6/01/2008

How Embarassing

I failed my AFF III test.

I was working so hard on my heading control through the clouds that I didn't pay enough attention to my altitude, which is about the worst thing one can do as a student skydiver. I pulled well above the hard deck but 1300 feet below my planned deployment. My canopy opened with me in a medium lateral spin and I broke in a line twist that took me nine hundred feet to uncoil.

My first two jumps this weekend were nearly flawless so this one spooked me a bit.

I'll be back to it next Sunday.

3 comments:

Queen Marie, Gluten-Free said...

How terribly disappointing - and frustrating - for you!

I'd hardly say you "failed," though. You might not have completed the necessary requirements, as prescribed by...whoever it is testing you, but
having the wherewithal to JUMP OUT OF AN AEROPLANE is hardly a failure.

Knowing how to fall through the sky - and survive - is quite an accomplishment.

You'll get it next time. "Ubung macht den Meister."

Anonymous said...

Okay, your stepfather told you not to tell your mother these things until after you had done them. Probably good advice. But bear in mind her terror factor the next time you jump out of a plane. Please.

Anonymous said...

Uh...

Lemme get this straight...

There's a CERTIFICATION for plummeting toward Earth? Really?

When I was a kid we called that certification "gravity."