Sky Diving Log (Jumps 41-50)

Date: 12/11/98

Altitude: 14000 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit and good initial stable position despite light hand contact from r/float Jump Master. Back loop good initiation but fell off. Recovery good. 1st delta only held for 3 seconds. 2nd attempt at delta good and positive. Held for 4-5 seconds. Slight 10 degree deviation at end. Good altitude awareness. Good left and right 360 degree turns done from controlled stability. Good wave off and oull at 4000 feet exactly.

A competant, smooth and controlled level 7 performance. Well done!

Dave Howerski D1027, BPA 6508 AFF/Examiner

This jump had gone pretty much as my consolidation jumps had done - messy, and with several attempts needed on the backflip and delta track. I was pleased because this meant that Dave had seen a "typical" jump and could give me feedback on why I was screwing up. I was gobsmacked when he said he didn't know what I was worrying about and he'd just witnessed a good AFF Level 7 pass. He spoke to Mick Hall who said that if Dave was happy he was too - so I was passed on AFF Level 7 without realising I'd been taking it! Yee-hah! Only the "hop n pop" (jump from a low altitude with a 5 second delay before pulling main canopy) to go! My God, I might even graduate after all!

Jump: 42 (Fun Jump)

Date: 12/11/98

Altitude: 14000 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

2 backflips. 360 degree right turn. Back flip. 360 degree left turn. Wave off and pull at 4,000 feet.

Ian Smith

There were three of us scheduled for AFF Level 8 (the "hop n pop" jump) so I had to wait for the other two to complete their level 7's before taking this level. Decided to do a "fun jump" while waiting. This really was fun. The confidence of passing level 7 seemed to take all the pressure off me and I had a hoot somersaulting across the skies.

Jump: 43 (AFF 8)

Date: 12/11/98

Altitude: 5500 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good position in door. Good dive exit and stable pull after 5 seconds. Canopy control and landing good. Very well done. Cleared off AFF. :-)

Mick Hall, AFF I98, D8154

This was an eventful level 8. As had happened with most of the Sebastian jumps, British World Champions Sebastian XL were on the plane at the back (they jump out at the lower altitude of 10,500 feet which is apparently the altitude used for competitions). Watching one of the guys doing a pin-check on one of my fellow Level 8 jumpers and (unbeknownst to the skydiver) rolling his eyes in horror was hilarious. In the UK the "Hop n pop" is, I think, lower (4,500 feet) so in some ways taking this level in the States was an easy ride. The idea behind the jump is that AFF students get too used to high altitudes and can sometimes "freak out" if they have to jump out at a low altitude. We got to 5,500 feet and I was to be the third out the door. The first guy took up position, the green "go" light came on and the plane reduced speed. He was just about to go when suddenly the plane lurched over to the left (the jumper nearly "fell" out) and increased speed. We had no idea what was going on but Mick, at the other end of the plane, motioned a "we're going round again" sign. The trouble was that we were climbing as we went round again so that this was looking less and less like a British "hop n pop".

The jump itself went very well - as it should have done as it was very straightforward. But Lord the canopy ride was dull and seemed to last forever (I think I landed AFTER Sebastian XL who'd jumped out at 10,500 feet). I don't know what the altitude was that we'd jumped out at but I do know that after counting 5 seconds and pulling my ripcord and checking my canopy was OK my altimeter read 6000 feet! Later on we found out what had happened. Just as the first jumper had been about to go the pilot had spotted another plane immediately below us. Dangerous stuff (the plane just shouldn't have been there). So he'd had to "go round" again which meant increasing the altitude. What's really scary is that apparently the plane was still there when we jumped out on the second attempt - fortunately none of us saw it or collided with it!

And so that's it. After 43 student freefall jumps I've finally graduated AFF! I can hardly believe it!

Jump: 44 (Throw Out)

Date: 13/11/98

Altitude: 13500 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit. Got stable. 5 practice pulls. Wave and throw out at 5,000 feet. Good landing.

Ian Smith

'This should really be called the "back to square one" jump. Fear returned BIG time and stayed throughout the dive. The practice pulls were all very tense and I was paranoid that I was going to go unstable.

