Total Freefall time

[Bosveld 0]

How many people out there still work out their total freefall time. I stopped doing it after about a 100 jumps. I just couldn't see the point anymore. It is so hard to "guess" the duration of your freefall, especially with freeflying and all the different speeds we are able to go.
Also opening altitudes are different on every jump I do, for example doing formations I'll be open at 3000 ft - 2500 ft and doing camera work open at 4000 ft - 3500 ft.

Working that out every time got such a pain in the butt that I just leave the freefall time column in my log book now. I'm sure it won't be very accurate any ways.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, will be true!

[vt1977 0]

I do! Mine is up to date and reasonably accurate – my Pro Track logs it on each jump for me and adds it up! I only have to copy the numbers into my log book!

Vicki

[Bosveld 0]

Well, Yeah.. If you got a pro track, that would make perfect sense. Then you could keep it 100% accurate.

That's pretty cool.

I'm so far behind on mine now, even if I got a protrack I wouldn't be able to catch up on total time. I guess I'd just start loggin it from that day.

[Squeak 17]

I do accumulative times in minutes, then use a free fall calulator (can't remember where I found it) to convert it al to hours, I've got a bit over 4 hours in the freefall side of the sport so far.

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?

[Malev 0]

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How many people out there still work out their total freefall time.

I use a Protrack to log my freefall time, so its kept up to date in my logbook pretty regularly. One good reason to log it is that freefall time is a pre-requisite for some ratings.

[darkwing 4]

I do it, for the same reason I log all my jumps. It gives me continuity, and milestones to pass. I don't know of anyone who regrets logging too much information. I know many people who wish they had logged more.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[ryoder 1,400]

Pick one:
a) ProTrack
b) Skytronic
c) Neptune

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

[MikeTJumps 4]

I keep mine up to date all the time. I've got 12, 24, and 36 hour certificates on my wall. If you don't want yours when you've got that much time, that is your right. Things must be documented properly for awards to be issued.

I will achieve the 48 hour mark in a year or two

Mike Turoff
Instructor Examiner, USPA
Co-author of Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook

[Bosveld 0]

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I've got 12, 24, and 36 hour certificates on my wall. If you don't want yours when you've got that much time, that is your right. Things must be documented properly for awards to be issued.

Well.. here in South Africa we don't have free-fall time certificates? I've never heard of them. We don't have freefall time requirements either. Not that I know of any how. They just work on jump numbers over here. I could be mistaking, but I've never heard of freefall time certificates or freefall time as part of requirements?

If it did work like that, then it would make sense to keep track of it.

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, will be true!

[pilotdave 0]

I've always estimated mine using the freefall table in my logbook. Have a neptune now which records freefall time. I've found that for most jumps, the neptune matches the table pretty well (for RW). No idea how it would compare for freeflying. And some jumps are harder to estimate. Got 79 seconds of freefall yesterday on a tracking dive. I would love to see how much freefall I could get doing a really flat, fast track.

Dave

[thelem 0]

I do, because it is one of the limits that is used to differentiate between experienced and inexperienced jumpers.

Even simple guesses are unlikely to be more than 10-20% out, and this will be evened out over time. Your logbook might say you have 11 hours when really you have 10, but more importantly it says you are more experienced than someone with only 1 or 2 hours logged. (Yes, ideally people would be judged by their skill rather than jump time or numbers, but in most cases that is just too complicated).

[slotperfect 7]

Thanks for reminding me . . . I just updated mine.

If SA does not have awards for free fall time, or have a free fall time requirement for licenses and instructional ratings, then keeping track of it would only serve you if you like tracking numbers, especially about yourself.

Here in the US, USPA requires a minimum amount of free fall time for licenses and instructional ratings, listed in HH:MM:SS format. That drives the train for us here in the US.

As far as accuracy goes, I use the same free fall time calculator as mentioned above - my audible doesn't track free fall time.

Arrive Safely

John

[Tink1717 2]

That's why they invented the Pro Track.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[themitchyone 0]

I've noted my FF time in my log book. I'm using the table provided which of course isn't exact for everyone, and I know that my FF tends to be slower, so I'm probably cheating myself. FF time is important for instructor ratings, right? Is a reasonable calculation based on the tables acceptable, or is it best to get a Pro Trak as soon as possible?

"If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girl's sports such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing." - Homer Simpson

[JohnMitchell 14]

I could be mistaking, but I've never heard of freefall time certificates or freefall time as part of requirements?

