Newbie S/L student doing 15s next...

[WingFlyer 0]

Hey folks, just thought I would drop a note. I've been reading a whole bunch and think this site is great. I'm new to skydiving, doing the static line progression.

I've gotten to the 15 seccond freefall stage. I'm having an absolute blast and am totally hooked. I can't wait to do a 45-60 seccond freefall jump. Never done that (no tandems in my past.) That looks so awesome...I'm earning my wings:)

Things have gone pretty well so far. Whenever I'm belly to earth, I keep a heading and don't chip. Pretty easy so far. The weird thing with me is on a couple jumps I've started swimming/kicking before feeling more wind speed and trusting the arch. I know, trust the arch sooner, and look up at the plane. I've done that and know it works. Just annoy myself that sometimes I still kick :) AAAhhh bad brain bad...just chill and arch :) I wonder why I do that. Guess I'm just trying to get Belly to Earth quicker (and I know thats not the way to do it.) Weird because I've jumped off 25 foot diving boards into pools steady as a rock. Oh well...I'm just visualizing the jumps more in my head away from the DZ, and burning into my brain that I should look up at the plane and trust the arch.

Wow that was quite the ramble :) Sorry :)

[skydave238 0]

Welcome!
Around here, in Swakop, we usually call kicking/swimming riding the bicycle. Those first initial few seconds while you leave the plane, your body can feel itself accelerating, and you get that falling sensation. Falling is not something the human brain is accustomed to, so your body tries to fight it. (Hence the kicking) The more you jump the more relaxed you will be in those first few seconds, and the kicking will stop.
I remember doing my first chopper jump on jump no 250. I kicked so hard that I could probably have cycled all the way to the North pole. (And thats a long way from here!)

Good luck with the rest of your progression!

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[skymama 37]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[ladyflyer77 0]

every student does this. It's all part of the training. Don't beat yourself up about it. Like skymama said, take a deep breath and relax. your training will kick in before you know it and you'll be like damn...that's actually kind of easy. let your body go with the flow.
oh, and Welcome!!

If I stand on my tip toes, I can see the weekend from here!

[WingFlyer 0]

Thanks folks. I hope I'm already past this...we'll see next time. Last jump I didn't swim.

Thanks for the explanation about the sensation of falling in the first few secconds resulting in the kicking skydave, that makes sense. It was also great to hear that someone with so much experience "Rode the bicycle" on a chopper jump. I guess you did it because you didn't have so much relative wind coming from head on to stabilize you, so you felt much more like you were falling?

Again thanks all. I need to relax and enjoy that first couple secconds of the drop. I already totally crave the rest of the jump...I love feeling and hearing that fast wind so much...its so awesome being bellow to earth I love it. It's also very cool to see the ground getting closer, though not too close

[skydave238 0]

Quote

Thanks for the explanation about the sensation of falling in the first few secconds resulting in the kicking skydave, that makes sense. It was also great to hear that someone with so much experience "Rode the bicycle" on a chopper jump. I guess you did it because you didn't have so much relative wind coming from head on to stabilize you, so you felt much more like you were falling?

Anytime! And yes, quite right about me kicking! Because the plane is moving forward you already have speed and ofcoarse some "wind" to play with. Less time to reach terminal. Chopper doesnt move. It just hovers on one spot. (Hopefully! ) No speed, no "wind" means it takes longer to reach terminal, and ofcoarse the more of a "falling" sensation you get!

Again, enjoy the progression! It's alot of fun!

Dave
ps. you're gonna love backloops!

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[WingFlyer 0]

>>Again, enjoy the progression! It's alot of fun!
Certainly is, but this darned performance anxiety is 10 times worse than the fright I had jumping out of a plane the first time! ARgh! Mistakes are expensive and time consuming (and make you feel like a looser to top it all off.)

