Finally passed L4!--Barely

[reese 0]

I passed L4 yesterday on my second repeat. I jumped with a great "visiting coach" at the dropzone. Things were pretty iffy at first and I was REALLY nervous and tense. He gave me some good ground instruction, was happy to review some ground school stuff, and at the beginning of free-fall he flashed a big smile...that helped me a lot. Gonna do some tunnel time sat before doing L5, no more repeats!

[moretole 0]

Good work! Glad to hear it went well.
I found that at level 5 onwards it's a bit of a turning point.
Until then your vision is very focused (alti,instructor), but suddenly it's like wow, theres a horizon and stuff out there and you relax a bit more and can appreciate the view.

[chuteless 1]

congrats Reese....Keep at it, and you'll soon own the sky.

Enjoy it Reese, and take care always

Bill Cole D-41

[bertusgeert 1]

Yeah, i failed level 4. You'll be allright from now on. Good luck and keep at it!!

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[packerboy 3]

Congratulations for sure on passing your level 4.

I'm not trying to take anything away from that, but should the dropzone really allow a student jumper still on instruction to jump with a "visiting coach"? I guess this person must have been well known at the dropzone. Was your instructor present on this coach jump as well?

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[Nightingale 0]

Reese-

RELAX! There's nothing bad about repeating a level. It isn't a failure. Its just another opportunity to work on your skills.

Think of it this way:

a repeat jump counts towards your A license requirement of 25 jumps,

you get another chance to jump with instructors, and different instructors can give you different feedback,

you won't have to do as many solo jumps, which sound exciting now but get really boring after you've just done six in a row,

and...

a repeat is still a SKYDIVE!

Whether you pass or fail, you're still skydiving and you're still having fun, which is what's important (other than pulling and landing safely, of course )

on your level 5, if you pass the first time around, GREAT! and if not, take a deep breath, chat with your instructors about what you need to work on, and smile, because you just made a skydive! then, get back on the plane as soon as you can and give it another go.

Best of luck!!!!!

-Nightingale

ps- I have my whole AFF experience posted on my website (linked in my sig), and I know Michele has hers posted up here somewhere... you could probably search for it. Trust me, you're not alone in that nervousness, tension and anxiety... heck, I was so scared on level 2 that I rode the damn plane down!