Skyvan! 3 jumps

I made 3 jumps out of the Skyvan today. We get packed into that thing like sardines, but there's about a 6 1/2 foot ceiling when we're getting out. It was a little surprising when the first big group got out - the whole plane tipped!

Jump 1 - Exited by basically diving out. It took a little longer to get stable, but I didn't tumble. Worked on some turns and did some tracking. Turns, deep brakes, back and forth turns under canopy. Landed past the end of the runway, but flared perfectly and stood up.

Jump 2 - Exited by turning around, holding the bar, and stepping off. Watched the plane go. Turns, deeper arch and plank to change descent rate. More of the same practice under canopy. Landed in front of other hangar and went to my knees. Flared too high.

Jump 3 - Exited by turning around, holding the bar, bending down, and lunging back into the Nestea Plunge. Did almost 2 complete revolutions. As I was about coming up to vertical the second time around, the wind really caught my chest and I went over the hill. Practiced the same things in free fall and under canopy. Landed in front of the other hangar. Flared way too high. Bill Hanrahan came out to talk to me about my landing. He gave me some good advice on when to flare, backing it up with the reason why I want to flare. He told me to wait until I was much lower (look at the top of the fuel truck of the flag poles) and flare in one nice smooth motion.

The Skyvan was definitely cool to jump out of. I'd love to try it again.