your average fallrate on your belly

[heidihagen 0]

belly to earth/not going over the hill/not head down... you know! i'm working on docking and fall rate. i want to be able to fly with anyone... not just people that can fall slow. soooo i'm curious, what's your avg fall rate on your belly?

last weekend my avg hit a record high and hit 120!!! but was never able to dock. also, my avg. rate is increasing, but i'm also pulling lower... so i'll just go with fast-over-the-hill-numbers: the neptune reads anywhere between 114mph and 118mph at 9-6k. it used to be lower and my fallrate going over the hill just depends.

during aff/my first solo, i hit double digits... 70's and 80's (my instructors rock!)
......so it used to be a lot lower and i KNOW i'm getting faster!!! but i'm curious, what's average?

i didn't lose my mind, i sold it on ebay. .:need a container to fit 5'4", 110 lb. cypres ready & able to fit a 170 main (or slightly smaller):.[/ce

[mdrejhon 8]

Hey there Heidi :-)

I think you need to edit this poll....it's not too relevant because you need to break this poll into 5mph increments because not many people fall slower on their belly than about 90mph or faster than about 140mph.

So the poll should be:

Below 90mph
About 95mph
About 100mph
About 105mph
About 110mph
About 115mph
About 120mph
About 125mph
About 130mph
About 135mph
Above 140mph

For that matter, I don't think I have heard of anybody fall as slow as 90mph except in very light tandems and fall as fast as 140mph, except for weighty skydivers with weight belts :-)

The faster fallrates are during tracks and headdowns, and freeflying, not for belly flying.

I am a slightly slow faller. I usually had to dive down to catch up. I just need to work on my arch, but I also blame my harness for being a bit tight too, and the jumpsuit for being slightly baggy.

[RfukfreeflyingW 0]

ok if someone is greater than 220 on THIER BELLY!!! that is fukin amazing haha!

----
-God, you are the perfect amount of dumb...

[justinb138 0]

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For that matter, I don't think I have heard of anybody fall as slow as 90mph except in very light tandems and fall as fast as 140mph, except for weighty skydivers with weight belts :-)

My avg now is about 125, and that is after working on slowing down. During AFF I averaged about 130-140 and my record so far is 162mph (in a baggy heavy cotton rw suit).

[sundevil777 93]

We should say whether this is to be SAS or TAS. I think most people use SAS. Does a Neptune have a similar compensation available?

112-118 SAS is typical 1st/2nd half avg speeds on my Protrack

If you already have a tight suit, and you still struggle to stay down with the regular RW loads, then you should talk to someone you trust about using a little weight. You will fly much better in the middle of your fallrate range than at either extreme.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[heidihagen 0]

i went that slow during aff. i remember my instructor asking how fast after the cat. d dive --- it showed 72mph just before pull time. my avg was in the 80's.... i keep getting faster, just not fast enough.

anyway, so that's why i made such a broad scale. i'm just trying to figure out the norm. not all belly flyers fly boxman. i guess i was just trying to consider everything and aimed a little high


ETA:
TAS? SAS? i have no idea... i have never used a protrack.
the neptune reads at 12k, 9k, 6k, and 3k, then gives your avg speed. it also knows my ff time/ doesn't factor in canopy speed.
if i'm wrong, someone correct me. i just drew that conclusion last weekend after a hop n pop. ("0 mph")

i didn't lose my mind, i sold it on ebay. .:need a container to fit 5'4", 110 lb. cypres ready & able to fit a 170 main (or slightly smaller):.[/ce

[justinb138 0]

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i went that slow during aff. i remember my instructor asking how fast after the cat. d dive --- it showed 72mph just before pull time. usually my avg was in the 80's.... but it's getting faster, but i'm also pulling lower, so that's why i used the 9k mark.

anyway, so that's why i made such a broad scale. i'm just trying to figure out the norm. not all belly flyers fly boxman. i guess i was just trying to consider everything and aimed a little high

72mph? damn...

[nate_1979 9]

I too, have gotten faster since AFF... I remember during AFF 3 (the second time) being told that i need to speed up as I was only falling a bit over 100mph (Which I felt was plunty fast enough at the time) ... I now average about 120-124mph

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[heidihagen 0]

yeah, i know. i think they drew straws to pick who had to jump with me.
thanks eveyone

i didn't lose my mind, i sold it on ebay. .:need a container to fit 5'4", 110 lb. cypres ready & able to fit a 170 main (or slightly smaller):.[/ce

[skybytch 259]

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The faster fallrates are during tracks

I fall way slower on a tracking dive than I do on an RW jump.

[ryoder 1,384]

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The faster fallrates are during tracks and headdowns, and freeflying, not for belly flying.

If you are tracking, then your vertical descent is less than your average speed, otherwise you are doing something other than tracking.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Kris 0]

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For that matter, I don't think I have heard of anybody fall as slow as 90mph except in very light tandems and fall as fast as 140mph, except for weighty skydivers with weight belts :-)

The faster fallrates are during tracks and headdowns, and freeflying, not for belly flying.

My average belly speed is 135-ish because I'm built like a homesick nickle-plated safe with rounded corners. However, even as an anvil, my track goes sub-100mph. That's the difference between a mediocre track, and a good track. A good track away from a formation should have you rising up and away from it. Not increasing speed and diving.

I was taught as a newbie that tracking is a definite survival skill, and as such, it's something I work on bettering with every jump.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[AMax 0]

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The faster fallrates are during tracks and headdowns, and freeflying, not for belly flying.

As Kris said, the truth is exactly the opposite In a proper flat track position the shape of you body is aerodynamically similar to the shape of airplane wing. You get more airspeed and therefore more lift. Good trackers achieve almost 1:1 ratio of forward to vertical speed slowing down vertically up to 80-90 mph.

[sundevil777 93]

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The faster fallrates are during tracks and headdowns, and freeflying, not for belly flying.

If you are tracking, then your vertical descent is less than your average speed, otherwise you are doing something other than tracking.

The avg speed that an audible alt gives you is only the vertical component, it has no way to know what your overall speed is including the horizontal,

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[ryoder 1,384]

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As Kris said, the truth is exactly the opposite In a proper flat track position the shape of you body is aerodynamically similar to the shape of airplane wing. You get more airspeed and therefore more lift. Good trackers achieve almost 1:1 ratio of forward to vertical speed slowing down vertically up to 80-90 mph.

See attached. I am 6'2', 225 lbs exit wt. Field elevation here is 5052 MSL. The spike after the the cursor was from making a 180 degree heading change. I'm sure someone with a more slender build, (eg Hooknswoop or Miami) could do a hell of a lot better than this.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[HydroGuy 0]

In an RW suit solo belly I fall @ ~125. Put on Freefly pants and a tshirt but still solo belly I'm closer to ~130. (pro track avgs.)

On solo jumps I'm always doing flips and stuff though, so in actuality, I probably fall a tad slower.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[mdrejhon 8]

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As Kris said, the truth is exactly the opposite In a proper flat track position the shape of you body is aerodynamically similar to the shape of airplane wing. You get more airspeed and therefore more lift. Good trackers achieve almost 1:1 ratio of forward to vertical speed slowing down vertically up to 80-90 mph.

Good catch. Yes, that's true. The diagonal speed may be much faster sometimes, but the vertical fallrate would be slower.

I did a few tracking pratice jumps already, starting tracking cross-jump-run at about 9K-10K. (Usual breakoff is at 4.5K, but these were solos). Need to keep praticing. I kind of enjoy it.

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[alw 0]

I wish I could get my curves that smooth - they usually look like a seismograph after a 8.5 quake.

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Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure.