kootmando1979

OH MY GOSH! It was wonderful! My PLF was total crap, but I now know what I did wrong and I will fix that for Thursday. Knees weren't completely together. I got out to the dz an hour early to practice the PLF and did get better at it. But, when it came to landing there was a slight hill and I hit it a bit hard because I didn't get my flare all the way down. Stopped at the half way point (dang it!). My practice flares under the canopy went well, I think it just takes me a little longer to complete them. I will talk to my instructor about that tomorrow. I freaked a little at the door...didn't think I would be able to hold on to the strut. But holy cow, that isn't hard at all. (Now I know for next time) My freefall went fairly well. I was rock stable as my instructors said. (The next jump I am only going with one instructor because I was so stable) My circle of awareness went alright. I paused in between checking in and test pulls. My mind just went totally blank for a second. Waved off 500 feet late and pulled. Lost the rip cord, so I owe them $15 and a case of beer. The wind directions had changed so I was a bit away from the dz. Missed my 1000 foot mark, but made the 600 foot. Then I was radio'ed the rest of the way in. I talked about the landing above. Under the canopy I was beating myself up for dropping the rip cord and the delay in my test pulls. The instructors said that I did really well. Can't wait to go again on Thursday. I know to verify with my instructors anything that I read on the internet. I was just looking for pointers from others on how they PLF'ed. Sorry this was so long. My family doesn't really understand, only my mom would listen to the whole run down. It was amazing though. Thursday is going to seem like forever away!

I went through the ground training on Sunday, but due to rain couldn't jump. I am going back tonight to make my first jump!!! I am very excited and very nervous at the same time. I have run through everything 1,000 times in my head. I am just worried about the landing. I cant PLF worth a darn. I did finally stop putting my hand down, but I still keep falling only on my hip. I am going to practice that some more when I get out to the dz tonight. Any thoughts on how to improve my PLF or is that something that just gets better over time?

The gal who got hurt, her parachute collapsed. I am not sure why, but my family who saw it said that she past the landing area and tried to make a hard turn and then the chute just collapsed. The positive thing is she came back to the DZ the next weekend. She seems to be doing fairly well. She had broken her femur, some ribs and punctured a lung. I think I will go out to the DZ this weekend just to watch. I think it will help make me more comfortable with the landings. And hopefully I will get to meet some people. I haven't ever stayed too long afterwards. I get such an adrenaline rush and when that wears off I am out for the night. From what I have read it would be a good idea to bring out beer, right?

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement. I was going to wait until June to go again. It is my best friends birthday and she really wants to go and I want to share in her excitement...I wish that I had someone to share in it with me. But I dont think there is anyway that I could wait a whole month to go again....and cost wise I couldnt afford to pay for another tandem while trying to save money for AFF. Jules...did you know anyone before you started? Or are they all new friends? The other thing that I would like some input on is the landing. The first tandem I went on...while I was in the air a lady had problems with her chute. My family saw her fall from about 50 feet. I know that there is radio communication while landing, but is it really that helpful? Or am I just kind of on my own?

I have been on two tandems in the past two weeks. I cant believe how amazing it is. I have tried to explain to people, but they just dont get it. Its the best feeling in the world. I know I want to do the AFF course, but I have some worries. I know from reading this forum that the skydiving community is extremely friendly, but I still worry that I wont make friends with people. I dont know anyone who skydives. I worry that I am too chunky to do this. I have recently lost 90 lbs and am 15 away from being at a healthy weight. But it seems that everyone at the DZ is extremely fit. The last thing and my TM told me that after the training I will feel comfortable, but I am scared to do it by myself. Going tandem my fear is manageable, but solo...I have no faith in myself.