weight problem

[minmal 0]

hi ppl i did my stage 3 today aff

jump went great

only problem is i am to light (or don't arch hard enough)

i weight 55kg and i am near 6ft tall

the ladie i jumped with fell a lot faster then the 2 of us and found it hard to stay close and from what i can gather she can fall very slow

i have never been very big and i have tried to put weight on before but i can eat the cow and the farmer and not gain weight

i believe this might make my aff a lot harder then it could be as ppl my weight don't have as much strength as me and i could put them in danger if i stuff up.

any tips on improving my arch or increasing my fall rate would be great

i have been shown some exercises that have helped alot and i am still working on them just wondering if theres any thing else i might try

ty all

[Halfpastniner 0]

invest in a weight vest...i have to wear them if i am jumping with particularly heavy persons

BASE 1384

[tombuch 0]

For those of us in the United States, that's about 121 pounds on a six foot frame. You are a bit lite for your size, but it shouldn't be that significant of a problem. You can carry a small weight vest or belt, and your student rig will add some weight. Plus, learning to arch will help. So, there are some things you can do on your end to make the skydives go better.

But...

Managing student fall rates is the AFF instructors job. They should be able to fly with you by changing their arch or wearing bigger jump suits. Now there are some instructors who are too heavy to comfortably match your fall rate, just as there are some who are too light to fly with the big boys, but overall, the DZ should be able to staff your jump with instructors who can make it work for you.

Once you get into the sport your size may work to your advantage in several ways, depending on the type of skydiving you choose to do. In any event, our sport is open and welcoming to all, so stick with it and enjoy the sky!

Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

[Squeak 17]

Quote

invest in a weight vest...i have to wear them if i am jumping with particularly heavy persons

NOT YET

Invest in better instructors, they should be dressing for YOUR sucess not theirs.
If you instructor sunk out that's THEIR fault not yours

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[pinkfairy 0]

I don't see your weight as something that would prevent you from being a great skydiver. Many of the really good ones are long and thin.


But you shouldn't worry about that now. Your instructors should be able to find out who of them flies best with you and what kind of clothing they need to wear. Maybe this is a new situation for them: they have never had to fly that slowly before. I remember being very surprised myself the first time I went low.

I did most of my AFF jumps with weights, not the first 3 levels, but after that it was 5 kilos of lead. Sometimes the instructor wore a jacket over his jumpsuit too, and the bigger instructor was nice and lent me his 12 kg of "swooping" lead. I'm a quite light girl, and they didn't have an instructor who matched my fall rate and wanted to make it easier for everyone.

Talk to your instructors about it, I'm sure they will find a solution that works.

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

[KennC 0]

This is something I find myself working on, I didn't want weight so I worked on my arch, spent time streching out my legs to get them up further and things seem to be coming round .. I found myself being low man on a couple jumps.

But what about this Mantis position opposed to the box, .. can it help in increasing your fall rate and help make things easier on the back?

[peregrinerose 0]

It's not your fault the instructors didn't stay with you. I have a jumpsuit that I bought specifically for floatier students. I can go under 100mph in freefall with it if I need to.

The first thing you should probably buy yourself skydiving wise is a jumpsuit that's made for you. Student jump suits don't fit anyone all that well, and the right jumpsuit will make a world of difference with fall rate consistency. My husband is built the same way you are, had the same issues with fall rate and floating a bit, his custom jumpsuit made all the difference in making it easier for him to learn to fly his body better.

Don't worry too much about this, just keep a good hard arch, listen to your instructors, and let them adapt to your fall rate for now.. it's their job.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

As an AFF instructor, very light students can be a real challenge. However, it is up to us (instructors) not you (students) to make it work... you have enough to think about without worrying about your fall rate. Instructors can do things to stay with you, including wearing baggier suits or sweatshirts over their clothing, and also simply sending the slower-falling instructors with you in the first place. If your current DZ does not have anyone capable of falling with you, you might consider finishing AFF at another DZ. I am not saying you necessarily have poor instructors or a bad DZ, just that some DZ's, especially smaller ones, don't have anyone who is the right body type to jump with very slow falling students.

However, as a former light student (about your weight, but 5'7"), I DO recommend that among the first items you purchase once you have your license are a very tight-fitting custom suit and a weight belt or vest (I think belts are more comfortable and versitile). If and when you get a belt/vest, add weight slowly (2lbs or so at a time), as adding weight will change your canopy's wingloading as well as how your body behaves in freefall.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[johndh1 0]

minmal,
I don't know if I missed it somewhere - are you male or female. How old are you?

Roll Tide Roll

[cocik 0]

OK, the regular disclaimer first - I'm not an instructor nor experienced skydiver, so do not rely on any information I will provide ... ask for advice from your instructors

I'm 136 lbs and 6 feet (62 kgs and 180 cm) and I was having pretty hard time during my AFF (two weight belts etc.), because the only one who was able to comfortably keep pace with me was the vidiot with wings (even had a special emergency sign from AFFI meaning - you are on your own, I cannot get up to you, work with the vidiot ... thank god for wind tunnel prior to AFF).

Three things worked well for me to improve the fall rate:
1) get a custom tailored jumpsuit (as fast and as tight as possible)
2) buy altitrack, check the speed on every dive and work on arching (solo jump challenges)
3) spend a couple hours in the tunnel & learn mantis (much easier to fall faster with hands hidden beneath the body)

[michalm21 0]

Quote

I'm 136 lbs and 6 feet (62 kgs and 180 cm) and I was having pretty hard time during my AFF (two weight belts etc.), because the only one who was able to comfortably keep pace with me was the vidiot with wings (even had a special emergency sign from AFFI meaning - you are on your own, I cannot get up to you, work with the vidiot ... thank god for wind tunnel prior to AFF).

Excuse my possible ignorance, but red flags shoot all over the place for me. It's quite embarrassing on your AFFI part.

[cocik 0]

the reality was not that scary - the signal was only practiced, never used (vidiot was instructor as well) and the belts went under the jumpsuit ... the AFFI was always there ready to help, but I could see he is trying real hard