Backflying attempt #1 (that revealed my broken knee brace)

[gimpboogie 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDrjOqhu3nc

There it is. no music etc. but I did toss in a few section's slowed down, to ask for advice on two things

1) how can i get up into SIT from that position (once I can safely go back to free fall when i get my knee braces fixed)

2) I am 'assuming' a lot of my orbiting was due to that right leg practically going sideways (as if a hip dislocated-which may explain the sore hip for the last month, and the bursities I developed on left shoulder-trying to compensate for the orbiting i started to do while on belly in the last month=when i never had that preblem for over a year or more).

but if it is NOT from the broken knee brace, and i will end up orbiting next time i try-what suggestions do you have.

I think i tried to compesate enough for it towards the end, when the orbiting certainly slowed down a lot-but I cant assume at this point it is purely the knee brace.

it is clear in this video that my leg with the camera on it stays totally in a certain angle and not flopping around like the other one does.

all comments welcome.

thanks,
the gimp

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

[andreeb77 0]

When you are trying to transition from a back fly to a sit fly you are doing what everybody is used to from the ground. I.e. flexing your stomach muscles and trying to sit up. That might work for someone who has control over their legs (but will look awful). A much better way is to let the wind do all the work. Go big on your back. Don't look towards your knees/feet. Take your chin back. Stick your chest out. Roll your shoulders back. All this leads to the wind attacking the big area of your back and pushing you up.

It might be harder for you since you can't at the same time push your legs under your body but it should work anyway.

BlueS

[gimpboogie 0]

Quote

When you are trying to transition from a back fly to a sit fly you are doing what everybody is used to from the ground. I.e. flexing your stomach muscles and trying to sit up. That might work for someone who has control over their legs (but will look awful). A much better way is to let the wind do all the work. Go big on your back. Don't look towards your knees/feet. Take your chin back. Stick your chest out. Roll your shoulders back. All this leads to the wind attacking the big area of your back and pushing you up.

It might be harder for you since you can't at the same time push your legs under your body but it should work anyway.

BlueS

thank you!

I will defiitely try this.

it makes somuch sense as you say it
i feel like 'hey why did inot think of that'..

i did ask one of our best free flyers but he quickly avoided my question and said i have no idea=which sort of made no sense to me-since he competes in artistic expresion, free flying is his specialty and he's been in the Canadian head down record.

youve given me very valuable information to write down and keep.

thanks,
-thegimp

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

[Rstanley0312 0]

Quote

Quote

When you are trying to transition from a back fly to a sit fly you are doing what everybody is used to from the ground. I.e. flexing your stomach muscles and trying to sit up. That might work for someone who has control over their legs (but will look awful). A much better way is to let the wind do all the work. Go big on your back. Don't look towards your knees/feet. Take your chin back. Stick your chest out. Roll your shoulders back. All this leads to the wind attacking the big area of your back and pushing you up.

It might be harder for you since you can't at the same time push your legs under your body but it should work anyway.

BlueS

thank you!

I will defiitely try this.

it makes somuch sense as you say it
i feel like 'hey why did inot think of that'..

i did ask one of our best free flyers but he quickly avoided my question and said i have no idea=which sort of made no sense to me-since he competes in artistic expresion, free flying is his specialty and he's been in the Canadian head down record.

youve given me very valuable information to write down and keep.

thanks,
-thegimp

He may feel odd because what i would tell you is chin up, roll the shoulders back and when the R wind forces you up stomp or push your heels down and really have strong wide legs. In your case this may not be possible so maybe he didn't know what to say really. I do not know exactly what to tell you but a good start is what was already told to you.... let the wind do the work for you. Remember chin back and up gets you off your back and in a sit keeps a strong upper body bc it keeps your spine how it needs to be.

Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it.
Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000
www.fundraiseadventure.com

[turtlespeed 212]

Would an old fasioned sit suit work for him?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[andreeb77 0]

Might be a good idea. Maybe you can get them in non-neon colors these days?!

[turtlespeed 212]

Quote

Might be a good idea. Maybe you can get them in non-neon colors these days?!

