Something new to practice while solo jumping

[Ruub 0]

Hi,

I just finished my AFF course and did 2 solo jumps today. I really enjoyed them but i would like to try to learn some new things in the next solos i'll be doing. Maybe it's pretty early to start thinking about new stuff after 9 jumps already but i feel very comfortable doing the things i learned in AFF so i would like to try something new, like a new position or some fun exits. Of course it shouldn't be to hard but just something i could try for like 10 seconds during the jump. Anybody got any tips or ideas what to practice? Like trying to fall stable on my back or like flying backwards or is that really to hard for a novice? Any experiences about the first solos after your AFF and what extra courses you followed would be welcome to.

Thanks in advance

[tbrown 26]

Well, you could try finding and touching your emergency handles in freefall. They're not always where you'd think they should be, or where they were on the ride up in the plane. Don't pull them, of course. Just find & touch 'em.

And you can always work on your tracking. Just make sure you're tracking perpendicular to the line of flight, so you don't fly into somebody else's airspace. Everyone could always be a better tracker !

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[shropshire 0]

There's loads of stuff to practise on your own... Forward and backwards, up & down are tricky as you dont have a reference.

How are your turns? Can you consistemtly do 90s and stop on heading? What about 180s or 360s etc.. In both directions.
Pick some points of reference on the horizon.

How much height does it take you to do each turn?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[kelpdiver 2]

if you're solo, it's hard to tell if you're moving horizonally, making it hard to tell how stable you are, or if you're doing a good side move.

Aside from having a little fun after doing all the proving jumps, you have a lot of skills to practice, most notably the exit which you'll need for the 3500' HnP, and tracking, and of course canopy skills.

[brucet7 0]

I looked ahead to the A license check jump requirements and practiced doing those. Lots of people have rather iffy backloops come check jump time.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[SuperNerd1988 0]

What do you mean by iffy backloops? Hard time getting around, unstable after?

There's a risk to skydiving that is not always mentioned; the risk of becoming addicted to it.

[danielcroft 2]

Quote

What do you mean by iffy backloops? Hard time getting around, unstable after?

Mine were until I was given some excellent advice from a friend who was going through the AFFI at the time.

I pretty much did the same thing - worked towards my check dive. In my opinion (and fairly limited experience), a lot of the other stuff is quite hard to do when you're alone. Coach dives are good for practicing levels and other relative work, or the tunnel. When you're by yourself you don't have a frame of reference so you could be getting it wrong and not know it.

<- not an instructor/coach/someone with a clue

[hchunter614 0]

You'll learn much more by jumping with a coach or instructor than you will by jumping alone. Not only will they give you a frame of reference they will be able to debrief you after the jump and help you identify skills that you did well on as well as those that you need to work on.

Also, don't forget to work on your canopy skills on each jump. A coach or instructor can also give you canopy skills to work on.

[Chubba 0]

Hey Ruub! As a newly licensed jumper, the past 15 jumps of mine have been solo's.

Firstly be careful with backflying on student/rental gear, make sure the rigs are freefly friendly because ours were sure as hell not, I still haven't be (deliberately) on my back, waiting till I get my first rig.

Have you done a tracking dive yet? Exiting and holding a track the entire dive? 60 seconds of tracking gives you lots of opportunity to try different body positions... rolling your shoulders, moving your legs in to different positions, dearching your body, moving your head to adjust the angle of attack... plus you can attempt a few barrel rolls if you're feeling gutsy
If you haven't flown the deployment position, that's reassuring, put your hand back on your PC/hand in front and maintain a heading... do some turns/stop them. Really takes off some stress come opening height.

Exits, do whatever

[chrismgtis 0]

Quote

There's loads of stuff to practise on your own... Forward and backwards, up & down are tricky as you dont have a reference.

Should he be practicing these things without a reference (another jumper)? He could develop bad habits that way possibly?

Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033
Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

[Chubba 0]

Quote

Should he be practicing these things without a reference (another jumper)? He could develop bad habits that way possibly?

After a few jumps attempting to "side slide" by myself I realised I was just wasting my jump.

