sebinoslo

when I took the AFF we HAD to perform a PLF on each landing. Simple and stupid: you learn by doing and you will not hurt yourself doing a PLF when you could have walked; but the contrary isn't so true. The way we learned it was feet slighty in front and HEELS hit the ground first (if the top of your toes hit first, good luck...). This starts the PLFs nicely.

I didn't try any FF at all until I got my A-license simply because the student was not FF-friendly. So I work on the mantis and FS techniques. Since I can only jump with 2 other people for the moment and most groups are larger than that, if I have to jump alone I sit - I find it fun for now. I would never contemplate doing any FF with anyone around me - except those at the DZ with over 1000 FF jumps. 2 people posted on this thread doing FF when working toward their A-license. I know some at my DZ who were also doing so. It seems intructors do not stress enough that (most?) student rigs are not FF friendly, that the leg straps will tend to slide down in a sit etc...I only found out when asking whether I could try tracking on my back for a change and was told that it was a really bad idea.

this increases the lift the same way that you de-arch, the shoulders and chin inside increases the amount of lift, since it traps air. regarding the hands inside rather than on the side, a guy mentioned it and he was wearing a tracking "suit" (2 pieces, jacket + pants)

Does anyone have a link to a good tracking video? And by tracking I mean when the whole body is only one line, with the shoulders and chin inside; maybe even hands below the hips rather than on the sides... I can only find videos where people do a delta and chill...

If I understood correctly, I agree completely ;-) for me I went from the box shape, and simply focused on the legs first, putting them together and squeezing the muscles to make sure they were straight. once the legs are taken care of, they become once less variable to worry about. From then I would bring my hands by my shoulders, elbows about 45 degrees back, once stable and with heading (always with heading!) I would straighten my arms to delta slowly and again, once stable, bring the hands close to my hips. It is a very progressive way, no big/sudden changes to the body shape, which allow to go back to the previous stable position instantly. So, when you wrote "get your speed from your toes first", i read: fix the legs position first :-)

I am going toward my B-license and there are 5 canopy control jumps involving stalling the canopy. I too think that stalling is important, if only to know where is your full flare. It allows you to know that, if in a rush on landing, you can just pull on the brakes without worrying about stalling (since it will become second nature where to put your hands to flare as opposed to stall). Stalling on purpose also allows you to get a feel for the canopy just prior to a stall and reacting properly to stop it - once again, being properly conditioned makes you react much faster and better. When would you recommend taking a basci canopy course? As soon as one gets his A-license and own rig or later, once the person has a decent feel for his/her canopy?

I forgot to remind you to mention this to the jumpmaster, this will affect your exit order. And you can see what is your DZ maximum altitude to open, it may well be 6000' and give a bit more time.

This was mostly the point I wanted to bring across, since the OP talks about 2-ways :-) There is a FS camp soon at my DZ so I may get more into it and appreciate your explanation!

Just a question: if it's a big way you may be the only ones in the sky and then you just track away asap. But if you are doing a 2 or 4-way, you probably still have people getting off the plane after you. Shouldn't you first and foremost track 90 degrees from the "plane line" and not simply 180 from each other? you could end up tracking under the next people who jumped off the plane. Am I missing something?

I have seen people repeating jumps indeed. But I just wanted to add I am a perfectionist too and thought more than once my jumps were shit because I was used to reading something and executing it exactly as written (school and work). During AFF jumps I would feel I was turning really slow and shaky, I could not move forward fast enough, I would do a tumble or two leaving the aircraft (before recovering and moving on) and always thought I would have those "failed" because I did not fully follow the script (the tasks/sequences). But as soon as my AFFI told me that I was doing fine, no one does all the tasks perfect, so if i were to spin or do a tumble I would curse myself for sucking during the rest of the jump, I would instantly move one. With that in mind, I relaxed and the following levels went without a single problem. Like someone replied, SMILE! and you can only smile if you are relaxed and you can only relax if you know that a tumble is no big deal and does not bother you throughout the whole jump.

Be careful with reverse turns, if you're jumping something a bit twitchy and you're overly agressive with it, the canopy can spin up on you so do it high. For me, the first thing on my list is find the point where your brakes start to have an effect and the stall point in deep brakes to get your total flare range. Then a progressive flare trying to maintain level flight all through the flare range. Find the stall point on rear risers and how it reacts to rear riser turns. How it handles on toggles, how fast you can turn and how much height it loses in a turn. Front riser turns and dives. Slow flight characteristics, flying in half brakes and deep brakes. Then harness turns and combined inputs. I agree 90% with you but I would leave the risers alone on the first jump though. Everything said regarding the brakes is gold

hey, i jumped my first rig 2 weeks ago, going from a nav 220 (student rig) to and electra 170 and thought about all the stuff you mentioned...but really, by the time you give a good pull on one of the brakes like you used to (and which would result in a nice, slow, gentle swing on the student rig) you'd be telling yourself "what just happened" (turns will be really fast, the loss of altitude will be much much greater than before etc). I load at 1 and the first inputs were just like nothing else before...yeah i got scared so really, just have fun on that first jump, getting a good feeling for the inputs required to turn, get to the landing area and if you can fit a couple of flaring you will be happy... and remember to ask someone one the ground whether a one or two step flaring will work best too. it can depend on your training but also on your canopy. and one more time: your fall rate when turning will be much greater than before, so get close to the landing area before doing maneuvers - it would suck to land outside on the first jump

hey all, thanks for the quick replies, I have had my A-license for 2 weeks now and I guess I'd have 50 jumps by early august. How easy would it be for me to get on loads during the nationals? it might be indeed awesome to meet experienced people but if everyone focuses on the competition and no one will jump with me, it will make for 3-4 very long days... So if anyone can give me a heads up regarding the actual jumping under the Nationals for a non-competitors that would be great :-) have a great weekend!

