,
09 May 2010
MAKE-A-WISH Demo Jump was a TOTAL SUCCESS! It was fun and exciting and totally awesome!
The week of terrible weather finally broke saturday morning and we were sure that we'd have a great day! All of us managed to get a practice jump in at skydive Maubeuge just to break the tension, and we were even able to welcome our newest member, Cez into the sky!
All skydivers landing in the pea gravel pit out at the DZ so we were sure that the demo would be a breeze.
We loaded up at around 1045 and headed over to SHAPE. Unfortunately, there were some air traffic control issues that slowed us down and let those evil clouds buildup over SHAPE.
When we finally arrived, there was a GIANT cloud over the running track that stubbornly refused to move. We circled once or twice then decided to 'Plan B' and descend below the cloud. Since we got out low, we were forced to just do a hop and pop, and it made for a short skydive.
As we approached, you could hear the crowd cheering, I know it's hard to imagine, but it added to the already flowing adrenalin. The winds were NON-Existant, when we finally landed and everyone overshot their intended landing zone. Horst was closest, but the rest of us had quite harrowing landings...but all were fine and the roar of the crowd as we landing was nothing short of spectacular.
We can't wait to do that again!
13 Jun 2009
A beautiful day to jump, great no wind weather warm sunny day! Sadly, we only had two club members there, but they both had a great time and got some good 2-ways in.
SSC Jump 47
Time: 15:07
Exit Alt: 13,150ft
Deploy Alt: 2,500ft
Freefall: 61s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier
AMAZING JUMP! We had to quit on this jump as we both knew it just wouldn't get any better. Andrea and Javier put together a relatively complex 2-way, something they weren't capable of a month ago, and it went smoothly, they turned all points several times, with the only limiting factor being both of them forgetting which move was next :) Only real flying glitch was Javier building up a little distance for no good reason, but we quickly compensated.
SSC Jump 46
Time: 13:09
Exit Alt: 13,000ft
Deploy Alt: 2,700ft
Freefall: 59s
Aircraft: Pilatus Porter
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier
Exit was a little off, I think we've forgotten how to jump from the smaller Porter door, we've had lots of time in the Caravan lately. This jump was a planned 'orbit' jump where each would orbit the other. we both managed a single orbit, both of us building up too much distance, but it was a good exercise.
SSC Jump 45
Time: 11:39
Exit Alt: 12,900ft
Deploy Alt: 2,300ft
Freefall: 67s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier
Plan was for a no-touch FS/RW drill jump. discovered it was quite difficult to know when to 'move' again without a good key (like touching). flew fairly well, but decided we needed to dock to progress.
01 Jun 2009
YAHOO! Horst showed up and gave us some TRAINING! Javier was happy to get back on the camera step for awhile, he's missed that position. Horst gave us tons of great advice and he seemed to be happy with how we're progressing. Everyone had a BLAST!
SSC Jump 44
Time: 14:48
Exit Alt: 13,050ft
Deploy Alt: 3,750ft
Freefall: 62s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Horst, Javier, Rolandas
SSC Jump 43
Time: 13:25
Exit Alt: 12,900ft
Deploy Alt: 3,650ft
Freefall: 53s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Horst, Javier, Rolandas
SSC Jump 42
Time: 11:52
Exit Alt: 12,950ft
Deploy Alt: 3,450ft
Freefall: 52s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Horst, Javier
30 May 2009
An easy day just to get Gino jumping with the club and get him some practice for his upcoming license!
SSC Jump 41
Time: 15:30
Exit Alt: 13,250ft
Deploy Alt: 2,650ft
Freefall: 64s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Gino, Javier
SSC Jump 40
Time: 12:25
Exit Alt: 12,650 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,650ft
Freefall: 54s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Gino, Javier
23 May 2009
Great day of skydiving, man I love this club!
We had a bit of a bum start as the Boss was unable to make it, so that crushed our attempt at group photos, but we dusted ourselves off and got into the air. Horst was unable to skydive due to an 'old guy' injury, but he expects it to be all cleared up by next week, and we can't wait to jump with him. Gino is also making progress to being setup to jump with the group and we're really looking forward to that as well.
We had an excellent day of jumps, despite the difficulties the pilot seemed to be having spotting the plane. By my count he dropped two full sticks outside the DZ and one of our jumps I swear we landed closer to the Belgian/French border than we did the DZ. We were all very relieved to see the DZ van pull up, it would have been a long walk.
Lots of new equipment got rolled out as well. Rolandas aired out his new canopy and is now flying a 135, and he seemed to have no trouble with it at all. Javier got in the air with his new still camera, he's still shaking off the kinks but it seems to be working. Too bad he kept getting snot on all his lenses (bloody allergies). Rolandas also jumped his new altimeter, so he's all kitted up.
