MELISSA JAHNKE: MY JOURNEY TO BECOMING A SKYDIVER – AFF LEVEL 13
Jumper Profile
Posted by: Wisconsin Skydiving Center 10 years ago
![](https://wisconsinskydivingcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MelBanner-480x341.jpg)
AFF 13
Bo tells me that he will take me up for the next skydive. I am all for it! I keenly fill out my planner worksheet, and Bo helps me to train on the next level skydive. This next skydive I will be working on two things that I have already done, but all together at once. I will be doing “fall rate to dock”, which means I will have to adjust my free fall speed to move in and dock with my instructor! This will be a piece of cake! There wasn’t enough time to pack the canopy that I had just jumped so this time Bo lets me jump a smaller canopy. He feels that I am able enough to handle it, and prepares me for what to expect with this parachute. He reassures me and tells me that I will love it! I perform a gear check, and gear up. I am ready to go! We walk out to meet the plane that just landed, and I can see McKenzie cheering on the target as she lands her jump! I perform a gear check just as the plane pulls up to let us in. This will be a sunset jump; the last one of the day, and Bo tells Pilot Jim, get us up fast! It is a quick ride to altitude, and I smile, as Bo is child-like with enthusiasm watching the sun set out the plane windows. He explains that we are “chasing the sun” and I look out the window to observe as well. I am not at all nervous to jump, and am ready to show him how far I have come since we have jumped together last!
![](https://wisconsinskydivingcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Melissa-640x687.jpg)
At 12,500′, Pilot Jim idles back the motor slightly, and Bo has me open the door. He asks me to spot and tell him when to climb out. I look down and can see we are directly about the target. I look at the GPS and can see .8 miles out. I wait till I see .4 and tell Bo to go. He nods and climbs out. I follow behind him quickly, and place my foot on the left inside corner of the door frame, carefully hanging on to the outer door frame with my hands. I place my right foot on the step pointing my toes towards the back of the plane. I lean out towards Bo and smile! He smiles back and I “check in”. He nods. I lean back and then push myself out the door and reach my arms out in front of me like I am going down a slide. I feel myself roll over slightly, but instantly correct it and am in a stable belly to earth position. I did another dive out! I have to work on the gracefulness, but I did it! I check my altitude, and I see Bo slightly above me motioning for me to come and dock. I flatten out my body, and “rise” to him. I push my legs back and move forward to dock and reach his arms and grab on! I docked!! I let go check altitude. We try again this time “falling” down to where he is, and again moving forward to dock. I dock again! This is the coolest thing ever. I am moving fluidly, and smoothly, and I feel so confident! At 6000′ I turn to track, and hold a solid 5-second track dead on heading. I can feel how awesome it was as I was doing it! I didn’t buffet or loose my heading. It was perfect! I relax back to stable position, and watch my altimeter for 4500′, and I wave off and pull my pilot chute. I can see Bo continue to drop in free fall for a second. I grab my risers and watch the canopy open nice and slow.
A beautiful unfamiliar red, white, and navy canopy is flying overhead! I pull on my rear risers to make the end cells inflate, and then collapse the slider as Bo instructed me to do on this canopy! I turn into my planned holding area, and am so excited to fly this new canopy. She is so responsive, and moves so much more assertively than the other larger canopies! I love her! I play with a few turns, and practice lots of flares. I am descending so much quicker than with the other canopies I have flown prior, it seems like I am ready to enter my final approach in no time at all. I know I must be doing a good job at flying her because Bo doesn’t talk to me on the radios! I am smiling ear-to-ear, and confident that I can land her alone. I turn in on my final leg, and am ready for landing flare. It seems as the winds have dropped, and that it will be a quicker landing. I bring my feet up and prepare to slide on my butt. I flare and slide in as gentle as can be! I jump up and yell, “Yeah, that was awesome…. I love this canopy!”
![](https://wisconsinskydivingcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Melissa_Friend-480x480.jpg)
I ride to the hangar on the golf cart and share my story of my skydive. Bo gives me a hug and tells me everything was great, except the dive out. I need to start flying and control every part of my skydive right from the start. It wasn’t until then that I realized that very concept. I have much work to do still, and need to maintain heading, not only in free fall, but upon exit as well. I had developed a habit to “let go” a little too much on exit, and not start ‘flying’ until my circle of awareness. I can’t wait to try another dive out and really put my new perspective to work. Bo tells me that I can fly, and that I did really well on my fall rate adjustment, and docking. He noticed a big change in my skydiving, and I can tell he is happy with my progress. I am so excited as I can feel my license is getting closer and
closer in reach.
Everyone is putting the planes back into the hangar, and I watch my video from my jump with Luke. He debriefs me on my skydive with him, and I have him sign my logbook. He too says that I have gotten a lot further in my skydiving, and he says he is confident that I will be licensed soon! I watch Mckenzie’s videos from her skydives and we both laugh at how funny we both look on exit after a dive out. Everyone chats and tells stories for a while, and before we know it, its time to wrap it up and get on the road. It is getting late, and as much as my heart wants to stay, I know it is bittersweet good-bye until next weekend. And just like I’ve awakened from a dream, we are on the road again. On the way home I think to myself of the amazing people I have met! I have accomplished 21 skydives to date, and I can feel myself changing. I feel so empowered, and confident. I love this new person I am becoming, and my spirit feels so awakened. I know skydiving will be in my life for years and years to come! I have less than 10 skydives to perform before I can take my check dive, and for the first time in this journey I can actually feel 100% certainty that it is going to happen. My dream of becoming a licensed skydiver is right around the corner.
AFF Level I – The Beginning
AFF Level II
AFF Level III
AFF Level III part 2
AFF Level IV
AFF Level V
AFF Level VI
AFF Level VII
AFF Level VIII
AFF Level IX
AFF Level X
AFF Level 11
AFF Level 12
2nd Solo
AFF Level 14
AFF Level 15
AFF Level 16
AFF Level 17
Almost There!
Check Dive!
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