finally did my first solo jump!

[agentsmith413 0]

after being out of skydiving for 3 months due to an injury from jumping, ive been able to graduate AFF and move on to coach status. So i decided to do my first solo jump and i loved it. It's neat being up there with no one watching you and just doing what you want.

Anyways, with that being said i cant seem to have a good landing. i either flare too high or too low. when i first started i had several good landings before my injury but other than that i cant land my damn canopy anymore. I've talked to my instructors about how to improve but does anyone here have any advice as to what helped them time their flares properly.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, all used up, and loudly proclaiming: Wow, what a ride!

[JohnnyMarko 1]

its different for everyone but i normally wait till that "o shit" moment to flare and it normally works

if your at a smaller DZ see if you can have an instructor throw a radio on you and tell you when to flare, and do that for a few jumps to get used to the height and what it looks like

[thrillstalker 0]

flare all the way. a high hop n' pop helped me out a lot.

the flare isn't just a quick stab of the brakes. talk with an instructor about a 2 stage flare and about flying your flare instead of the student stab.

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[MorfiusX 0]

Not that anything I say holds any weight as I am still a newbie...

Did my first solo jump today as well (jump 13) and it was fun just chilling out with no real objects other than to have fun.

My first real stand up landing was jump 11. Before that I had done a couple baseball slide/pop up landings, but not a "real" stand up landing.

Once I stood up on jump 11, I realized I was looking at it wrong. I had been trying to stand up during the forward movement (the swing forward) of the flare.

With landing 11, I saw that I want to touch my feet down right as the dynamic stall started to happen and no additional forward movement from the flare is generated.

After looking at it that way, I have stood of my last three of four landings. Normal "talk to your instructor" spiel applies, but maybe that will help.

[Andy9o8 0]

First, don't take advice (including landing advice) from fellow novices. They will always say they're not giving advice; they're just saying what worked for them, or what their coaches taught them to do. That's advice, and it may - or may not - properly apply to you.

Diagnosing your landings is very hard for anyone without actually seeing you. Get coaching from someone who is experienced; and have your landings videoed. That way you and your coach/instructor can review the video in minute detail as many times as needed.

[Scrumpot 1]

Awww, C'mon Andy - you just went and spoiled all the (reading entertainment) fun!

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[DocPop 1]

Quote

.

Diagnosing your landings is very hard for anyone without actually seeing you. Get coaching from someone who is experienced; and have your landings videoed. That way you and your coach/instructor can review the video in minute detail as many times as needed.

Exactly my point about telling people they are on the wrong canopy based on dz.com. Nobody can possibly know.

Trust the people who see you jump.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[Throttlebender 0]

Despite being novices, that's good insight. The ideal way you land a wing is to touch down at the point of stall. Your feet should be making contact at the moment the wing stops generating lift. 5 jumps or 5000, that's the goal.

Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage. ~Anais Nin

[DocPop 1]

Quote

Despite being novices, that's good insight. The ideal way you land a wing is to touch down at the point of stall. Your feet should be making contact at the moment the wing stops generating lift. 5 jumps or 5000, that's the goal.

This is not true. You do not need to stall a parachute to land it softly and safely.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[Throttlebender 0]

Quote

Quote

Despite being novices, that's good insight. The ideal way you land a wing is to touch down at the point of stall. Your feet should be making contact at the moment the wing stops generating lift. 5 jumps or 5000, that's the goal.

This is not true. You do not need to stall a parachute to land it softly and safely.

I'm not saying that you HAVE to stall it. You don't HAVE to stall an aircraft either to land safely. But in a textbook scenario, whatever wing you happen to be landing should stop generating lift at the point of touchdown. That will produce the slowest, softest, and safest landing.

Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage. ~Anais Nin

[Morne 0]

Advice I got from a canopy control video that worked for me.

As you come in for finals , the ground is moving below you , at a certain point it will look like the ground is coming up at you , that is when you flare, now depending on the wind and canopy , the amount and speed of flare will vary. But going for full flare at normal flare speed should have you standing up the landing.


I have not botched one landing. Had some very fast ones that i could run out with no wind situations.

[Floflo 0]

Quote

First, don't take advice (including landing advice) from fellow novices. They will always say they're not giving advice; they're just saying what worked for them, or what their coaches taught them to do. That's advice, and it may - or may not - properly apply to you.

Diagnosing your landings is very hard for anyone without actually seeing you. Get coaching from someone who is experienced; and have your landings videoed. That way you and your coach/instructor can review the video in minute detail as many times as needed.

Hey guys, maybe you missed this post. Andy is right, please do not give advice to other novices...

[billvon 2,379]

>This is not true. You do not need to stall a parachute to land it softly and safely.

