Bill_K 0 #1 March 9, 2006 Well after several months of weather delays and other delays, I'm finally off of AFF... What Next? I know that I want to get my class A to start and beyond. However beyond even that, what next... what should I be focused on learning? I want to get better, and better and safer and safer, but I want to do it in a structured and fun way. BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meux 0 #2 March 9, 2006 Congratulations Bill K, If you want to hear it, I'll tell you what I did between AFF and the A license. Made a couple solo fun jumps, just to laugh my ass off and celebrate this new thing. Next, I went to a different DZ and took a canopy course, specifically Deland and Scott Millers course. Highly recommend this, or something like it. Next I made 12 jumps with an instructor, 10 were belly flying, docking, fall rate control, exits, basic RW. The other 2 were attempts at sit flying. Very fun, hope to do more of that someday, after I learn how to belly fly. I also went to the tunnel in Orlando and got 20 minutes of instruction there. Another great way to build confidence. All that will get you to your A. Have fun and keep jumping. Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #3 March 9, 2006 Thanks Mo, I actually did 30 minutes spread over two days in the wind tunnel in Orlando last month. We were down there on vacation and I was able to get in there and enjoy some time. My AFF instructor said that he could tell the difference on my level 7, said was a lot more comfortable and confident in the air. The same day that I did level 7 I went right back up and did a solo and had we not run out of day light, I would have gone a 3rd time. What did you learn in the canopy course? What types of things? Thx again, BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justinb138 0 #4 March 9, 2006 Get any jumps on that rig yet? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites altichick 0 #5 March 9, 2006 Buy beer Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites firstime 0 #6 March 9, 2006 Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I did and regret it. Get proficient doing two ways. Do 100 jumps doing two ways, then jump into a 4 way. Get good on your belly first. Before anyone flames me, I think that was good conservative advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #7 March 9, 2006 QuoteGet any jumps on that rig yet? No, but with any luck that will happen this weekend. I just got an AAD finally. We are installing it this weekend and weather permitting I've got enough $$ this weekend to jump at least 5 or 6 times on it, so we'll see. I'm excited to give it a go. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #8 March 9, 2006 QuoteBuy beer LOL, trust me that was driven home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #9 March 9, 2006 QuoteDon't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I did and regret it. Get proficient doing two ways. Do 100 jumps doing two ways, then jump into a 4 way. Get good on your belly first. Before anyone flames me, I think that was good conservative advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like good advice to me. I spent a lot of time in the tunnel learning how to do knee and arm turns, slides, and controlling my fall rates, etc. I want to try those things in air and with other jumpers now. I did some knee turns and some knee/arm turns on my solo. I understand that they are used to make quick turns while doing RW work. I want to keep learning... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skybytch 259 #10 March 9, 2006 Quote Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I'm gonna disagree with this. I'd suggest doing at least a few solo jumps and just enjoy being in freefall without having to worry about "performing." Other things you can work on/play with when doing a solo include tracking (which is a survival skill), front and back flips, barrel rolls, refining your turn technique... Then pull high and play with your canopy. Practice flaring with toggles, rear riser turns and flares, front riser turns, braked turns, toggle spirals, play with the brakes and rears to see which one and how deep will get you the most glide, etc. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Brian Germain's "Parachute and it's Pilot" book; there's lots of good info in there and it will give you other ideas on things to work on. The more you learn about your canopy and how it flies, the safer you're going to be in the air. Depending on where you jump you may only be able to jump with a rated "coach" until you have your A license. If that's the case, definitely start with belly 2 ways with more experienced jumpers once you get your A license; if not then you can start doing 2 ways earlier. Make a point of mixing in some "fun" jumps with jumps where you are working on technique - try a tube exit, do a "hog flop" (dock, break, both people do back loops, redock, repeat), build a 2 way open accordion and spin it... Don't be shy about asking people to jump with you, and don't take it wrong if they say they're busy doing something else. At many dz's you can let manifest know you'd like to jump with someone and they can hook you up. Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give is hang out at the end of the day - don't do a couple of solos and then split. After sunset is the best time to start getting to know people, and once people know you they're more likely to come up and ask you to join them on a skydive or three. Post-sunset is also when you can get a lot of free ground coaching, learn more about gear, etc. Like on these forums you will need to be able to filter the information/advice/opinions that you will hear; the advantage of your local dz is that you can ask the instructors that you already know and trust if Joe Bob actually knows what he's talking about or not. And the most important thing of all.... have fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Meux 0 #11 March 9, 2006 BK, To say that you learn how to fly the canopy is kind of an understatement. Riser turns, flat turns, stalls, max performance turns, learning the accuracy trick, returning from a bad spot are sort of the headlines. Most important is learning to land, flare rate and when to start it. Certainly having the classroom time helped, but having each landing videoed really helped. I was amazed at what I was doing, once you see it on video, it's so much easier to clean up. Good to hear that you got some tunnel time too. It's all fun. Keep at it. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AFFI 0 #12 March 9, 2006 Jump lots and dont get hurt or die - practice EPs more than ever, cross referene advice... Good advice from skybytch - solos are not a waste of time...Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #13 March 9, 2006 Lisa, Thanks for the detailed answer. I at least feel like I'm on the right track with some of that. I did a lot of that stuff going through AFF and on my first solo I messed around with some more of it too. I've not done any barrel rolls yet, but I think the rest of it I have. I love to track and caught my level 7 instructor off guard with it. On my level 7, the last thing was a track. I came out of it, was still at 7k so I tracked again. Stopped the track at about 5k, waited to 4500, waved off and pulled. Right at the end he came screaming up, but stopped short of me. Later on the ground I asked if I was doing something wrong at wave off and pull time and he said no; I had just caught him off guard with my track because it was so good. Said it was one of the best tracks he's ever seen out of a level 7. Later on my solo I did some more of it. I like that feeling. It's fast and pretty cool to to do. What is a tube exit? I've done the super man straight out thing and everything else has been poised exits. Thanks again, Bill K. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #14 March 9, 2006 Mo, That sounds like a pretty cool course. So far I'm doing pretty well with the landing part of my training. I've not sat down a landing since level 3. The rest have all be stand up or 2 or 3 step landings. The last two have been within about 10 feet of the big X they put out as the target. I think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. The more techincal stuff in the air though and I'm sure a lot more closer to the ground I still need to learn a lot more about. BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites firstime 0 #15 March 10, 2006 ***solos are not a waste of time... My reply as to solo jumps was to make a point. I should have posted it for all to understand. My reason for this statement was that it is nice to have a reference point (another jumper) to practice foward,backward movement, fall rate etc. I did about 30 solo jumps & learned stability. I will reiterate "waste of time" to "doing two ways on your belly will be a better choice" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites glyrenden 0 #16 March 10, 2006 QuoteI think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. Same here That help me alot in landing. I am not aloud to jump with anyone but coachs till I have my "A". so I have done a lot of solos. my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. then it's back flip and barrel rolls till 6000 and pull high at 5000 so that I can play under canopy.. I just tried stalling, (scares the hell out of you the first time) I think that solo or not if you feel that you are learning something with what you are doing then there is a benefit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shermanator 3 #17 March 10, 2006 Quote my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. [Ireply] ohhh, the dive and roll.. i was taught that by someone with a huge grin on his face.. dang that is fun!CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08 CSA #720 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Superman32 0 #18 March 10, 2006 Dude, I love doing solos. If you have safe gear, jump out and just F around. Throw an arm or a leg into the wind, get all unstable, see what happens when you're in different body positions. Solos are great. P.S. The cannon ball is by far my favorite solo exit Inveniam Viam aut Faciam I'm back biatches! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #19 March 10, 2006 I can't really give you advice as I've not even begun my AFF (New England kind of blows for skydiving) but I do have a question - did you complete AFF in only 10 jumps? If so, that's awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #20 March 11, 2006 I did one tandem, then did my AFF in 8 jumps. I had to repeat my level 4. I'm glad to be off of AFF now though... I did my first balled up exit today, that was fun, but several other things happened that gave me a bit of a wake up call. First I was jumping without my jump suit, just jeans and a shirt. It was warm here for a change and the plane was hot. Well between that and not having the lats tightened down enough I was not ever really able to get what I would call comfortably stable for me at this experience level. It felt like I was swiming in the air. I think it was just the container being to loose and floating off my back. So by 5500 I've had enough and start my pull high. To top it off I was the last off the plane on that load and was a bit nervous about that. Nothing to it though. That leads to the second wake up call. The dive is not over until your on the ground. I had my right sholder low at pull time and I got my first line twist. 