dthames

I can relate a bit to being timid with the control. I had control/stability issues and went to Static Line training from AFF. I was instructed, “Do a ten second delay. If you are on the original aircraft heading and stable, you can extend to 15 seconds….you will be plenty high enough for 15.” After exit I started a slow turn to the left. I felt like I didn’t have the level of control needed to arrest the turn and to reverse it. So I tried to relax and just slowly turn the full 360. When I got back on the original aircraft heading I stopped the turn and held the heading. While in that turn, I felt like if I did more than the slightest input that I would blow it. I held back on the input to stay in control. It is just part of the learning process to get the feel of what you are doing and gain the level of confidence that you need. You might consider asking for some coaching on a trainer table before your next jump. Your instructor should be able to help you improve both form and confidence. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Why the left hand pull out? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I am loaded to 0.93 on my Pilot. I have loops on my fronts and I can pull them down maybe 2 inches. But as soon as it picks up any speed, I am doing a chinup and it does not seem like it keeps the speed. I have a GPS and maybe I will try it again so I can see the GPS data and see my ground speed picks up and holds or not. It is pretty hard for me to hold all of my weight on those loops for very long. Learning to stay upwind or not jumping when I can't get out upwind is my method of operation now. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Good thing to share this, regardless of cause or decisions. Thanks for sharing what you learned. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-05/great-escape Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Years ago someone had a spool of rope that would unspool. On the side of the spool was mounted one end of a shock absorber. The other end of the shock was mounted to the frame that held the spool. In order for the spool to allow the rope to be pulled off, the action of the shock going in and out would slow down your decent. The device would somehow have to be mounted to the building and you would need a harness of sorts. A crafty person should be able to build such a device. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

On a 5 second delay student jump I got in a rush to get out because of a cloud we were heading for. I failed to check mine at exit time. It was one of those hard plastic types and I guess i had sat against something. It was inside the pouch. When I reached and missed it, my index finger happened to go inside the pouch, happened to go right into the end of the cylinder, I hooked my finger, pulled it out of the pouch, grabbed it as you normally would and got it out on the 7 count. While it never turned into a crisis, it was a well taught lesson. It is hard to imagine it happeneing in freefall. If the PC was pushed really far into the pouch so that the spandex opening was tensioned against a hard handle, then I guess any movement or twisting of the rig might make the pouch opening slide over the handle the rest of the way. But that is no way to pack a PC, but might invite such an event if done. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