Most modern parachute systems have "throw out" pilot chutes rather than ripcord-activated spring-loaded pilot chutes. The ripcord variety are considered "easier" for students but eventually people move to "throw out" chutes before getting their "A" (Category 8) licence that allows them to jump solo around the world. The "danger" with "throw out" chutes is that if you don't throw the chute out of harm's way properly the bridle line that attaches it to the main parachute could tangle itself around one arm or leg or even your neck causing perhaps a "horseshoe malfunction". You MUST be stable when doing a "throw out". The briefing for the conversion to throw out involves lots of ground preparation on what to do if the bridle line gets entangled. It terrified me. I had visions of forgetting to throw the pilot chute away, of getting the line caught around my neck and choking etc. This jump was like doing my first one all over again. I made the classic mistake of being completely tense during the dive. Whenver I did a practice pull my arm felt like a lead weight struggling to push hard against the air to reach the "Bottom of container" (BOC) position of the throw out pilot chute. This was totally ludicrous as I'd done this tens of times before with the ripcord, but somehow I couldn't relax and stop the tenseness problem. When I got to 5,000 feet the pull was a complete doddle. And the opening was much smoother than it had been using a ripcord-activated opening. Yet I was still pretty shook-up. I had not enjoyed this skydive at all. I decided the best thing to do was go for the "hair of the dog" approach and get straight back up in the air again to get my confidence back.

Jump: 45 (Throw Out)

Date: 13/11/98

Altitude: 13500 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit. Back flip. 4 x practice pulls. Wave and throw out at 4,500 feet.

Ian Smith

'This was not much better than the previous jumpl I spent most of the dives "frozen" in the stable position, paranoid that I was going to get unstable at throw out. The throw out was fine, but for the first time ever I got a sort of ground rush under canopy control, convinced I was going to "fall out" of the harness from quite high up. No amount of coaxing from Mick or Dave could persuade me to jump again today. I needed time to sort my head out and reflect on all those successful enjoyable jumps before skydiving again. I stayed at the DZ watching others enthusuastically jump, performing radical hook turns etc feeling rather sorry for myself - other people seem so much more able to cope with the fear thing than me.

Jump: 46 (Fun Jump)

Date: 14/11/98

Altitude: 13500 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit. Back flip. Barrel Roll. Delta track (8 seconds!), 360 degree left turn, 360 degree right turn. Wave and pull at 4,000 feet.

Ian Smith

Thank goodness! After a difficult afternoon and evening, reflecting on why I was suddenly terrified of skydiving, I felt that this was to be a "make or break" jump. On the way to altitude I just kept "replaying" my most fun jumps in my head and when it came to doing the real thing I had a blast. All the enthusiasm returned and I couldn't wait to go back up again. I decided that now I had my confidence back again, it would be nice to get a video/stills of a successful jump instead of all those failed AFF videos. Onward and upward.....

Jump: 47 (Video Jump)

Date: 14/11/98

Altitude: 13500 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Messy exit. Back flip. Barrel Roll. Delta track (4 seconds!), 180 degree right turn, 360 degree left turn. Back Flip (blew it!) Wave and pull at 4,000 feet.

Ian Smith

I was pretty confident about this dive - big mistake! I've often seen "first time" bungee jumpers and AFF students suffer from "flailing leg" syndrome. Sensory Overload seems to cause people to furiously wiggle their legs. I have never suffered this problem - until now! For the first time I found my legs involuntarily thrashing around on this dive. Although I exited in a stable position the legs suddenly flailed and I ended up virtually standing up. It was soon corrected, but not the most auspicious start to the dive.

First up was the back flip. This went surprisingly well despite me clenching my fists instead of opening them up to use them as "paddles" to push against the wind. Unfortunately as I came out of the flip I lost my heading and swung round 180 degrees. Even after watching the video I don't really know why this happened.

Next up was a barrel roll - not! I'd been told to just tuck one arm in and this would do it. I assumed it would be easy as I'd done several barrel rolls (accidentally) on a couple of my many AFF Level 5 retakes. Wrong! Instead, tucking one arm in caused me to do two swift right hand turns. It looks very impressive on the video (especially as I come out of it bang on heading) but wasn't what I'd intended.

Next up was the delta-track. This was OK.... ish! I held it for about 4 seconds but, as usual, it turned slightly as I came out of it. The photo (left) shows why it was a bit wobbly - I've been rather lazy with my legs. I wasn't at all aware of this at the time and it's something I'm really going to have to watch.

Next up were the turns. I stopped the first turn at 180 degrees turn since I found I was facing the cameraman, John Thijs, at this position and it gave me a chance to geek like mad!