I just need to relax, I got this far pretty quickly. 2 more good jumps and I'm on 45-60 seccond freefall. That's gonna be so awesome, I can't wait to feel freefall for so long. I love the feeling.

[skydave238 0]

Quote

Certainly is, but this darned performance anxiety is 10 times worse than the fright I had jumping out of a plane the first time! ARgh! Mistakes are expensive and time consuming (and make you feel like a looser to top it all off.)

I just need to relax, I got this far pretty quickly. 2 more good jumps and I'm on 45-60 seccond freefall. That's gonna be so awesome, I can't wait to feel freefall for so long. I love the feeling.

Alot of students I've help train go through the same thing you are. They feel that need to finish their student progression quickly so they can get off student status. Being a student is not a bad thing. I dont know if this is how you feel? I hope not. Every jump you do now will be something different. And we humans (even though some will never admit it) like change. So rather have fun while you are jumping, rather than stress about suceeding every time. This will probably help you relax, and the more relaxed you are, the beter you fly up there!

Also, you should never feel like a loser for making a mistake and having to repeat a part of your progression. Remember that you can learn something from the mistakes you make. And rather make simply silly mistakes now , than big mistakes later!

I have a student who has struggled for so long on S/L, and he finaly did his first freefall today! I realy enjoy seeing my students succeed, so even though I've never met you, I really do hope that you enjoy your progression. (Now you're going to have to tell me how every jump goes
So, in the door, deeeeeeeeep breath, relax, and remember that we do this to have fun!

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[WingFlyer 0]

I'm cured!!!!!! Did two 15s, no kicking or swimming at all. I was actually amazed how peaceful and relaxed it was. Something I thought was really hard turned out to be super easy. I just took a deep breath as you advised (my instructors said the same) and mentally pictured dropping instead of thinking I'll be going Belly to Earth right away. Did the step exits, on heading, stable and just watched the plane until i was nearing BtoE and it was time to get on with the business at hand :)

I had so much time that I did 3 turns first time, and 4 the 2nd and still had time to spare for the wave off.

I can easily say I never had as much fun as those two jumps skydiving b4 (I've got 14 jumps in by now.) I was so relaxed and it was so cool seeing someone fly next to me. I used the instructor for 90 degree turn reference...it was awesome.

I made it to 45-60 seccond freefalls. :> I'm not nervous about door dive or loops. Those will be tons of fun I'm sure :) I can't wait to get up there again!!! The clouds shut me out today, but I'm on for 2 jumps next friday weather permitting :)

Turns out this skydiving thing is mostly mental (you'd think I would have figured that out earlier...) I took a week to visualize the exit, myself arching and trusting the arch while looking at the plane, and just simply relaxing and waiting...enjoying the fall. After countless visualizations, the jumps just came naturally. It was just as I pictured it...awesome stuff :):):):) I'm so stocked...thanks to all for the help. This is so awesome.

[ImGunnaJump 0]

Welcome to the skies!

Glad your doing so well. Like Skymamma said, the big key for me (and many others), is to master the trick of relaxing while hurtling toward the earth
Taking a big, deep breath (several times during the jump for me in the beginning) really helped my stabiltiy and form.

It will all come in time!

Blue skies!

"...I've learned that while the "needs" in life are important (food, water, shelter), it's the "wants" in life (ice cream, chocolate, sex) that make it worth the effort." Kbordson

[skydave238 0]

Quote

I'm cured!!!!!! Did two 15s, no kicking or swimming at all. I was actually amazed how peaceful and relaxed it was. Something I thought was really hard turned out to be super easy. I just took a deep breath as you advised (my instructors said the same) and mentally pictured dropping instead of thinking I'll be going Belly to Earth right away. Did the step exits, on heading, stable and just watched the plane until i was nearing BtoE and it was time to get on with the business at hand :)

I had so much time that I did 3 turns first time, and 4 the 2nd and still had time to spare for the wave off.