Jerzy returned to the air after a long layoff of 9 months. We're not quite sure how he managed to rack up his jump numbers and avoid getting a license, but it seems he has an FAI license now, so all is good. He looks like he's willing to learn and he seemed to enjoy jumping with the group.
The awesome team member award goes to Matt for giving Jerzy free packing lessons (which included two free pack jobs). The club owes Matt a lot for all the packing he's done, we know he's helped others with packing difficulties.
We also attmpted the clubs first 5 way...we almost got there to celebrate Matt's crossing into 2 hrs of freefall, but alas, it wasn't to be.
Quick note on the great attendance, we had SEVEN club members there. Andrea, Gino, Javier, Jerzy, Horst, Matt, and Rolandas.
SSC Jump 39
Exit Alt: 12,800 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,600 ft
Freefall: 61s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier, Jerzy, Rolandas
We decided to simplify the skydive, do another 3-way exit with Javier out on the camera step (where he can do no harm ha!). The exit went GREAT this time, as we practiced timing and Jerzy had more of a feel for where he needed to be on exit. It went really well down the hill. Javier left a little too late but his approach left us with some reasonable pictures. Javier approached the formation slow and steady, going only slightly low. He would have liked to have been quicker, but went for slow and smooth to avoid any disaster. Javier was really happy with his dock as it seemed to impart no impact to the formation.
The rest of the skydive was all of us just hanging out in a star. Most of us got kinda lazy with our leg positions, but we were having fun, had grips so it's understandable.
Matt watched the track from the ground, and it seems someone didn't get too much distance tracking--- be careful out there, make sure you track, your canopy needs space to inflate.
Jerzy didn't quite standup this landing, he'll work on it :)
SSC Jump 38
Time: 16:16
Exit Alt:12,900 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,500 ft
Freefall: 58s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier, Jerzy, Matt, Rolandas
Matt's 2hr in Freefall skydive and we went for a 5-way. We had a bit of a worry with Jerzy and his light jump numbers, but we tried to design the dive so we all could succeed. Unfortunately, the 3 way exit funneled, but we did manage to pull it back without having to break. Matt and Rolandas had planned to dive to pin, but Matt got a little to aggressive on his dive, went low, and had to work his way back up. Rolandas did okay and managed to dock onto the formation without too much difficulty.
Sadly, Matt's approach didn't go so well. As he approached the formation, he did reach a little for his grip, when Matt realized this, he released the grip, but Jerzy tried to grab him, and that move eventually ended with Jerzy on his back, going low, and we had a zoo dive. Javier decided to wave off to get everyone tracking to make sure that we all left Jerzy enough room to pull.
Jerzy managed a standup landing, which isn't bad for such a long layoff, and he's back in the sky. 4.5 way is the new club record :) Jarv jumped his camera and got snot over all his lenses. Managed some, umm, interesting pics on this one.
SSC Jump 37
Time: 12:51
Exit Alt: 12,650 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,350 ft
Freefall: 55s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier, Matt, Rolandas
The second skydive of the day was split into a 2 way freefly with Andrea and Javier while Matt and Rolandas did another canopy work jump. Matt and Rolandas got the better end of this deal because the spot, again, was way off. Matt, Rolandas, and a Tandem were the only ones who made it back. Javier and Andrea landed over 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the DZ and were lucky that the DZ van came and picked them up.
Andrea and Javier had a good freefly, with Andrea's backflying going really well. He seems to be having some difficulty with his legs when trying to transition to a sit, but that can be sorted out.
SSC Jump 36
Time: 11:29
Exit Alt: 12,600 ft
Deploy Alt: 7,400 ft
Freefall: 33s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPES: Andrea, Javier, Matt, Rolandas
This was sort of a hop & pop with an agreed high-altitude opening of 8,000ft in order to get Rolandas some good time under his new canopy. We had no dirt dive as this was a very short call. Javier didn't have time to assemble his camera helmet so luckily there isn't video of the really bad not practiced exit. It was a really good thing that we did pull as high as we did, because the spot was WAY off and all of us pretty much used ALL that altitude just to get back. It was a really nice relaxing ride though, and the great weather made for a great view. Winds were up a bit which was good to get Rolandas familiar with his canopy. There was intent to land 'in the circle', but none of us quite made it (javier cheated and kited his canopy into the peas)
10 May 2009
Clear blue skies were the order of the day, outstanding weather made for great fun. Andrea and Javier worked on their FS flying skills with observable improvements. Pace out there is excellent with skydives occuring about every 1.5 hours! Amazing that as a group we're up to 35 jumps, and our progession is fun to be a part of. It might still be possible to be able to enter in some sort of event before the end of the season.