N/A

hey, i will be going 2 weeks in toronto in early august. I was thinking of jumping there 3 or 4 days during weekdays the first week. Any recommendations regarding the best place to go to? Being over few days, good accomodations are a big plus obviously. Thanks

It is not recommended to downsize more than 15% at a time. But obviously, going from 270 to 220 is more than 15%, yet not a danger considering my weight, the wingload being still really (really) low.

At what point in time/which wingload do you need to take into consideration the downsizing factor? My 7 AFF jumps were on a 270. The week after I went to a different DZ and jumped a 240 4 times but everyone at the DZ implied that the 220 they have can be used without a problem. According to Germain's chart I could jump a 190/210 as a "newbie". I weight 170/175lbs out of the door...

I would agree with you if the tandem master were to attempt the record for most paying tandem clients throughout 24 hours. However, it seems that such record are achieved with the help of one sole "trained" and "willing" passenger, who is as much a part of the record as the tandem master.

I just finished the first part of my AFF training and will therefore only review this DZ from a student point-of-view. There are 3 full days of training and theory on the ground before doing the first jumps on the 4th day. In my opinion this is a great plus: this is the bare minimum to assimilate all the material and allow you to be confident once the time to jump comes. The landing area is really big and you'd have to miss by about 100 yards either way to encounter any "risky" zone. The canopy ride is done on your own, no radio to guide you - hence the importance of the 3 full days of practice. The price for the AFF was really good (9900 SEK / 900 EUR), and includes 10 jumps. On the minus side, the usual clique spent nearly all of its time together, barely mixing with the students. I guess this is due to a mix of it being the "first" day of the season, the normal scandinavian behavior and, as students, having the infamous "10% retention rate" sign on our backs. There was a bigger than expected effort to be made to get to speak casually with people. The DZ is reachable from the Kristianstad airport being 500m from the DZ or by train from Copenhagen (1h30).

Hei, I went to Skånes, by Kristianstad. I just got back home tonight after 4 hectic days... The first 3 days started at 9AM and finished between 6 and 8PM. The following was covered: - all the theory - plane exits - tons and tons of reserve drags, including on suspended rigs - lots of PLF - Simulating the landing on the ground (the instructor would count down 100m of altitude every 20 sec and a partner was doing the canopy and acting according to the wind directions and strength) - which was useful since we had to land on our own, without radio assistance. the end of the 3rd day was concluded by a written test as well as a practical test done by the AFF-I. On the fourth day, only one jump was possible. The DZ planned on having 2 planes but the second one broke down in another DZ so we were left with the cessna. my jump went pretty well. out the door at 3000m, went a bit too much backwards, arched and went horizontal, circle of awareness started at 2600m (was asked to arch and bend legs a bit), 3 dummydrags, second CoA at 2000m (was asked to close gap between legs), opened at 1500m landed about 30m away from the landing point - PLF wasn't really good but I didn't really flare too high, maybe 5m so it wasn't a hard landing. was it fun? i simply don't know...i was so concentrated on doing all the stuff i had to do that i didn't have time to realize i was freefalling..except between the time I dragged the handle and until the chute opened... Now all I want is be done with the AFF and take one jump where I can just arch, not think about anything but the altitude every few seconds and enjoy the feeling. I have no idea how people can be done with the AFF in 2 or 3 days...I am glad I have two weeks until the other jumps so I can processed all the information my brain and body accumulated the past 4 days. i have been going through that jump non-stop for the past 4 or 5 hours and what I would do differently etc... Regarding the DZ I will post more in the Dropzone section.

Finally, my AFF course is just around the corner. I neatly received the AFF manual 2 weeks ago and went through it almost twice from cover to cover. Doing it in Sweden, the schedule is quite different from what seems to happen in the USA. The first stage is a four-day course, where the first 2 days are mostly theory, the 3rd day is on-the-ground training and the 4th day is dedicated to the first two jumps. A second weekend is necessary to do the subsequent 5 + 3 jumps. The 5 jumps are the normal AFF jumps while the last 3 are considered to be consolidation jumps (AFF 8th level). So far the weather looks good, the spirits are high and it's Easter time. PS: Nearly everyone I talked to before the holidays finished their "happy easter" wishes with "And don't forget to pull", "come back in one piece", "see you... maybe.." with a jockingly voice. Is that why skydivers are basically only friends with other skydivers? Happy Easter to you all, Sebastien

*** What can I do to be ready on the day of my first jump? These are good questions that get good answers. Yet when my first post was just about that, you did not take the time to post any advices... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3521544 Luckily there are plenty of people here taking the time to give great advices. And you made your point earlier regarding me being a douchebag/jackass/retard, so please let it go.

You are a sad person...

Well yes it is me. I never said I will order it now or anything. I am just curious so I ask questions. If you prefer I can say that there is a 90% chance I will never make a single jump past AFF (apparently this is the commonly acceptable rate). Well, given the odds I may as well cancel the whole thing... Regarding the used rig post I have no idea how you think I didn't believe anyone or anything that was said. I guess it is also a sin I spent half an hour having fun designing a container. I have done the same on a BMW and Mercedes website also, way before I had my driving license... It seems I am not the only with too much time to kill considering the length of your post, since only your 5th paragraph as anything to do with the question asked. I almost want to start a new thread titled "what should I buy for a first rig". That should keep you busy for a while wouldn't it?

I guess the whole post fits in the subject...I tried searching this forum but responses were from years ago... I have been browsing around to see how much a new Cypres 2 can cost and thought some of you may know a website having a great price. The site has to be within the EU to avoid any customs. Also, is there a global warranty included? Meaning in case of a problem with it I can just bring it for service at the local store. Thanks