I can easily say I never had as much fun as those two jumps skydiving b4 (I've got 14 jumps in by now.) I was so relaxed and it was so cool seeing someone fly next to me. I used the instructor for 90 degree turn reference...it was awesome.

I made it to 45-60 seccond freefalls. :> I'm not nervous about door dive or loops. Those will be tons of fun I'm sure :) I can't wait to get up there again!!! The clouds shut me out today, but I'm on for 2 jumps next friday weather permitting :)

Turns out this skydiving thing is mostly mental (you'd think I would have figured that out earlier...) I took a week to visualize the exit, myself arching and trusting the arch while looking at the plane, and just simply relaxing and waiting...enjoying the fall. After countless visualizations, the jumps just came naturally. It was just as I pictured it...awesome stuff :):):):) I'm so stocked...thanks to all for the help. This is so awesome.

Great!

Dave

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[WingFlyer 0]

Well things have really gone well. I went for 1 after work jump to try to get a 45 in. What followed was the best day of my life. First off, I got lucky as stink and I was the only student with the instructor so up we go in the Cessna grand caravan. What a beast! I felt like I was in a rocket ship. We kept going up and up....my alti (goes to 12k) past 12, and clocked back around past 2k...we were pretty high up ;)

Opened the door, spotted, and gave count for my first door dive. Perfect exit. I just dove right out of that sucker head first and absolutely loved every split seccond of it. Got stable and btoe really quickly. Backloop....awesome :) Felt like the dood in mission impossible when flaring out.

Turns, easy :) Did so many I got dizzy. The instructor went flying around under me....looking up like 2 feet away :>

At 6k, I threw in a little extra as planned. Turn 180 and try my first track. OH MY GOD. WOW. I tracked like a freakin bullet. I could hear the sound get twice as loud, and my suit getting pulled tight...more pressure on my head etc. it was freakin unreal. I tracked straight as a dart. Apparently, my instructor said he has only ever seen a few people track like that, and I'm a noob. I got further than two folks tracking away from each other apparently, but my instructor didnt track! I'm a tall (6'4) thin guy, so I guess I'm cheating :)

On the ground, got further tips to tune the track. Up we go again. Nailed the forward loop...but what came next was even better. My instructor was so close I just went closer, he responed and docked. We did a two way all the way to 7.5k. We started a spin together intentionally and stopped on dime when we wanted to...Ibroke off to get my track on :>

This time, I brought my shoulders up, cupped them and after getting good speed bent in a little at the waist (de-arch)....hot diggity!!!!! this stuff is unreal!!!!! I did even better that time. I could not believe the sensation. I felt like a bullet. Flaring out of that sucker was super fun too :>

Again, got lucky and bummed a third 45 ride due to a cancelling. ANother 14k...sunset load this time....awesome. The day was already unreal but it kept getting better. Another perfect jump. Nailed the barrels and 360s...onto more two way fun before another monster track :)

I also landed and literally nailed the X right in the middle. :)

I will never forget that day...ever. It was capped off with beers and dinner with jumping buddies. wow......

[skydave238 0]

Well done! Now jump your butt off!!

Dave

Ready...Set...Go..!

SkydiveSwakop

[AnKaLi 0]

WingFlyer ...thanks for the thread, I'm trying to battle the kicking issue right now. They won't let me progress into a 5 second delay (IAD) until I stop. This thread gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas, hopefully I'll be back to tell of my success!

[thepaintballguy 0]

AHH I can't wait to get to that stage!!! I have one more PRCP and then the 5 sec Hop-N-Pop. Then I will be going up and doing AFF!!! I can't WAIT!!!! Unforutnently I can't jump this weekend because a lot of the jump masters are going over to LP to help out this weekend. Oh well next weekend!!! WOOHOO!!! Keep updating this as you go! It's a great thread!

Josh

Blue Skies

Q: Why would someone ever want to jump from a perfectly good airplane?

A: Why Not?