I would lik esome information on landings please?

[joanne123 0]

Hello i am Joanne.

I have just joined this site to find out a few questions about skydiving and was hoping you guys who actually jump could help me?

What are the landings like? Is it like jumping off the roof of a house, off a chair, off a wall, a step? Also is it very fast? When you come in do you land with 2 feet and stop or do you fall on to 1 foot then start running?

I have read up but have not found an answer - it says you have to be able to jump of a wall at 6ft and run between 0-15mph. Surely if you jumped of a 6ft wall and tried to run at the same time it would be impossible?

i have looked at videos and it seems like it isn't that hard but have never jumped so i wouldn't know?

I ask this because i have bad knee's but would like to take up the sport.
I see there are a lot of people who have worse injury's but skydive which i think is fantastic.

Many thanks to you all

[pilotdave 0]

When it's done right, it's not like jumping off of anything. When done REALLY wrong, it's like jumping from a plane at 14,000 feet. And it's like jumping from various heights between those when it's done different degrees of wrong.
If you can't run and jumping off of a chair isn't something you could handle, skydiving wouldn't be a great idea.

Dave

[sub1427 0]

Hi Joanne,

First off welcome, second you don't need to post the same same message in three different sections, we will try our best to answer your questions...

I am still a skydiving virgin with only 80+ jumps, I've had landings where I come in downwind and I land hard and sprinting then end up falling over on my face (during my aff course) and Ive had landings where I don't take one step and could land on one foot on a book. Your landings will change over time, you will progressively get more consistent, I haven't had to PLF in over 60 jumps. Yes, I've had fast running landings but thats the nature of the sport. There are things you can do to help prevent that if your worried about your knee... Larger canopies tend to fly slower, as a student they will have you on 280 sq ft canopies which fly like cargo carriers.
What I would recommend doing is going out and doing a tandem skydive if you haven't already done so, ask questions at the dropzone (DZ) and let people know your situation. You wont find all the answers off a website, you gotta go try things for yourself.

Its very possible skydiving changes your life... I know it did mine. Good luck and Blue Skies.

Get High, Blue skies.

[joanne123 0]

Thanks Dave,

yeah jumping off a chair is no problem. running a short distance is no problem.

Is it often you have to be ablt to jump and run in at the same time.
I know its hard for you to give m ean answer but on a bad landing what is it like jumping from???3ft, 4ft, ft???

[ozzy13 0]

Try watching some video's Dave above runs a site called skydivingmovies.com.

Their are a lot of different types of jumps from Tandem to base jumping on their.
Do a search

Never give the gates up and always trust your rears!

[billeisele 122]

as Dave said - landings range from a 120 mph vertical impact to a zero mph very soft touchdown, like stepping down the stairs

as for bad landings there is a full range of experiences, anything that is not a good landing is a bad landing so it is hard to answer your question, a typical landing for a new jumper might range from a soft landing to a hard (jumping from a 6 ft wall) landing with a few rolls, most of them are more towards the soft landing

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[pilotdave 0]

You're right, it's very hard to have a hard landing and run it out. You'll learn the right way to land and roll to absorb a big impact if necessary. You could come down as fast as if you jumped from 10 feet but impact in a way that spreads the force out and absorbs it so you don't take all that impact through your feet, ankles, knees, etc.

Learning to land is the hard part... when you make mistakes, you land harder and have to react correctly to avoid injury. Once you learn how to land correctly, normal landings aren't hard at all. You'll normally just stop your descent completely and put your feet down. Might still have some forward speed and need to run a few steps. But it's not as if we're pounding into the ground jump after jump, like they did in the 1960s.

Dave

[Tuna-Salad 0]

I will try to answer... although take what I have to say with a grain of salt.
If done the right way you (SHOULD) not need to run out a landing, but it will happen at times. Landings can be as soft as stepping off a curb, or as hard as jumping off a 6 foot wall. Wind conditions and how/when YOU flare the canopy determine how hard or easy you will come down. To most new jumpers, the ground comes at you pretty fast.

There really is not a definate way to answer the question because there are so many variables to consider.
My best advice would be to visit a drop zone and watch how some of the people land. Swooping is completely different than how you as a new jumper would land, so only pay attention to those who make straight in approaches and flare just before touchdown. We also have techniques to avoid injury during hard landings (If done properly).

Hope this helped a little. I anticipate some of the higher number jumpers correcting me on some info at some point, so this can be a learning experience for both of us.

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[CazmoDee 3]

Think "stepping off an escalator".

I'm behind the bar at Sloppy Joe's....See ya in the Keys!

Muff 4313

[hackish 8]

I would suggest to go down to the skydiving place and watching. This way you can see it with your own eyes and talk with the people involved so you can make an educated decision on whether or not you want to try it out.

-Michael

[slj678 0]

I say go for it! I had some pretty bad landings as a student and I was a pretty dumb kid who jumped off of plenty of things :D lol and not a single landing hurt as bad as jumping off the small shed in the back yard (That is when you practice the techniques you are tought so you wont get hurt)

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the holocaust"

[ashworthy2k 0]

Hi Jo

i am in the same boat as you - looking to take up skydiving but worried about the landings. After speaking to some skydivers it seems ok.

let me know what you find

[Scoop 0]

I'm sure if you went to local DZ and explained your concerns they would let you have a go practicing a few PLFs (Parachute Landing Falls) which is the term for adding a bit of control and absorbing energy on a hard landing. Some DZs have posh fan trainers where you will glide down on a wire at a simulated rate, others may make you jump off a platform.

I'm sure any good DZ would let you try that before you spend your hard earned on a course.

Also maybe a tandem would be a good first step for you?

[joanne123 0]

Thanks for that scoop,

Just about the platform you use to practise PLF's, On average how high is the platform?

I have tried to look at some clips of PLF's but can't find too much. I have seen a diagram which says - land on 2 feet and then roll. Is this correct?