Side Spin Question

[outlawphx 1]

I hate to post a newbie question, but...

So I have heard about the infamous "side spin" with Tandems, and I recently saw this video on skydive movies showing a person going into a "side spin" (flat spin?) on a wingsuit jump (here).

Now this weekend I was goofing around sitflying with another jumper, and I did a poor cartwheel (fast) that ended up dumping me on my back as I came back around and it put me into a spin on my back. So I went with in for a couple seconds. Now my backflying skills are pretty limited, but I couldn't stop the spin and it seemed to be speeding up (probably 2 revolutions a second). I rolled over on my belly and had to counter hard to stop it.

My question is when a spin like that develops, is there more than just body position that keeps it going? (i.e. like an ice skater pulling their arms in and increasing a spin)

Also... With a tandem side spin, is it so dangerous because the tandem master's ability to counter a spin is limited by the passenger on the front or is there something else going on?

[diablopilot 2]

The ONLY reason spins of any sort continue to get increasingly worse is input from the flyer. Usually it's an attempt to fix the spin, that unknowingly keeps adding energy to the spin. Relaxing out of it is the best course of action.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Also... With a tandem side spin, is it so dangerous because the tandem master's ability to counter a spin is limited by the passenger on the front or is there something else going on?

No, its the nature of the tandem system. If the pair gets sideways to the relative wind, the pair can be pulled tight against the harnesses and turn the pair into basically a propeller. Quite quickly its possible to black out from the spin, and spin down till hopefully the AAD fires. Then hope you don't have brain damage, IF the AAD fires.

There's a reason why gear manufactures have moved the laterals lower for the student harness and TI's like to exit stable into the relative wind.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[johnny1488 1]

And as my examiner told me, "there ain't no fuckin boogie man. Just physics."

I always liked his explaination.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[Martini 0]

Intuition tells you that, like an ice skater, pulling in your arms and legs will increase the spin rate and vice versa. The reality (according to my experience) is that the more you stick out your limbs the more push the wind has on the propeller (you). The generally accepted way to recover from a wingsuit backspin is to ball up then roll over to regain control. A freefly backspin is easier to control but the same principle applies. I expect to get plenty of dissenting opinions here but that's my take. Take a jump to play with the thing, lots of fun and valuable experience.

Sometimes you eat the bear..............

[JohnMitchell 16]

Quote

And as my examiner told me, "there ain't no fuckin boogie man. Just physics."

That's cool.Thanks.

[flynskydive 0]

One of the best ways I've seen and have been instructed on, is whether you are in a tandem side spin or some crazy solo spin, go into a tracking position. Arching only makes a side spin worse. So I've been taught to track out of the spin.

USPA Strong T-I, AFF-I, Coach, Videographer/photographer.

[johnny1488 1]

Kinda what I was taught. I was told to "break" the propellar. When you see a side spin usually the student has arms up and legs bent with the instructors arms out and legs back in an arch.

Breaking the prop is taking your arms and getting the students arms down at their sides. this takes out half the prop and you will usually start in a head down orientation which can be recovered from.

And man was that level 5 a wild ride!!

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[outlawphx 1]

Thanks for the info everyone. Tracking out of it sounds like a good thing to try, and I'm going to try back tracking if it happens again. I knew that if I could get back on my belly I'd have no problem stopping the spin. I guess it was after seeing that wingsuit video (that I immediately thought of when I was spinning on my back) that made me nervous, but I guess there was more going on related to the wingsuit.

[tso-d_chris 0]

Quote

One of the best ways I've seen and have been instructed on, is whether you are in a tandem side spin or some crazy solo spin, go into a tracking position. Arching only makes a side spin worse. So I've been taught to track out of the spin.

This is what I have always heard from instructors as well, including a Strong tandem examiner. Track out of spins.

For Great Deals on Gear