SSC Jump 35
Time: 16:38
Exit Alt: 12,650ft
Deploy Alt:3,350ft
Freefall: 46s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
Having had great success with the previous skydive, we decided to just go out for a bit of fun freeflying. Attempted a head down exit that didn't go all that well, but we did manage to get into a sort of head down position. We decided to break off so that Andrea could get a little backflying in and maybe try a sit. His backflying was excellent and he should be transitioning to a sit very soon.
SSC Jump 34
Time: 14:53
Exit Alt: 13,100ft
Deploy Alt:2,500ft
Freefall: 55s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
What an unbelievably good jump! Exit went kinda wonky, but we sorted out that Andrea should be holding onto the plane and not any of the other jumpers...it wasn't horrible but just something Javier noticed. The skydive we put together was intentionally challenging---star, sidebody, both move to opposite sidebody, and both move to a ladder (opposite leg/armgrips). the first set of points didn't quite happen, but we reset and lo and behold, we moved smoothly through all points. We were both shocked and elated and just kinda celebrated until track time! It's coming together :)
SSC Jump 33
Time: 13:09
Exit Alt: 13,200ft
Deploy Alt: 2,450
Freefall: 65s
Aircraft: Pilatus Porter
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
We dialed down the complexity a little, looking for smaller moves and more points. We were able to work throught the points, but our flying still isn't totally smooth. Exit went very nicely and we started turning points on the hill. The sequence did have a single move where both of us and to turn simultaneous 90 degrees, but it wasn't too much of a tragedy. Again, we need to work on our smoothness...slow is fast.
SSC Jump 32
Time: 11:41
Exit Alt: 13,250
Deploy Alt:2,450
Freefall: 60s
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
We were probably a little too ambitious for this jump, and although we turned a few points, the number wasn't nearly as high as we'd like. we spent a little time chasing each other around the sky, nothing tragic, but proably related to too many moves requiring us both to move. Exit went well.
Finally, our first 3-day weekend filled with skydives! Not everyone could make every day, but we got a great bunch of training in. Friday turned out to be the best day of all weatherwise and allowed us to set a new club record for number of jumps in a day.
Saturday's weather wasn't nearly as good, and there were some issues with lift capacity. Although the Cessna Grand Caravan can carry more skydivers, it's slower rate of climb can really slow down the pace. Luckily once the Porter returned Matt and Javier were able to get 3 jumps in.
Sunday started with a promise of a beautiful day, but it all fell apart. Andrea, Matt and Javier hung tough though and braved the rough weather. I think we all got some IFR time for jumping through a 4,000 ft cloud. Still, we got some GREAT training in and everyone's flying skills are improving quickly.
03 May 2009
Javier made a poor weather call forgetting that we live in Belgium and the weather can change in the course of a few minutes. What started out as clear blue skies quickly turned into overcast and rainy. BUT, Matt, Javier and Andrea braved the weather and through good fortune and the magic of GPS were able to crank out 4 skydives. The great news is we took our training a bit more seriously today and really focused on our flying skills. Recognizing that our lack of a proper coach necessitated a change in our training plan was key to getting this done. We changed our diveplans so that every individual could focus on his own flying while relative to a known stable group. It worked really well and will likely be a big part of our next day out.
SSC Jump 31
Time: 16:57
Exit Alt: 13,500ft
Deploy Alt: 2,300ft
Freefall: 62s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Matt
This skydive was a continuation of jump 30. We were so pleased with our 'no touch' attempt that we wanted to continue. Javier had the first individual flying task this go-around. He backed away a bit, but was back in the formation relatively quickly. Andrea went next and his was spot-on (best of all actually). He released and stayed in place quite nicely and re-docked without any issues. Matt released and backed away much less than on the previous attempt and again redocked without issue. Javier was getting ready to have another go, but we got to break off altitude and had to knock it off.
Our exit was a disaster and cost us quite a bit of working time. Matt got a good workout at diving to pin though, so all was not lost. Not really sure what's wrong with our Caravan exits, but they never go right. Matt thinks he left early, but we're just not sure. We probably need to do a bit of practice with simple keying.
This was a planned accuracy jump as well (but not to the peas, it's just so far). Matt was spot on, Javier was a little short (there's only so much you can do when you open downwind), and Andrea was shorter.
SSC Jump 30
Time: 15:21
Exit Alt: 13,400ft
Deploy Alt: 2,400ft
Freefall: 60s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Matt
Learned from our previous skydive that all were moving so we stepped down the difficulty another notch. Plan was for each individual to undock, fly in place, then redock so we could assess our problems. A coach probably could sort this out quickly, but with no coach we're rolling our own and not doing all that bad really.
The exit went well, we came off on the hill nicely, but for some reason, it funneled after feeling really good. Javier thinks it was his fault for extending his legs while on the hill, but we're not totally sure.
