Average fall rate?

[kelel01 1]

Sorry for so many questions, but what is an "average" or a "good" fall rate? I guess I'm asking so many questions because the weekend seems too far away at this point. Thanks!!

Kelly

[quade 3]

Depends on the discipline you're talking about.

Typical belly-to-earth RW speeds (and the speed you'd most likly be going during your training jumps) are about 120 mph. Maybe a little more or less depending on your weight and body position.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[sasteam 0]

I'm 5'10", 200lbs, and generally fall around 114Mph (+/- 5Mph) on my belly. That's according to my ProTrack (measuring Skydiver Air Speed). I tend to fall faster when jumping solo, and slower when doing RW.

New jumpers tend to have difficulty controlling their fall rates and may find it difficult to jump with others since they're usually going high or low while performing maneuvers. With experience, one learns to control fall rate, generally with fine grained adjustments (made consciously or subconsciously, many times per second). Key to this is being aware of one's position with respect to others. Visual cues are key to such awareness. For example, one needs to keep an eye on an RW reference point (e.g. another jumper or jumpers) during the entire execution of a turn.

With practice, a jumper generally gains enough control over fall rate such that he or she can use body position (arch) to compensate when jumping with faster or slower fallers. This may not be a comfortable (relaxed) position, though, which is why some choose to adjust their average fall rate using weights or a different jump suit (fabric, bagginess, etc.).

I don't have a particularly baggy jumpsuit nor do I wear weights. When I first started jumping, I had less control over my fall rate and was either told or believed that I fell fast (or at least faster than others).

From my limited experience, I'd say that it's fairly common for beginners to think that they don't fall at a good (or the correct) rate. However, this is usually indicative of a lack of control rather than simply due to body type or composition.

Just keep jumping and learning... you'll eventually get the hang of it.

Scott

P.S. Also... a vertical wind tunnel is one way to quickly gain flying experience and confidence. Although it can't provide an understanding of all aspects of skydiving, it is an effective training tool for a neuromuscular understanding of freefall. See http://www.skyventure.com if you're interested.

Crazy Ivan and the Crew (2005-2006)
Team Insane (2004-2005)
Insane in the Airplane (2003-2004)

[phonics1981 0]

I'm about 170Lb's and 5'7" and on my AFF Level 7 my instructor said my av fall rate was 140mph. Is that fast then?

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"Ive given up on sigs cos I make a mess of them!"
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[mr2mk1g 10]

during AFF you are taught to fall in a stabe position and the most important thing to learn as a student is that stable freefall position.

A hard arch is the most stable position. This is also a very fast postition. You will find that as you gain experiance you gain stability in freefall will not have to have such a hard arch. You will be able to move into more of a flat position which is slower but less stable.

[Dont change anything you currently do until told to do so by your instructor]

[D22369 0]

Quote

I'm about 170Lb's and 5'7" and on my AFF Level 7 my instructor said my av fall rate was 140mph. Is that fast then?

yep thats fast........ you shouldnt have purchased that cellophane jumpsuit .......

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[phonics1981 0]

Ive just got my Cat 8 and have fell stable throughout my AFF and consols, maybe i'll try and experiment with my fall rate? What do you think?

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"Ive given up on sigs cos I make a mess of them!"
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[mr2mk1g 10]

Sure, get a brief from an instructor though and dont just take what you hear on line as being gospel.

When I was at your level I was told its a good idea to go out solo for a while and play around with body pos and fall rate etc.

You should have been shown how to de-arch (if not collar an instructor or exp jumper). Try it and transition between it and a hard arch. You may want someone to jump with (dont link up) simply to give you a point of reference so you can see how much you speed up or slow down.

Or if you have a pro-track try dearching for a whole dive and arching for a whole dive and compair the average speeds.

Get some training on more advanced body positioning from someone at the DZ is the basic answer, cos you cant really get it over the net. If you start RW training eg WARP for CAT10 this will all be covered in the first few levels.

[skydive84 0]

Definatly get out with someone. Its gonna be hard to tell the difference between speeds when you are on your own. Also trying to de-arch can cause v.fast forward or backward movement if you dont get the position right (pitch of body). Ive had to chase a guy with 50 jumps around the sky in a track position cos he thought he was doing a good de-arch but actually had high and straight legs.
Do some coached+videoed jumps as soon as you can. They will be much more productive.
If all else fails do some no contact hybrids! Theyre great!

[Tonto 1]

"Perfect speed.. is being there"

All jumpers have a RANGE.

You will skydive best at the middle of that RANGE.

If yours and your jump partners RANGE is identical, your dives will be simpler to do.

If your ranges don't overlap at all, the dives will be impossible.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[schattenjaeger 0]

I'm about 5'5 and 130 pounds, so I have to wear THE tightest jumpsuit ever. Period. And then that gets my fallrate to about 115