Hello!

[TravisR 0]

Greetings everyone!

Hi, my name is Travis. I am a 40 year old guy living in Southern California with my wife and son, and have a new found interest in skydiving. I've done a couple tandems over at Elsinore and decided after my second one that I want to pursue my A license in the upcoming year. On our last trip to the DZ we (wife and I jumped on the same run) landed to find our 12 year old son having a fun wingsuit chat with dropzone.com forum moderator (and totally awesome guy) Douglas Spotted Eagle! Imagine our surprise when he got Brandon suited up in a wingsuit for a few pictures- we felt so welcomed to the skydiving community that day... I really can't thank Douglas (and everyone else over there) enough for one of the most memorable days ever.

So, more about my skydiving first impressions and experiences. On June 8, 2013, a day I will never forget, I participated in my first tandem jump. A 40th birthday present from my wife, something I have always wanted to try but never got around to. The only time I got nervous was when people started jumping out the door, about 30 seconds before it was my turn. Once out the door, I was overcome with almost a blackout rush of adrenaline; the purest high ever. I was buzzing from that for over a week, and I can honestly say it has changed me forever. Got to the ground and one of the first things I said to Bryan, the TI, and Suzi (who shot the video), is "Ohhhh wow! You could get hooked on this!"

Two and a half months later, I bought a tandem jump for my wife and another for myself. This time, I wanted more than a thrill ride, I wanted to see if I could overcome that freak-out adrenaline rush and actually perform some maneuvers. Kenn Walker was my TI, and said we would be doing AFF 1 moves. Well, anxiety really got the better of me on the ride up. It had set in the night before, and peaked a few seconds before we jumped. My mind was completely scrambled, how can I remember the dive flow? Hand signals? My mind was spinning, hands and knees shaking. We scooted over to the door, and Kenn waited for my signal to jump. That was it, the anxiety vanished and I gave the signal without hesitation. OUT IN OUT! The dive went perfectly, and I remembered everything crystal clear. Arching, counting, COA, 3 practice touches, short COA, extend legs and fly forward, retract legs,lock on and pull. Piloting the canopy was fun, but I really need more instruction and experience before feeling confident flying it. Kenn had me do a couple hard turns, a flare, and had me fly over the holding area until he took over the toggles just before the downwind approach.

So, after discussing it at length with my wife and son, I got the OK to become an AFF student. First week of January is my tentative AFF Cat A start date. Going to bring beer, being that it's my first real jump.

I've been reading the SIM quite a bit, trying not to get too far ahead of myself. Focus is mainly on BSRs, emergency procedures, and Cat A & B in Sec. 4. Occasionally I practice PLFs around the house, haha. I've read the Skydiver's Handbook, which was interesting, but seems a bit dated. Ultimately, I will rely on my instructor for my instruction. Oh, and I have been watching lots and lots of AFF student jumps at skydiveperrisvideo.com. I wish there was more video covering the piloting of the canopy.

Well, that's all for now. At this stage I am pretty much your typical frothing-at-the-mouth overly excited noob! Whoopie!!



~Travis

[Trafficdiver 8]

Some people can do 1 tandem and be done with it. Others can't.

Sounds like you found out which group you're in.

Enjoy AFF. It's much better to make the videos than to watch them.

[skymama 37]

Welcome to the forums! Good luck when you start your training, let us know how it goes.

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