Matt was first to seperate and he backslid massively. He recovered nicely though. Andrea and Javier worked hard to keep their 2-way piece 'aimed' at Matt (rotated the piece as necessary) Andrea had a similar problem, but again, recovered niceley. We were out of time before Javier had a change to go. We learned TONS on this jump.
This was a planned accuracy jump - Matt made the peas solidly, Javier just made it, Andrea was out (a little short).
SSC Jump 29
Time: 14:07
Exit Alt: 13,100ft
Deploy Alt: 2,150ft
Freefall: 59s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Matt
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
This was our second attempt at our 'no touch' FS. Again, we had a disastrous exit, but this time we had the aircraft to blame (not sure that was the real reason). Once we recovered the exit, and were all docked, we all released and everyone went everywhere (EVERYONE was backsliding). We spent the rest of the skydive chasing each other round until we managed to all get back together, then we were simply out of altitude.
This was a planned accuracy - Matt made the peas (barely), Javier and Andrea missed (excuse was traffic...good excuse as it seemed everyone from the caravan was trying to make the peas).
SSC Jump 28
Time: 12:01
Exit Alt: 13,450ft
Deploy Alt: 2,350ft
Freefall: 60s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Matt
We had a bit of a debate on what to try, but decided to slow things way down and simply work on a 'no touch' FS drill dive where we would start in a 'star', release and hold, then redock. Assuming it went well we were going to attempt turning some points.
Weather pretty much cancelled our plan. As we climbed through the cloud base at 4,000ft all started wondering how thick the cloud layer was. After 4,000ft of clouds, Matt made a call to abandon the working skydive and we would simply hold our docked positions for safety. None of us wanted to be lost in such a thick layer of clouds.
Exit didn't go so well. Matt was closest to the prop, Andrea at tail (new position for him), and Javier, as usual in the plane. Not terribly sure what went wrong, but I think all had something to do with it. in the end, only Javier and Andrea were docked and Matt fell off.
The disaster of the exit put Javier and Andrea in a headdown position, which Javier kind of enjoyed, but had to 'knock it off' so that Matt could catchup before we got in the clouds. Matt worked the whole jump trying to rejoin while Javier and Andrea just held fast in the hopes that the cloud would just go away.
We knocked off for lunch to hope the clouds would go away.
02 May 2009
We were obviously hoping the great weather from Friday would carry over into Saturday, but that wasn't in the cards. We weather delayed until the afternoon (Javier did a McDonald's run while Matt grumbled for having spent Friday doing other things). Finally the weather broke and we got in the air late afternoon. The thing to learn was it's possible to get three skydives in even if you start very late (important to note in case we ever want to knock off early from work and go skydive)
SSC Jump 27
Time: 19:59
Exit Alt: 13,050ft
Deploy Alt: 2,250ft
Freefall: 60s
Falling SHAPEs: Javier, Matt
Ladder Exit
SSC Jump 26
Time: 18:54
Exit Alt: 14,250ft
Deploy Alt: 2,200ft
Freefall: 64s
Falling SHAPEs: Javier, Matt
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Matt suggested we work on FS, but we strongly suspect his suggestion was based on how cold he was and he wanted to switch to a jumpsuit that covered his tattoos. Stairstep Exit (kind of an open star) worked out GREAT and flew really well, Javier started moving to a
SSC Jump 25
Attempted Freefly
Time: 15:55
Exit Alt: 13,600ft
Deploy Alt: 2,250ft
Freefall: 57s
Falling SHAPEs: Javier, Matt
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Figured we'd start the day with a fun freefly jump to see if we couldn't get Matt sitting. Unfortunately, Matt had planned on the weather being great and got on the aircraft with only a t-shirt and tattoos to keep him warm. He probably forgot that learning to sit without any drag on your upper body is quite challenging as well.
Javier got out on the camera step and delayed his exit to be above Matt to observe his backflying. Matt was going to backfly and attempt to sit up from it. He had some reasonable success and even managed 3-4 second sit---enough to force Javier to go to his sit to catchup. Good fun skydive.
01 May 2009
The weather was GREAT, but the weekend got of to a bit of a rocky start. Javier forgot the bolt that holds his camera helmet together (the trials of a dual role video camera) so there is exactly zero footage for the day. But, it did afford us all the opportunity to concentrate on skydiving and not worry about looking good on camera.
Today also lead to a new club record of 5 skydives for a single outing. The longer days are smiling on us.
