Nick's Student Jump #4
Welcome to Part Three of Nick White’s skydiving student adventures. Don’t forget to check out Nick’s profile so you know why the heck you’re reading this.
Jump # 4
I made my first gear purchase recently. Mike Hoy helped me buy a used Tony Suit for $100. How freaking sweet is that! Those things are $350 brand new. This thing fits well and it’s in great shape. Bring on the skydiving! This was my first jump with a single instructor. It was the same dive flow as my last jump, but I only had one person to keep an eye on me. I enjoyed the hell out of this jump. I finally got to take in the entire atmosphere of the jump. I kept myself stable with small corrections and just relaxed while taking in the sights. Mike decided to jump out in front of me yet again, but I turned and put him back where he started. By the way, Mike Hoy is awesome! I’m still having fun with turning while under canopy. Not too much though, because I need to make sure I don’t drift too far away from the DZ. You really have to pay attention to how much wind there is and how it will affect your landing. We rookies tend to land a little ways off the DZ on occasion. This landing was only a few feet away from the mowed out area. Go me!
Jump #5
Deploy
We’ve been working on spotting these last couple jumps. It’s good practice for a rookie like me to look out and find the DZ before exiting the plane. Looking down from 14,000 feet really isn’t that bad. Tried a dive out exit for the first time today. It’s kind of like pretending your Superman, but without the cape. This was a pretty rocky exit. I was unstable for a little while and ended up on my back at one point. So, I stuck one arm out and the wind flipped me over. It’s an awesome way to get back into a neutral position. Thanks for the tip Mike. I got to work on left and right 90 degree turns for this jump. I had a lot of fun. I was using only my hands to make turns and to help stop the turn. I’m happy with how they turned out. I did not however manage any forward movement. I had my arms pulled in like I was taught, but just couldn’t seem to get my legs straight. You just can’t seem to feel your legs while freefalling. It’s easy to lose track of where they are. Maybe I’ll get it next time. Canopy control was a little different this time around. Instead of going straight for the steering toggles, I did my control check using the rear risers. The turns were more sluggish than normal, but the canopy still responded well. I see no reason why I couldn’t land if I lost my toggles. Landing seems to get easier every jump. I still can’t ever hear the radio, so I do like I was taught and I’m always safe. The training at this DZ is very detailed. One of these days I’ll make my landing look at sexy as the pros do. Three more jumps and I’m done. Well, three more good jumps. I don’t want to be too confident yet. Safety first!
Jump #6
I’m glad I decided to sign up for the AFF classes. I enjoy hanging out at the DZ all day learning and socializing. The experienced jumpers are always throwing good advice my way. For example: never throw out your pilot chute while tracking through the sky. I have a pretty good idea how bad that could go. Some days I only end up jumping once, but will have spent ten hours hanging out with fellow jumpers. Ending those days with a cold beer really hits the spot. I enjoy sticking around late enough to catch some food at the ice cream shop with some of the regulars. It’s a good time to make inappropriate comments about the other jumpers. There’s nothing wrong with poking fun at one another. Good stuff. Taking my position in the door is becoming less nerve racking than it has been on previous jumps. My dive out exit involved more tumbling this time, but I quickly recovered. Using the old arm-out trick is a great way to regain stability. I think its fun fixing an unstable exit. You’d almost think something like that might make a person nervous, but not so much. Once in a stable freefall, I realized Roland was nowhere to be found. Where the heck did you go, Roland? Okay, on with my practice pulls. Still no instructor. I went ahead and got my 180 degree turns out of the way. Turning is great fun. Roland appeared while I was completing my turns. Way ahead of you. I attempted to move onto my forward movement, but couldn’t seem to get my legs to cooperate. Hmm, guess I’m going to have to work on that. My deployment went as smooth as usual and I continued practicing with canopy control. This time I made my turns with the brakes in the stowed position. The canopy turns just as well, provided you pull a little harder. I had another great landing. I’m pretty psyched that I haven’t crashed and burned. Go me!
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of Nick’s student jumps. Will he graduate? Will the wind blow him to the next county? Stay tuned!
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