Yeah - I think they are called freestyle suits now.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[pookieland 0]

Hey Minni
I have'nt heard back from you. Are you still coming out this way. I am now doing Back Flying, it's the most stable I have been. I did try the sit suite, it was Shit!! We tosted that idea as soon as we got down. It didn't catch the air I wanted and you would think it would atleast catch a little. Well, it was not enough to sit me up and since I don't have stomich muscles to help me bend it just didn't work. And the air that it did catch it made it a little harder when reaching for my hacky. I'm also looking to get a Belly Mounted Main, because trying to roll over was a Bitch. So for now TK is rolling me as I picth and that seems to work fine. Well, give me a call or shoot me and email when you get a chance..... LATER

Stop Touching Me!!!

Muff Brother# 4466

[gimpboogie 0]

Quote

Hey Minni
I have'nt heard back from you. Are you still coming out this way. I am now doing Back Flying, it's the most stable I have been. I did try the sit suite, it was Shit!! We tosted that idea as soon as we got down. It didn't catch the air I wanted and you would think it would atleast catch a little. Well, it was not enough to sit me up and since I don't have stomich muscles to help me bend it just didn't work. And the air that it did catch it made it a little harder when reaching for my hacky. I'm also looking to get a Belly Mounted Main, because trying to roll over was a Bitch. So for now TK is rolling me as I picth and that seems to work fine. Well, give me a call or shoot me and email when you get a chance..... LATER

Hey James,

Yes when the time comes, I just got back from Bridge Day so need to stick around home for a bit- but I will end up there

Yes I saw the sit suite experimentations and that sure didn't look like it was going very well for you (unless you would have been happy to be pushed through the skies by TK eternally
Saw your first back flyiing video, the deployment sure looked scary, but then again, when I deployed in my solo check out, on my back I was failed immediately.
Stop, do not pass go!
was the result of that one deployment on my back- I was so focussed on the idea that I was just going to jump out like the CRW guys, and dump right out the door that I didnt give myself the time to be stable - despite having the altitude to do it.
So thus the FAIL! for one deployment on my back. as Angus said, anything I do in the skies, it must not be even sketchy -it has to be right on, or go bowling.

So its good to hear that your back flying is working out better then that sit suit, AND better now then the first back flying video.

Interesting how diferent instructors have a different approach. So you mean TK is turning you over so you can deploy-correct?
how many jumps have you done AFF?

Im SURE the wind tunnel instructors there are awesome-as they all must be, and FL being so popular place to go for skydiving and the tunnel theirs must be absolutely one of the best tunnel instructors.

When I was in Montreal Tunnel, Olga taught me to fly on my back and side slide, move forward, backwards, dock all turns etc.
purely by using my arms, hands elbows chin and head.

so nothing below my neck was really needed.

I hope this gives you some encouragement that despite the stomach muscle issues, you will be able to get there to turn yourself over stable.

What i do to turn over, is i tuck in one arm as tight as i can, if you see that video up top you can see that despite that broken knee brace causing a lot of instability-the orbiting (see the lake come and go and come and go-luckily not too fast just a slow turning, actually someone thought i was looking around for others )

but when i went to turn over you see my arms truly need to work it, and I tossed it up in slow motion so you can see that even though i needed to try to compensate with the opposite shoulder for the leg that went flying off -out of symmetry, turning became more difficult.
Yet it does happen, once the wind catches me at the right position.... which is why i need to take a good amount of time to allow for the turn, and it doesn't scare me if i turn and flip back upside down again as I will have the altitude to do it.

as for stability in the air on your belly once you have turned over to deploy, i can see that it would be difficult. and TK is such an expert at coaching that he surely would have thought of the option of tossing you a weight belt around your belly-i have my own weight belt-as my stomach muscles go more and more, the stomach extends out, as there is no muscles to hold it in (why the non-skinny quads have big bellies despite their skinny arms etc.=for those who are not familiar with different disabilities and what they affect us like or what things 'look' like for certain reasons-because quite honestly in my teens I recall seeing a quad who was thin in his legs and arms but had a huge 'pot belly'- well now I understand).

So to shorten this story,

i have faith that you will be able to find a way to keep that stability just after you turn over, to get to pitch asap before the instability kicks in again.

mind you, did you ever go the leg braces way like Peter Hewitt, Dale Elliot, and myself are doing?

and if not, I'm sure TK has reasons why hes chosen not to, but wondering if you do have that option.
for me, without the leg braces, I would ever be able to fly at all except on my back (probably- who knows now-since we started with the leg braces-or my "body cast' as i call it)

A belly mount is a great idea-i actually thought you had it. Anyways, there are its disadvantages to belly mounts but in your case i can see that it could truly be the break through you need.

as for calling etc.

i sent you a couple of emails but didn't get a reply so I didn't know what to make of it. Thus did not want to bother you in case things were not a good time to write

As i didn't get the replies, I worked it out that I will stay at the DZ camping with a fellow I know, as when I do go, I want to jump,and when not jumping i just want to watch the others jumping and listen to all that I hear around me.