SSC Jump 24
Time: 17:39
Exit Alt: 12,550ft
Deploy Alt: 2,550ft
Freefall: 58s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
Tracking Jump
SSC Jump 23
Time:15:41
Exit Alt: 13,200ft
Deploy Alt: 2,550ft
Freefall: 59s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
SSC Jump 22
Time:14:21
Exit Alt: 12,750ft
Deploy Alt: 2,400ft
Freefall: 56s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
SSC Jump 21
Time: 12:45
Exit Alt: 12,950ft
Deploy Alt: 2,350ft
Freefall: 60s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
SSC Jump 20
Time: 11:41
Exit Alt: 13,050ft
Deploy Alt: 2,100ft
Freefall: 63s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
19 Apr 2009
Today was an unplanned family day, with all families invited to just hang out, have lunch, and have everyone enjoy each other's company. Javier and Andrea both showed up with their families and all had a great time. We got to meet Andrea's newborn, and Javier's boy had good fun digging up dirt and having lunch. All enjoyed lunch at the DZ with their excellent and excessively large baguettes.
We Even Managed to skydive a couple of times!
SSC Jump 19
Time:14:27
Exit Alt: 13,000ft
Deploy Alt: 2,550 ft
Freefall: 57s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
This was an attempt to get Andrea sitflying. We tried to get him a clean exit with Javier following on the camera step, but Andrea blew straight back and hit Javier on the way out. Not a big deal since we were both wearing parachutes. Andrea practiced a bit of backlying trying to come up to a sit...he did manage to get into a fast sit at some point as Javier had to get into a sit to keep up! Great Job Andrea!
SSC Jump 18
Time:12:08
Exit Alt: 13,500 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,500 ft
Freefall: 63s
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
Andrea and Javier started the day with a simple 2 way, Javier wanted to work on staying in place while Andrea worked on in-place turns. Both were going to work on their 'Mantis' position. Exit was pretty much flawless, but 2-way exits are kind of easy. The jump went well, but Javier noticed that whenever he went to 'mantis' he dropped right out. Javier still was backsliding a bit, but he corrected it for a few points.
Weather was, well, marginal. The French aviation rules let us jump in cloudcover that would send others running away in fear. It's a bit unnerving to jump without being able to see the ground, but I guess you know it's somewhere down there below the clouds. GPS is a wonderful invention.
Congratulations go to Andrea for his shiny new Z-1 helmet! The club has jumped so much new gear, plenty of 'firsts', jump numbers that cross a double zero---we should have plenty to drink when we have a large bbq :)
13 April 2009
What a great weekend of skydiving. This was a planned skydiving weekend over the Easter holiday, and although the weather did not cooperate for the entire weekend, we got two days of skydiving in. Of course, the extrea holiday time of Friday and Monday really helped. We made an attempt to jump friday, but weather just would not cooperate. Sunday was crimped as well---but no matter, we got 6 jumps in for the weekend and accomplished not a whole lot, save for having a great time. Matt got to show off his new gear, as well as an inspection of the Bosses new gear---which made us all a bit suspect in his taste, but with kit like that, he's gonna have to be a great flyer with all the attention it's going to gather.
Progress in the 'demo' arena is being made as people are managing to land withing a few meters of each other on every skydive, so that's looking up!
SSC Jump 17
Time:16:08
Exit Alt: 12,450 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,550 ft
Freefall: 61s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
Last skydive to wrapup the weekend and it was a great one. We selected a tracking dive as they are too much fun and dead easy. Javier was on his back, and he needs to work on improving his backtrack, but it wasn't horrible, we got horizontal movement, but far from a max track. Exit went great, and Matt even got out on the camera step without falling off. To tell the truth, I think we all kinda hoped just a little bit that he would slip off so we could have something to ride him on for the rest of the season, but he had none of that.
Exit was smooth and good looking, relative flying was really good.
Demo practice landings were spot on, with everyone landing within 3 meters of each other.
This was a great way to end a weekend!
SSC Jump 16
Time: 14:26
Exit Alt: 12,750 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,500 ft
Freefall: 57 s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
Inspired by our 'success'? if the last jump, we decided to throw caution to the wind and do some bloody fun jumping. Plan was for a 2 way coach jump with Javier/Rolandas with Matt 'lurking' and pulling high. Rolandas sitfly exit was pretty good, but for some reason he can't hold the sit---Javier's sit coaching skills need help too, because he can't sort out what Rolandas is doing wrong.
Matt felt pretty good about the exit, right up until Rolandas/Javier got in a sit, then he couldn't keep up :)
The boss's rig has a Freefly handle, maybe that will inspire us all to become much better sitflyers.
Landings are good! Some seem to be inspired to take shots at the pea gravel, but Javier insists it's such a long walk so 'close to the hangar' is working for now.
