So near... but still not quite there...

My flight suit finally turned up on Friday and I couldn't wait to try it out in the tunnel! Yesterday was that day!

Due to lack of cars being left at work I took Luna to MK, it was great to give her a run and I do love driving her, I just wish the heater hadn't decided to brake! It was a bit of a chilly journey, especially sat in traffic for 6 miles. Thankfully though I made it by 7 just before Paul was going to call to see where I was. As I'd had a chilly and long journey the first thing to do was to chill out and put the kettle on. After relaxing, drinking tea and deciding the plan of action it was time to put my suit on. It looked great and a few people commented on it too.

I had 2 sessions of 10 minutes booked up with a nice gap in between and I was determined to get the sit fly so we planned to spend 8 minutes in the first session working on this and 2 minutes in the middle doing something different just to relax my arms.

Progress is still slow with the sitting but I was managing to 'hop' off the net so it's still progress. In the 2 minutes in the middle I decided to try some more belly to back/back to belly transitions, these still need work too, especially when transitioning from belly to back.

As we had a large gap between sessions it was suggested by Paul that me go and grab a proper coffee. So with flight suits half removed and tied around our waists we headed into Xscape on the hunt for coffee. We were heading to Costa, we took a slightly scenic route though as Paul was showing me around, there were things in the shopping centre that I didn't know were there. When we got to Costa though they were closed. Thankfully Xpresso net was still open so we headed there. One cafe latte, one americano, one chicken soup, one carrot cake, a 'dotty' cookie and a nice chat and we were fueled up and ready to go again. Thanks Paul for coffee and cookie :o) 

I was still as determined to get the sit fly - my aim was to succeed at it before Christmas and as Paul is on holiday next week this was my last chance. 8 minutes again of sit fly with 2 minutes of back fly thrown in in the middle. I had to try and keep my hips a little higher as the angles were making it difficult to keep my balance. Little by little I was getting a bit of lift, just hovering slightly. With my back fly in the middle of the minutes I was trying to do side slides again but getting my co ordination right isn't quite that easy! Back to the sit fly and a little bit more hovering, I was so so close! This had to be the best sit session yet.

When we left the tunnel I was feeling chuffed that I had got as far as I had, but slightly disappointed that I hadn't quite got the sit fly that I wanted. Paul put his helmet in the drivers room and while he was there looked to see how many were in the next session and as it wasn't a full session offered me the chance of an additional 4 minutes just to see if I could get that sit. Of course I said yes! 

Back in the tunnel we went. I had a little bit of time to give my arms a rest before I actually stepped back in the tunnel (thankfully) another 2 minutes of hopping up and down with a bit of hovering, this was getting daft, why couldn't I just stay put... In my last 2 minutes we did a minutes of sit fly exercises, one hand on head, then other hand on head, then both on head. Then it was my last chance to get the sit. Unfortunately though this didn't happen, it was at this point that my shoulders finally gave up. We did a tiny bit of belly fly just to relax at the end of the session.

I was disappointed but still pleased I'd got as far as I had. I've now got at least 2 weeks before I fly again, I'll be practicing my position though at home with the aim of succeeding next time.

Merry Christmas every one! Have a good one!

Total flight time 2hrs 35mins

Over 2 hours now!

Last night was my first double lesson with Paul, plus flight night as well, I wasn't sure how well I would cope and how tired I would get but amazingly I didn't get that tired and I didn't ache this morning!

Paul was teaching first timers as well as coaching me in our first session, they were a very excitable bunch! At least I had plenty of rotations in the session.

My first 2 sessions were spent going from back fly to sit position on the net. This was to try and get me to use my back a little more when trying to sit fly. To begin with I was ending up standing rather than sitting and I had to try and stop myself before I got to that point. By the end of the 4 minutes I seemed to have grasped the concept. I could feel the way the wind hits my back and changes my movements.

I still had 6 minutes in this first session so we did a bit of back flying. I spent most of it on the net learning to do side slides. The co-ordination needed for this is crazy! I couldn't get my head round it to begin with but with Pauls help I was soon moving from one side of the tunnel to the other. I couldn't get to grips with doing it on my own so Paul had hold of my feet. Once I can do this we can start to do some up and overs while back flying.

