Orange1

well, just us - paragliding pilots will be out there hunting for those thermals having had a canopy half collapse from turbulence at about 200ft i can say it's pretty scary - i imagine it would have been a helluva lot more scary at 50ft thanks for the para on things to look out for - useful stuff Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

A question... 2 different instructors have recommended that when I buy a first canopy, I get a 170 (which will be just over 0.8 w/l). I'm jumping a 210 at the moment and will be graduating down to a 170 on club gear, which may take a # of weeks given a shoddy weather outlook. 2nd hand gear is in relatively short supply here at the moment but there is a rig available at present with the right canopies, price seems reasonable etc. My CI will check out the rig for me but my concern is this: I can't test-jump the canopy at the moment. Looking for opinions as to whether I should take up my CI's offer to get someone else at the DZ to test jump it for me in the meanwhile. Is it reasonable to buy on that basis? I guess it's kinda like asking someone else to test-drive a car for me, but at the same time with my low jump #s I'm also not sure whether I would really know what to look out for on a test-jump, other than the blatantly obvious. I'd obviously prefer to wait till I can jump it myself as well but that may be a while yet and the rig may not be around any more. Would it be better to let the rig go if necessary and wait longer? (who knows how long, and rental gear is pretty pricey too) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

be aware that i am a newbie, but i got refreshed on this subject relatively recently. What i was taught comes with the caveat that the instructor told me that he would try (but did not suggest it should be done by someone with low experience) to get a clean cutaway of the main done. In fact, I was specifically told not to cut away in case the main tangled with the reserve in the process. First, he said that the dominant canopy is usually the main - maybe someone else can clarify but i presumed this is due to the position of the main vs reserve in the harness (or it might simply be due to the fact that reserves are smaller than mains on the student rigs there?). Always fly the main towards the reserve to prevent a downplane eg if you need to turn left but that would mean flying the main away from the reserve, you would do a series of right turns to be facing the correct way. If a downplane starts developing, correct it again by flying the main towards the reserve. Gentle toggle input all the way, and do NOT flare for landing. This to me is the 2nd-scariest situation after a horseshoe. Any comments on the above guidance would be of interest. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

lol um - look at my jump numbers, i'm not gonna be swooping anything anytime soon, much less a cow during an off-landing I now have visions of arguing with a cow that this big pink silky thing in my arms is actually not cowfood... [makes mental note to confront instructor who told me not to worry about outlandings in the fields when the cows are grazing] Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Somewhat off the main thread, but is it true (as i've been told) that if you do end up landing in a field with cows, the cows will tend to run away as you come down, ie you don't really need to worry that you'll crash into one? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Congratulations!! Um, sore muscles yes... I also often find (sometimes unexplained) bruises in wierd places after i've been jumping ... it's all worth it!! some stretching exercises before jumping was what was suggested to me for muscles ...hasn't worked yet... ...personally never noticed leg straps as an issue.. so, when you gonna start jumping on your own? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

dunno about Australia, but it sounds suspiciously like what happened to Wesley Snipes in "Dropzone".... you know, the movie that makes whuffos think you can go from nothing to being able to do a night jump accuracy landing onto a building rooftop within a week Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I started off on SL at a DZ where all student canopies were 280, which put me on about a 0.5 w/l ... AFF at a different DZ on a 230 (0.6), currently down to a 210 for the conversion (to throw-out PC) jumps (0.67) and will be graduating down to a 170, which will put me at around 0.83 and which my instructors at the moment think is a good first size for me and which I'm happy with ... with all the stuff I've read on these forums making me definitely prefer to lean on the side of caution. btw i've always found those near-vertical descents much easier to land and softer on my feet than no-wind landings (which I could stand up fine on the 280 but am finding a bit more difficult now - one of the reasons I'll also be happy to stop at a 170 for now) I found this a useful article, you may too: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/choosing1.pdf One of the reasons that I don't want to go down to 1:1 yet is that will mean I'll be jumping a 150 or smaller, and this article helps explain why that may not be such a good idea just yet. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I am not nearly experienced enough to comment on your question, however, this is the second thread i've seen where you have posted something and then got all irritated with the responses. This forum is about safety, remember. I don't understand why you get upset with people who are just trying to improve your chances of survival. And remember that there are a lot of newbies out here who read these things for info (yes, yes, we ask our instructors too), but I'm somehow glad that thre haven't been a load of responses saying things like "sure, jump a high wingloading" or "sure, open in a cloud" (without qualification) ---end of my contribution to this thread---

congratulations! glad to hear it went well and you got the landing aids sorted out. Not fair - we aren't allowed to do more than 3 jumps a day on AFF (But now that i'm off it... ) So, what was the embarrassing thing? You HAVE to tell us! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

and if we wanted guys to ogle us we'd be sitting on a beach in bikinis, not zipping up jumpsuits.

