dthames

Knowing how to fly the rears, the brakes, what the winds are doing, and knowing that you might need to open a bit higher help me a lot. I am also very lightly loaded and can get back on my Pilot when many others can't. I have only flown a Pilot since getting my license so I can't say it is better. But I like it. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I would like to share something related to deployment altitude. I have always flown a lightly loaded main canopy. Some of the time the winds, even at 3000 feet, might 40+ MPH which is hard for me to deal with under canopy. So 3000 feet or a bit lower is needed at times. I would rather not wait until 3000 feet to reach for my handle. So at 3700 or so I will get into my deployment position, legs folded, arms back, handle IN my hand, and just watch my chest mount altimeter until I hit the desired pitch altitude. At first I thought this was wise because I have the handle in hand high enough that there will be no missed “grab” at the desired lower deployment altitude. But as I did this more and more, in practice, I discovered I am much more calm and relaxed when I deploy, no matter how high I am. I guess you could call it, “Hurry up and wait”. If I wait 2 seconds after I grab my hacky, I also have a chance to do another quick look around for others and to reassess my body position for deployment. My deployments have improved and my reaction to unexpected minor issues has also improved. This delay, for reassessment or longer (to burn off a few hundred extra feet) has become part of what is normal for me. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

When flying vertically stacked I have heard the flock plan of the design that the fliers that are above the base, get progressively further forward of the base, based on their position in the stack. For example, moving up from the base the first person above the base might be 3 feet forward, the second person above the base up might be 3 feet forward of the person right below him/her, and so on. If this is done for aesthetics, that makes sense because that is the desire affect. If it is done to keep people out of the burble of the one below them, I have some questions. If the flock is moving at a glide ratio of 1.0, the burbles are trailing the fliers at a 45 degrees angle, or very close to it. This would allow 6 feet tall fliers to move down, directly on top of the person below them to about 6 feet distance before their tailwing started touching the burble caused by the lower person’s head. Most people are happy with something like 8 feet and not as close as 6 feet, so at 8 feet vertical separation, there is wiggle room of about 2 feet behind the tailwing that you can slip back before there is any concern. Even then, you can feel the burble before it has radical effect on your flight and you can (should) push forward to get back in your slot. So, why is the stepped stack favored over a straight vertical stack with safe vertical distances? Or is it just the people that I happen to be around? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Indeed. I was leaving the DZ yesterday and a student was landing close enough to the road that I just stopped sort so I would not distract the student. The student flared pretty well but failed to finish and went down on the knees (where is the PLF). From where I was at there was a good amount of flare left and I thought, why didn't he finish it. That seems to be somewhat common. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Over the years I've coached quite a few people on "save your life tracking" skills and even though I've never used this term, I've heard it from people a number of times with no explanation of what they mean. In my mind this term goes against what I teach because to me, it means a diving track. Will someone please explain what is meant by "semi-steep angle"? I don’t know what the other fellow meant by “semi-steep angle”, but I can tell you what I have observed. If you want cover a (1) distance before you deploy then you need (2) speed, which requires a (3) force that is exerted over (4) time. You will NOT get 1 without 2 and you will not get 2 without 3 and 4.....basic physics. There is an ideal angle to cause the most horizontal force to be exerted on your body to accelerate you to the desired speed that you need to go. If the angle is too shallow, you don’t get the best force and your acceleration is lacking. If the angle is too steep, you also don’t get the best force, acceleration is lacking, and you waste altitude to boot. At the onset of the track (away from RW), being aggressive enough to get a substantial force requires something more than staying at a very shallow angle from horizontal. Some might call it a semi-steep angle. Once the desired speed it reached, you can be less aggressive and still maintain a good deal of that horizontal speed as you complete your track to deployment. A sleek tracker “coasts” pretty well in the horizontal direction. What I stated above is based on high school physics and observation of GPS data collected on solo tracking jumps and on RW jumps. I submit that you need the optimal angle of attack with respect to the relative wind, and because the direction of the relative wind changes as your horizontal velocity increases, so your angle with respect to the ground changes too. However, your body position for best track won't change to any great extent. Exactly, and it won't happen unless "work" happens. I am with DiO in that it doesn't happen flat (to the earth) on your belly....that is all. John, Did you ever get your Flysight back into the air with the audible feedback going? Mine talks now!!! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Over the years I've coached quite a few people on "save your life tracking" skills and even though I've never used this term, I've heard it from people a number of times with no explanation of what they mean. In my mind this term goes against what I teach because to me, it means a diving track. Will someone please explain what is meant by "semi-steep angle"? I don’t know what the other fellow meant by “semi-steep angle”, but I can tell you what I have observed. If you want cover a (1) distance before you deploy then you need (2) speed, which requires a (3) force that is exerted over (4) time. You will NOT get 1 without 2 and you will not get 2 without 3 and 4.....basic physics. There is an ideal angle to cause the most horizontal force to be exerted on your body to accelerate you to the desired speed that you need to go. If the angle is too shallow, you don’t get the best force and your acceleration is lacking. If the angle is too steep, you also don’t get the best force, acceleration is lacking, and you waste altitude to boot. At the onset of the track (away from RW), being aggressive enough to get a substantial force requires something more than staying at a very shallow angle from horizontal. Some might call it a semi-steep angle. Once the desired speed it reached, you can be less aggressive and still maintain a good deal of that horizontal speed as you complete your track to deployment. A sleek tracker “coasts” pretty well in the horizontal direction. What I stated above is based on high school physics and observation of GPS data collected on solo tracking jumps and on RW jumps. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Your skills will not suddenly degrade when you have no booties. Your range over vertical distance will most likely be less. But you will still be able to track fine without them if you are accustom to them. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Welcome and have fun. Swimming makes you look funny on the videos. Stop it right now :) Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Tip: remember you are in training. If it went perfect you would not really need much training. You can expect good preformance from yourself and train to deliver it. But it will not happen very often. Certainly not at first. But don't beat youself up if you are not up to your own standards. Listen carefully to the instructors feedback and adjust accordingly. What you feel you might need to do better on, you can work on the next jump. Your instructors will know when you need to spend more time on one thing or another. Read/Study the SIM section 4 so you will better understand what you are being taught at the DZ. Lots of good stuff in the SIM. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Many will say it is as much about the journey as the getting there. Everyone has their own ideal pace and even that changes as you progress. Get the video so you can relive the jump. Odds are your memory of the jump will be less than perfect. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I had a bad exit. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Don't take this as advice but just sharing my experience. I started jumping at age 54 and getting my primary goal required me to avoid getting hurt. I have no desire for accelerated landings so getting a lightly loaded main early and keeping it was just fine with me. Even when wind on the ground was what I would call okay to jump the wind up at 2000 or 3000 feet is often strong enough that I can't make headway if I am downwind of the DZ. So, on those type days, I learned very quickly to avoid jumps were I would be the in the first group out and likely short (downwind) of the DZ under canopy. But in cases where I could be sure I was upwind, then dealing with strong wind was just an issue of positioning, holding into the wind, and learning to get down a little faster. My lightly loaded canopy is very good to me in many ways. There are a few shortcomings but I am staying with it until I wear it out. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

