Jump: 51 (Warp 2)

Dave Howerski  D1027, BPA 6508

Jump: 52 (Warp 3)

Dave Howerski  D1027, BPA 6508

This was my last jump at Sebastian but I will be returning in March for 2 weeks to continue WARP training with Dave (and to collect my customised rig of Javelin container, Performance Designs Sabre 190, Performance Designs 163 Reserve and Cypres AAD - Hoorah!). In the meantime the plan was to polish my solo dives at Headcorn. Alas, at the time of writing (mid-January 1999) I have had no skydives at Headcorn - partly because of work problems, but also because of terrible weather (runway closed because of rain, gales, clouds etc).

However, on a happier note, Dave signed my log book to say I had achieved Category 8 (my "A" license) and Pete Sizer, the CCI at Headcorn, kindly filed the paperwork to make this real. It's been a long and expensive time coming, but I think it's been worth it! I know several students or intending students read this web site and I hope it is an encouragement to those thinking of taking up the sport after some of my frustrations of the last 7 months. If I can do it YOU can. And despite all the expense that my ineptitude has cost me, it HAS been worth every penny in my opinion. In the words of the Nike advert, if you're thinking of skydiving "JUST DO IT". You won't regret it!

Jump: 53 (Currency Jump)

Ian Smith  A100588   (signed off by Louise D11704)

I arrived at Headcorn rather nervous. My email friend Rita who's been having similar problems as me with student progression had a bad landing last week causing two broken femurs and it was depressing to roll up at Headcorn to find fellow AFF graduate Christina in tears because of a hard landing. Fortunately a hospital check up later revealed bruised ribs but no major damage, but it made me even more nervous about this first jump in such a long time, with two friends seemingly haveing injury-sustaining landings after a good number of perfectly good landings.

Fortunately my new "thermal under-suit" from Symbiosis Suits had arrived. I cannot praise these highly enough for cold weather jumping. I arrived at the DZ cold and a little shivery but once I'd put the new under-suit on I felt warm and snug as a bug in a rug. It is amazingly light and doesn't seem to cause any problems in body movement that the alternative of wearing lots of t-shirts and jumpers would. And it's VERY cool looking too - too cool to be covered up by an ordinary jump suit!

Most of the AFF crowd were down and the atmosphere was electric - everybody excited about the unexpected good weather and getting a skydive in. Will and Rex were about to go up as I arrived. Nina and Christina had done one jump already, and later in the day Nigel arrived and then Faith arrived with news of her Cat10 which she earned in Sebastian with my WARP instructor Dave Howerski.

Because the Porter (with turbo engine) gets to altitude as quickly as the Let (about 10 minutes) I had assumed it was about the same size as a Let. I was puzzled when the load I was on only had Lousie and a couple of people doing a three-way, together with Clem and Stu doing tandems. Then I saw the plane and my heart sank - it was even smaller inside than the Islander and very cramped. I was dreading the exit from the door, not having done a solo dive exit other than from a Super Otter before (where you can stand up). And then suddenly the fear just disappeared. Somehow I knew I was past the point of no return and that I'd cope with all these new things that had been worrying me over the last few weeks - it just seemed pointless dwelling on them. If only I could have dealt with previous "fear loaded" jumps this way before. Although not overly nervous, I was worried about stability on exit and whether the old turns problem would return. People always say that once you've mastered the stable position it's like riding a bike, but somehow I felt I'd probably be the exception to the rule.

The ride up to altitude was quick and very confidence-building for me. I remembered on my first jump that Jane and Simon had pointed out landmarks and I'd just not wanted to see them because looking out the window reminded me of how high I was and  how terriifed I was. I just didn't want to be reminded about that stuff! On this load one of the tandem passengers looked very nervous, which made me feel better about my worries. And when Clem started pointing out landmarks I was keenly looking out the window to see them and thinking "It's weird that I used to be terrified about looking down and around before jumping - I love doing that now. I really have progressed since those first jumps". I ended up loving the Porter because although cramped (and awkward to exit, clambering over people) it was warm and it gets to altitude very quickly.

Louise and her three-way went out and then it was my turn. I made a pig's ear of clambering over Clem and his tandem passenger and abandoned all my plans for a nice smooth exit - there just wasn't room. I put a foot on the step outside the door and then just "fell out". I quickly arched and got stable very quickly. I stayed in the stable position, registered the DZ position, waited a few seconds and then realised "I'm bored!"  Who would have thought it? I'd planned to just stay stable "down the tube" to get used to jumping at Headcorn, find the landing area, and not risk getting unstable before doing my first throwaway with gloves. If anyone had told me before the jump that I'd get "bored" doing a stable skydive I would not have believed them. I looked at the altimeter. 11,000 feet!!! "Blimey! I've got loads of time left. I CAN'T just lie here doing nothing". I did a couple of turns. They were very straightforward and so it seems those stories about "riding a bike" are true after all. Checked the alti again. Still at 9,000 feet! Nothing for it but to do a delta track - those always go wrong and should liven up the jump. I went into position and held it on heading for 8 seconds. "Strewth. Are the Gods smiling at me today or what? That's the best delta track I've ever done". I went into "down the tube" position and watched my altimeter, to test that my new Time Out Evolution 2000 bleeped at the pre-set altitude of 4500 feet. It didn't! Nor did it beep at 4000 feet. Hmmmmm!  I grabbed the throw-out and then made my first major mistake. Despite practicing the manoevre a hundred times on the ground I grabbed the throwaway and then didn't let go. I really am not sure if I just went back to my ripcord jumps and thought I was doing a ripcord pull and needed to hang onto it, or whether the gloves confused me into thinking I'd let go. I just know that what seemed an eternity (but was probably barely a second) after I'd "pulled" I thought "Christ. I've still got the handle in my hand. GET RID OF IT!". The opening was fine and very soft and it was THEN that the Time Out bleeped at me (about 3500 feet I reckon). There is obviously something wrong with the settings or the unit! Later analysis of the data in it showed me pulling at exactly 4000 feet after 51 seconds of freefall but the graph for "speed" is a mess of spikes that make no sense. Either the software is buggy or I have a faulty unit - I will check things very carefully on my next jump. The landing was my usual flaky PLF. I did notice a BIG difference between this PD210 and a Sabre of the same size. The Sabre (zero porosity) seems to respond to subtle movements as you come in to land - the PD 210 just gives you all or nothing - flare and that's it, you stop... and drop. No prizes for guessing which I prefer - and I can't wait to get my Sabre in March.

To say this was an exhillerating skydive is an understatement. It was fantastic and I'd enjoyed every second. With no haze or clouds the scenery was breathtaking. The cold air was bracing. I don't think I've ever felt so ALIVE as I did on this jump. And to find that even with all the new "firsts" on this jump everything had gone better than I had hoped for was a real confidence booster. For the first time ever I feel I can say "I'm a skydiver" without feeling I'm exaggerating or that it's an insult to others who really are good skydiviers! It was a fantastic day, not just for me, but for all the other AFF students from last year that I talked to who seemed to have similar exhillerating skydives.

Unfortunately my hired rig was needed by someone else and so I didn't get to jump again. However, I'm hoping for a few more Headcorn jumps to try and put a bit of "polish" on my manoevres before leaving for Florida in mid-March. A lot depends on the work situation which is frantic at the moment and of course our lousy weather.