SSC Jump 15
Time: 13:07
Exit Alt: 12,650 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,350 ft
Freefall: 57 s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
This was a working skydive with an attempt to do some FS. We had..umm... 'limited' success?. We kind of funneled the exit, but managed to recover it through some weird voodoo magic hope, but when we tried to move from a Star to a donut---everyone was all over the sky. Matt went low, rolandas went back, and Javier went---well... if everyon'es moving then who isn't moving? Bugger. Javier chased Matt down, docked on him and waited for Rolandas to show up--- when Rolandas rejoined, Javier did some improvised FS by taking grips and sort of pulling everyone into a 'satellite'--- I think that was our last 'official' point of the skydive. Still, fun was had by all.
We continued to work with 'follow' the first man down, and all are landing pretty close. It's good demo practice.
11 April 2009
SSC Jump 14
Time: 14:56
Exit Alt: 13,100 ft
Deploy Alt:2,500 ft
Freefall: 57s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
This was an attempted Head Down jump- after a disastrous attempt to recreate a 'left over right' exit that Javier couldn't quite remember how to do, this changed to a 3 way head down exit. it turned out to be impossible to keep levels, and I'm not sure we ever got quite headdown. We gave up after a bit and chased each other round the sky which was right good fun. Javier remembered to turn the video camera on :)
SSC Jump 13
Time: 13:46
Exit Alt: 13,000 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,350
Freefall: 59 s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
Every once in awhile, the camera guy screws up--- Javier, ummm, forgot to turn on his camera before exit so we missed videotaping our most perfect 3-way star launch. it was a thing of beauty, and shocked everyone in the formation to the point of being so stunned everyone forgot what to do next.
SSC Jump 12
Time: 11:53
Exit Alt: 13,200 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,200 ft
Freefall: 60 s
Falling SHAPEs: Matt, Javier, Rolandas
Aircraft: Cessna Grand Caravan
I can't bloody remember what happened, I'm going to have to review the video :) All i remember is going out onto the camera step, what the plan was..I just don't know. I'm sure we all had fun :)
5 April 2009
What unbelievable weather! An unplanned day but with the weeks' weather, we couldn't wait for the weekend to get out and jump. Sunday marks the SSC first day of spring and we put it to good use. Our pace was spectacular with skydives happening for us on the order of every 2 hours. We definately felt we were on the "jump, pack, dirt dive, repeat cycle". We set a club record for skydives with 4 on this clear sky, no wind day---we thought about going for 5 but everyone agreed that it we should return to our families in time for sunset and dinner.
We had 3 members show up and the jumps today were GREAT with little to no gross buffoonery. Everyone seems to be improving, learning, and having fun. Can't wait for our next outing. We even successfully launched a 3 way, redeeming our previous shameful attempt!
SSC Jump 11
Time: 16:20
Exit Alt: 12,700
Deploy Alt: 2,550
Freefall: 57 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
We chose to do a 3-way tracking dive to finish the day (tracking dives are the best way to close a day don't you think?). Exit was really good with Andrea out on the camera step, and Rolandas and Javier in the door. Javier keyed the jump and served as the rabbit was supposed to track on his back. Everyone left on time and in position, but Javier got really steep after launch (we think he may have thought he was on a headdown jump for a bit), but after he got his head back in the game we tracked away.
Javier was really steep for most of the jump, so Rolandas and Andrea couldn't close vertical seperation. It seemed every move he made only made the distance worse (if he flattened his track, he seemed to seperate horizontally as well)... so the dive wasn't all that relative. The good news is Rolandas and Andrea were very close together. Video was rubbish due to distance.
Still, all had fun and it was a great end to the day.
SSC Jump 10
Time: 14:37
Exit Alt: 13,200
Deploy Alt: 2,250
Freefall: 61 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier, Rolandas
Rolandas was able to join Javier and Andrea on this jump after completing his normal workday, that's dedication! We planned a drill dive 3 way, starting from a 'star' each member would go through the center of the formation, dock, then through the formation to turn and form another star. We managed 6 points (out of a possible 7 for a full sequence) which isn't bad considering the disaster the teams first 3-way was.
The launch was a thing of beauty compared to the team's first launch. We did a long brief on the exit so that everyone understood where exactly they needed to be in the door and what to do on the key. Andrea did an awesome job of keying the launch and moving into position and everyone left on time so there was no funnel and we got right on the hill. It may have even been possible to turn a point on the hill but why press your luck.
Javier discovered he was backsliding on the first point, but he corrected his mistake by the end of the skydive. Andrea went low near the end of the jump but was well on his way to recovering that as well. Rolandas seemed to be in a good spot for most of the jump, but he probably let a little too much distance develop between points as well. All minor problems and I'm sure we'll refine them as jumps continue.
This was jump number 500 for Javier!!!!! (We know he was listed as 500 jumps, but someone rounded up)
SSC Jump 9
Time: 12:45
Exit Alt: 12,750
Deploy Alt: 2,400
Freefall: 58 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
After Jump 8's confidence builder, Javier and Andrea planned another, slightly more complex 2 way with alternating sidebodys. Andrea went outside for the exit this time and did a great job with the exit as it didn't go over or funnel. They probably could have turned points on the hill.
