nerd137

Oh, good. I feel better.

HA! Read the SIM cover to cover, baby! ('Nerd' isn't just a clever nickname! Hahaha.)

Geez guys, you're not actually getting upset about this, are you? This is sooooo not that big of a deal. Let's try some relaxation techniques...BREATHE IN....BREATHE OUT...BREATHE IN...BREATHE OUT. There, now group hug everyone! I understand all the points of view here and I have made my decision. Of course, if this is some kind of personal rivalry that has nothing really to do with my situation, then by all means, "FIGHT!"

SIDE NOTE: Shark is one of my instuctors.

I honestly don't know either way. (I'm still the youngin here.) Again, it can't hurt. Tell ya what...after my tunnel time and AFF 3 repeat I'll post here what I think the benefits were or weren't.

See post above. (1) Don't worry, I will only go when I feel ready. (2) Quitting not an option in my mind. I was freaked out for a day, and now I'm over it. Hell, jumping out of an airplane can be a little scary sometimes, right? And I will definitely work with my instructors on my concerns. (3) See answer #1 (4) I enjoy jumping like crazy, but I'm also used to doing things well. Doing things poorly isn't my style, even when I'm learning. Part of my problem is that most of my hobbies include things that I can read 5 books about in my easy chair and then be pretty good at whatever it was I wanted to learn. That's not the case with this sport, so it's a new kind of challenge for me. (5) See answer #4 (...and, hell yeah, I wanna jump again! ) By the way, the RAPS method sounds scary as fuck! Man, I'm glad I'm going the AFF route! But thanks for the feedback, I appreciate all the responses I have gotten!

Well, I don't see how some tunnel time can hurt. I just want to boost my confidence a bit for freefalling. I know what I did wrong with my exit & won't repeat it, but there is always going to be a chance of becoming unstable in the air. What concerns me is my ability to regain control after it is lost. If I can improve that ability in a controlled environment, I think that's a good thing. I don't want to be overly dependent on my instructors in the air. Besides, there are numerous posts here from AFF students who seemed to do much better in the air after some tunnel training.

Really? At what level were you able to regain stability like that? I'm not there yet, but I'm excited thinking about getting to the point where I can continually reposition myself at will. Ya know? ~nerd

I guess this is specific to the person. For me, this site has been very therapeutic for my own anxieties. I have spent more hours reading threads here today than I care to admit, but I can honestly say that I'll be mentally ready for my next jump. (Oh, yeah, for some background, check out my post in this same category.) On the other hand, I can TOTALLY see how too much info can cause stress. Post Script: this thread in particular, and all the advice in it, helped me relax big time! Thanx all! ~nerd

Okay, I read just about every post here regarding other people's "difficulties" passing their AFF levels, so I no longer feel annoyed with myself for having to repeat level 2 and now level 3. But I'd still like feedback on my specific experience. Out of my 4 AFF jumps so far, my exits have been fine. Maybe a little dearched at first, but that's all. I failed level 2 due to bad leg control, repeated it yesterday and got a solid PASS. I felt so good I decided to do AFF3 right away. I don't know why, but apparantly I went into a fetal postion upon exit. Next thing I know, I'm on my back like a upturned turtle, arms and legs all over the place, as I see the plane above and one instructer waaaaaay above me. I wasn't panicked, but was very close until I realized one instructer was still holding on. I started to arch at this point to flip over, which I finally did, but my instructor later said it was mostly her forcing me to flip. About that time (at about 9k ft) instructor #2 caught up, grabbed on to me, and we finished the dive. After a few hand signs, apparantly my body position was quite good. At about 6,000 ft, when I locked on, I realized I forgot to do my p/p's. (For a brief second I considered quickly doing them. Haha.) By 5,500 ft I said "fuck it," waved off and pulled even though it was 500 ft early. Needless to say, I was still a little zonked from the exit. My landing went fine. My first instinct was to get up there and go again immediately. My instructors were willing, but they were also busy with other students scheduled before me. After sitting around for like 2 hours, thinking about what happend, I managed to scare myself beyond the point where I thought I had a chance of doing well on a jump. (Besides, I was really coming down hard from that adrenaline rush and felt very sleepy.) I went home deciding to come back the next day to rejump. I slept like 12 hours, but woke up at least 5 times from bad dream about that exit. Today I woke up nearly ready to ask for a refund on my pre-paid A license jumps. I have since calmed down, but still don't feel up for jumping yet. (NOTE: If the DZ was closer, I probably would have forced myself.) I'm gonna go again Saturday...by then I should have relaxed quite a bit. My questions are this: (1) Am I wierd for wanting to wait a few days before trying again? (2) For you AFF instructors out there, is an exit like mine where a student flips on their back something you'd qualify as especially dangerous? Or is this not uncommon? My instructors seemed super calm about it, but I'm kinda curious if I scared the shit out of them or not. (And, duh, I don't wanna ask them!) Thanx!