When I arrived at Z-Hills, I was hoping to find Laura, but she wasn't around. I was paired up with Sally Hathaway for my recurrency jump. At this point in the training, only one instructor was required. Prior to the jump, Sally did a full retrain of my emergency procedures. The day was really heating up - with a high of 90 quickly approaching.
My jump with Sally went pretty well. I was using a Wings container with a Navigator 240 canopy. I dropped it off to be packed. The log book entry sums it up:
6/18/05: Jump 14 - Z-Hills, FL - AFF: Recurrency - One Instructor - Started with a full retrain of emergencies. Diving Exit - hit plane with left ankle - felt strange. 2 practice touches. Went forward to meet Sally. Checked altitude. Right 360, Alt Check, Left 360. Alt Check. Moved forward. Alt Check. Moved forward. Less than 6,000. Locked on at 5,000. waved off at 4,500 pulled. Practiced flaring. Got to holding spot. Entered landing pattern. Felt low. Turned in early. Flared and did a soft butt slide. Sally Hathaway - D-17133 - AFFI 05 (Sally added: Good Jump! Keep feet under you and try to stand up! Do more solo jumps next!)
When we finished the debriefing, I stopped by the packing tent to pick up the rig. There was plenty of time for a second jump. Sally recommended that I do more solo jumps. In order to earn an A license, I would be required to have a total of 25 jumps. I didn't love solo belly jumps as much as I did jumping with my instructors, but I was slowly getting the hang of the "routine" parts of a skydive. Checking my altitude, waving off, pulling, etc. Unfortunately, I still was having a hard time with my landings.
6/18/05: Jump 15 - Z-Hills, FL - AFF: Self-Supervised Fun Jump - Exit from inside the plane. Got Stable. Ck alt. practice touches, practiced turning. Looked down to find dz. So, I could track. Was far to the South. Flew 1/2 brakes to get back. Entered final leg @ 500 landed far away. Flared early. PLF. Didn't finish the flare. Bob Clark D-20899
After I was finished for the day, I headed over to my cousin's trailer for the night. My cousin, Clara, was nice enough to let me use her trailer while I was there.
The following morning, I went back to the drop zone. I was happy when I saw a familiar face, Laura! She was working, but I didn't need to be paired up with an instructor for my next jump. Instead of going with an instructor, I'd be jumping by myself and working on tracking.
It was starting to get Florida hot - with a predicted temp of 91 for that afternoon. Not all drop zones follow the same protocols. I was surprised when I was told that i would be exiting the plane last - putting myself out.
On the climb to altitude, I could see the clouds building. When I got to the door, there were a ton of huge white clouds, but I could still see the DZ. I just dove out of the plane. Here's my log book entry:
6/19/05: Jump 16 - Z-Hills, FL - AFF: Self-Supervised Fun Jump - Tracking Jump. Last off the plane. Put head out to make sure we were in the right spot. Diving exit. Got twisted around. Ck. Altitude. Practice touch. Looked for DZ. tracked per. to jump run. 10 secs. CK alt. Practiced slow falling. Dearched. Ck Alt. Locked on 5,000. Wave off, pulled @ 4,500 got to my holding area. Practiced flaring. Began landing pattern. Flared. Stood up on one leg. Went down on one knee. Better landing, but didn't finish the flare. Stopped at about 3/4. Landing about 10 feet from the peas. Rushed to get ready for this jump - Bad idea! Leg Strap Bruises. Laura Song C-30407 AFFI/05
