Altitude Awareness

[Andy_Copland 0]

Ok this may sound a bit silly but i just done jump number 10 and as i was laying in bed thinking about it and i realised that not once can i remember the ground during freefall, i didn't look at it.

I had a nice exit, nailed a backloop, a few 360's and a bit of a forward track. I stopped working at about 7k and clock watched until wave off at 5k.

My thinking here is what if my altimeter broke? I just bought a pro track so the odds of both breaking are slim to say the least (pro track rocks btw) but they are backup devices not to be relied on.

Does anyone else here tend to not look at the ground? Because im thinking now that on my next jump im going to make a point and teach myself what pull height looks like, not what my altimeter tells me. Just a thought

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[Travman 6]

I didn't look at the ground until after my AFF, just have too much else to concentrate on. Now I always look at the ground on my track to see where I am.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Util jump 30 I have not found the landing area by freefall. I was not even looking for that.

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My thinking here is what if my altimeter broke?

How would you realize that? :)

I had plenty of track dive. My alti is on my wrist, so I can not see during tracking. I use Pro-Track too. I set 1st warning to 1200m, 2nd to 950m. After some time I feel the time is close for opening and the ground is closer too.

[Andy9o8 0]

Learning visual altitude awareness is an important survival skill. (For those of us who learned on the S/L progression method, it may have come a little more naturally because we started low and gradually worked our way up higher, so we got used to seeing lots of different altitudes on jump run). You're right that altimeters can (and sometimes do) malfunction. Once you've finished AFF (if you're not off it already) it would be a good idea make a jump not doing any manuevers, but just spending the entire freefall alternating your eyes between your altimeter and the ground to start getting this dialed in.

[FemaleFlyer 0]

An even better way and cheaper is to test yourself on the way up to alt in the air plane.
Look outside guess what alt you are at and double check with your alt (could even look at other also to make sure yours is reading correctly).

You get way more opportunities to gain eye sight reference to the ground/alt then the short time you are in free fall.

Also this way you can spend the time in freefall working on other maneuvers and occasionally glance at ground then alt to re-enforce the visualls.

______________________________________________________________________

[Andy_Copland 0]

Thats a great idea! Only i am a paranoid alti watcher, on the way up, to help my nerves i just watch my alti and i try not to (i even look at the others.)

I think its all going to come with time and experience, i still think the hardest battle in skydiving is learning how to relax.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[goose491 0]

Don't worry about it too much for now. You did your work, checked your alti and pulled at the right time. Sounds like a success story to me. Perhaps make a point to look at the ground a few times in freefall on your next dive?

One of the better ways to gain alti awarness quickly is to check your eyes against your altimeter on the way up in the plane. Look at the ground, check your alti... wait... repeat. Eventually you can start 'guessing' "This looks like 4 grand." (check your alti) "Ah! 3700ft! Excellent!" And so on and so fourth.

One word of advice though, I would not be wearing an audible at 10 jumps. This is recommended as you'd be surprised how easy is it to simply "wait for the beeps"... nomatter how hard you try not to. Save it for when you can accurately tell where you are using your eyes and internal clock... and have it go off as your checking your wristmount for confirmation.

And don't forget the most important part, that is be sure to have fun!

Nick

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Andy_Copland 0]

To be perfectly honest i had my audiable set to economy and wasnt sure if it would work like it should because i hadnt played with it in a while, it was set to beep at 6k to stop me working but as i said, i stopped at 7k (yes im a wimp who likes the comfort zone).

I totally agree with you and i think im going to take it out on my next jump, i dont really want to become dependent on a backup this early in the sport, that can only mean trouble.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[goose491 0]

Ah Toys! Gadgets and toys! We certainly are a culture that enjoys our stuff eh?

Good show. Sounds like you've a good head on your shoulders, keep at it and have a blast.

Nick

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[GravityGirl 0]

I don't really recommend an audible at your stage in the game.

What I do recommend, is that each and every time you initiate the pull sequence you take advantage of that moment to be aware of what the ground looks like. Log it into your memory bank. Soon you'll just know when it's "time" before you ever hear a beep or glance at your alti.

