I found myself back at the skydiving drop zone once again and it was time for a ten second delay.  The last time I found myself on my back and I had practice the arch all week so I was all geared up and ready to go.  I went with my picture of health girlfriend once again and this time packed my own shoot on the ground before going up.

There were a number of military guys that were former sports athletes were also there in training.  They had executed a few jumps before we arrived and were all jazzed up from their experiences.  We went up into the air and it was just me, two other students, the instructor and pilot in the Cessna 182.  They were jumping at a higher altitude than I was due to the progression in training.

I climbed out on the wing as before and jumped.  For some reason I reached with my arms down toward the ground and I was immediately flopping all over the place like a leaf in the autumn wind.  I kept the count in my head and was completely out of control.  I then arched and was stable as I had ever been.  The importance of the arch cannot be understated.  It works!  I pulled my shoot and the canopy opened without a hitch.

The wind was rather strong this fine Arizona day.  I was told by the spotter on the ground to face into the wind which left the drop zone well behind me.  The wind was so powerful that I think my decent rate was one tenth of the typical rate.  It was a long ride down.  I could not play much with the canopy and practice turns as a result.  I was supposed to have pulled my shoot by 4000 feet but instead pulled at 4000 feet, which I received a minor scolding for when I got to the ground.  When I finally reached close to the ground I performed very quick “S” turns as any direction change that was not facing the wind caused a major shift away from the landing zone.

I touched down softly and was amazed as to how much I learned in just ten seconds.  I went from out of control to spot on.  My fitness was improving and I was feeling good.  It was an incredible confidence booster in the positioning and the instruction that I had received.

One of the other students that jumped from a slightly higher altitude than I did had a radio malfunction and was not able to hear the spotter on the ground.  As a result of the malfunction he ended up landing on the tarmac.  He was so glad to have gotten to the ground safely that he raised his arms in the air in celebration just as another gust of wind passed by, caught his shoot and yanked him backward causing him to land on his butt.  Be sure to take care of the canopy right after you land, especially in high to moderate wind conditions.  We all laughed as he walked back with a giant grin on his face and the parachute under his arms.  It was a pretty great day.