flaring.....gliding.....F111

[skydreamerxxx 0]

I have 21 jumps in 6 months, using a studendent rig, jav 200 F111 possibly with a ZP top skin, 1:0 to 1 loading, 50% stand-up, can't take too many more rough landings, ok the question, can I go into approx half brakes and glide in at more of an angle before flaring completely to come in at more of an angle?....I am jumping this weekend and need some hints.

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

I have 21 jumps in 6 months, using a studendent rig, jav 200 F111 possibly with a ZP top skin, 1:0 to 1 loading, 50% stand-up, can't take too many more rough landings, ok the question, can I go into approx half brakes and glide in at more of an angle before flaring completely to come in at more of an angle?....I am jumping this weekend and need some hints.

If you approach with any brakes, you are going to have lower airspeed when you flare. That means you will have less lift for the flare, and that means landing harder.

And, if you come in at brakes and let up on them, the canopy will dive. If you do this near the ground, you can get hurt or killed. (I have narrowly escaped injury doing this two or three times - it takes longer than you might expect for the canopy to dive, gain speed, then return to regular flight.)

Are you PLFing? Are your instructors watching your bad landings, as well as your good ones? What do your instructors have to say?

Personally, I found PLFing made/makes my crappy landings a lot easier to take.

P.S. I have 79 jumps.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[quade 3]

Landing – Looking at the horizon to judge height.


Almost certainly at some point or another in your training you've been told to "look at the horizon" in order for you to judge how high you are above the ground. Unfortunately, what's usually not communicated in this is how this is helpful, what the technique is and how exactly can you go about figuring out how high you are above something.

Take a look at the following two photos.

(2059 and 2060)

Just looking at the grass, it may be fairly difficult to tell how high above the ground each was taken. Each blade of grass seems just about the same size and the angle to the horizon and vanishing points don’t really change all that much.

Looking up toward the horizon makes things quite a bit easier.

(2057 and 2058)

Using the six-foot tall flags on the right side of the photo and noticing where the horizon line bisects them, it’s possible to estimate the height of the first photo as being taken about 5 feet above the surface of the grass and the second photo about a foot lower.

Try this exercise to help you develop a sense of awareness of how high you are above the ground.

Find something at the DZ that you can climb up on and look out at the landing area. Maybe some steps leading up to a building or maybe a picnic table.

Stand on ground level near this object and look at the DZ landing area. As you gaze out over the landing area, take note of any buildings, flags, cars and trees. Look all the way out to the horizon. Notice where the horizon line bisects the objects. If you're of average height, then other people's heads might be fairly close to the horizon line. Tops of trees that are 15 to 20 feet high will be a bit above the horizon line. I want you to really notice where these things are because that's the exact place you'll want them to be when you finally touch down for a stand up landing.

After you've spent maybe three or four minutes looking at that sight picture, climb up on the object and stand on top of it. Hopefully you'll be about three or four feet higher than ground level.

Do the same exercise of looking out to the horizon and really observe where the previously looked at objects are now. People's heads should now be clearly below the level of the horizon. Again, take maybe three or four minutes of time to really look at these things and notice what they look like and how they appear in relation to the horizon from that known height.

If you can manage it, you might want to repeat this exercise at a couple of higher levels as well -- up to perhaps 15 feet above the ground if you can find something that tall to stand on.

By repeating this exercise, you'll quickly gain a feel for how high you are above the ground.

By smoothly and appropriately increasing toggle input as you get lower, your landings will dramatically improve. Being able to accurately judge your height and rate of decent above the surface is the key to how quickly and how much input you need to give in order for the canopy to respond appropriately.

NOTE: Some folks don't like this method, in particular they like the student to watch exactly the spot at which they intend on landing, so be prepared to see a few dissenting comments, however, this is the method by which I teach people to land airplanes as well as canopies. It works well for both. I personally think fixating on the target is a mistake in anything other than classic accuracy.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[nightjumps 1]

It would be very difficult for anyone to give you advice without watching you land. It really takes someone to watch you land and take corrective action right there. Try to get an instructor, coach or S&TA to observe your landing.

[dubbayab 0]

Jump a larger canopy till you learn to flare properly

• Quote

[vt1977 0]

The best piece of advice I can give is to see if you can get someone to come out to the landing area and video you landing. You can then review this with your instructors and you will both be able to see what you’re doing and be able to work on improving your landing skills.

Good luck!
Vicki

[skydreamerxxx 0]

I jumped twice this weekend and it went GREAT!!!
I watched the horizon and had what some trees looked like at ground level implanted in my mind, they were about 200 yds out and half of the tree was above the horizon, so when the tip of the tree was touching the horizon I started my flare, the first time it was perfect and smooth....the second time the wind was lower and I started at the same spot but then noticed that my flare would be complete too early so I held for a second and the finished the flare and landed very nice.....only a little thump.....I also had my legs together and knees bent....but I had my left foot lifted maybe 2 inches and when I landed that caused me to step out with that foot and walk it out a couple of steps......super cool........