As mentioned at the end of that PDF that our referenced, As you feel the stall, it does not take much to get going again. A stall is not really like an event, just something to adjust to. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Here is some data on some small group tracking dives. 2 to 5 jumpers, as I recall. Look in the folder http://pyrodan.privatedata.com/skydive/group-track-horz-speed/ and you should find a PDF file with the Horz speed graphs. Also in the folder are the KML files that you can view with Google Earth. Right click on the "FreeFall" label on the left side (in Google Earth) and select Elevation Profile to see the graphs. You can select Horz speed, Vert speed, Glide, etc. The distance in miles at the bottom is 3D distance, not ground distance. In a group only one of those jumps went over 80 MPH and that is when we had our back to the wind. Solo for me 90-120 with the wind to my back is not unusual if I am pushing hard. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I think the feelings and fears related to skydiving are affected by many facets of the person, by the immediate state of mind, and who knows how many other factors. I recently spoke to a woman that had a very nice, calm tandem jump, followed by a canopy ride that made her motion sick. Now just looking at the photos of her jump make her all nervous and excited. Many I have talked to (or read posts) have different feelings on their later jumps than they did on their first, often much more unsettled. Looking back on moments of excitement in my life I see cases totally unrelated to fear. For example, go deer hunting, shoot a deer, not excited at all. But before you can get down from the stand another deer comes up and the idea of bagging two, back to back makes your heart pound like a sledgehammer. Or make an extreme long range varmint shot and then have the chance to follow it with another great success, has got me so keyed up I could not hold the gun still. Watch a deer for 2 minutes, not a problem. Watch one for 6 minutes and the excitement level shoots up like crazy. In skydiving I have noticed performance pressure more likely to get me nervous than the actual jump would ever do. I think age might have something to do about it as well. If you have been exposed to excitement or things that might be exciting over and over for years, you might get a bit numb to it. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I use a Flysight. It is on and locked before I board the aircraft. I leave it on during the climb. I toggle it off and back on to start a new file about the time we get a two minute warning that the jump run is close. It will reacquire in 2 or 3 seconds and I always get good data. Jumping from a Caravan or an Otter most of the time. The unit is on the back of my helmet. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Bill, Please read what I posted it near the top, Sep 17, 2013, 6:36 PM I think you missed the point I was making. I am not talking about ahead of the curve people as much as I am talking about behind the curve people with lot of "experience". Experience somewhere else and no specific skill in the discipline. I have been on tracking and WS jumps led by jumpers with many years experience and maybe thousands of jumps. Their navigation skills are not good. Simple as that. You says a person needs X number of jumps and we can assume they are good? I say the person needs to be good. The person needs to be good or at least able to do a fair job. Pure and simple. I was on a tracking dive where an AFF instructor lead the group that included 3 newly licensed jumpers about 30 degrees off of jump run, away from the DZ, until breakoff. I was on a WS jump with a tandem instructor that turned by down the jump run and I assume crossed it, as I refused to follow. Are you telling me these guys are "experienced"? Yes they are! But give me someone good, please. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I started at 54 and there are a fair number of others that have start jumping after the nest is empty. More time and more money.....maybe not enough money. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I put 2 KML files in this folder, http://pyrodan.privatedata.com/skydive/gps-data/ Opened in Google Earth you can right click on the Freefall "track" and select Elevation Profile to see graphs of several aspects of the flight. [inline capture.jpg] Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have a lot of flights recorded in CSV and KML formats(Thanks Hellis). The KML is viewable in GoogleEarth. Maybe later today I can attach a couple to this thread. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I am posting this for the new birds and those that hope to soon start. Maybe it will avoid a collision. I made a good number of WS flights and made sure I was in control of my flight before I started trying to flock with anyone. I am very cautious and in control when I am flying toward anyone. I was very sure I would not hit anyone or even come close. One if the first times I was with a group larger than 5, I was exiting from inside an Otter with 5 or 6 birds out before me. My exit was good and about 4 seconds into the flight, I was busy looking at where everyone was, and where I needed to go. I was looking back and down to the left when I basically stalled and went into a yaw rotation. I rotated about 200 degrees and then fell. Below me was another WS. I was close to opposing his line of flight. I was headed toward the same space as he was. Below and behind him were two other which might also be at risk if I manage to miss the first guy. I managed to get turned back in the direction of the flight and slipped past him but only by a few inches. I apologized and learned from my mistake. That was a few months ago. Last Saturday I saw almost the same thing happen with a junior bird on a similar exit. Talking about it after the flight, another WS pilot said he had let the same thing happen, similar to what I described above. There seems to be a pattern here that the priority of flight control does not always come first. I think my main problem was I was eager start moving toward my slot and not paying enough attention to what I was doing at the moment. I am not sure of any advice that might help, other than to slow down, calm down, and focus on flying. And “Don’t give up”. I knew for sure I was going to hit my buddy. But by the grace of God, I missed him right at the last split second. I don’t even know what I did, but I happily missed him. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was slow but not "real slow" in my fall rate. A suit with a little drag helped me be more stable but also slowed me down. Put on a fast slick suit and my stability suffered. But I fell faster. The stability got better with practice. Someone suggested practice with someone that is in your fall rate range, which is great. I often had the chance to practice solo or not jump at all (C-182 tandem-ish DZ). For unrelated reasons I purchased a Flysight GPS unit. One day I was planning a solo practice jump and I set the Flysight on vertical speed mode. With earbuds I could hear a tone that represented my fall rate. WOW, in 15 seconds I learned a lot about speeding myself up. Every change in body position, I could tell if it helped or not. I know some think students don't need to have gadgets, but the Flysight has helped me in many different aspects of my skydiving. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Absent actually jumping with someone from the DZ first (ie; coaching jump) how does the DZ know one can perform the skills they claim to possess? Jump numbers may not be the best litmus, but they do provide a starting point. I do not have a good answer. I do appreciated the difficulty of safety or the organizer having to make such calls without really knowing a person. A few months ago I was on a 2 way wingsuit flight with a visitor that was a TI at another DZ but had only been in a WS for a short time, like me. We had planned the flight path and knew where we wanted to go. He was to lead. We flew 90 degrees to jump run for maybe 15 seconds and then he turned right back toward the DZ on a line that would cross the jump run behind where we had exited. I mumbled some disgust and proceeded with the planned flight. 500 jumps or more, from my point of view does not mean anything at all when you see something like that right in front of your eyes. As I said, I don’t have a good answer. But I did email our primary organizer and told him what the guy had done so he might keep an eye out. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I can see that Wendy, that some DZs have a very different population show up from week to week. You would not know who was able to perform at what level. So, where do you start? Tracking (often solo) in my first year, I would always have a navigation plan that I didn't mind sharing with anyone that asked. If I was able to consistantly carry out a good plan, I would have really been at odds if someone said, "you can't do that because you don't have X number of jumps". At a new DZ, sure I can understand someone wanting to sit me down and have a talk so see how I thought and operated. I have GPS records of those jumps with overlays on the ground. It is very easy so see performance or lack of it. But if the bottom line is not performance/conformance but jump numbers, then are we making any real progress? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I really hate to see so much emphasis put on jump numbers instead of the person being properly trained and having a proven performance record. Use tracking for example. If a jumper can demonstrated he/she can develop a proper plan and execute it, what difference does it make if he/she has X or 2X jumps? Or is it better to think that because he/she has 4X jumps that they automatically plan ahead? I am not saying ignore experience. But experience outside the task at hand, is of much less value than a good plan. How many times has it been posted in the last year a statement like, “I have seen jumpers with thousands of jumps that can’t track”, or “….that have never really learned to track”? Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