I think tracking + loops are the best bang for buck doing solo's... do your relative movements with another jumper.

[brucet7 0]

Quote

What do you mean by iffy backloops? Hard time getting around, unstable after?

Yes, both, and more. Check out A License Check Jumps on Skydivingmovies.com and you will see what I mean. And I would recommend a coach. Where I jump has free coaching on Thursdays from rated coaches which really helped.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[jwynne 0]

Just a caution on newbies practicing tracking for a significant portion of a jump. Be aware of jump run direction and where other groups of jumpers are expected to be up and down the line of flight. Do not track up or down the line of flight (into other groups). Tracking jumps need to occur perpendicular to the line of flight. I actually think this is a lot of information for a new jumper to process, but good to start thinking about.

Take it slow - Janna

[SansSuit 1]

Try exiting the aircraft with your eyes closed and keep them closed for like 15 seconds. See if you can relax and be stable. Trust the Force, Luke. This is assuming of course that the jump is from altitude and not a hop n pop. You ain't jumping at the Pecos Skydiving School.

Peace,
Jeff.

Peace,
-Dawson.
http://www.SansSuit.com
The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving

[aresye 0]

I agree with the tracking suggestions. Make sure you're perpendicular to jump run though. I practiced tracking a lot when I was doing solos, and I've had a lot of experienced jumpers tell me my tracking is awesome. My best group jumps have been track dives.

As for the exit. Through yourself out of the door and right into a backflip/gainer. Lots of fun, and definitely my favorite exit!

Skydiving: You either learn from other's mistakes, or they'll learn from yours.

[kashton 0]

I finished my AFF around two months ago and have 28 jumps so far. My first solo was a ton of fun, I just did flips and practiced tracking, I focused on altitude awareness also. Remember to focus on altitude awareness and also on where other skydivers are both in freefall and under canopy! It is so easy to lose 1-2k feet by forgetting to check your altimeter... and then realizing you are at 2,500 feet.... then you have pulled by 2,200 and open by 1,700, hopefully. In this case, you will have already passed your hard deck for emergency procedures and you have made it very dangerous for you if you encounter a malfunction. My recommendation (please take it with a grain of salt) is to do a few dives practicing tracking and a few practicing arching/de-arching. Ask experienced jumpers how they track and test their methods (always ask your instructors though). Practice your turns also. For example, track *perpendicular* to the flight path and then turn 180 degrees and track back the way you came. Practice practice practice your emergency procedures. Practice them in your head when you are not skydiving and also before every jump. If you end up having a malfunction you will do whatever you have practiced so be wise about it and practice it before it happens! Watch every video you can (go to www.skydivingmovies.com) on emergencies and learn from them. Also watch videos on tracking/freeflying/whatever will make you a better skydiver. I am now practicing a little freeflying for fun with coaches. I do mostly sitflying right now. In my opinion, you should start with the essentials and work your way towards your A-license. You will need to jump with coaches to get your A-license so you may as well utilize their knowledge and ask every question that comes to mind. Don't forget to buy them BEER!

Just for fun, try a flying squirrel exit. Have your legs at a 90 degree angle and grab your ankles while diving out of the plane and let yourself tumble for a few seconds, ONLY IF it is safe to do so out of the plane you jump from, and IF the pilot is OK with it. It is pretty fun to do! You can also curl up in a cannonball and fall really fast when you are high up for a different experience. Remember though that you will fall MUCH FASTER than just belly to earth flying, which you are used to. You must also have the right rig to freefly so ask your instructor which one to buy if you plan on purchasing your own. Altitude awareness (I cannot stress it enough)!!! REMEMBER ---> if you cannot make it back to the DZ AND perform your ENTIRE landing sequence (starting at 1,000 feet), it is best to start your landing sequence in the safest place possible that you can reach. I have already had to walk back to the dropzone one time because I pulled a little too low and the tandem took awhile to exit the plane, so we were a little too far from the DZ. I should have asked the pilot to turn around and I should have pulled higher, my mistake. I learned many lessons from it. Remember to spot where you are before you exit the aircraft and look down for other planes (no kidding)! I had a plane fly about 200 feet right above myself and my instructor on AFF level 6. Be careful! If you aren't where you need to be, tell the pilot. He can turn the plane around so you can jump closer to the DZ. Learn to spot. Practice it every time you jump.

Some instructors will not recommend this but I use an audible altimeter also. I do not ever use it to know when to break away or pull, I use it as a safety measure in case I lose altitude awareness (that is if it has batteries and is accurate). Better yet, use two. And buy your own helmet/goggles! Heck, buy your own rig if you can, make sure your instructor approves everything you do or add to your dives. You must be comfortable with EVERYTHING you add to your skydive because it just adds more to think about during your dive and can add complications that weren't necessarily there before. Purchase a SIM (Skydiver's Information Manual) from the USPA and read through it. Work on getting your A-License =)

Oh yea... practice your emergency procedures (IN THE AIR AND UNDER CANOPY) and check your altitude!!!

That John Denver's full of s**t man...

It's a great day to be alive

[brucet7 0]

Just for fun, try a flying squirrel exit. Have your legs at a 90 degree angle and grab your ankles while diving out of the plane and let yourself tumble for a few seconds,

Yeah, you must be one of those young, skinny guys. I have trouble doing that on my couch.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[kashton 0]

I'm about 170 lbs and 5 ft 11 so you could call me skinny ;-)

I meant a 90 degree angle bent at the knee if there was some confusion. I made it up a long time ago while diving into a pool but I'm sure someone has done it before out of an airplane... it is a great time. My favorite part is watching the plane fly away as I tumble through the air "similar" to a flying squirrel... i guess. At least I like to think it looks like one lol

P.S. Don't judge me by my drawing! I am in fact a decent artist...

That John Denver's full of s**t man...

It's a great day to be alive

[brucet7 0]

Yeah, that is what I imagined. And at 56 yrs old and 240lb, I ain't getting my hands anywhere near those ankles. (Sorry about hijacking the thread).

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[kkeenan 13]

A great exercise that will actually build your skill is to practice the old "style series". Get stable and pick out a landmark on the horizon as your heading reference. Then do a 360 degree turn, stopping as close to your original heading as possible. Do a 360 the other way, stopping, again, on your heading. Then a backloop, coming out on your heading. Repeat this, only reverse the turns. Get to where you can repeat this routine twice - as fast and as precisely as possible. Check your altitude after each series.

It's easy to do a half-assed job of it and say it's good enough. Or you can really work at the speed and precision. First the precision - Take your time stopping/starting exactly on heading. Then speed it up, keeping the precision. This is actually an international competition event, and the folks who are good at it can do it in the blink of an eye - perfectly on heading.

It's certainly fun to do useless stuff for the hell of it, but if you actually try to learn something new on each jump, you will find that 100 jumps from now you are much more competent than many jumpers you started with.

Use the same philisophy with canopy control. Get a copy of "The Parachute and its Pilot", by Brian Germain. It's full of great info. If you always try to learn and ask questions, you will stay safe and get good at what you are doing.

Kevin K.

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[heavydude 0]

I just did these about 6 months back, heres what helped me.....
-90 & 360 turns, regular and leg(if you learnrd them yet)
-Wave off, turn 180 and flat track, just like a formation dive.
-Flat Tracking(per DZ rules of course regarding direction) a good flat track requires some work
-Lots of fall rate control
-different exits, floating, dive etc...

[kashton 0]

I just found this gem:

http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=66251;

now that's the best way to depict a flying squirrel

That John Denver's full of s**t man...

It's a great day to be alive

[danielcroft 2]

Quote

I just found this gem:

http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=66251;

now that's the best way to depict a flying squirrel

LOL

That's awesome and so not what I was picturing.

[kashton 0]

Alright Rubb, give that a try

That John Denver's full of s**t man...

It's a great day to be alive

[brucet7 0]

Quote

I just found this gem:

http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=66251;

now that's the best way to depict a flying squirrel

That looks like a blast. Still impossible.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672