WildWilly suggestion that you work down to it is the best advice around. See what you can find, maybe a 220 or a 210 that you can borrow or rent for a few jumps. I got into a 210 (WL 0.93) at 21 jumps, moving down from a 288. There was nothing available in between for me to work down on at my DZ. I did some PLF refresher, did a high pull at 9,000 and worked the new canopy all the way down to get familiar with it. By the way, I have decided to stay with a lightly loaded canopy because is offers advantages for me. There is no harm in having something a bit large. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Look for a small group where you can see an experienced jumper trying to help a junior jumper to learn. Then ask if you can join them. You will want to join up with someone and make friends. But if you can find someone already teaching others, you can also benefit from that teaching. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Great event, thanks to all of the organizers! I am new to wingsuits and have worked the past year to be ready to participate in a bigway flock. The bigway organizers worked us hard to get us ready and still have fun while building those skills. Thanks for such a great week! Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Not trying to make a point about camera rules but behavior in general, jump numbers to not cause good or bad choices. A recent swoop demonstration by an S&TA, into a spectator on Safety Day is just another example of the fact that experience, knowledge, and training are not the solution to making the choice to do what you should rather than what you desire. Training, knowledge, and experience are critical tools, if used. 200 jumps or 2000 jumps will not make much difference to the person that wants to ignore what they really need to do...properly. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Good to hear you knocked it out without issue. Low exit skills are good for cloudy days as well as emergencies. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Do the first 5 or 6 S/L or IAD jumps, that will get you ready and confident. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

You beat me to it but that was what I was going to suggest, minus the practice pull. Not reason not to but I was not thinking about that. I remember so many of my early jumps were so busy that it was not something that I could just purely enjoy. A few months after I got my license I was on my first sunrise jump. I was solo, faced the sun, and just took in the view during freefall. That was great. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Without respect to the title of your post, that video shows very nicely how pulling one's knees/legs to the rear and arching before and during a chop promotes stability, or maybe more accurately how failing to promotes instability. It also demonstrates how trying to get stable before deploying a reserve costs valuable altitude. The jumper took 4 seconds +/- from the time he chopped to the time he pulled the reserve ripcord and pretty much all of it was because he was flailing in an effort to go belly-to-earth. Much less drama with an RSL. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Look hard left and below you, then drop your right shoulder. See what that will do for you. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

With a little over 100 jumps I went to a busy DZ with the goal to jump as much as I could for a 16 day period. I pack for myself and I am not fast, needing about 20 minutes from the time I land until packed. This was during the winter with flying operations from 8-5 or 9-5. On the days where weather did not stop us, I was able to jump 7 and 8 times per day. With loads going up every 20 minutes, I could get on every 4th load and have some time in between to plan the jumps. I was able to stay with a specific group of jumpers as well, as we all hit about the same turn around time. If I had been paying a packer, every 3th load would have most likely been possible. At it turned out I was able to jump 14 of the 16 days and many of those 14 days were short days due to clouds or early morning fog. In 14 days I did 82 jumps, averaging almost 6 per day, including those short days. At the end of the trip, I was burned out on jumping (rushing) and ready to take a break. If you asked me for my advice, it would be to do one of your 26 day DZ visits with one rig and see how it works for you. Or, maybe rent a second rig for one day while on one of your visits and see what real advantages it brings to the table. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I would add to the "head away from jump run" statement to say, "Stay away from the jump run". Another load a few minutes later might not be what you are thinking about at 4,000 feet while you are trying to get to a landing pattern entry point. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was considering this until I looked up the density of lead (verses water). Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think the Pilot and the Pulse are both okay for a person's first main (not saying first jump). I got a Pilot loaded at 0.93 for my 21st jump and that is what I jump today. I jumped a Pulse (same size) for jump 24 and 25 and could not tell much difference. I don't have desires to go fast under canopy and I am happy with my choice to stay lightly loaded. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”