OHCHUTE

I'm not sure who you are refering to. I picked OHCHUTE. There could be other Ochute's as user name. Just a curious pre first jump beginner. Hey BTW what movement do you need to do to do a 360 to the left on your belly?

Teaching where to look is a good idea. You can actually see where helmet cam'ed jumpers are looking when landing by viewing their Youtube video's.

When speaking with the skydiving instructor, who knew I was an aircraft pilot, it was not relayed that all new jumpers flare high, at least from what he implied. Not sure why he'd single out a new jumping prospect with pilot expereince if all new jumpers acted likewise. Also, not sure why an aircraft pilot might not have an edge over non aircraft pilot in negotiating when to stall the chute on landing? If stalling is what you do when your feet are about to touch the ground.

Not sure yet but you can best be assured it will be in warm air! Wind chill at 125mph in 32F weather must be a bear!

I already got the word from a skydiving instructor who told me that pilots have a tendency to flair high. So while speaking with that instructor I/ we attempted to analize why that might be the case. I'm a great flight instructor, but I'm also a good student. No way would I show up at a DZ with an "I know about this sport attitude." Yes it's about fun. Learning new stuff is fun. Thanks for your, and others inputs.

Thanks for your input. I've abandoned buying gear for now. I don't have enough experience to even know what to buy so, buying is out till I do have experience. Thanks again.

I'm a private pilot and if I were taking up a totally unknown aircraft, I'd sure like to explore the lower end of the envelope too. But for a student parachute, you just don't need to. If you put one hand 3" lower on your turn to final, you won't stall, spin, and burst into flame. With normal arm motion, it is normally nearly impossible to stall the canopy no matter what you do. It is all pretty simple at that level. You will want to practice flares, under the supervision of the guy at the radio. Getting the flare just right does take a little practice, and the full effect is only gained by having the ground as reference -- ie, once per jump on landing. The guy assisting on the radio is going to have a tough time if you open up at 10,000'. Later on in your jumping career you may want to do such high 'hop and pops' to learn more about more advanced canopies. So for now, a minute or two of canopy control practice per jump, is enough to get you on your way pretty safely. Thanks for the pilots perspective. Yes I ring out newly flown aircraft before I try to land them. OK so it's not as critical as I thought. Yes the main objective is not to flair too high or not flair at all but if there is not much flair involved with student chute then there's little to worry about. Seems pretty easy... now. Thanks. Best is to watch a few students land their chutes sitting at the picnic table at the field and I gather it will come together pretty quick. Thanks all!

Thanks for responding. I'm speaking from an experienced flight instructors point of view. Realistically I'd prefer 10,000 ft of steerable chute experience on the first AFF jump. I'd want to do 360's in both directions, slow flight, turns while slow flying, stalls, and recovery from stalls etc before entering the pattern, basically knowing the full flight characteristics of the chute before landing, long before gliding through 4,000. So I know what I'm dealing with. I realize flying a few tandum flights will help, but I would imagine the flight characteristics of tandum are different than solo rig. Yes of course I'd be listening to instructor. Just wondering if this concentration is how it is done or is first AFF concentrate on free falling? And when does the wing stall or lines get twisted in steep banking turn? I want to know this and how to recover while flying well before 4,500ft. Thanks.

Thanks for posting the size/weight chart. I realize there is progression from larger chute to small as one becomes more experienced and renting eqimpment through that process would be most adventagous, but it would seem that once the decision is made to take the training, and stay with the sport, one might be on the look out for good deal on used equipment, for use at a time when that size of chute would be used most often. For instance the person above might have bought a 260 long before he ever used it. So why not keep looking out for a good deal?

OK, I already know I'm decending while under canope but I need to know how to level off, slow, turn one way, perhaps turn back the other way, slow fly and stall, recover from stall etc. Will they give me the chance to practice all this before I'm in the pattern and preparing to commit to a landing? Like I need to know how this acts before getting down in there. Free fall doesn't seem as important to learning how to land while up high before it's actually time to land. I'm not sure why much of the first jump is concentrated on free falling, not on slow flying the chute while practicing turns?

What weight do you figure for all gear? 25lbs or so?

As a beginner I know much info will come from instructor but I was wondering what size main would I'd need for AFF course? 230? In the event I'd consider buying some equipment prior to first jump. Tks.

Plan on AFF in spring unless if winter jumping works out.