If you do choose to jump an audible, set the first tone for just below break off. That way, you are developing an internal freefall clock. As you track off, you should hear that break off warning.

Same with the pull signal. You should already be going through the pull sequence BEFORE you hear the second beep.

For the "you already fucked up" beep.... the third. Just set that at your hard deck for main deployment. For myself that is 1500 feet. If I haven't pulled by then, I'll just go for my reserve. (And I have). Otherwise, you and your AAD may have different ideas about how to terminate the freefall.

It is my opinion that when you jump an audible from the very begining of your skydiving career, you may build a dependency on the device. We don't want you waiting around for some beep all the way down to cypres fire..... IF that backup device works.

Make yourself a good alert skydiver. Than back yourself up with the electronics.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[Orange1 0]

Rather than just 'clock watching' after you stop work, maybe do ground-alti-ground-alti - i find this is good for increasing visual alti awareness. i still can't really tell the difference between 8000' and 9000', but I do know the difference between 3000' and 4000' .

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Frenchy68 0]

Other than developping visual altitude awareness, looking below you may also prevent you from free falling through an open canopy...

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[jbrasher 0]

Try this:

Set it below where you should be deploying (500'-1,000') and
continue with visual queues as you did before you had the audible.

If the audible goes off and you aren't doing what you should have been doing on your own, you're not as altitude aware as you should be.

Red, White and Blue Skies,

John T. Brasher D-5166

[Jeth 0]

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I didn't look at the ground until after my AFF, just have too much else to concentrate on. Now I always look at the ground on my track to see where I am.

Ditto here. You will start looking down when you aren't focused so much on performing for your instructor. Especially when theres no instructor there, then you've got lots of time to look down! I actually got ground rush on my 1st solo -- at 5 grand! I even wondered for a split-second if my alti was still working. I just wasn't used to having all that "free" time!

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[SkyTango 0]

When doing AFF I was taught that the circle of awareness is horizon-alti- ground – horizon –alti- ground.. ect....

IMO you cannot go wrong if you learn this skill sooner rather than later.
In any case the ground has a habit of sneaking up on you so keep an eye on it....

JC

If you woke up breathing, congratulations!
You get another chance.

[catfishhunter 1]

Don't worry to much. Good Advice has already been given. Talk to your instructor. There will be visual references at your DZ that arn't at other DZ.s I know what everything in my field of vision looks like at 5-4-3-2-1500. When I jump at 4k I can track my ass off and pull out and look at my alti right at 2500 almost everytime by visual reference. It took quite a few jumps to get this down and sometimes when I haven't jumped in a month I am off by 500-800ft.

When I was down in Eloy last year I kept coming out of my track 1k higher then normal as it took me a few jumps to get a feel of the visual references as eloy is FLAT! I got ground rush at 3k in Eloy that felt like sub 2K in Ogden.

After you get more jumps under you belt make a few low alti jumps and just look alti-ground-alti-ground-alti ground your field of vision will close and you will begun to have a frame of reference burned into your brain.

Again though talk to your instructor..

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[gemini 0]

Another thing to note is that hazy days and very clear days may change your perception a lot.

The first time I jumped on a very clear day (could see the Gulf of Mexico to the South and IAH airport to the North. IAH is 52 miles from the DZ) I broke off at 4K and was tracking.

When I looked down I thought "holy sh%#!" and deployed. Under canopy I looked at my alti and said "WTF?" Protrack said I opened almost 1k higher than normal.

On the second jump I realized it was because the ground was very, very clear and a lot more details than normal were obvious from above.

Blue skies,

Jim

[Jackpunx 0]

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Ok this may sound a bit silly but i just done jump number 10 and as i was laying in bed thinking about it and i realised that not once can i remember the ground during freefall, i didn't look at it.

I had a nice exit, nailed a backloop, a few 360's and a bit of a forward track. I stopped working at about 7k and clock watched until wave off at 5k.

