Sitfly-heading reference on clear day?

[LittleOne 0]

I made my first few attempts at sitflying. I did the first two jumps with a coach. He emphasized the importance of using him as a heading reference since the direction I look in is the direction I would move in. Since I did not quite get it on those jumps, I went up by myself with his ok.

It was a spectacular day and there was not a single cloud in the sky. The only thing in the sky was the noon sun. I tried to use it as a heading reference for a short time but could not keep staring at it. There was nothing else up there but uniformly blue skies. I started spinning a bit, stopped myself and decided at 7000 that this was not a good idea. I flipped over and finished off the jump.

On such a clear day, how do I establish a heading reference? I cannot afford a coach jump for every jump and on that day at that dropzone, everyone else was in a big way (or newbies, students). I do not want to wear sunglasses because I am concerned about depth perception issues on landing. Should I just not go up again under these circumstances?

[skymama 37]

When I was first learning, one of the coaches told me to plant myself over something straight, like a road or the runway, and try to keep it in between my feet. You can also practice turns and 360's by doing that because you can tell where you are starting and stopping in relation to the road. Just make sure you don't bend your head down to look at it because you could backslide. Just kind of glance down at it while keeping your chin up.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Zoter 0]

No.1 .....ask your Coach ! he will tell you what you need to hear.
I'll quote from my own very limited experience....but I think its valid.

Its a good idea to have a reference.....bad idea to have that reference in the same place on every jump ( ie sun in front of you on every jump )
Its important when beginning to make sure you turn off the 'run in ' line of the aircraft 90degrees before you start doing any 'new' stuff.
This is because its very likely when beginning freeflying for you to slide forwards or more likely backwards across the sky......if you do that well enough along the 'run in' line of the aircraft you risk running into the airspace of the previous group or the group exiting after you.......obviously not good !
On a sunny day with no clouds the sun is a good reference.....take a look out of the plane on the run in....Where is the sun in relation to the aircaft??.....work out where the sun will be when you turn 90degrees off the run in .....and use that as your reference
example....if the sun is 'infront' of the aircraft....when you have exited and turned 90deg off the run in line.....the sun should now be either on your left or on your right!.....not in front or behind you.

Also consider using a ground reference ( train tracks....a lake...a distinct land feature) in the same way.......but you must check that reference compared to the run in of the aircraft...before you exit ( to be sure you have turned 90degrees off the aircraft run in line)


Hope that helps........but please speak to more experienced FFlyers or your Coach.....they will be able to explain it much better I am sure.

[Jskydiver22 0]

Try not to stare at they sun...some people say its bad for your eyes

But seriously...all i did to keep a heading was stare at a 45 degree angle at the ground. Try to pick out a visual point on the ground and if that point changes...try to change back to it.

--I don't even know enough to know that I dont know--

[LittleOne 0]

Thanks for your reply (and to Skymama and Jskydiver22). I agree that a coach should be the primary source of informatiion. In this particular case, I had to leave the dz in a hurry to catch my flight home. Since I will not be able to jump again for at least one month, I posted in this forum to get an idea of how to fix the problem so that I would not have to stew over it for so long. thanks again!

[Canuck 0]

The horizon is where your eyes should be, NOT the ground and NOT the sun. If you're looking that much up or down, you're not flying a nice clean upright position. If you're looking down, you're likely backsliding, if you're looking up, you're likely moving forward.

Looking at the horizon, you will know immediately if you are rotating. You don't need a fixed point; your eyes will percieve any movement very easily.

Have fun.

Canuck

[freakydiver 0]

Look at the ground and find something there to base your heading off of. You dont have to look straight down - look ahead of yourself at something on the ground...

Edit - what skymama sed!

-- (N.DG) "If all else fails – at least try and look under control." --