Hello everyone!

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

I'm new to this sport, but I've always wanted to skydive, and after three tandems I knew I had to get my license. I even had a DZ all picked out until I visited this site and got a recommendation for a better fit. I chose SkyDance in Davis, CA and I absolutely love it! The skydive community is so inclusive and welcoming. In just three short weekends at SkyDance, I've made a ton of new friends!

I have one more jump to finish AFF! I'm still learning the ins and outs of diving, aside from the basics taught in AFF. The things that make me the most nervous at this point are unfamiliarity with my DZ's exit plan. I know the order we go in, but I'm concerned about timing of the exit. I assume that's something we'll cover in tracking on my last AFF jump, though.

I'm also concerned about canopy collision at landing--twice I've been warned about low turns while landing, to the point that I've made instructors "nervous." This wasn't scary at the time because I didn't realize what I was doing but now I'm hyper-aware of it (which I guess is better than the alternative). Also, predictably, the student landing zone is huge and so far there hasn't been more than one other student/instructor pair out there with us. So it hasn't been an issue--YET--but I need to get it together to prevent any potential collisions.

I always thought canopy was my favorite part of the dive, but that was before I knew what I know now. Now I'm realizing the skill and awareness it takes to keep a canopy safely overhead and keep everyone in the air safe. The upside is that I am getting a lot more comfortable in freefall and can enjoy it a lot more.

My first Category A jump, I failed pretty hard. It started out really well, but then I got the hand signals confused and I think I was waiting for permission to pull. My instructor ended up pulling for me, and I was too busy beating myself up over it to concentrate on landing, so I flubbed the landing. I was OK, but couldn't locate the landing field very well and just made a huge mess out of it. It took a LOT of reminding myself how much I wanted this to be able to get back up and drive out to the DZ the next morning. The fact that I had prepaid for the whole A license course helped motivate me too.

All my other jumps went much better. Last Saturday I did D1, D2, and E1, and my instructor for those jumps had been my reserve instructor for my first A jump. He said it was like seeing two different people out there--he didn't even recognize me from my A jump. A lot of that was just being able to relax and keep my head about me. I'll admit I did spend some time in the tunnel to help work on stability, and I think it helped immensely.

I think at this point I'm doing about average. I've viewed some other D and E level jumps and my videos look about the same. I know what I need to work on--I tend to get lazy and de-arch a bit, and my legs bend too far, so I slide backward. It also took me a little longer than it should have to get stable after exit on E1. My altitude awareness and overall awareness in the sky are both good--I'm pretty attentive and keep running through my emergency procedures in my head depending on what stage I'm in during the jump.

My turns and heading are all okay, but my flips are looking a bit sloppy. I had trouble getting my knees up at the same time so it took a couple of tries for each flip. The instructor said that was fine since I managed to find my heading and get stable after each attempt and had good altitude awareness. I assume it'll get better the more I do it.

At this point, I just want to improve steadily while staying as safe as I can in the sky. I have no delusions about being the next great skydiving champion or anything, but I do want to improve my skills. As long as I'm in the sky, that's what I really care about.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[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

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Yep, all that sounds pretty normal. I take a fair number of whuffos down to the tunnel and they all go in convinced that they're going to immediately be awesome at it. Most of them start to look like they might know what they're doing at about the half-hour mark.

Your flips don't have to look good. They make you do them so they can see you can get stable after losing your body position. All that does improve with practice, but I think most skydivers (myself included) never get to the point where they'd be confident doing them in a wind tunnel where there's a glass wall to smack your face into 5 feet away.

There's a ton of cool stuff you can learn in this sport. As long as you're having fun, just keep learning!

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

Thanks! One of the instructors told me this weekend that the point was not to execute perfect flips but to get me on my back so they could see if I could get stable, so on that front I'm doing OK. Overall I think I'm improving steadily.

I passed AFF yesterday! After that I did two solo jumps. I did have a minor freak-out before E2 yesterday because I was nervous about the solos because no one would be out there with me, and my instructor and another student (who I've become good friends with) talked me out of my own head. After a little while I was able to calm down and focus on the seventh AFF jump, which was docking and tracking. My tracking was, well...it needs work, but the docking went really well. I did a solo immediately, took a break, and did another solo.

After my first failed AFF jump, I met a girl who had just finished her B jump and we've become good friends. She has a ton of skilled skydiver friends and they've all been giving me pretty good advice, especially on gear. Smaller rigs are a little hard to come by, so I'm starting to look early. Plus, there's always a wait for the rental gear at Skydance, so I'll be able to do more diving with my own rig. Most importantly, she gets me into the sky when I get tired and make excuses--I'm tired, I'm nervous, the rig I like isn't available, I have a long drive home. It's procrastination and she knows it, and she motivates me to keep up the momentum. I don't mean that to sound that she pushes me to do something I don't want to do, just that she can tell when I'm procrastinating or losing my nerve, and calls me out on my excuses.

I can't say it enough--the skydive community is so warm and inclusive. I feel like I have a whole new family in just a few short weeks. Skydiving just gives me a huge mood boost; I'm even happier on Monday mornings at work. Everyone can tell when I've gone diving on the weekend. :)

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Yeah, skydiving has taught me to spot my excuses and call myself on them. At the same time, you do have to listen to your instincts. If they're telling you there's something wrong with the jump -- wind's too unpredictable, you're too tired, you don't feel well, whatever, then don't do the jump. It's a fine line between not wanting to jump and making excuses and actually not being in good shape for a jump and making excuses that you SHOULD do the jump. It's much better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than vice versa.

I did a jump a couple months ago, on the 15 minute call I thought, "God, I'm really tired. I should just take myself off this load and go home!" But I made an excuse to go do the jump and now I have a nice scar on my right arm from where I PLFed into a rock to remind me that the excuses knife cuts both ways. Fortunately for me it was a fairly inexpensive lesson. You'll find you'll be able to tell the difference, if you think about it.

Also, if all the experienced jumpers are giving the next load a miss, those instincts should start telling you something, too! At least enough to ask one of those guys why they're not going up.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[FlyLikeARaven 0]

Quick question to people who are just starting out...are you losing weight at all? I've lost five pounds without really trying. I mean, I wanted to lose a couple of pounds, but I haven't been trying THAT hard. I'm also running a marathon next month, but my weight tends to stay pretty stable even during marathon training since I'm training all year long. But since I've started skydiving, losing the last few stubborn pounds has been much easier.

I suspect it's because the heat at the DZ and the constant surging of adrenaline makes me not feel hungry. Plus, there are almost no restaurants or places to buy food near my DZ, so I have to eat what I bring, which is usually healthy stuff. Plus, when I get home I'm too tired to eat more than a small meal. Add to that that I'm not sitting around on the weekends watching NFL and stuffing my face like I used to do.

Is anyone else experiencing this? I do note that there are practically zero overweight people at my DZ, and in general skydivers tend to be pretty slim.

Also...I live near an airport, and work near a different airport...I can't hear a plane in the air without thinking "is it gear call yet?" I can't see a bird in the sky without doing a double-take, thinking it's a canopy. This is normal, right?

Is it really only Wednesday? I can't wait to get in the sky again.

I'm not a lady, I'm a skydiver.

[jeffrey27rj 0]

***

I guess I need to spent A LOT more time at the DZ

*If you fail to plan, you plan to fail*
*It's not flair, it's flare*
*Please use "your" and "you're" responsibly*