The right turn went OK (although I was buffetting a bit) and I was at 6,500 feet so decided to throw in a last minute backflip. Another mistake! I fumbled over it so that it was a messy sideways flip across the sky. Got stable and pulled at 4,000 feet (had wanted to pull at 3,500 feet but John advised sticking to 4,000 feet for the video jump). The landing was a mess as I flared a bit late. Despite that, all things considered, I thought the jump had been one of my better ones and fairly polished.

I didn't see the video until I returned to the UK - and I got a bit of a shock. The manoevres weren't too bad, but they were very shaky and rather messy. I tend to "drift" all over the sky. A lot of solid work on polishing things up will be needed over the next few months before I try getting into Relative Work (formation skydiving)

Jump: 48 (Fun Jump)

Date: 14/11/98

Altitude: 14000 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit. Back flip. Got grit in eye (ouch!). Two 360 degree turns. Waved and pulled at 3,500 feet.

Ian Smith

This was a pretty straightforward jump (except my exit was wobbly again). I brought my "pull" height down to 3,500 feet for the first time. The big advantage of pulling lower is you jump out earlier, minimising the risk of being too far away from the Drop Zone if somebody faffs around before jumping out ahead of you. When there are AFF students or tandem students this is no big issue, but on this load (and others) I would have been last out if I'd pulled at 4,000 feet or above - and I hate being last out! The jump was spoilt a little by me getting something in my eye, which meant I didn't feel confident enough to play around with manoevres. I just wanted to land and wipe my eye!

Jump: 49 (Track)

Date: 14/11/98

Altitude: 14000 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Good exit. Back flip. Delta track like mad to get to Drop Zone (we were dropped deep) Waved and pulled at 3,500 feet.

Ian Smith

I was second to last out with the girl behind pulling at 4,000 feet. Unfortunately we were dropped deep anyway and for those of us last out it was going to be a struggle to make it back to the DZ. With the various horror stories about aligators in swamps, power lines etc this is something to be avoided if at all possible! The Sebastian landing area is much bigger and more visible than Headcorn, but is surrounded by far more hazards. I exited and backflipped and then looked for the Drop Zone and realised it was a long way away. I delta tracked like mad (thankfully I managed to hold my heading) for most of the dive, and would really have liked to pull at 4,000 feet to maximise forward movement under canopy. But, having told the girl behind me I'd pull at 3,500 feet I was stuck with the decision (didn't want someone falling through my parachute just after it opened!). Under canopy it was a case of "legs tucked in tight" and "half brakes all the way" to get back. I made it to the landing area - just! The girl behind me made it to the grassy area "behind" the landing area, and a couple of people landed on the golf course (although one admitted he could have made the DZ but the grass is MUCH softer and nicer on the golf course and once somebody had been forced to land there it gave him the excuse he needed! LOL!)

Jump: 50 (Warp 1)

Date: 14/11/98

Altitude: 14000 ft

Sebastian/S.Otter

Free flown exit. 3 x left cartwheels. A little rigid. Sorted it at 12,500 feet. 1st attempt at forward movement CRAP. 2nd attempt at forward movement also CRAP. 3rd attempt at forward movement VERY GOOD, brilliant in fact. Good non-contact face off from 6,500 feet. Good wave off, turn and track. Cleared to Warp II. Well done.

Dave Howerski, D1027 BPA 6508

Dave had been patiently waiting for me to start one-on-one WARP training with him for the best part of two weeks. Warp is the traditional way of learning to do relative work and getting a Category 10 licence and (I think) there are 10 levels to WARP. Warp 1 is the easiest, involving forward movement to a skydiving buddy. Dave's briefing was incredibly thorough, but of course it's one thing doing the work on the ground, another doing it in the air. I'd never been very confident with my delta tracking and Dave introduced a new manoevre that involved combining the track and the turn into one movement instead of two separate ones. I was sure it was all going to end in tears and was very nervous on the way up to altitude. Dave reassured me (not!) with his usual "Don't worry! Just remember - if you fuck up, you die!" just prior to launching the skydive. My exit went completely to pieces again - it's very frustrating to have been fine with this up to jump no. 47 and to now find I'm consistently flunking it! The forward movement attempts WERE crap. Despite what Dave says, the third attempt was very average - but probably the only attempt out of the three where I thought about what I was doing. This was because the nerves disappeared (at last!) at about this point - mainly because Dave was laughing and pulling very silly faces. It's hard to be nervous when you're laughing!

Ian D Smith, 15 Dean Court, Thorncroft Street, London SW8 2BQ, United Kingdom
Tel: (0171) 7876-123 Fax: (0171) 6420-754 Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk