it was still a fun-filled few days. My plan to complete all of my A license requirements is pushed back again, but I'm not too bothered by it. I have to successfully complete two dive and docks somewhere in my next 5 jumps in order to get my A right at the 25 jump mark. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a pilot at the DZ in the evening. I'll plan on going out after class again.
Friday was cloudy and miserable. A few of the people coming in from out of state arrived late in the evening, but most didn't get there until early Saturday morning.
Jump #18
I was on the one load that went up in the evening, and we only made it to 4,000ft because of the cloud cover. I managed to hit the step with either my chest or my arms (I thought I felt my chest hit, but Katie said it looked like I hit my forearms from where she was) as I exited. I didn't end up bruising from it, so I'm no worse for wear. I've never had to think about avoiding the step before, but you can bet it will be on my mind for many climb-outs to come. Hitting the step knocked me vertical, and it took about 10 seconds to get back on my belly and stable. It was pretty windy, and after I landed the wind pulled me over and then dragged me about 5 feet before I got my steering line pulled in far enough to collapse the canopy.
Saturday was even more miserable. The winds were between 20 and 30 miles an hour for the majority of the day. A total of two loads braved the weather. After watching their landings, it seemed pretty obvious to me that they probably shouldn't have jumped at all. A couple of people got dragged all the way across the landing area and only stopped because spectators ran out to help collapse their canopies.
Saturday night was interesting, to say the least. For dinner we had a whole pig, with an apple in its mouth and all. Watching the guy who was carving it pull the skin off like a peel on an orange made me almost sick to my stomach. Seeing the cooked blood that had dripped down from its ears wasn't exactly appetizing either. I got up the guts to go ahead and eat some, and of course it was delicious, but I could definitely go without having such a vivid reminder of where my food comes from ever again. We had a huge bonfire, and the fire department showed up after either a neighbor or a passerby called to report a structural fire. Our only guess is that, from a distance, they saw the frames of the old worn out couches we were burning and mistook them for a house. In all the time I spent standing around the fire and listening to the cover band play inside, I had a chance to talk to a huge number of new people, many of whom had come from Washington and Montana for the weekend. I love listening to the old timers talk about the crazy stuff they did in their younger years, even though some of the stories they shared seemed so outlandish that they couldn't possibly be true.
Late in the evening we had a toast to Michelle who was among the 10 people that died in last October's plane crash over the Cascade Mountains. Even though I never even met her, I got teary eyed several times as I listened to Michelle's friends and family share fond memories and express how much they miss her.
Sunday the weather was decent. There was still some wind, but it was at least jumpable. Midway through the day was the 8-way ash dive for Michelle. It was a very somber moment to see the puff of white as they released her ashes into the sky. Kevin was one of the 8 jumpers. He had pretty severe line twists on opening, and because he had opened so low and the canopy he jumps is highly loaded and descends really quickly, there was no time to try to get out of the twists. He ended up cutting away and going to his reserve around at 1500ft. That was the first time I've seen someone cut away.
After the ash dive, there was going to be a record attempt for a women's 9-way jump, but several of the women who had planned to participate got caught up elsewhere. Thus the record attempt had to be rescheduled.
Jump #19
As the afternoon turned to evening, I finally got back up in the air for a coach jump with Ben. After diving out on his count I was supposed to dock with him, but I couldn't seem to get my body position correct to move forward. Instead I literally flew in circles around him. I was extremely relieved to have a nice soft opening with no malfunctions on this jump. Why? Because after my hop and pop on Friday, I packed it by myself. Granted, Rick watched me pack a lot of it, but I did everything myself.
Jump #20
As soon as I got down from the jump with Ben, I went to manifest to see if there was time for me to make one more. John, one of the very experienced jumpers who usually jumps over at the Caldwell DZ, asked if I would do a two-way jump with him. I kept trying to explain to him that I don't even have my A license yet and that considering the fact that I couldn't even successfully dock on my previous jump there was absolutely no way I would be able to pull off any relative work, but he was insistent that I'd do fine. He got the approval of the DZO to jump with me (since he's not actually a coach or an instructor and I'm not licensed yet we had to get permission), and then proceeded to brief me on what we would be doing on the jump. I continued to remind him that I was very new to skydiving and that the jump would be a mess. He continued to tell me it would all work out. Since the jump would at very least count towards the 25 needed for my A license, I went ahead with it. I quickly packed my parachute, this time unsupervised. Fortunately for me, someone walked by and noticed a stupid mistake I made in my line stows, possibly preventing what could have been my first malfunction. We exited the plane, John docked with me, we turned a couple of quick points, but then fall rate discrepancies between the two of us made the rest of the jump a total mess, just as I had predicted. I spent the final 20 seconds trying to flatten myself out to slow down, while John spent it trying to arch harder and speed up to catch me. At 4500ft we both gave up, turned, and tracked. I pulled just below 4000ft. Once again, I breathed a huge sigh of relief to see a good canopy above my head.
Even though not much jumping went on for most of the weekend, it was still a fun-filled few days. My plan to complete all of my A license requirements is pushed back again, but I'm not too bothered by it. I have to successfully complete two dive and docks somewhere in my next 5 jumps in order to get my A right at the 25 jump mark. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a pilot at the DZ in the evening. I'll plan on going out after class again.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A Few More Hours
Sadly last week's hop and pop was the only jump I was able to get in so far this month, mostly due to the weather getting worse as winter gets closer. So I'm still 8 jumps away from my A license, but this weekend I should (hopefully!) be able to get all 8 and then some at the No Turbines Michelle Barker Memorial Boogie. I took Friday through Sunday off from work so I can spend the whole weekend camped out at the dropzone meeting new people and jumping as much as I can. The festivities are going to be starting around 10:00 tomorrow morning, but I won't get out there until early afternoon because I still have to go to class. Now if I could just motivate myself to do the math assignment that has to be turned in tomorrow morning...
I think I'll just go to bed instead.
I think I'll just go to bed instead.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Simulated Emergency Exit
It was pretty cloudy and miserable by the time I got out of class this afternoon, but because Kevin said they were still going to try to make a couple loads if things let up, I decided to head over and try to wait out the weather. After spending my first hour and a half at the DZ behind the building cleaning up part of the mess left over from refinishing the roof, I was able to make it up on one load before sunset.
Note: I've decided to make my jump numbers here match up with those in my logbook... so please pretend that every jump number from previous posts was increased by 1 to compensate for my tandem in July.
Jump #17
Since it was getting very close to sunset, the jump had to be another hop and pop if it was going to happen at all. Randi and I both got out at 3500ft, Brett (yet another student working towards his A license) and Brad (our jumpmaster for the load) exited at 5500ft. After opening the door to spot, I couldn't help but think about how close we were to the ground. I swear if someone on the ground had waved to me I would have been able to wave back. Since the A license application card mandates that I deploy within 5 seconds of exiting, my plan was to slowly count to 4 and pull on 5. It just so happened that by the time I got to 2 I was stable, so not long after 5 I was under canopy and kicking my way out of some more line twists. It was pretty windy tonight. I did nothing but fly straight to the landing area--no turns, no downwind or base leg of the pattern. Also, I discovered that we actually have a pea gravel landing circle. This was news to me, since the spot I understood to be my target is 15 feet away from it. Anyway, I had a nice braked approach and landing right in the peas.
Even though it was just one jump, it was definitely worth my time to make the quick drive out there. I'm glad I didn't opt to spend the evening sitting in my apartment doing homework... although now I'm going to have to get up early in the morning to do my math assignment that's due tomorrow. I think it's pretty obvious where my priorities are at this point.
Note: I've decided to make my jump numbers here match up with those in my logbook... so please pretend that every jump number from previous posts was increased by 1 to compensate for my tandem in July.
Jump #17
Since it was getting very close to sunset, the jump had to be another hop and pop if it was going to happen at all. Randi and I both got out at 3500ft, Brett (yet another student working towards his A license) and Brad (our jumpmaster for the load) exited at 5500ft. After opening the door to spot, I couldn't help but think about how close we were to the ground. I swear if someone on the ground had waved to me I would have been able to wave back. Since the A license application card mandates that I deploy within 5 seconds of exiting, my plan was to slowly count to 4 and pull on 5. It just so happened that by the time I got to 2 I was stable, so not long after 5 I was under canopy and kicking my way out of some more line twists. It was pretty windy tonight. I did nothing but fly straight to the landing area--no turns, no downwind or base leg of the pattern. Also, I discovered that we actually have a pea gravel landing circle. This was news to me, since the spot I understood to be my target is 15 feet away from it. Anyway, I had a nice braked approach and landing right in the peas.
Even though it was just one jump, it was definitely worth my time to make the quick drive out there. I'm glad I didn't opt to spend the evening sitting in my apartment doing homework... although now I'm going to have to get up early in the morning to do my math assignment that's due tomorrow. I think it's pretty obvious where my priorities are at this point.
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