Jump wasn't bad at all---not arizona airspeed, but we did some stuff. Javier had a big 'going low' incident, but Andrea made up the distance pretty quick. Andrea discovered that when presenting a sidebody he needs to not just turn, but keep position/side slide to help present the grip.
Rolandas showed up at the DZ while Andrea and Javier were already on a call, so he had to sit this one out, but he was ready to go for the next one!
A good working skydive.
SSC Jump 8
Time: 11:12
Exit Alt: 12,150
Deploy Alt: 2200
Freefall: 55 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
Andrea did some homework and read the
FS manuals posted on our site. He was highly enthusiastic about the Mantis position and couldn't wait to try it. He wanted to do a solo, but Javier would have none of that, so they did a drill dive to focus on the Mantis position. Since neither of them are experts on it, they talked about what they'd each read or had been taught and came up with a plan for a simple drill dive with head on docks and alternating in-place 360's.
Exit was linked with Javier in the door and Andrea inside. Unfortunately no one remembered the exits part of the FS manuals so they just kinda sorted it on their own. Javier kinda wrecked the exit/didn't get 'out' enough, but it wasn't a total disaster, it seemed to go over once and stabilized. Andrea seemed to have a good basic mantis position and keeping levels was dead easy. Javier thought his mantis was okay as well, but since he's writing this particular log, his critique is a bit biased. Andrea's turns were a little slow as he was working on form, javier was super quick and no one knows if his form is anwyhere close to correct.
The spot was a bit long and Andrea didn't make it all the way back to the main landing area. He still landed on the airport though, but the tall wet grass wetup our shoes and made our feet cold on the next jump. Javier pulled a little higher and could have made the landing area, but chose to land near Andrea instead just for laughs.
It was a superfun skydive and a great start to an awesome day.
Javier now has over 8 hours in freefall!!!!!!!
29 March 2009
Today was totally unplanned, with the only real goal being showing up to the DZ to buy our block tickets. Luckily, the afternoon weather wasn't bad at all (if a bit cold) and Rolandas gave Javier a last minute call to head out to the DZ. We managed to show up early afternoon, but there was an incident at the DZ that kind of slowed down getting Rolandas manifested. We hope the skydiver who hurt himself heals quickly.
The good news is the club now owns 100 tickets split amongst 4 skydivers! Enjoy the jumps!
SSC Jump 7
Exit Alt: 12,200
Deploy Alt: 2,000
Freefall: 63 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Rolandas, Javier
Our only jump of the day, but it was quite successful. Rolandas was coming off of a long layoff so we did a simple RW drill dive. Rolandas exit was excellent, with Javier on the camera step, both flew it well and were docked soon after coming off the hill. They managed to turn a few points without too much excitement, staying relatively close (maybe that's why they call it RW). Rolandas wanted to pull a little bit higher, mostly to have lots of time to shake off the long layoff cobwebs, but partially because he knew that Tom had done the pack job on this particular rental rig. Rolandas pulled in place while Javier shot the opening, and as Rolandas had suspected, the pack job wasn't all that sweet. His canopy opened like a BASE rig and Rolandas is hoping he doesn't bruise...Tom might owe a beer for that one :)
Rolandas also showed up to get his brand-new rig inspected and reserve repacked. It looked great and he can't wait to jump it. He is looking for some help to transition down to the 135 that's in there, so if anyone knows someone with a 150 he can put a few jumps on let him know.
Landings were uneventful, and they decided to 'knock it off' so they could both pursue some prescheduled life maintenance. Both were glad they could squeeze a skydive into the day!
22 March 2009
We had planned to jump today, but the morning weather was call for cancellation. But, later in the afternoon, the skies broke---Andrea and Javier made a spot decision at about 1430 to head to the DZ to see if they could save the day and get some jumps in and it worked!
SSC Jump 6
Exit Alt: 13,300
Deploy Alt: 2,400
Freefall: 56 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
Jump 5 demonstrated the need to really work on some better RW flying so Andrea and Javier planned for a 'no touch' RW drill dive. Andrea achieved another first by going out onto the camera step for a fun unlinked exit (hey, who doesn't like being on the camera step!). The exit was dead simple went smoothly. Andrea and Javier did an initial dock then unlinked and held position. They spent most of the jump within a grips reach of each other, drifting out of range only once or twice (unfortunately, the unplanned day led to Javier leaving his camera at home so no video grrrr).
With the skydive going well, Javier decided to have a bit of fun and went into a sit leaving Andrea up, up, up and away :) Once Andrea realized what Javier was up to, he attempted a sit but only succeeded in several backflips, but it was a nice try!
