So it's been 4 weeks since I last jumped and now I'm heading to a new country, with an unknown landing area, unknown instructors, unknown kit, unknown plane, never mind all the stress of actually getting there in the first place!
But I was not alone :-) Tegan and Merline were also intrepid explorers, with Tegan being an absolute star and doing nearly all the driving, both in the UK and Spain. Robyn was also supposed to be coming with us, but unfortunately she went down with 'flu a couple of days before we left and was too ill to even contemplate flying, never mind jumping.
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| Exit at 15,000 feet :-) |
After several mini-adventures (like getting lost on the way to the airport and nearly missing our flight!) and getting lost again in Seville trying to follow the directions to the dropzone (it would help if the road planners in Seville actually put up the occasional road sign!), we finally turned up at Skydive Spain. Steve Saunders gave us a very thorough dz briefing and refresh, after which my brain was fried so I decided I was too tired to jump. Tegan also declined, but Merline decided she wanted to get the first one out of the way, so she got kitted up whilst I tried to stay awake....
Seville is a pretty challenging dz to land at for inexperienced jumpers - the pattern is only West-East or East-West regardless of the wind due to hazards North and South (olive groves North and power lines plus olive groves South), and the ground is as hard as concrete. The eastern end of the landing area also slopes quite a lot and is surrounded by a ditch.....
Merline's jump went pretty well, though she said it was difficult to find the landmarks from 15,000 feet. That freaked me out a bit, so in the morning, I decided to do a hop and pop so I could spot the landing area more easily, and would also be in the air on my own so wouldn't have to worry too much about a landing pattern.
I jumped a Nav 240 and landed quite nicely on my feet, though I bailed from the landing area and went for the field the other side of the ditch. I found the landmarks quite easily because I had been watching them from the moment the plane took off - a hop and pop from 7,000' was obviously an easier option than going straight to the top!
Over the course of the day I did 5 more jumps, though my landings were somewhat variable. I met the ditch up close and personal on one occasion and also managed my first uneven flare which caused me to crash out sideways. Sooo much to think about whilst trying to do my CH2 exercises, though I have loads more to practice and some new techniques to try out, particularly for using the front risers. Each time I came down, Steve would be watching my exercises and landings, and each time, it was a case of "go on back up, do it again!". By the end of the day I was wiped out - I think the most jumps I've done in a day is 4 up until now, so 6 was definitely enough :-) But not quite enough to pass my CH2 since I only had 4 of the required 5 declared landings. Merline had managed to qualify for her A licence so we still had something to celebrate. And it was lovely to be warm and basking ourselves in glorious sunshine, especially compared with the freezing temperatures back home.
So back I went on Sunday morning to have another go. This time, I opted for another hop and pop so I could focus on the canopy exercises and that proved to be a good decision. I landed in the grass area with good canopy control, on my feet. Happy bunny :-) And Steve signed me off ! Merline and Tegan had both decided not to jump on Sunday and the winds were picking up a bit, so we watched a couple of loads land, then headed off to the spa for the afternoon. I also had a much needed massage :-)
A chilled evening was followed by a good night's sleep, then back to the dz for breakfast and to say goodbye to everyone before heading back to the airport. What a fabulous weekend!
