Day 1
I woke up buzzing with excitement. I Went down to the hanger and met up with Tim and Zach my instructors for today's ground school. I read over my AFF book before bed and after only one beer last night (yes, for the first time in my whole trip I did one of these activities completely clear headed!) so I was about as ready as I thought I could be. Also no one else had booked on the course which is bad as I don't have a buddy to compare notes and experiences with, but good as I get 1-on-1 teaching. 2-on-1 in the air!
It was a grey morning again but it didn't matter as I spent most of the time inside. Zach took me through the book and showed me the practicalities of freefalling, like the correct procedures for communicating with the JumpMaster/Instructors and how to Arch my body to be most stable. This is not the correct position, I just gave my camera to Zach too early!
Then we moved onto how to check the canopy has deployed correctly (Square, Stable and Steerable) and deal with a malfunction incase one occurs (twisted lines, no pilot chute, when to cutaway and deploy reserve etc.) He showed me a video of what they look like malfunctioning, then hung me from the ceiling and ran through various scenarios.
Step 1: Check canopy deploys while counting to 5000 (in 1000's)
Step 2: Check Willy.
Once the canopy is happily open, you have to land it much like a light aircraft. Find the holding area, move along the wind line at 1000ft, turn left at 500ft, then left again into the wind at 250ft. Flare as you come into land (eyes on the horizon not downwards as its easier to judge depth).
Incase of a fast or vertical landing, where the wind matches or exceeds the forward speed of the canopy, the parachute will drop down rather than forwards, meaning a normal running stop isn't possible. In which case a PLF is required (Parachute Landing Fall). Heres me practising from well over 1 ft.
I then did a written test to check I knew all the theory and hand signals. Zach kept telling me that skydiving is 95% theoretical and 5% practical. "If you can do it up here, you should be able to do it up there."
Within what seemed like seconds of me saying 'I'm confident I can jump from an airoplane,' a gap in the clouds appeared and we were suiting up to get on the plane. A modified Twin Otter that can get up to altitude (14,000ft) in around 8-10 minutes. Quivering with fear and excitement I posed with Zach before getting on the plane. It's clear I'm touching cloth.
I swung between nervous and excited on the plane as Tim asked me what was expected of me in the coming jump...
Step into the door frame
Hotel check("Check In" with inside JM/I, "Check Out" with outside JM/I)
"Prop" (look at prop)
"Up" (on toes)
"Down" (Knees Bent, Back Straight)
"ARCH" and out we go....
I'd heard that skydive No.1 can almost overwhelm any student. Not me I thought, Hardcore, Queenstown and all that. I stepped out of the plane and felt immediately excited by the falling and the windrush. I felt Tim and Zach either side of me pulling and looking at me. SHIT. H.A.R.M Heading, Altitude, Reserve JM/I check and Main JM/I check. I was getting the thumbs down from both instructors meaning 'ARCH!' I thought I was arching? I could feel them pushing my legs and arms to position me, but I felt like I was fighting them, my body was stiff... How can I push down on my hips when I can't push? Theres nothing here to push against? Then I felt some hands on my helmet and my head was pushed back so I looked at the horizon and not straight down. My hips dropped allowing a proper arch. H.A.R.M check. Thumbs up from both instructors. I was so happy to've got the thumbs up I forgot stage 2, P.R.C.Ps.
I felt my hand being moved behind me, SHIT Practice Rip Cord Pulls. After being helped to find it a couple of times and keeping my eye on my wrist mounted altimeter, I waved out at 5500ft, meaning 'I'm pulling' and watched my canopy rise above me. 1000, 2000, 3000, Canopy up but twisted. Its square, its Stable... Remember the training, no need to cutaway and pull the reserve. I kicked my legs a couple of times to quicken the untwisting of the cords (like you would on a twisted swing) and felt the satisfying ping as the cables straightened out. Square, stable, steerable. Just like he said in the training.
I found my holding area but forget my 'Penetration Check' (great name eh?) to see how strong the downwind was, so I came in over the airfield further than I should've. The ground wind had also picked up while I'd been up there so I came into the landing zone almost vertically.
I felt pissed off at myself for not getting the arch right first time and being told where the ripcord is (its easy on the ground but completely different up there.) I was also pissed off at myself for not being cool as a cucumber and feeling myself, not panic, but not be in complete control. I think I knew the book so well that I truly believed the only 5% is practical bit.
Zach told me to go off and think about the jump then come back and tell him what I thought about it. I took this to mean I hadn't done very well. It turns out I was wrong. When I told him about what I thought, he said things like 'Did 'x' happen?' 'How did you feel when 'x' occured.' As we went through the dive, there were a series of things I'd forgotten straight away! I'd forgotten the twisted lines, losing my ripcord, getting the pull signal and a few other things that all occurred in one very long minute, between 14,000 - 5000 ft.
I've spoken to some of the other (more experienced) people doing their AFF here. I'm not the first person to feel a bit let down by their first jump. Its all such a new, amazing, stupidly insane experience that when it actually happens, its completely different from what you expect. For jump one, I did, well, just like most other people. Stuff like canopy control in windy environments and 'arching' just need to be practiced.
I remember feeling totally overloaded on my first bungy, and fine on the rest. It comes from not knowing what to expect (I hope!!). I've also spent the last 6 weeks in a nice, domestic environment meaning my ker-azy-meter has slipped back to zero (obviously it peaked in New Zealand!)
I'm looking forward to my jump tomorrow. I've looked at what I did wrong, I've been practicing my arch and ripcord pulls, i've gotta memorise my task list (including side turns, forward movement and hovering) and then tomorrow, I'll do it properly. No more messin'.