If it did work like that, then it would make sense to keep track of it.

[AggieDave 6]

6hrs of freefall for AFF, 500 jumps & 3 years in the sport for tandem.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[gerrcoin 0]

I do, but I'm still on low #'s and there's the time requirements for the ratings and certs.
However, I was talking to one of the skygods on the DZ the other weekend who has 5000+ jumps. He dowsn't know how many for sure because he doesn't even log them anymore. He was telling me that he used to have a hell of a time jumping at other DZ's because they normally like to look over your logbook before letting you jump if they don't know you. He had to look around for someone who knew him and go with them to the manifest before he could jump.

[champu 1]

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It is so hard to "guess" the duration of your freefall, especially with freeflying and all the different speeds we are able to go. Also opening altitudes are different on every jump I do, for example doing formations I'll be open at 3000 ft - 2500 ft and doing camera work open at 4000 ft - 3500 ft.

I actually count the time out during every freefall, sure I have a protrack, but those can be off but as much as two seconds can you believe that?

[skydance1954 0]

I've always been a numbers freak, and so I've always kept my logbooks as up to date as possible. I'm certain that my freefall time is most definitly an estimation as my first 2500 jumps or so were done without the benefit of such things as pro-dytters and video. Today, though, the vast majority of my jumps are recorded by one or the other, so the time is much more accurate. Even so, I'll bet that I'm not more than an hour out one way or another.

To deal with such things as the always-problematic keeping the signatures up to date, I have a personal tradition of taking the logbook to the restaurant on Saturday and Sunday evenings and running it around the table for everyone to sign. Do I really need licensed jumpers to sign each one? Nah. At this point it's also a diary of people I've met and had fun with on this journey. It's really cool to go back 15 - 20 years and read the signatures (that are readable), and remember some great times and jumps I've had with that person.

I intend to keep logging until my ash dive. Which, I suppose will have to be filled out by someone else.

Good logging also helps me to remember really cool dives that I otherwise would forget. If you do this for 30 - 40 years and thousands of jumps, you're not going to remember them all.

Lots of jumpers say they stop at some point because it's too much trouble. But after a few years, those same jumpers then regret not having logged. Don't be one of them.

Besides, as you go through your career, you're joining an even more exclusive club. Not many people on this earth do what we do. Even fewer make it to 10,000 jumps and 170 hours of freefall. This does not mean you're the best skydiver on the planet, but it does mean you've achieved something significant, if only to yourself. But you'll never know what you achieve if you don't keep a record of it.

Mike Ashley
D-18460
Canadian A-666

[damion75 0]

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How many people out there still work out their total freefall time.

I use a Protrack to log my freefall time, so its kept up to date in my logbook pretty regularly. One good reason to log it is that freefall time is a pre-requisite for some ratings.

Same detail - you need the times later... and filling in details from hundreds of jumps ago is a PITA!!

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[bch7773 0]

if i ever need to add up my freefall time for a rating, ill just go back into my logbook and figure it out. sure it will take an hour or two, but its better then spending a few minutes after every jump calculating it and writing it down.
plus with freefall time, you can usually guestamate it and be close enough. its not like you have to be accurate to the second.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[teason 0]

Me Me I do!
And I'm acurate to with 2 or 3 hours!
So far I have ... um ... carry the 2 ...

10 hrs, 97 min and 487 seconds!

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[Bosveld 0]

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For our AFF and Tandem ratings, ther is a minimum freefall time requirement, 3 hours, I think, as well as a 500 jump minimum.

In SA I know Tandem and AFF ratings require 1000 jumps, but I don't know anything about free fall time. Maybe someone from SA can clear that up for me?

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, will be true!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Looks like AggieDave has the right numbers, 6 hours of freefall, not 3. It's been so many years that I've forgotten a lot of the numbers, need to start looking stuff up again.

[Tonto 1]

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In SA I know Tandem and AFF ratings require 1000 jumps, but I don't know anything about free fall time. Maybe someone from SA can clear that up for me?

You need 10 hours of documented freefall time for entry to the PASA AFFIC course and I think the Tandem rating is 800 jumps and 10 hours too. Just because you're in South Africa doesn't mean you can't apply for Gold freefall certificates, etc from the USPA. Just takes a year of membership and if you've done the logging - you can get the awards.

I recently did my 50th hour of freefall. Not much for 4000+ dives, but the lower exit altitudes we get, and 700+ Canopy Formation dives will do that to you.

t

It's the year of the Pig.