This appears to be common. My non-expert experience.... With some help, I made some tracking pants and while shopping for fabric I found some sealer made to seal the stitching if you are making a rain coat or something similar. Some of the coated or sealed fabrics are sealed with a silicon based process and some with a urethane process. The fabric company sold both sealers so you could seal up your seams. After seeing my friend's wingsuit start peeling like that I wondered if that sealer might arrest the peeling process. I recently saw a thread where someone quoted a WS manufacture saying something like, "It is normal and not a problem". Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Get a fast jumpsuit. Get used to wearing some weights. Work on flexibility. I've jumped with some smaller people that could arch like crazy and keep up with the bigger guys. I was pretty slow falling, tall, lightweight, and could not arch well. I ordered a custom suit and spoke to the manufacture a lot about my desire for vertical speed. Speed was part of each choice in the fabrics and options for the suit. My suit is not made from the most duriable fabics offered but it is fast (for me). It made a huge difference. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I have a life long history of getting motion sickness. My first jump I noticed it under canopy the most. The second jump, the next day, was much worse. I use a precription patch and it allows me to jump and have a good time. I still have to take it easy under canopy. On hot days when there are thermals that make the ride a bit bumpy, it is somewhat unpleasnt but I can manage. The bad feelings go away much quicker with the medication. I used the full patch for a few jumps to make sure I understood what to expect and then cut back to only using half a patch. Contact me via private message if you like and I can give you more details. If the air is calm I can jump without it now. But it has taken almost 2 years and a lot of jumps to get to that point. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

++ to what Airtwardo says. And, it doesn't have to be heart pounding to be rewarding. Learning, doing, learning some more is what I enjoy. Challenging is fun for me. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I got my rig when I had 20 jumps. My WL is about 0.93. With almost 300 jumps I can still land it fairly well. Get her something larger, not something with more risk because it is a good deal. Broken bones are more expensive in the long run. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”