Well, I just wanted to give you an update. Thanks for all the feedback above - and the comments about being in control re door fear, canopy control experience and confidence in solo exits were spot on... (Though my first landing was a no-wind overshoot into the trees Tequila warned me about above!! But I was fine and the instructors were cool about it, cos apparently everyone lands in the trees at some stage, and all the rest of the landings were fine.) It was brilliant being able to just focus on the dives, and for that reason I'm really glad I did the S/L stuff first. I went through the programme with no repeats - though the instructors did not, like some of you have mentioned, want me to merge or skip any levels. AFF is 10 levels here (3 2-instructor, 4 1-instructor and 3 solos). With 3 days out due to weather, I still managed to do it all in a week. The first level was actually pretty awful, and I think in retrospect it was because my 3-second delay freefall off S/L was absolutely nothing like a real freefall from altitude! I was more comfortable on 2 & 3 and started having fun from level 4, for some reason got really scared about level 7 (which ended up going brilliantly) and absolutely loved the solo jumps. The hop'n'pop was easy cos I'd done it before, but I don't know if any jump I ever do will again match the feeling of my first solo from altitude . Talk about a natural high in every sense of the word!! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Well done!! and remember not to beat up on yourself next time you make a mistake (becaue we all do and will make mistakes) - just learn from it - which is exactly what you did from your first to second L2! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Would closed end cells make it more likely that the slider gets stuck because there isn't as much pressure from the canopy pushing it down? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

yes I did - but I guess I got confused by this bit afterwards ... calculations can be estimates too you know ... and anyway, an estimate is better than nothing. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Quote Jumping in gusty winds, either landing into or with the wind is ill advised./Quote Are you saying that one should land crosswind when it's gusty, or am I misreading you? Can you expand on the reasoning please? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Similar thinking to what Kevin said. After my FJC I was thinking: hey, this is really a safe sport! Then, after reading here I also got a lot of fear build-up - especially after reading how really experienced jumpers with great reputations for safety still get hurt or worse - but I don't think it's "unnecessary" fear - I'm just a lot more aware of what can go wrong and, as importantly, what I can do to try prevent it. Whether that's to do with wingloading, jumping in strong winds, routing chest straps correctly, whatever. While I do always defer to my instructors, the answers to questions by me and other newbies as well as other threads have been invaluable. You can only take a calculated risk if you know what the calculations involved in that risk actually are... (like, # of jumps + currency + state of equipment + WL + winds etc etc) And I must say I find the argument about 'chances of a reserve ride happening to me' irrelevant at best, scary at worst. Doesn't matter, if you ask me, whether it's 1 in 300, 1000 or 10000. imho on EVERY jump you should be prepared for the possibility that it will be the one you need to use your reserve on. I think "it'll never happen to me" is a very dangerous mindset to have in a sport like this. Just my $0.02 Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I was thinking maybe a thread like this might be useful to collate some nice advice... by which I don't mean the obvious things you have to do (like "pull") but things like: Nature has no straight lines, so anything that looks like a straight line on the ground is probably dangerous. (Saved me from going into a barb-wire fence on an out landing.) So, what's your snippet? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

What she said. I have a family and thus an obligation to make the sport as safe as I can for myself; while I would never rely on an AAD, it's a nice to have just in case i do get knocked unconscious one day. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I rode down on what would have been jump 5. Like you, I had a bad feeling. My JM said to me afterwards: "listen to the voices! don't jump if you don't feel right!" Funnily enough, the next time I went, I had almost no fear! Leaving a long time between jumps (and this is even more frustrating if it's weather) ups the fear factor. Jump as often as you can. Know your dive properly in advance: being confident that you know exactly what to do helps. Practice your EPs: so that you know if something does go wrong you can deal with it. I took to checking 3 times (superstition? ) after putting on a rig: clutch the cutaway puff and reserve handle, touch the ripcord/boc. Just so I knew it was all where it should be and where I expected.

This is such a cool idea for a thread (i have no pics, only vid so far!) especially love the ones from the "olden days"... i wonder if in a decade or 3 people will look at our pics from now and go..."god, they skydived in that????" for interest - when did 3-ring release become general usage? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

And what are we gonna say otherwise? "I've only done one jump but I'm older than you so I know better?" I don't think so!!! I would think in general older guys getting into the sport are probably more risk averse and aware of the risks than younger guys. In fact it would be interesting to see, i guess it's not really possible to track, if older newbies are more willing to listen to advice about canopy size, w/l etc than younger ones... Sorry for the half-hijack of the intro post Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

hey old man - i started jumping at 36!! coupla guys on my first jump course were in their 50s... kinda cool when someone just about half your age is putting you out of a plane welcome to the forums, and enjoy the skies!! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

no tunnels here thanks for the words of support guys - did levels 2 & 3 today - already far more comfortable! i'm still in the mode of every plane ride thinking "why am i doing this, not again" and raring to go up again as soon as i land! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

well, i was totally unprepared for THAT! (not unprepared for the jump - for how it felt) did the ground briefing yesterday but the weather meant i could only jump today. a month since my last jump, i only started getting nervous right before exit... jeeez, it is SO different from S/L! first time at terminal... sensory overload all over again, because i had no idea how wind resistance at that speed would feel! i managed to do all my tasks by 9000' which apparently is quite good, but i battled in that wind to do the ripcord touches and the pull (having done all my DRCPs and 1st FF quite successfully), felt opening shock for the first time, and all in all I DIDN'T ENJOY THE JUMP. all the way down i was thinking "that's it, end of the road, don't want to do this anymore" - of course, soon as i was back in the hangar couldn't wait to go up again, got my level 2 briefing and will jump tomorrow again (too busy today for a 2nd). Honestly - if that had been my first experience of skydiving, I don't think I would have been back for a 2nd jump. But I'm already hooked, and because of SL i know that things that seem overpowering at first get tackled pretty quickly, so here i am still hooked! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.