The landings were uneventful, Javier landing very close to the flags and Andrea close after (no planned target, just nice to have a short walk to the hangar). Finally, almost forgot to mention that this was a sunset load and there were only 7 skydivers on the porter---it was a fast, comfy ride to altitude and kudo's go to the DZ for sending the plane with 7!
SSC Jump 5
Exit Alt: 13,600
Deploy Alt: 2,400
Freefall: 67 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Javier
Andrea and Javier planned a simple 2-way, with both some freeflying and rw work. Javier took Andrea on his first headdown attempt by doing a linked exit straight into headdown. Headdown exit went really well and stabilized into a very fast vertical. Andrea was amazed at the speed--it appeared they were stable enough to go for a 'flower' linked only by their hands, but since they didn't discuss it there was no attempt.
The rest of the jump was spent on their bellies, trying to turn some simple points. The first dock was a bit of trouble, with no real reason why. Javier felt like he was really pushing forward so it may be possible that Andrea was backsliding, but without a windtunnel who knows :)
After the initial dock, Javier attempted to offer a sidebody, but that greatly increased the gap between the two. They did manage to get together with one more front dock, then it was time to wave off.
Landing was onsite and uneventful.
15 March 2009
SSC Jump 4
Exit Alt: 13,300 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,400 ft
Freefall: 52 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Javier
This was an unplanned day for the falling SHAPE's, but the weather was so unbelievbably good for early March Javier decided to head to the DZ. Unfortunately, no one else was able to make it on Sunday so Javier did a solo freefly jump. The jump went good, as all solo's do because there's no one else there to say "hey, you're not headdown, you're in a track!". Javier spent some tim on his head, then transitioned to a sit...he practiced a bit on his back for future 'below the formation' video, then transitioned back to a sit for the reast of the jump to just enjoy the view.
Since no other falling SHAPE's were available, Javier decided to cutaway from the DZ to save his jump tickets to jump with the club...he's looking forward to the next event with falling SHAPEs.
14 March 2009
SSC Jump 3
Exit alt: 13,600 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,500 ft
Freefall: 54 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Horst, Javier
We had a good day even though only two of us were present. However, the great news is Andrea added to the club with his brand new baby boy! CONGRATULATIONS!
Horst shook off his cobwebs and got his first jump of the season in with Javier---He's now an 'official' falling SHAPE. They attempted a headdown exit to introduce Horst to freeflying, but Javier just wasn't able to pull Horst headdown. Horst is a really big guy and can exert his authority in the air :) After they gave up on headdown, they started doing 2 way unpracticed rw which seemed to go fairly well. Horst made up for all of Javier's mistakes making the skydive look great.
Sadly, since they were the only two present, and with bad weather starting to roll in, they decided to knock it off after one jump.
7 March 2009
SSC Jump 2
Exit Alt: 13,400 ft
Delploy Alt: 2,100 ft
Freefall: 64 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Matt, Tom, Javier
SSC Jump 1
Exit Alt: 13,100 ft
Deploy Alt: 2,200 ft
Freefall: 60 sec
Falling SHAPEs: Andrea, Matt, Javier
We had an awesome weekend even though we were only able to get in 2 jumps on Saturday. The Belgian weather is still slightly uncooperative, but we did get Saturday Morning for two skydives.
6 Skydivers showed up, but only 4 were prepared to jump with others having either family obligations or deciding it was simply too cold up there.
For those of us who did jump, we had a blast! The first jump of the day was kind of a surprise with a 20 minute call turning into a now call in about 10 seconds. Unfortunately, that caught the boss by surprise and he wasn't able to get into his jumpsuit quickly enough to make the plane. We were really sorry to miss the boss on the ride up, but it sure made the plane ride comfy :).
The skydive was a blast--Matt and Andrea did a 2-way exit with Javier on the camera step. He claims they tricked him into leaving early, but we have the video so you can decide for yourself. The jump was a zoo, with varying fallrates between the three, but we came very close to becoming a stable 3-way right up until Matt took everyone out.
Jump two got the four of us in the air at one time. The boss had plenty of time to get dressed so we had to jam ourselves in the plane. Again, Javier was out on the camera step. We're starting to think he bought that camera just to keep himself away from the exits. Javier had a great laugh watching this particular exit as it went wonky from the outset. Both Andrea and Tom had death grips on the formation and since no one was willing to let go, it was kind of a disaster. We're not really sure how they hung on for so long---at one point it even looks like they are heading for a headdown flower; which would have been really cool if that's what they were trying to do--- but they weren't.
Sadly, that jump brought with it colder weather, some light rain, and the end of the day. But the club is cranking up, we've got a starting point, and we've got memories to carry us through the workweek. It looks like we're targeting next Saturday to try again!