Love the freefall and under canopy, but hate the exit and landing so far!

[Rettrae 0]

I am a newbie working on my level 3 AFF, my first two jumps, I have had trouble positioning myself to exit the plane without being in danger of falling back on my ass-I know, I am working on strengthening my upper and lower body to compensate for the extra weight of the rig. I know I could do the exit without that extra weight, but wait! I think that parachute is important for something, hmmm. Also, I have done PLF's for both of my landings, one in good wind, the other in no wind. I have been told to do a more agressive flare upon landing. So far, to save my knees, I am always planning on a PLF unless I can tell if the landing is going to look good. The trouble is, how would I know?

[Travman 6]

The thing with skydiving is some stuff just takes time. Up until jump #22 or there abouts I always flipped on exit from the skyvan, every single time. But after that I just "got it". I can't say exactly what I do different, I think its just more relaxed but I got there.
Your landings you will also get the hang of, are you landing under advice from a Target Advisor. Here the students are guided to the ground by a TA, who tells them when to turn, when to flare etc... you learn then when to flare to get a stand up landing.

You've got 4 jumps and many more to go, you'll get the hang of it.

[J.Blues 0]

One of my instructor gave a good trick to spot flare altitude that worked pretty well for me so far. When on final approach, get a glimpse at the trees if there is some not too far, they give a good indications of how far you are from the ground.
This doesn't work for desert jumps I guess!

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Come to the edge. We can't, we're afraid. Come to the edge. We can't, we'll fall. Come to the edge. And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew.

[skybytch 273]

Quote

So far, to save my knees, I am always planning on a PLF unless I can tell if the landing is going to look good. The trouble is, how would I know?

You don't. That's why you should always plan on doing a PLF.

Don't stress yourself out about standing up right now - keep working on your flare and thinking about what you are doing while you are doing it but don't beat yourself up if you think you should do a PLF. Any landing you walk away from is a good one at this point. Style comes with practice

Not sure what you mean about exiting. What kind of plane are you jumping? How are your instructors having you exit?

[Rettrae 0]

Pac 750 - door is 6 feet wide and 4 feet high. Secondary Jumpmaster stands in middle of doorway and I put my back to him, hold on to the forward edge of the doorway,facing the prop, Primary jumpmaster is inside, holding onto my right side, do the check, rock out in out. Just the squatting and forcing myself to the edge of the platform so I get a good exit is tough right now. I bet when we move on to head first exit's, it should be easier

[kelpdiver 2]

I found going from a squat to an outward, standing, arching position very difficult, esp in most planes where the front door edge is pretty much vertical. (The king air slopes in, so my head would fit more readily. But I only got that plane for the first jump, rest were otters or 206s) You'll definitely find it easier when you go on to more traditional exits.

I really liked the first time climbing out and then just letting go. I could stand fully up, and just had to go to the arch. At Hollister they do this for all their AFF jumps. The two instructors go out, then the student backs out in the middle. Easier than the squat, but might be a bit unnerving backing into the blue sky!

[dzjohn 0]

Hey exit's do get easeier on dive exit's (more fun too) mmm sommersaults.
On landings my instructor has told me to not look down when approching the ground but to look at the horizon you get a better idea of how fast you are dropping to the ground (it worked for me).
By the way I'm shit scared of heights and love this sport already.

[Rettrae 0]

This is a great way to get over your fear of heights!