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lewmonst

and i thought "this could kill me"

By lewmonst, in The Bonfire

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lewmonst    0

lewmonst
and i like it
just stoked about a first board jump today... it was crazy and out of control, and really hard to get stable, but i loved it. haven't felt that rush since my first jump...
wow. i think i might buy one... i'll post photos tomorrow.
THANKS wildblue!!! for videoing, i owe you a jump!
:)lew:S

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wildblue    7

wildblue
and then I saw this girl with really long braids on this board, and I was like, weeeeeeeee!
:D
Anytime Lew. Maybe next time I'll even stay closer to you, since I know you probably won't kill me!
The whole weekend was full of some kick-ass jumps. Chasing you all over the sky was probably my second favorite, my first being the tracking dive we did with red, white, and blue smoke.

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wingnut    0

wingnut
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Sweet! I'm gonna try skysurfing before too long - it looks like a blast.. If you haven't tried it yet - try the BirdMan suit..


only like 82 more jumps and i'll be trying em both...corse those 82 will probly take me forever to do.......

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie

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Aviatrr    0

Aviatrr
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only like 82 more jumps and i'll be trying em both...corse those 82 will probly take me forever to do.......


Uhhh...what's the deal with 82 more jumps? You need a certain number of jumps to do those? As far as skysurf, you just need good freeflying skills.. BirdMan is pretty easy, but you definitely need good body position awareness, and being good at tracking helps - since your body is kinda stuck in the tracking position, you need to know how to maneuver in that position..
Mike

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wingnut    0

wingnut
most places won't let ya try ether of those without at least 200 jumps.... well unles they know your skill pretty well and i'm not gona be at one dz long enough to have them know my skills for a while.....and my dz here well they just mostly do 2 or 3 way outa our cesna......so it's pretty damn hard to try to find a birdman suit or a skyboard... leta lone get the skyboard into the cessna!

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie

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PhreeZone    20

PhreeZone
The latest requirement from Birdman is 200 jumps within the last 24 months and training from an experience birdman.
The board looked really cool today Lew! Next time i expect thoses helecopter spins to be on purpose ;)
Be safe, be smooth, be fast..... and most importantly.... be phree :)

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FallingMarc    0

FallingMarc
That's awesome! I really want to try skysurfing someday, it looks like a blast... 'course I should probably learn to fly in a stand and headdown first... and I should probably learn to sit before I do that... and I should probably learn to fly on my belly worth a damn before I do that... and... and...
Shit man, I'm just gonna keep jumping, and whatever happens, happens... :D
Marc

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lewmonst    0

lewmonst
those helicopter spins were on purpose ;)
and thank you phree for the nice opening... however if treeboys tandem had gone before i surfed, i wouldn't have let you pack for me ;);):)as for number of jumps, yeah, whoa... holy shit i've got almost 400 and this was very very vewy hard to control...
definately get some freefly skills before trying this.
now, to buy my own...
<--check out the photo at left....
:)lew:S