4 good turns. I was able to get out of it very easy and soon flew it home. It was just a good wake up call as to what can happen. I'm glad for good solid training though. I went back up and did a coached jump on my next one. One of the newer coaches came up and asked me if I wanted to try one. So I did my first docks, capped off by a 180 and track. It was the sunset load today and the clouds were moving in. It was absolutly beautiful coming down through the clouds with the sun setting in the back ground. One of those jumps that keeps you coming back for more. No problems on the second opening today, and no swiming either. We got me good and tight in the harness and everything was right in the world again. With any luck I'll add 3-4 more jumps on my newly completed rig tomorrow. I stayed late with the rigger and a couple of packers to get my rig jumpable for tomorrow. Well that was the beginning to my first weekend out after getting off AFF. So far not to bad, I saved my life twice. I'm liv'n for this stuff now... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #21 March 11, 2006 Awesome stuff, man. That's great that you got AFF done in 8 jumps - I don't hear that people only repeat one level, one time all that much. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes very soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. 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altichick 0 #5 March 9, 2006 Buy beer Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstime 0 #6 March 9, 2006 Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I did and regret it. Get proficient doing two ways. Do 100 jumps doing two ways, then jump into a 4 way. Get good on your belly first. Before anyone flames me, I think that was good conservative advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #7 March 9, 2006 QuoteGet any jumps on that rig yet? No, but with any luck that will happen this weekend. I just got an AAD finally. We are installing it this weekend and weather permitting I've got enough $$ this weekend to jump at least 5 or 6 times on it, so we'll see. I'm excited to give it a go. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #8 March 9, 2006 QuoteBuy beer LOL, trust me that was driven home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #9 March 9, 2006 QuoteDon't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I did and regret it. Get proficient doing two ways. Do 100 jumps doing two ways, then jump into a 4 way. Get good on your belly first. Before anyone flames me, I think that was good conservative advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like good advice to me. I spent a lot of time in the tunnel learning how to do knee and arm turns, slides, and controlling my fall rates, etc. I want to try those things in air and with other jumpers now. I did some knee turns and some knee/arm turns on my solo. I understand that they are used to make quick turns while doing RW work. I want to keep learning... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skybytch 259 #10 March 9, 2006 Quote Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I'm gonna disagree with this. I'd suggest doing at least a few solo jumps and just enjoy being in freefall without having to worry about "performing." Other things you can work on/play with when doing a solo include tracking (which is a survival skill), front and back flips, barrel rolls, refining your turn technique... Then pull high and play with your canopy. Practice flaring with toggles, rear riser turns and flares, front riser turns, braked turns, toggle spirals, play with the brakes and rears to see which one and how deep will get you the most glide, etc. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Brian Germain's "Parachute and it's Pilot" book; there's lots of good info in there and it will give you other ideas on things to work on. The more you learn about your canopy and how it flies, the safer you're going to be in the air. Depending on where you jump you may only be able to jump with a rated "coach" until you have your A license. If that's the case, definitely start with belly 2 ways with more experienced jumpers once you get your A license; if not then you can start doing 2 ways earlier. Make a point of mixing in some "fun" jumps with jumps where you are working on technique - try a tube exit, do a "hog flop" (dock, break, both people do back loops, redock, repeat), build a 2 way open accordion and spin it... Don't be shy about asking people to jump with you, and don't take it wrong if they say they're busy doing something else. At many dz's you can let manifest know you'd like to jump with someone and they can hook you up. Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give is hang out at the end of the day - don't do a couple of solos and then split. After sunset is the best time to start getting to know people, and once people know you they're more likely to come up and ask you to join them on a skydive or three. Post-sunset is also when you can get a lot of free ground coaching, learn more about gear, etc. Like on these forums you will need to be able to filter the information/advice/opinions that you will hear; the advantage of your local dz is that you can ask the instructors that you already know and trust if Joe Bob actually knows what he's talking about or not. And the most important thing of all.... have fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Meux 0 #11 March 9, 2006 BK, To say that you learn how to fly the canopy is kind of an understatement. Riser turns, flat turns, stalls, max performance turns, learning the accuracy trick, returning from a bad spot are sort of the headlines. Most important is learning to land, flare rate and when to start it. Certainly having the classroom time helped, but having each landing videoed really helped. I was amazed at what I was doing, once you see it on video, it's so much easier to clean up. Good to hear that you got some tunnel time too. It's all fun. Keep at it. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AFFI 0 #12 March 9, 2006 Jump lots and dont get hurt or die - practice EPs more than ever, cross referene advice... Good advice from skybytch - solos are not a waste of time...Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #13 March 9, 2006 Lisa, Thanks for the detailed answer. I at least feel like I'm on the right track with some of that. I did a lot of that stuff going through AFF and on my first solo I messed around with some more of it too. I've not done any barrel rolls yet, but I think the rest of it I have. I love to track and caught my level 7 instructor off guard with it. On my level 7, the last thing was a track. I came out of it, was still at 7k so I tracked again. Stopped the track at about 5k, waited to 4500, waved off and pulled. Right at the end he came screaming up, but stopped short of me. Later on the ground I asked if I was doing something wrong at wave off and pull time and he said no; I had just caught him off guard with my track because it was so good. Said it was one of the best tracks he's ever seen out of a level 7. Later on my solo I did some more of it. I like that feeling. It's fast and pretty cool to to do. What is a tube exit? I've done the super man straight out thing and everything else has been poised exits. Thanks again, Bill K. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #14 March 9, 2006 Mo, That sounds like a pretty cool course. So far I'm doing pretty well with the landing part of my training. I've not sat down a landing since level 3. The rest have all be stand up or 2 or 3 step landings. The last two have been within about 10 feet of the big X they put out as the target. I think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. The more techincal stuff in the air though and I'm sure a lot more closer to the ground I still need to learn a lot more about. BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites firstime 0 #15 March 10, 2006 ***solos are not a waste of time... My reply as to solo jumps was to make a point. I should have posted it for all to understand. My reason for this statement was that it is nice to have a reference point (another jumper) to practice foward,backward movement, fall rate etc. I did about 30 solo jumps & learned stability. I will reiterate "waste of time" to "doing two ways on your belly will be a better choice" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites glyrenden 0 #16 March 10, 2006 QuoteI think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. Same here That help me alot in landing. I am not aloud to jump with anyone but coachs till I have my "A". so I have done a lot of solos. my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. then it's back flip and barrel rolls till 6000 and pull high at 5000 so that I can play under canopy.. I just tried stalling, (scares the hell out of you the first time) I think that solo or not if you feel that you are learning something with what you are doing then there is a benefit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shermanator 3 #17 March 10, 2006 Quote my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. [Ireply] ohhh, the dive and roll.. i was taught that by someone with a huge grin on his face.. dang that is fun!CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08 CSA #720 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Superman32 0 #18 March 10, 2006 Dude, I love doing solos. If you have safe gear, jump out and just F around. Throw an arm or a leg into the wind, get all unstable, see what happens when you're in different body positions. Solos are great. P.S. The cannon ball is by far my favorite solo exit Inveniam Viam aut Faciam I'm back biatches! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #19 March 10, 2006 I can't really give you advice as I've not even begun my AFF (New England kind of blows for skydiving) but I do have a question - did you complete AFF in only 10 jumps? If so, that's awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #20 March 11, 2006 I did one tandem, then did my AFF in 8 jumps. I had to repeat my level 4. I'm glad to be off of AFF now though... I did my first balled up exit today, that was fun, but several other things happened that gave me a bit of a wake up call. First I was jumping without my jump suit, just jeans and a shirt. It was warm here for a change and the plane was hot. Well between that and not having the lats tightened down enough I was not ever really able to get what I would call comfortably stable for me at this experience level. It felt like I was swiming in the air. I think it was just the container being to loose and floating off my back. So by 5500 I've had enough and start my pull high. To top it off I was the last off the plane on that load and was a bit nervous about that. Nothing to it though. That leads to the second wake up call. The dive is not over until your on the ground. I had my right sholder low at pull time and I got my first line twist. 4 good turns. I was able to get out of it very easy and soon flew it home. It was just a good wake up call as to what can happen. I'm glad for good solid training though. I went back up and did a coached jump on my next one. One of the newer coaches came up and asked me if I wanted to try one. So I did my first docks, capped off by a 180 and track. It was the sunset load today and the clouds were moving in. It was absolutly beautiful coming down through the clouds with the sun setting in the back ground. One of those jumps that keeps you coming back for more. No problems on the second opening today, and no swiming either. We got me good and tight in the harness and everything was right in the world again. With any luck I'll add 3-4 more jumps on my newly completed rig tomorrow. I stayed late with the rigger and a couple of packers to get my rig jumpable for tomorrow. Well that was the beginning to my first weekend out after getting off AFF. So far not to bad, I saved my life twice. I'm liv'n for this stuff now... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #21 March 11, 2006 Awesome stuff, man. That's great that you got AFF done in 8 jumps - I don't hear that people only repeat one level, one time all that much. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes very soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0 Go To Topic Listing
Bill_K 0 #8 March 9, 2006 QuoteBuy beer LOL, trust me that was driven home. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #9 March 9, 2006 QuoteDon't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I did and regret it. Get proficient doing two ways. Do 100 jumps doing two ways, then jump into a 4 way. Get good on your belly first. Before anyone flames me, I think that was good conservative advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like good advice to me. I spent a lot of time in the tunnel learning how to do knee and arm turns, slides, and controlling my fall rates, etc. I want to try those things in air and with other jumpers now. I did some knee turns and some knee/arm turns on my solo. I understand that they are used to make quick turns while doing RW work. I want to keep learning... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites skybytch 259 #10 March 9, 2006 Quote Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I'm gonna disagree with this. I'd suggest doing at least a few solo jumps and just enjoy being in freefall without having to worry about "performing." Other things you can work on/play with when doing a solo include tracking (which is a survival skill), front and back flips, barrel rolls, refining your turn technique... Then pull high and play with your canopy. Practice flaring with toggles, rear riser turns and flares, front riser turns, braked turns, toggle spirals, play with the brakes and rears to see which one and how deep will get you the most glide, etc. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Brian Germain's "Parachute and it's Pilot" book; there's lots of good info in there and it will give you other ideas on things to work on. The more you learn about your canopy and how it flies, the safer you're going to be in the air. Depending on where you jump you may only be able to jump with a rated "coach" until you have your A license. If that's the case, definitely start with belly 2 ways with more experienced jumpers once you get your A license; if not then you can start doing 2 ways earlier. Make a point of mixing in some "fun" jumps with jumps where you are working on technique - try a tube exit, do a "hog flop" (dock, break, both people do back loops, redock, repeat), build a 2 way open accordion and spin it... Don't be shy about asking people to jump with you, and don't take it wrong if they say they're busy doing something else. At many dz's you can let manifest know you'd like to jump with someone and they can hook you up. Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give is hang out at the end of the day - don't do a couple of solos and then split. After sunset is the best time to start getting to know people, and once people know you they're more likely to come up and ask you to join them on a skydive or three. Post-sunset is also when you can get a lot of free ground coaching, learn more about gear, etc. Like on these forums you will need to be able to filter the information/advice/opinions that you will hear; the advantage of your local dz is that you can ask the instructors that you already know and trust if Joe Bob actually knows what he's talking about or not. And the most important thing of all.... have fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Meux 0 #11 March 9, 2006 BK, To say that you learn how to fly the canopy is kind of an understatement. Riser turns, flat turns, stalls, max performance turns, learning the accuracy trick, returning from a bad spot are sort of the headlines. Most important is learning to land, flare rate and when to start it. Certainly having the classroom time helped, but having each landing videoed really helped. I was amazed at what I was doing, once you see it on video, it's so much easier to clean up. Good to hear that you got some tunnel time too. It's all fun. Keep at it. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AFFI 0 #12 March 9, 2006 Jump lots and dont get hurt or die - practice EPs more than ever, cross referene advice... Good advice from skybytch - solos are not a waste of time...Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #13 March 9, 2006 Lisa, Thanks for the detailed answer. I at least feel like I'm on the right track with some of that. I did a lot of that stuff going through AFF and on my first solo I messed around with some more of it too. I've not done any barrel rolls yet, but I think the rest of it I have. I love to track and caught my level 7 instructor off guard with it. On my level 7, the last thing was a track. I came out of it, was still at 7k so I tracked again. Stopped the track at about 5k, waited to 4500, waved off and pulled. Right at the end he came screaming up, but stopped short of me. Later on the ground I asked if I was doing something wrong at wave off and pull time and he said no; I had just caught him off guard with my track because it was so good. Said it was one of the best tracks he's ever seen out of a level 7. Later on my solo I did some more of it. I like that feeling. It's fast and pretty cool to to do. What is a tube exit? I've done the super man straight out thing and everything else has been poised exits. Thanks again, Bill K. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #14 March 9, 2006 Mo, That sounds like a pretty cool course. So far I'm doing pretty well with the landing part of my training. I've not sat down a landing since level 3. The rest have all be stand up or 2 or 3 step landings. The last two have been within about 10 feet of the big X they put out as the target. I think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. The more techincal stuff in the air though and I'm sure a lot more closer to the ground I still need to learn a lot more about. BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites firstime 0 #15 March 10, 2006 ***solos are not a waste of time... My reply as to solo jumps was to make a point. I should have posted it for all to understand. My reason for this statement was that it is nice to have a reference point (another jumper) to practice foward,backward movement, fall rate etc. I did about 30 solo jumps & learned stability. I will reiterate "waste of time" to "doing two ways on your belly will be a better choice" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites glyrenden 0 #16 March 10, 2006 QuoteI think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. Same here That help me alot in landing. I am not aloud to jump with anyone but coachs till I have my "A". so I have done a lot of solos. my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. then it's back flip and barrel rolls till 6000 and pull high at 5000 so that I can play under canopy.. I just tried stalling, (scares the hell out of you the first time) I think that solo or not if you feel that you are learning something with what you are doing then there is a benefit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shermanator 3 #17 March 10, 2006 Quote my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. [Ireply] ohhh, the dive and roll.. i was taught that by someone with a huge grin on his face.. dang that is fun!CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08 CSA #720 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Superman32 0 #18 March 10, 2006 Dude, I love doing solos. If you have safe gear, jump out and just F around. Throw an arm or a leg into the wind, get all unstable, see what happens when you're in different body positions. Solos are great. P.S. The cannon ball is by far my favorite solo exit Inveniam Viam aut Faciam I'm back biatches! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #19 March 10, 2006 I can't really give you advice as I've not even begun my AFF (New England kind of blows for skydiving) but I do have a question - did you complete AFF in only 10 jumps? If so, that's awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #20 March 11, 2006 I did one tandem, then did my AFF in 8 jumps. I had to repeat my level 4. I'm glad to be off of AFF now though... I did my first balled up exit today, that was fun, but several other things happened that gave me a bit of a wake up call. First I was jumping without my jump suit, just jeans and a shirt. It was warm here for a change and the plane was hot. Well between that and not having the lats tightened down enough I was not ever really able to get what I would call comfortably stable for me at this experience level. It felt like I was swiming in the air. I think it was just the container being to loose and floating off my back. So by 5500 I've had enough and start my pull high. To top it off I was the last off the plane on that load and was a bit nervous about that. Nothing to it though. That leads to the second wake up call. The dive is not over until your on the ground. I had my right sholder low at pull time and I got my first line twist. 4 good turns. I was able to get out of it very easy and soon flew it home. It was just a good wake up call as to what can happen. I'm glad for good solid training though. I went back up and did a coached jump on my next one. One of the newer coaches came up and asked me if I wanted to try one. So I did my first docks, capped off by a 180 and track. It was the sunset load today and the clouds were moving in. It was absolutly beautiful coming down through the clouds with the sun setting in the back ground. One of those jumps that keeps you coming back for more. No problems on the second opening today, and no swiming either. We got me good and tight in the harness and everything was right in the world again. With any luck I'll add 3-4 more jumps on my newly completed rig tomorrow. I stayed late with the rigger and a couple of packers to get my rig jumpable for tomorrow. Well that was the beginning to my first weekend out after getting off AFF. So far not to bad, I saved my life twice. I'm liv'n for this stuff now... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #21 March 11, 2006 Awesome stuff, man. That's great that you got AFF done in 8 jumps - I don't hear that people only repeat one level, one time all that much. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes very soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0 Go To Topic Listing
