Gotta love this Texas heat!!!

I now have over 75 tandems, all out of a Cessna 182 in the Texas heat. Yes folks, it has been a hot summer with many days in the 100s. But I have been toughing it out- still staying postive and energetic towards my students. I make a conscious effort to make them feel relaxed and upbeat. When my students are hooked up to me, I can have a better feel for their breathing patterns (are they breathing fast and shallow? Are they breathing up in their shoulders and chest?) and muscle tension (are they stiff or lose?). It gives me a good idea how nervous they are. Students that are too nervous = not arching in freefall. I don't want them to take me for a ride and I want them to have a good time. By reading their behavior, asking them how they are feeling, answering their questions, and explaining what is going on will make for an easier freefall and a fun experience. I even took a student who was 216 lbs last weekend! He was no problem because he was so relaxed in the plane.

Lately, I've had to almost "defend" my credentials because students and wuffos ask me things like, "You've done this before right?" It's so funny when they ask questions such as, "When we exit, am I going to me hooked up to you?" I love it when they give me that look, "You're my tandem instructor?" Being a tandem instructor is very empowering!

My work at the gym has paid off. I have been getting a lot more upper body strength and it shows. I can flare by myself on a more consistent basis, and steering is a lot easier too. I'm landing closer to the pea pit more often, and I'm having more stand up landings too.

I did it!!!

I got my tandem rating!! Yahoo! After busting my ass in the gym 8-10 a week, I finally am able to flare. I even consistently landed near the catchers. My biggest concern is my position in the door, but that will get better over time. I haven't taken any students yet, but I'm sure that is when the REAL learning begins. I'm very nervous and excited! I'm guessing this summer is going to be filled with tandems and video flying. Sounds like a summer of fun to me!

I don't like potato chips

I don't like to eat them either. If you're a skydiver, you know what I mean.

I completed Level III of my Strong Tandem certification last Sunday, this time it was out of a Cessna. I think I was rushing because I had less altitude to work with, so maybe I was rushing. I knew that I was potato chipping in freefall, so I tried to relax, arch, and put my legs further out into the air. I think that is where I went wrong- I TRIED to relax. Relax is about putting LESS effort in, by letting go. Instead I put more imput in, and the potato chipping continued.

I passed the level with flying colors, even though I made a few mistakes. I forgot to detach and reattach the primary drogue release from the student's harness to my harness. I also talked about landing too late under canopy (during the base leg). No biggie- these are all fixable mistakes that aren't a huge deal.

Even though I am making progress towards my instructor's rating, I'm a little frustrated. I still can't flare the 400 SETS canopy. Despite my big efforts to get stronger at the gym, I am not any closer to getting a full flare. Here's the rub: I will probably be taking smaller people on tandems, so it will be easier to flare. But they probably won't be able to help me. The larger passengers make it harder to flare, but they will be able to help me. So which is it? Hmmmmm.......

Recent Updates

I'm making more progress on my tandem certification training. I did another tandem jump, this time on the front as the student. I threw the drogue, did handle checks, and some 360s. I also pulled the primary drogue release to deploy the canopy. I could flare all the way this time, but I had a hard time transfering the steering lines down from the shoulders to the chest height. Once they were at chest height, I could flare all the way. So all of that hard work at the gym is starting to pay off! The winds were so high, we were holding into the wind the whole time and we were going backwards the whole way! Instead of cutting away the canopy, we just laid down and pulled in a toggle. The catchers couldn't get there in time because we were going backwards so fast! I could hear Mr. Bill in the back of head going, "Oh no!" :) So I passed that level. I haven't been able to do another jump since, but I am getting other things done in the meantime. Watching the training DVD, filling out forms, completing tests, and I got my medical certificate. And of course, working out at the gym, building up my guns. GRRRR!!!! Hopefully, if the weather cooperates, I will be able to knock out the next 3 jumps in Phase I of the training.

Another update is that Jump for the Cause is going to feature both a 3 Ring Necklace design AND a bracelet! They are available for purchase here, or through the JFTC website (well, they will be available for purchase throught the JFTC website very soon!). Check out the pictures. On on side it says, "JFTC" and "2009" on the other side. Pink beads are in between the number and letter beads. The bracelet features braided black leather cord, pink beads, and a glass heart shaped bead with a pink ribbon on it. Proceeds of these products goes toward JFTC!!!

Beer!

I owe beer BIG time!!! And this time I'm not hiding it.

One of my goals this year is to get my tandem rating. I recently had the opportunity presented to me to become a tandem instructor. I love videoing and working with students- it's so thrilling to be a part of someone's first freefall experience. I have all of the qualifications to enter the course (except for the medical certificate which I can get no problem): I've had 2 cutaways, my coach rating, over 700 jumps, etc... I have full confidence about being a tandem instructor when it comes to student training, hook up in the plane, exit, freefall, emergency procedures, and the like.

But here's the rub: I can't flare a SETS-400 all the way. If it was a 360 or an Icarus, I'm sure I'd be able to do it. But that is a BIG problem. Now, being in Texas and there's a lot of wind here, so that may not be a huge problem since you don't have to flare all the way in those conditions. However, it isn't always going to be windy. And I HAVE to be able to flare the canopy all the way. I know there are quite a few women tandem masters out there and they have been able to do it~ why not me? I have been working very hard at the gym, strengthening my triceps, pecs, lats, and all that jazz.

I took the instructor examiner for a trial run to see if I could flare the canopy from the back. (He did a thorough briefing, so don't worry that he just threw the rig on my back and off we went.) To my disappointment, I could only flare 2/3s of the way. I did everything else great, but that. He landed for us so I didn't have to risk it.

So I have been thinking a lot about this dilemma lately and this one very important problem holding me back. I decided that I am up for the challenge, and when I DO conquer it, the victory is going to be that much more sweet!

New Designs!

Hello all- I just purchased some new camera gear and I am loving camera flying! It puts a huge smile and my face to see people enjoying themselves in free fall for the first time. Since my boyfriend started working as a tandem instructor, I don't get to jump with him anymore. Well, now that I'm flying camera for him, we get to jump together! Funny how things work out like that sometimes, huh?

I've been jumping at Skydive 35 recently, and I had a mini-adventure the other day. The upper winds were surprisingly strong, and on deployment I made the mistake of tracking AWAY from the landing area. I was so far away, I decided that I'm not even going to try and land there. Besides, if I did try, I knew I would be landing downwind. That's not a big deal, but if I'm going to be landing and be completely alone, then I don't want to be injured where there's no one around to help me. I looked down and starting looking at houses, thinking to myself, "Well, there's a car parked in the driveway at that house. Maybe someone is home that can give me a ride back." There were a lot of dirt roads, but there was a paved road that made it easy to get back to the drop zone. Plus there were no power lines or obstacles. So I landed there and some drove up, not 15 seconds later. The lady was so nice to drive me back. I guess with all of that skydiving gear, I didn't look like a serial killer!!

All is...ok...on the homefront

I've always wanted to lose some weight quickly, but this is ridiculous!

Apparently I picked up some stomach/gut bug, and it didn't agree with me...at all. I'll spare you the exact details because for all I know, you could be eating right now. What it comes down to is that after 3 days of being sick, I lost 6 pounds. Wow- I couldn't lose 6 pounds in a month let alone 3 days! So I'm at home, "enjoying" old episodes of random sitcoms, making new necklace designs. I posted 4 pictures of new necklaces. If you don't see something you like, send me an email at 3ringnecklace@gmail.com with an idea of what you're looking for. For the last handful of orders, I custom designed them as per the customer's request.

Stay safe and blue skies, Beth