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SkymonkeyONE    4

SkymonkeyONE
Lew,
it is actually much easier in my opinion to jump boards with bindings set up straight forward. I never bought into the sideways-mounted-binding beginner boards. When I built my first board it was using a 42" Connely trick ski. I built and rigged every part of it myself, including bindings, drogue chute, releases, etc. I couldn't pull in the standing position until my third jump on it, but it was not a problem to pull face down with a board that size tucked up near my butt. You are quite a bit taller than me, so an intermediate size board (about 42-48 inches) would not be difficult at all for you, so long as you are wearing the right attire. I just lean very chest forward and ride it right out the door. I used to skip right off the step of the Cessna when I jumped that; neat.
For all you fledgeling and future skysurfers out there, here are a couple of pointers to ease your learning curve:
Have an experience skysurfer jump with you for the first few times. Not on his/her board, but just skydiving near you in case you have problems. I would never train anyone then just let them go for it by themselves; I would always skydive with them and be ready to tackle them in case they got out of control and couldn't find the release. Only ever had to grab one guy, but I was there ready with my full-face helmet on.
ALWAYS wear web gloves, preferably with the fingertips cut off so you don't lose your "feel". Web gloves REALLY help your control and the transitions from sit to standing. The "out of control recover" position is sitting, with the board pulled as far under your butt as you can and your hands straight back, chest as close to your knees as possible. To get back standing, you rock forward by pushing down with your hands and "plant" your back heel straight down. It is kind of weird-feeling initially, but you basically just stand straight up, like from a chair, and get your arms straight out to the sides and keep your back aligned, chest slightly forward. Webbed gloves are much better "rudders" than bare hands or standard gloves.
A very easy trick to learn to skysurf safely is to wear a standard sit suit. The arm wings on them are much bigger than the wings we normally use on our skysurf suits and act much like training wheels until you get your recovery techniques down. In the absence of a proper sit suit or skysurf suit, the answer is to wear tights on bottom and a very loose fitting windbreaker jacket on top. RW suits are definitely not the ticket, though wearing a set of RW suit slip-on arm thingies will work in a pinch. The bottom line is floppy on top and tight on bottom. One-piece freefly suits are not the ticket; too floppy on bottom.
Make sure your release handle is in a spot where you can reach it at full arm extension without having to pull your knees up. If you are spinning out of control on your back, you are not able to pull your legs in to reach it if it is any lower due to centrifigal force. I have two friends that nearly went in because they did not have their systems set up this way.
I very much recommend having bindings set up with both feet straight forward; offset (obviously) front to rear in your personal "foot forward" preference. I am a regular foot, so my left foot is always forward. In this configuration it is very hard to find yourself in a sit spin. For those who do not know what I am talking about, here is what happens to some folks with cocked bindings:
They get caught on their butts or backs, unable to get the board under them. With my left foot forward (regular foot), if the back foot is cocked to the side, then when I am on my back or butt, the tendency is for the nose of the board to point left. If the nose is pointed left, you are going to spin left, especially if your legs are extended. To stop the spin in that direction, you have to either get the tip pointed in the other direction or get on top of the board. With the bindings both facing forward, this is easilly overridden. You can fall flat on your back with the board facing straight forward without a problem. You can also spin left or right with equal ease by slightly pointing the nose in either direction. With my left foot forward, straight, but offset to the left side of the board; my drogue chute and housing just to the right of it; and my back foot straight behind the drogue housing off to the right side of the board and equidistant from the tail of the board as the front binding is to the nose, I am best able to maintain stability. Front/rear spacing being equal makes it easier to nail your flips too.
Nowadays it is not too hard to find used equipement. Lots of it can be had for quite cheap too, as people either outgrow their current boards or just tire of skysurfing. I personally have not strapped my board on in about three years. Actually, it is in need of repair as the last person to jump it ended up cutting it away improperly causing it to hit the ground minus the drogue chute. It nearly took out the port engine on a taxiing aircraft when it smacked the ramp. I have a new bare board to transfer the other parts to, but just haven't had the desire to do it. Maybe someone around here will want to learn and I will put it back together.
As for previous experience: I think 200 is a pretty safe number. I taught John Hoover (Golden Knights RW team leader) on his 200th jump. He rode it right out the door and pulled standing on his first attempt. I had 1000 jumps when I put the board together in 1990 and couldn't even stand on the thing properly till my third jump. You see, I didn't have anyone to learn from, as the sport truly was in it's infancy. Nowadays, there is generally at least one person on every DZ that has made some board jumps. Those guys are the ones that should be guiding you and keeping it as safe as possible. As for specific air-skills to master prior to strapping a board on, I would say that you ought to make some sit-suit jumps or find a proper skysurf suit to jump on a solo jump. Either way, practice going from a position where you are layed out on your back pretty far to an iron cross (a straight-legged stand). Be able to hold an iron cross for as long as you like and try doing it heel to toe. Not a big deal, but a mandatory skill. Doing the same drill on those little sideways-mounted training boards knocks the difficulty up a notch, but in my opinion does not accurately reflect what you will encounter when you strap on a board with the bindings mounted front/rear.
To those of you lurking out there, you might want to print this and keep it. I have written it all before, but not all in one reply that I can remember.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
the very first skysurfer in the mid-atlantic region...1990

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lewmonst    0

lewmonst
chuck,
man, you rock. thanks... it's funny, all the tips you gave i totally understand after my first jump. my board was a borrowed old homemade board, with the front binding much closer to the fron of the board than the rear binding to the rear of the board... and both cocked at about a 45degree angle... i could get the board under my butt, but when i tried to stand, i had a hard time twisting my body to the iron cross perpendicular to the board, and i found both arms back behind me swimming for air, and off more to one side of the board... But, I loved the challenge of it, and want to buy one. I'm thinking small though, i'm in no rush to put anythign huge on my feet. i put the cutaway handle through my sweatpants and it was right on my stomache, and i wore a long sleeve T. thanks for the tip about the gloves, i have some, rarely use for anything but will try next time, after i cut the fingertips off... I practiced cutting it away 5 times on the ground... and i cut it under canopy and kicked it off at about 20 ft... landing was perfect. board in great shape. i had no problem opening, i went belly and turned the board parallel with me to throw out... it worked, but i can see why it'd be better to throw in a stand... I had no coaching or anything, just someone who knew the basics, and made 2 surf jumps, go over safety tips... not knowing how to fly it well.
I do really want to get a board, so if you run accross antyhing you think would be good for me, let me know...
THANKS CHUCK!! you're the best. lookin forward to jumping with you again.
<---i flipped on exit, see
ps, what airplanes would you NOT jump the board out of?
:)lew:S

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SkymonkeyONE    4

SkymonkeyONE
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ps, what airplanes would you NOT jump the board out of?


I have jumped it out of a Cessna 182, a twin Bonanza, a twin otter, a Casa 212, a CH-54 SkyCrane, a UH-60 Blackhawk, and a Caribou. The toughest exit was probably the Twin Bonanza because it's a narrow door and had a 4-inch lip you had to clear. It was fairly low in the back, too, but the door opening wrapped over the top of the plane a bit. What would I really not like, especially if I was as tall as you? Probably a Caravan or a C-206/207/210 with a back door. A King Air would suck as bad as a Twin Bo since the door is so narrow, assuming you are planning on leaving face first. Narrow side doors suck because you cant angle the tip of the board to the rear too much and sometimes you get blown over on your side on exit. Short doors suck because you cant pop up on exit if you are "diving" out. The good thing about caravans and Kings though, which kind of redeems them in some ways, is that you can back out the door, stand straight up and grab the top floater bar, then kind of slide backwards pivoting your chest into the wind on exit while falling backwards and presenting the bottom of the board to the relative wind. Make sure, of course, that you don't present much of the tail of the board to the wind while you are working your way out, as it might catch air and drag your ass out (not cool). Ramps are obviously the easiest and Otters are very easy due to the huge door.
Chuck

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