NeedToJump

I love my neptune - I use it as a visual and am considering getting another to use as an audible. It's really easy to see in the air and I love it under canopy. Thanks for putting out a great product Alti-2

That's where I got my ass kicked by olav (yes, THAT olav) at pool, he is a badass pool player! Tell those guys I say hi and have fun! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Wow, very cool. Thanks for the explanation

Let's see, I'm competing in 4-way, freefly and swooping as well the tunnel competitions... yeah, I'd definitely say I'm a goal oriented skydiver

Yes this does work but I don't like encouraging this way of learning. Ideally we want to be able to take grips and look in a different direction. We want where we look and which direction our body faces to be independent of each other. Surf - the best way you are going to learn about how to move around while sitflying is to go up with an experienced coach. That being said I will try to explain the physical movements required for motion in a sitfly. Turns and slides can be done with arms, legs or a combination of both. From a neutral sitfly position with your elbows slightly bent (about 15 - 45 degrees off from being straight.) You will want to leave the part of your arm from your shoulder to you elbow exactly where it is. To turn right you would rotate your left arm down about 45 degrees so your palm is pressing against the air. You would also rotate your right arm up about 45 degrees so the back of your right hand is pressing against the wind. For leg motion to do a turn keep the part of your leg from your hips to your knee stationary and rotate either both legs or just the outside leg so they point in the direction you want to turn. For side slides think push pull with your arms. If I wanted to side slide to the right I would extend my left arm out so I am pushing off the wind with it and bring my right arm in so I am pulling against the wind with it. The three most important things I find for learning anything are (in no particular order) 1) Confidence - trust that what you do is going to work if you were taught property. 2) Relax - take a deep breath and don't try to force anything, moving around does not require a lot of input or force. 3) Feel the wind - be aware of how the wind is flowing over your body and what effect various inputs of your body have. It's hard to explain without pictures but let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps

Ummm, huh? I didn't think that horizontal speed had an effect on vertical speed... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Holy crap that's funny! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Somewhat related question: does it take the same amount of time to reach terminal when exiting a hot air balloon vs. exiting an otter? It seems like it should since in both the vertical speed is zero and it is your vertical acceleration which causes you to reach terminal. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

The time required will differ depending on how you exit (belly to earth, HD, etc.) Are you assuming no wind resistance? (and therefore no terminal...) Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll be in Crosskeys team training this weekend, but I will do my best to make it happen there as well. Great idea. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Windows XP Service Pack 2 is going to be released soon... that should cause all sorts of new security threats... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

This may be true if everyone on the jump is wearing one of Tony's sit suits but I have found everyone wearing a sit suit to fall incredibly slow. I've done two ways (very confortably) with me on my belly and a person sit flying in a sit suit doing docks, linked barrel rolls, etc. I'm 5'9" 155 so I don't fall too fast on my belly and I did not have to arch very hard to stay with the sit flyer. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Exactly! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at here? I didn't say that you should learn without anything, I just don't believe in learning in a suit designed as a handicap. Check out this picture of people in sit suits - those suits definitely are not keeping them warm... I think wearing a freefly suit, or shorts and a sweatshirt is great for learning. Yup, I agree. The problem with learning in a sit suit (or a freefly suit that is just way too baggy) is that it allows you to get away with a bad body position and hides the body position from the video / coach. That's my view as well. A particular kind of suit (or lack thereof) should not affect whether or not you can fly in a specific position, it will merely aid it. I can freefly fine in my RW suit and fly my belly fine in my FF suit. I prefer my belly suit for RW because it makes what I do on my belly more responsive and has grippers which help a lot with 4-way. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Me too Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

We do, when was the last time you saw an AFF student wearing booties? There's also a difference - booties add more power to the legs for belly flying, they do not make the position more stable. A sit-suit drastically increases the drag on the upper body making it much easier to get stable without a good body position. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Yes I know the exact number and I use dz.com as my logbook so after each weekend I update my profile for my own benefit so I can keep track of my jump numbers. I haven't actually logged what I've done on a jump since number 612 thought. I'd like to start logging them again though... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I have never considered teaching sit flying using a sit suit mainly because I think a person should learn to fly their body and not a suit. A sit suit will allow a person to learn a bad body position and compensate for it. When the person takes the suit off he would not be able to fly. Once someone can already fly their body then sure, play around with suits and see what they do. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

like beer! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Sex, especially really really good sex. Skydiving is great but I'm getting a lot of it right now. I could give up skydiving, I don't think I could give up sex... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'd be up for that Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Our team was there doing 4-way training this past weekend so I didn't do any of the big ways, but I heard that there were two complete 101 ways and a complete 102 way. On Saturday there was some smaller (50ish I think) ways goign on because the CASA broke down. I'm not sure how the big way sequencial went but the planned formations looked pretty impressive on paper. It was also fun to swoop the big way as they were dirt diving in the landing area Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I am so sorry to hear about what happened. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please call me if there's anything I can do Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Just think of the sweet new Ouragan suit that you just got Drink up! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'm all for it. Ian - I get back to DeLand in September so you've got until then to brush up on your tunnel skills Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com