Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Jump Runt

Wow, it's been one year since I did my first tandem.  I  remember thinking "Yeah, like I'm ever doing that again!"
Yet I did do that again. And again.
 Now I'm licensed  and have 48 jumps.  I still can't believe it.
Of course, there's room for improvement.  

I'm still doing Jerry Lewis slob exits.  Yeah, yeah, I know, present to the wind, arch, dive toward the wing tips and so on.  It seems there's a gap between what I intellectually know what to do and what I actually do
I get stable once I'm out, but guess who backslides?  Guess who has her legs too far appart?  Guess who knows better than to do all of this... ...but does it anyway?  Maddening!
I'm trying to be a good duck- tunnel training, coaching events, diving with others.  I'm getting better, but guess who isn't the fastest learner at the DZ?
In other news, this happened a few weeks ago:
Holy Mackerel on a Stick! Maybe he as close as he seemed,  but it freaked me.  (No, I wasn't tracking up jump run.  Really!)
On another jump,  the winds got cute.
I'd seen dust devils before, but not when under canopy.  I steered clear of "him", but the wind was still up to tricks.  In the crosswind part of my landing pattern, it sent me straight towards the runway!
Okay, the plane wasn't around, but  runways are like subway tracks:  

 You stay the #^&$ off them.
I somehow got away from the runway and landed.
 
Let's talk about landings.  Guess who still crash lands?  Not horrible bone breaking crashes.  Just trip-over-your-own feet "D'oh!" landings.  I took a canopy class and that helped.. Boy, am I proud when I manage the occasional  stand up landing!
I'm still jumping a  large canopy (220).  I figure I shouldn't downsize to anything smaller until I can land this size reliably.  Of course, even if I do land it reliably, I'm still apt to go for a ride if the canopy re- inflates before I put my weight on it.  And if I don't land it nicely, it can start moving before I can get up to weigh it down.   Pulling down a toggle will rein it in (assuming the toggle isn't wrapped around my head or hung up on the bag,)

There's a lot of people with twenty something jumps who are much better than I am.  They exit, fly and land nicely.   It's embarrassing.

Then again, I've always been slow to learn anything physical.  What I do and what I think I'm doing aren't always correct, and it takes me awhile to fine tune.   If I want to get better, I'll have to stop whining and get to work.

6 comments:

Linda Davick said...

I say HOORAY FOR YOU!!!

Love the sound effects and the wind sock faces.

Anonymous said...

48 jumps! I missed something teehee!

You're still jumping student gear? Not ready to make the big investments yet? Hey hey, good luck.

Love the ilo's

anon

Anonymous said...

48 jumps! I missed something teehee!

You're still jumping student gear? Not ready to make the big investments yet? Hey hey, good luck.

Love the ilo's

anon

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Linda,
Thanks! If I had my way, all windsocks would have faces.

Anon,
Yep. Still jumping student gear. I don't want to downsize to anything smaller until I've had more stand up landings with the 220- and I don't want to buy a rig/chute that big because that's a lot of money to spend on something I'll "outgrow." :)

stringtheorygal@dropzone.com said...

Wow- your entire skydiving series has been an inspiration!! I just did a tandem two days ago and have a very strong desire to do AFF. Not sure whether to drive to a DZ or a psychiatrist's office! I appreciate you sharing your story as I can completely relate to being risk averse--and now I want to skydive...very strange feeling. Love the "inner critic" character- your handling of your most recent experiences should shut him up! Mine is going strong; I've been critiquing my arch from my tandem video. Sigh.
Good luck and blue skies to you! Hope you have a swift recovery and thank you so much for sharing your gift with the world.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Stringtheorygal,
Hey, thanks for comment. I find it interesting that there are other jumpers like us: people who normally avoid anything risky... ..yet want to jump!
Good luck on your AFF if you choose to try it out. :)