My thinking here is what if my altimeter broke? I just bought a pro track so the odds of both breaking are slim to say the least (pro track rocks btw) but they are backup devices not to be relied on.

Does anyone else here tend to not look at the ground? Because im thinking now that on my next jump im going to make a point and teach myself what pull height looks like, not what my altimeter tells me. Just a thought

I havnt looked at the ground yet either

[Andy_Copland 0]

My DZ is flat, and when i say flat i mean it. On my first consol i remember looking down at 6k thinking "Oh my god thats getting big, quickly! oh god hurry up 5k im scared!"

So far i've done 2 consols and im having the best time of my life playing in the sky, as i said, i stop at about 6-7k by myself and look at my alti rather than the ground and alti. Its kinda bugging me a bit as to why i dont use both as reference, wanna smack myself in the head

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[GoalSkorar 0]

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I didn't look at the ground until after my AFF, just have too much else to concentrate on. Now I always look at the ground on my track to see where I am.

Ditto here. You will start looking down when you aren't focused so much on performing for your instructor. Especially when theres no instructor there, then you've got lots of time to look down! I actually got ground rush on my 1st solo -- at 5 grand! I even wondered for a split-second if my alti was still working. I just wasn't used to having all that "free" time!

I know that feeling. I did my high solo about a week ago and that was the first time where I was actually in freefall withouth a list of manuevers to do. It was also about half an hour after I bought my own alti. This was the first time I was looking at the ground during free fall, then checking my alti, then thinking how do I know if this thing works

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[VampireGirl 0]

What I do recommend, is that each and every time you initiate the pull sequence you take advantage of that moment to be aware of what the ground looks like. Log it into your memory bank. Soon you'll just know when it's "time" before you ever hear a beep or glance at your alti.
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You will eventually develop a "body clock" which is another thing not to rely on, but it can be pretty damn accurate, where you JUST KNOW that it's time to track away.

Example: I did a two-way with an ex team mate over the weekend. Usually with fun jumps I set my protrack to 4500ft and track away then. While doing competition and training jumps, we always worked until 4000ft. On this jump I set my protract to 4k.

I remember thinking, "errrrm this seems to be going on forevvvver" and glancing at my alti to see it was between 4500ft and 4000ft, at which point I didn't wait for the beeps, just tracked away.

Was quite impressed with my body clock being so accurate.

I don't look at the ground much I must admit, but the jump when I smashed my alti on a tube exit, made me SOOOPER aware of my beeps on my protrack and makes me want to become more visually aware. When jumping with other people, remember if you see the soles of their feet, it's time to go!!

good luck with the rest of your training!

www.sneale-create.com

[speedy 0]

This body clock stuff is somewhat dodgey if you ask me.

Our aircraft will sometimes drop at 12000ft, sometimes at 14000ft. If you are used to 14000ft that 12k jump will catch you out.

There are many ways to assess how high you are, I would suggest one uses as many as possible.

If you have a protrack use it, but don't rely on it. My batteries are always going flat. Don't assume that the altimeter is always correct. Use your eyes, use clouds as reference points.

With experience the "body clock" will also help. But it is probaly the most inaccurate method of all.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[Tyrion 0]

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When doing AFF I was taught that the circle of awareness is horizon-alti- ground – horizon –alti- ground.. ect....

Doing my AFF at the moment and for us (in Australia) its Horizon-Ground-Alti.

I've always taken the opportunity to really look at the ground while doing circle of awareness checks, just to get a feel for what that height looks like, especially when it comes down to pull time.

My last jump I went lower than I had before and I really noticed the difference, hard to explain but it felt like things were speeding up the lower i got.

[happythoughts 0]

Clouds help.

On the way to altitude, look at your alti when you pass the cloud base. It gives you a reference.

Locally, it is usually 4K. It changes, so I check each day.

When you get a few more jumps and are jumping with others, you can look just below them at the ground and get a quick visual without interrupting things.

[bob.dino 0]

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My last jump I went lower than I had before and I really noticed the difference, hard to explain but it felt like things were speeding up the lower i got.

Hence the name ground rush.