Cat B AFF jump

Jump #2. Category B.

Hazy, some clouds, almost no wind. Doc Larry was the outside (main side) guy and John was the inside (reserve side) guy. Jumped from a Cessna at 11,000 feet.

Doc Larry called my climb-out hesitant. I think it was more awkwardness. I wasn't delaying or stalling, I just didn't move my legs quickly or smoothly. My left foot was also way to far away from Larry's. Damn it's windy on the wing!

I got into an arch right off the bat. It could have been a better arch, and I improved it when I got the arch signal from John.

I was letting my feet come up to my butt. One of the guys gave me the signal to straighten out my feet. I did, but then I let them bend back up.

My practice touches (why I did 3 and not just 2 is a mystery to me) were rushed. Doc Larry wants me to grab the hacky firmly, not just touch it.

My left turn wasn't a full 90 degrees. I was thinking more about the mechanics and didn't pick a spot to turn to. My right turn was about 90 degrees. After both turns, I was at 6,300, so I had time to do the forward motion before 6,000.

Good wave off at 5,000. Good pull at 4,500. Good canopy when I looked up. Released the brakes and had good controllability. Tanya was on the radio from the ground. Larry and John landed very quickly (forgot to ask if they waited to pull or if they did something with their parachutes to descend faster) and Larry took over the radio.

With no wind, Larry wanted me to extend my downwind leg of the landing pattern a ways. Unfortunately, I stuck with the dive flow that's been beaten into my head over a few training sessions. At 600 feet, I turned left into my base leg. At 300 feet, I turned left into what little wind there was for my final leg. Because there was so little wind, I was floating more than normal. Larry tried to get me to do some S-turns to burn off some altitude, but the damage was done. I executed a perfect flair and did a PLF right on the taxiway. All I had to show for that was a minor scratch on the edge of my right hand. Oh, and my legs and back are stiffening up a little this evening.

Pretty good dive, not perfect, but I passed the Cat B level! Now, with vacation coming up, when can I squeeze in C-1?