4 minutes left and time to tackle the sit fly! In to the position, feet on the net, strong arms, a little push of the net, feet out to the side slightly, lift off... and back down. I actually did it! Only a little bit, but I did it! The rest of the time was spent building the time off the net up a little bit at a time. I finally felt that I had made progress with the sit flying, could I keep it up though?

That was the end of my first 10 minutes. We headed back downstairs and I sat watching the live action for a little bit while Paul helped the others from the group put their kit back and handed out their flight certificates.

Once they were all sorted we had just enough time to grab a cuppa before the other flight night people turned up. Paul offered me a mince pie, but I upped the stakes and offered him some of my home made chocolate brownies. I had 6 large brownies with me, 3 of which got eaten while we drank our tea (I had one, Paul had one and Gary had one, just so you don't think me and Paul were greedy!) I was going to put them back in my bag for later in the evening, but one was enough for me, so I left them on the work surface for anyone else who wanted them (Paul warned me that any food left unattended would be eaten)

It was nice to see some familiar faces in Flight Night again, Abbie was there with her skydiving friend and one of the guys from an earlier flight night session was there to (I can't for the life of me remember his name, DOH!) Us 3 girlies were all sit flying so I felt slightly sorry for out chappie as he was still on the basics of belly flying, this didn't seem to worry him though and he took it all in good spirit. Thankfully at flight night we're all very supportive of each other. It's a shame this was the last one of this year.

As the tunnel was empty and we were all ready we headed straight up. Paul suggested that my first 2.5 minutes were spent carrying on from where we left off and that my other 2.5 minutes were spent doing some belly to back, back to belly transitions.

I was feeling quietly confident about the sit fly and couldn't wait to get back in and have another go. I found myself struggling again though, the wind seemed to be slightly faster and it put me off my balance. Not one to give in though I gave it my best shot. I wasn't as pleased with this though as I was with the earlier attempt.

The transitions seem to be getting better though, I still find back to belly easier than belly to back though. Paul pointed out that the basics are there but I'm slightly over rotating when going onto my back and need to throw my arms up more and broaden my shoulders to stop myself. More practice required!

Flight night seems so short time wise in comparison to my private coaching and before I knew it we were on our way back downstairs again. Me, Paul, Abbie and Abbie's friend stood around talking for a fair while. It turned into quite a random conversation about Airkix made up terminology (the backwards goldfish bowl move!) and a new business idea of a pool of parachutes available to hire for skydivers!

When we'd all finished talking we were going to grab another cuppa as I wasn't due to be flying again till 21.30 but this all changed. We were going to be the only people in that session so we jumped in on the next available session. No time for a cuppa, but a quick swig of water and back up the the tunnel!

Paul asked if I fancied doing something new. Me being me immediately said yes! The plan... Back flips from walking up the wall in the tunnel and lay outs (going from back fly to belly fly forwards)

First up walking up the wall and back flips! Paul showed me how to do it and then it was my turn, what a disaster! The first time I tried I didn't go far enough up the wall or push of hard enough and I just ended up on my back on the net! A little more power needed the next time. Several attempts later and I was getting there, I was landing on my feet though rather than my belly, I did manage to land on my belly the last time though. It was great learning to do this!

My second 2 minutes were back to doing more sit flying, the wind speed still seemed pretty hard and I was trying my best to master the sit, it's never quite that easy though. Thankfully Paul was on hand to keep hold of my toes.

On to the next 2 minutes and time to give lay outs ago, again Paul demonstrated and made it look so easy. He'd already warned me that they take practice and they wouldn't look tidy after only 2 minutes. I wasn't deterred though and gave it my best shot. Just like the back flips my first attempt was pretty hopeless! I tried and tried though and finally got something close, landing on my feet again though. Can't wait to give this another go!

Back to sit flying again this time and although my positioning was good I couldn't stay stable enough for Paul to let go of my feet. I'm determined to crack this sit flying before Christmas, that gives my 2 weeks and about 40 minutes tunnel time...

By now my arms were getting a little tired from sit flying so we opted to do some back flying for a minute and then to do some 'grip' exercise for the other minute. My back flying is looking so much better than it was, I just need to be able to do turns and side slides and I'll be making great progress. Going back to belly flying was good to and gave me a chance to have a little bit of fun and practice things I'd learnt in the past.

