VincentVL. 0 #1 March 15, 2008 That's right. Because I'm such an attention whore: my AFF1 story. We had taken the day long course last saturday but got winded out. Today the wheather was fine. My buddy was in the first load and I was in the second load. Homeboy flared too high and ate some grass. But he had a great time so good for him. I was slightly nervous before boarding the plane. I'm afraid of flying so that must have been it, cause once we got to 5 grand I felt completely relaxed. Prejump observation: a rig is heavier than I thought. My AFFI's were (I won't name names) a cool dude who had pretty much the same dialect as me (don't ask...I live in a strange country) which meant communicating was easygoing. He was pretty funny and told me to relax about 10 times (you paid a shitload of money for this so never mind the drills...just arch and enjoy edited to add: and check alti so you can pull because it's more fun to pull for yourself ). My right side AFFI was guy who was on world team 2006 so can't go wrong with that. So by the time I sat in front of the door I was basically unaware I was jumping out of a plane. Jump: Had a few seconds of sensory overload as I looked down on exit and saw nothing but ground. I can't quite describe the feeling but it was something between rollercoaster butterflies and diving into cool water. I quickly regained awareness, pushed my hips down (somehow I remembered the "screwing a lepper through an electric fence" trick I read on here) and started my drills. Gasp 1, practice pulls, Gasp 2 and when I really checked my alti we were flying at 8000 feet. Looked around a bit, AFFI pointed out where the dropzone was, and by 5500 I waved and pulled. Must say that it took some time (2 seconds) to open but just as I was about to look up for a ball of shit I was pulled into the harnass. The canopy was pretty responsive to my input and we're talking a 230 or a 260 against my 200 pounds of exit weight. So I understand why it's not a good idea to start under a skyrocket now. The instructor had told us nobody had ever flared too late so I made it my goal to become the first guy to do so. Flared after all and landed uneventfully. Had a hard time picking up the canopy with everything in it though Afterwards: beer. All in all it wasn't the life altering experience I saw a few of my fellow jumpers experience. Maybe I was a bit too relaxed about it once we got to height? The exit was thrilling but I think I need a few more shots before I can really enjoy the flying. I'm still thinking about whether or not I'm taking the full course. Thx for reading Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