skybytch 259 #10 March 9, 2006 Quote Don't waste your time and energy on doing solo jumps. I'm gonna disagree with this. I'd suggest doing at least a few solo jumps and just enjoy being in freefall without having to worry about "performing." Other things you can work on/play with when doing a solo include tracking (which is a survival skill), front and back flips, barrel rolls, refining your turn technique... Then pull high and play with your canopy. Practice flaring with toggles, rear riser turns and flares, front riser turns, braked turns, toggle spirals, play with the brakes and rears to see which one and how deep will get you the most glide, etc. If you haven't already, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Brian Germain's "Parachute and it's Pilot" book; there's lots of good info in there and it will give you other ideas on things to work on. The more you learn about your canopy and how it flies, the safer you're going to be in the air. Depending on where you jump you may only be able to jump with a rated "coach" until you have your A license. If that's the case, definitely start with belly 2 ways with more experienced jumpers once you get your A license; if not then you can start doing 2 ways earlier. Make a point of mixing in some "fun" jumps with jumps where you are working on technique - try a tube exit, do a "hog flop" (dock, break, both people do back loops, redock, repeat), build a 2 way open accordion and spin it... Don't be shy about asking people to jump with you, and don't take it wrong if they say they're busy doing something else. At many dz's you can let manifest know you'd like to jump with someone and they can hook you up. Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give is hang out at the end of the day - don't do a couple of solos and then split. After sunset is the best time to start getting to know people, and once people know you they're more likely to come up and ask you to join them on a skydive or three. Post-sunset is also when you can get a lot of free ground coaching, learn more about gear, etc. Like on these forums you will need to be able to filter the information/advice/opinions that you will hear; the advantage of your local dz is that you can ask the instructors that you already know and trust if Joe Bob actually knows what he's talking about or not. And the most important thing of all.... have fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meux 0 #11 March 9, 2006 BK, To say that you learn how to fly the canopy is kind of an understatement. Riser turns, flat turns, stalls, max performance turns, learning the accuracy trick, returning from a bad spot are sort of the headlines. Most important is learning to land, flare rate and when to start it. Certainly having the classroom time helped, but having each landing videoed really helped. I was amazed at what I was doing, once you see it on video, it's so much easier to clean up. Good to hear that you got some tunnel time too. It's all fun. Keep at it. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #12 March 9, 2006 Jump lots and dont get hurt or die - practice EPs more than ever, cross referene advice... Good advice from skybytch - solos are not a waste of time...Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #13 March 9, 2006 Lisa, Thanks for the detailed answer. I at least feel like I'm on the right track with some of that. I did a lot of that stuff going through AFF and on my first solo I messed around with some more of it too. I've not done any barrel rolls yet, but I think the rest of it I have. I love to track and caught my level 7 instructor off guard with it. On my level 7, the last thing was a track. I came out of it, was still at 7k so I tracked again. Stopped the track at about 5k, waited to 4500, waved off and pulled. Right at the end he came screaming up, but stopped short of me. Later on the ground I asked if I was doing something wrong at wave off and pull time and he said no; I had just caught him off guard with my track because it was so good. Said it was one of the best tracks he's ever seen out of a level 7. Later on my solo I did some more of it. I like that feeling. It's fast and pretty cool to to do. What is a tube exit? I've done the super man straight out thing and everything else has been poised exits. Thanks again, Bill K. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #14 March 9, 2006 Mo, That sounds like a pretty cool course. So far I'm doing pretty well with the landing part of my training. I've not sat down a landing since level 3. The rest have all be stand up or 2 or 3 step landings. The last two have been within about 10 feet of the big X they put out as the target. I think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. The more techincal stuff in the air though and I'm sure a lot more closer to the ground I still need to learn a lot more about. BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstime 0 #15 March 10, 2006 ***solos are not a waste of time... My reply as to solo jumps was to make a point. I should have posted it for all to understand. My reason for this statement was that it is nice to have a reference point (another jumper) to practice foward,backward movement, fall rate etc. I did about 30 solo jumps & learned stability. I will reiterate "waste of time" to "doing two ways on your belly will be a better choice" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
glyrenden 0 #16 March 10, 2006 QuoteI think being a pilot helps with some of that too though. I understand glide paths, and how to maintain them, etc. I'm able to pick a point and adjuts to fly to it. Same here That help me alot in landing. I am not aloud to jump with anyone but coachs till I have my "A". so I have done a lot of solos. my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. then it's back flip and barrel rolls till 6000 and pull high at 5000 so that I can play under canopy.. I just tried stalling, (scares the hell out of you the first time) I think that solo or not if you feel that you are learning something with what you are doing then there is a benefit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shermanator 3 #17 March 10, 2006 Quote my favorite is to dive out and ball up and tumble for a 1000 feet then open stable. [Ireply] ohhh, the dive and roll.. i was taught that by someone with a huge grin on his face.. dang that is fun!CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08 CSA #720 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Superman32 0 #18 March 10, 2006 Dude, I love doing solos. If you have safe gear, jump out and just F around. Throw an arm or a leg into the wind, get all unstable, see what happens when you're in different body positions. Solos are great. P.S. The cannon ball is by far my favorite solo exit Inveniam Viam aut Faciam I'm back biatches! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #19 March 10, 2006 I can't really give you advice as I've not even begun my AFF (New England kind of blows for skydiving) but I do have a question - did you complete AFF in only 10 jumps? If so, that's awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Bill_K 0 #20 March 11, 2006 I did one tandem, then did my AFF in 8 jumps. I had to repeat my level 4. I'm glad to be off of AFF now though... I did my first balled up exit today, that was fun, but several other things happened that gave me a bit of a wake up call. First I was jumping without my jump suit, just jeans and a shirt. It was warm here for a change and the plane was hot. Well between that and not having the lats tightened down enough I was not ever really able to get what I would call comfortably stable for me at this experience level. It felt like I was swiming in the air. I think it was just the container being to loose and floating off my back. So by 5500 I've had enough and start my pull high. To top it off I was the last off the plane on that load and was a bit nervous about that. Nothing to it though. That leads to the second wake up call. The dive is not over until your on the ground. I had my right sholder low at pull time and I got my first line twist. 4 good turns. I was able to get out of it very easy and soon flew it home. It was just a good wake up call as to what can happen. I'm glad for good solid training though. I went back up and did a coached jump on my next one. One of the newer coaches came up and asked me if I wanted to try one. So I did my first docks, capped off by a 180 and track. It was the sunset load today and the clouds were moving in. It was absolutly beautiful coming down through the clouds with the sun setting in the back ground. One of those jumps that keeps you coming back for more. No problems on the second opening today, and no swiming either. We got me good and tight in the harness and everything was right in the world again. With any luck I'll add 3-4 more jumps on my newly completed rig tomorrow. I stayed late with the rigger and a couple of packers to get my rig jumpable for tomorrow. Well that was the beginning to my first weekend out after getting off AFF. So far not to bad, I saved my life twice. I'm liv'n for this stuff now... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MagicGuy 0 #21 March 11, 2006 Awesome stuff, man. That's great that you got AFF done in 8 jumps - I don't hear that people only repeat one level, one time all that much. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes very soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
Superman32 0 #18 March 10, 2006 Dude, I love doing solos. If you have safe gear, jump out and just F around. Throw an arm or a leg into the wind, get all unstable, see what happens when you're in different body positions. Solos are great. P.S. The cannon ball is by far my favorite solo exit Inveniam Viam aut Faciam I'm back biatches! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MagicGuy 0 #19 March 10, 2006 I can't really give you advice as I've not even begun my AFF (New England kind of blows for skydiving) but I do have a question - did you complete AFF in only 10 jumps? If so, that's awesome! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #20 March 11, 2006 I did one tandem, then did my AFF in 8 jumps. I had to repeat my level 4. I'm glad to be off of AFF now though... I did my first balled up exit today, that was fun, but several other things happened that gave me a bit of a wake up call. First I was jumping without my jump suit, just jeans and a shirt. It was warm here for a change and the plane was hot. Well between that and not having the lats tightened down enough I was not ever really able to get what I would call comfortably stable for me at this experience level. It felt like I was swiming in the air. I think it was just the container being to loose and floating off my back. So by 5500 I've had enough and start my pull high. To top it off I was the last off the plane on that load and was a bit nervous about that. Nothing to it though. That leads to the second wake up call. The dive is not over until your on the ground. I had my right sholder low at pull time and I got my first line twist. 4 good turns. I was able to get out of it very easy and soon flew it home. It was just a good wake up call as to what can happen. I'm glad for good solid training though. I went back up and did a coached jump on my next one. One of the newer coaches came up and asked me if I wanted to try one. So I did my first docks, capped off by a 180 and track. It was the sunset load today and the clouds were moving in. It was absolutly beautiful coming down through the clouds with the sun setting in the back ground. One of those jumps that keeps you coming back for more. No problems on the second opening today, and no swiming either. We got me good and tight in the harness and everything was right in the world again. With any luck I'll add 3-4 more jumps on my newly completed rig tomorrow. I stayed late with the rigger and a couple of packers to get my rig jumpable for tomorrow. Well that was the beginning to my first weekend out after getting off AFF. So far not to bad, I saved my life twice. I'm liv'n for this stuff now... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MagicGuy 0 #21 March 11, 2006 Awesome stuff, man. That's great that you got AFF done in 8 jumps - I don't hear that people only repeat one level, one time all that much. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes very soon! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