All in all a good 25 minutes were had and some great progress too and it took me over the 2 hour mark!

Back downstairs and time to get out of all the kit. I handed Paul my helmet to put back and he decided it would be great to write my name on the back of the helmet as I always seem to have the some one. So if any of you reading this go to Airkix MK and have a white helmet with Stacy written on the back of it, you know where it came from!

I've got another 20 minutes booked up for next Tuesday and I also heard today that my flight suit has been dispatched so hopefully it will get here ready for my next flight and I won't get beaten by the Airkix suits!

Total flight time - 2hrs 11 minutes

More sitting...

Flyday has been and gone again and I'm here writing my blog again to keep you all updated on my progress!

With the weather being as unpredictable as it was we left plenty of time to get to MK, it was nice when we got stuck in traffic to not be panicing about getting there on time. In fact we were there 25 minutes early, having not faced the forecast poor weather. We opted to grab a Costa coffee before heading in to Airkix, they had their Christmas menu up and we opted to try a Creme Brule coffee and very nice it was too! We wander around xscape with our coffee before opting to go and sit in Airkix.

We hadn't been sat down long when Paul appeared. The tunnel was empty so as soon as we and the other 2 people in our group were ready we could go on it. While we finished off our coffee we sorted out what we were planning on achieving in the 10 minutes we had. Definitely more sit fly practice and some back flying as well. The idea behind the back fly was that once I had a stable back fly I could try some transitions during flight night. So we opted for 6 minutes of back fly and 4 of back fly.

Once geared up we headed to the tunnel. I was sharing with 2 first time flyers who had 2 minutes each, meaning that I only got a minutes rest between my flights, just about long enough to catch my breath!

Flight one was dedicated to sit fly. As you can see at the start of the video it was a tad chilly in the tunnel! Not a bad session, I was quite chuffed with it actually! Positioning is definitely getting better.

Flight 2 was back flying. The plan was that I was to mirror Paul and to control my movements - slowly! When I got into the tunnel though I forgot once I was on the net to just stay put without trying to fly, this caused a few crashes between me and Paul (sorry Paul!). Once I remembered, with a little reminder from Paul to stay put, things got better.

On to flight 3 and some more back flying. I think I'm finally getting to grips with staying low and slow with this now. Although I've been able to back fly it has been pretty wild at points and I've needed to gain a little control.

Unfortunately after this flight the batteries went flat on the flip video so we're missing 2 more flights from my private coaching. These 2 flights were doing more sit flying with Paul keeping hold of my toes, still no solo flying yet!

Between my private coaching and flight night we sat and had a cuppa with Paul and shared the cookies I'd baked earlier in the day. This gave me time to chill out and get my energy back ready for more flying. This time also gave me the chance to 'try' and explain to mum how to use the video on my iPhone. Mum and technology really don't mix all that well...

It was nice to see Abbie back at flight night again, we seem to be about at the same place with our flying at the moment (which proved useful later in the evening...) and we were joined by just one other person for the session. I think the weather had put the others off!

Flight 1 saw me attempt belly to back, back to belly transitions. Not bad for a first attempt I don't think. I found it quite strange having to push down with my arms and chest to get lift to push my body up and over my legs while going from belly to back. I found back to belly easier!

Flight 2 and back to sit flying. I can see in the video and Paul pointed it out aswell that my feet keep slipping forward which is causing me to be pushed on to my back. This is something to work on next week. By the end of it my arms were tired and we did a little bit more back fly. Even getting back onto my feet at the end caused me problems!

On to flight 3 and some belly flying. I hadn't done any belly flying for a fair while so it was nice to go back to the beginning. Me and Paul did some up and overs which was visually pleasing and a bit of fun too.

This should of been the end of my flights again for tonight but Paul offered us the chance to buy another flight night. Me and Abbie had shared a session last time so it didn't take much persuading for us to share another one! Rather than just split the time 2.5 minutes each Paul suggested we have the first 2 minutes in there together with him doing some sit fly exercises and then have 1.5 minutes each afterwards.

I didn't realise until we started the exercises how tired my body was, you can see this in the video, I kept falling back and getting back up, but I was determined not to give up without a fight!

 

Having now watched all the videos back I can see what I need to work on at the next session. Roll on next week!

Total flight time - 1hr 47minutes