Most just don't 'get; the idea that 'roughing it' for me has been what a lot of people would merely call survival.

So camping at a place like Zhills is purely like a couple of star hotel for me.

When i first got in the chair, I lived on a lake, which was so steep to the shore line that we had 150 wooden stairs winding down to the dock.
there was the sauna and all our water we used.

so each day, i rigged up the climbing gear, dragged my wheelchair and myself down those stairs, got buckets of water (had to keep the chair tied to the climbing gear as the lake was so deep that when the kids dropped a trampoline down there a fellow tried to dive off the dock to see if he can find it but the closest he got to it was to merely see a shadow it if before he had to come back up- (cant drop my chair in there by accident!).

so with two kids, us living 'off the grid' -no running water etc. we purely lived off the land.
eating only what can grow, gather catch etc.

so things were 'tough' i must admit-two kids need lots of water so the whole morning was dragging myself up and down those stairs with 20 gallon pails.winters were the worst-finally I taught my (then young) son to chop holes in the ice, and chop the firewood for the sauna-as it was the only place to get clean.

so my 'humble' beginnings in a wheelchair were living like that-which today i think only helped me to be more self sufficient and rely on myself.

The 2nd year of skydiving I lived in a tent here in Ontario- the mosquitoes were so thick that i could barely see the small light I hung in the tent, and the rains came one week daily each night. so i was bailing a section of my tent nightly and moving clothing in kayaking dry bags from one end of the ten to the other, to keep them safe- not to mention the wheelchair in there...
what an adventure!
of course we have nothing paved here either, its all either bush, gravel roads, or grassy fields that are not exceptionally smooth-even our runway is grass.

So Zhills would be even easier then Bridge Day (as far as moving around-as the various 'sessions' were in different buildings, one didn't have a ramp at all inside it, so it was necessary to drag myself up the stairs there.

It's all good and easy enough in some ways, which ofcourse means 'depending on my health status' when its time for me to 'go'- as if something happens between then and now, well...
i wont think about that.
it wont help.

but thanks for the update James, you sure have a strong desire, an exceptional coach and your progress I believe will continue, just keep at it.

which i know you will, your not a quitter.

I may stick to the skydiving status I have now and just jump for fun as much as I can while i can..

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

[gimpboogie 0]

Quote

He may feel odd because what i would tell you is chin up, roll the shoulders back and when the R wind forces you up stomp or push your heels down and really have strong wide legs. In your case this may not be possible so maybe he didn't know what to say really. I do not know exactly what to tell you but a good start is what was already told to you.... let the wind do the work for you. Remember chin back and up gets you off your back and in a sit keeps a strong upper body bc it keeps your spine how it needs to be.

AAAHH! lots of nice info coming my way here.

that chin thing, as soon as you said it. it reminds me of the tunnel. i did levels merely with my chin and head.
looking down, chin to the chest and arms slight curved (cupping the air) in front of my head brought me up. then ofcourse the opposite i went back down.

i understand much better about the chin-head thing.
i was doing the exact opposite, i was trying to lift my head as if to look between my legs.

well that only sends me to fall faster.


THANKS SO MUCH,
these comments are all stating to form a picture in my head.

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

[gimpboogie 0]

thanks for the time you tossed into giving me some ideas.

I'm not sure I'd try it, as I saw how it went for James (pookie here) and i agree that the top would be excellent, but i cant see how the rest of it would work with my knee braces.

and i have learned to fly now a few hundred jumps
with my braces and the tracking suit idea for my pant -although i really like the idea of actually perhaps modifying the tracking suit that I have here, to fit my leg attachments into it.

so that may be an answer to my 'problems'.

ALL feed back is excellent because it at least sends me thinking in various different ways.

you have all been real helpful to tr to help e along the way and i been copying some of these information, suggestions etc. so i can try to read up on them more and then figure out ways to try the same thing on my own.

Thanks much EVERYONE.
-minna

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works