First a bit of back story - I and a few other AFF students were sitting at a picnic table waiting for manifest to call our load, and chit-chatting about our experience so far and the various instructors we jumped with when a lady student says something to the effect of "I like Noah but I feel like he's always yelling at me " and my response was along the lines of "if you're not sure then he's not yelling at you - I'm sure there will be no doubt if he does yell at you " and everyone chuckled and agreed and we continued the chatting.
A little later the load call comes and Noah comes over to me and says let's go, we're together on the next load. We gear up and go up for my Cat E dive. Time comes and we're both out of the plane - I get stable within a few seconds for maybe a second - just long enough to look Noah in the eyes as he flys to me - and then everything goes bad! I lose my arch and stability and flip onto my back and am looking at the sky, falling like a ragdoll and within 2 seconds Noah goes from less than 5 feet in front of me to me looking at him through my feet from 50 feet away!
I struggled for what I thought was about 6 seconds to get stable, thinking i could get stable within the next second, every second, and in fact did regain stability - unfortunately it was (upon reviewing the video) 13 seconds that I was out of control- the video is actually funny to watch - now, but not at the time...
Anyway, I get stable and Noah is right there - no idea how - we finish the skydive and I land and collect my canopy and go to talk to Noah - and at that point I KNOW Noah is yelling at me...
Damn does he chew me a new one for not pulling earlier/after 5 seconds. The earlier conversation with my fellow students immediately comes to mind. He yells at me, and deservedly so, for a bit but then his voice changes and he says something like "very good recovery, I've never seen anyone so out of control for as long as you were regain the stability you demonstrated for the rest of the dive - congratulations".
Previous to that dive I was unsure if I wanted to continue - when I got home after that dive I bought a G4. I figured if Noah gave me praise after such a performance/saw something good in me I must be able to do it. I'm actually much more comfortable jumping ever since then.
But make no mistake - when Noah yells at you then you will definitely know it, and deserve it...
Dave
Comentários