You are right - but a stall will give you the best possible landing under most conditions, as it will in an airplane. However, if you are worried about stalling the parachute too high, it is much better to fly it all the way down and not flare fully than to stall the parachute at 50 feet.

[robskydiv 0]

Ya just have to find the sweet spot. You will, don't worry.

[DocPop 1]

A stall is a sudden reduction in lift. This is not what you want during a landing. The goal for a good landing is to keep the wing flying as long as possible until all the weight is transferred from the harness to the feet. After this, the wing can stall, but it is no longer supporting the pilot.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[Throttlebender 0]

Quote

A stall is a sudden reduction in lift. This is not what you want during a landing. The goal for a good landing is to keep the wing flying as long as possible until all the weight is transferred from the harness to the feet. After this, the wing can stall, but it is no longer supporting the pilot.

So how long are you suggesting that this "transfer" of weight take?

Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage. ~Anais Nin

[Andy9o8 0]

Quote

Advice I got from a canopy control video that worked for me. ..... I have not botched one landing.

With all due respect, you don't yet have the experience to cherry-pick something out of a video you saw, and pass it along to a fellow novice online, whose skills and experience you know nothing about. What works for you, as a still-novice, is irrelevant to what should be taught to another novice.

Novices tend to advise based on what works for them; but being novices, "what works for them" is pretty much all they know. Instructors tend to advise based on what they analyze should work for the particular student they're teaching, based on a large fund of accumulated knowledge and experience jumping, observing and learning from other jumpers, and teaching previous students. A world of difference.

[billvon 2,379]

>A stall is a sudden reduction in lift. This is not what you want during a
>landing.

A stall occurs when the canopy is going as slowly as possible while maintaining level flight. On the perfect landing, the stall occurs at the precise moment your feet (or wheels) touch the ground. That gives you the lowest possible landing speed both in the vertical and the horizontal.

After your feet (wheels) are down, you do indeed have to keep flying that wing; the residual lift is getting translated to drag and is continuing to slow you down.

Needless to say, landing before the canopy stalls is often just fine as well (provided you get vertical speed to zero) and is much better than the alternative. In some cases - high winds, low experience, a desire to surf a long distance - you may land with significantly more speed than you'd get out of a stall landing.

[DocPop 1]

I think we are pretty much saying the same thing. It's OK for the wing to stall after all the weight is on the "landing gear", but not before!

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[pilotdave 0]

Stalling before touchdown isn't recommended...

Dave

[agentsmith413 0]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to clear up that while this site can be a good source of information I DO take advice on here with a grain of salt. I just wanted to see what others may have to say and see if there were some pointers.

But I plan on jumping some more this weekend so hopefully I can fine tune my flare.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, all used up, and loudly proclaiming: Wow, what a ride!

[Throttlebender 0]

Quote

Stalling before touchdown isn't recommended...

Dave

Yeah, probably not the best idea

Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage. ~Anais Nin

[pilotdave 0]

Remind me and I'll try to get some video of you landing. I do have some pics... you flared a little low in the attached one.

Dave

[Morne 0]

Quote

Quote

Advice I got from a canopy control video that worked for me. ..... I have not botched one landing.

With all due respect, you don't yet have the experience to cherry-pick something out of a video you saw, and pass it along to a fellow novice online, whose skills and experience you know nothing about. What works for you, as a still-novice, is irrelevant to what should be taught to another novice.

Novices tend to advise based on what works for them; but being novices, "what works for them" is pretty much all they know. Instructors tend to advise based on what they analyze should work for the particular student they're teaching, based on a large fund of accumulated knowledge and experience jumping, observing and learning from other jumpers, and teaching previous students. A world of difference.

ok well sorry then.

Just saying that it worked for me. Didnt say he must go and do it.

Ill sit in the corner and shut up now.

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

It seems that everyone is giving advice on how to flare, but nobody is giving any suggestions on how to judge your height above the ground, which is essential to timing it correctly.

And it isn't an easy skill to aquire.

2 suggestions: (And make damned sure you discuss these with your instructors before doing them)

1 - Practice the "sight picture". What does the ground look like 10 feet up? 15 feet?
On a normal jump you have a very short time to experience it, so you don't get used to what it looks like.

So get 10 feet, 15 feet up (steps, ladder, balcony, whatever) and study the ground.

2 - On approach, don't just look down. Even practicing sight picture, judging height by looking down is difficult.
What I do (and what pilots are taught) is to shift your view from the landing spot to the horizon on approach. You want to look at where you are going to land, but don't stare at it. Look to the horizon to judge height, then look where you are going to land, then switch back and forth.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo