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Ripple

Crip skydiving

By Ripple, in General Skydiving Discussions

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Ripple    0

Ripple
Did my first jump (tandem) on Saturday. I can't get over the feeling. But there's a problem, I'm an incomplete paraplegic which means that my legs are a. are not fully controllable and b. very weak. Now, as far as I'm aware, I can only jump tandem but I'd dearly love to take it to the next stage, any ideas?

btw, nice to find this forum! ;)
Next Mood Swing: 6 minutes

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councilman24    36

councilman24
Skydiving with uncontrollable limbs is going to be different than skydiving without limbs. Your legs will influence your stability and manuverability, but if you can't control them you'll have a hard time controlling yourself in freefall. If you can lay on your stomach, arch you back and pick everything up off the floor except your belly (thighs, chest, arms) you've got a good start. If then you can move your legs together and apart and flex and extend your knees your closer. And if you can do normal and on your knees push ups you probably can make it work. This last one is supporting your body weight with your hip and leg muscles, which would be used for resisting the wind pressure in freefall. Functionality less than this would raise issues and problems. I've got a feeling your description of "very weak" legs mean these motions are beyond your capability. I don't remember in 25 years of hearing of a paraplegic being able to freefall on their own. I do remember reports of a paraplegic who made several (maybe many) static line jumps landing in water. Of couse this is parachuting, not skydiving.;)

Landings if you cann't run, walk, or maybe even stand would be difficult but may be able to be overcome.

Find a time when you can get with an instructor at your local DZ and talk about it. If there not interested in even talking, find someone else.

Sorry if I'm a downer but trying to be realistic for you.

ADDED

I didn't see your reply about not being able to lift your legs before posting this. I thinks it's going to be tough to fly in freefall. Static lines with water landing would probably be doable but will be more expensive (drying and repacking gear) and harder to arrange logistically. Don't know what else to tell you. Sorry.[:/]
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

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tombuch    0

tombuch
Quote

Did my first jump (tandem) on Saturday. I can't get over the feeling. But there's a problem, I'm an incomplete paraplegic which means that my legs are a. are not fully controllable and b. very weak. Now, as far as I'm aware, I can only jump tandem but I'd dearly love to take it to the next stage, any ideas?

btw, nice to find this forum! ;)



Contact the Uninsured Relative Workshop in Deland Florida ([email protected]) for a copy of their publication called "Tandem Guidelines for Skydiving with Wheelchair Dependant Persons." The report is designed for tandem instructors and mostly addresses tandem issues, but it does offer a great deal of background about special concerns you should be considering. Check with your local skydiving school...they may already have a copy.

We have had a jumper at The Ranch who has done some AFF style jumps without use of his legs. He was a very experienced skydiver who was injured a while back, and is making a return to the sport. He started his comeback with a great deal of knowledge and experience, and then spent mega-time in the SkyVenture tunnel. He did extra ground training, made a few tandems, and then moved into a series of two jumpmaster harness hold AFF style skydives. Eventually (actually very quickly) he was able to move on to full release dives.

Your situation is different because you don't have the existing experience, so you may find it difficult to locate a school willing to take you on the journey. It's worth considering, but I'd strongly suggest a few more tandems and some tunnel time before you get too focused.

I can get you the name of the AFF instructor who was handling the program for us, and she may be able to put you in touch with student. PM me if you like.

Tom Buchanan
Instructor (AFF, SL, IAD, Tandem)
USPA Safety and Training Advisor
Author JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy
Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

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cpoxon    0

cpoxon
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I've heard a fair bit about Alistar. Just out ofinterest how does he manage landings??



Superbly. There is no better incentive for a good landing than having to land on your backside 100% of the time. He puts a lot of fully limbed skydivers to shame.

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Nuke    0

Nuke
Quote

Quote

I've heard a fair bit about Alistar. Just out ofinterest how does he manage landings??



Superbly. There is no better incentive for a good landing than having to land on your backside 100% of the time. He puts a lot of fully limbed skydivers to shame.



I second that, he's an impressive guy.

He bounced once that I saw though, it looks quite spectacular.:o

/M

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Ripple    0

Ripple
I'm in England, and attitudes as far as disability go are quite different to the states.

I did my ppl in Atlanta and the FAA, at that time, were far more wilco than the CAA. However, having said that, skydivers appear, as far as I can tell, to be pretty much up for trying anything the world over.

I'll see what's available, after all, I'm going to have to ask for a helluva lot of help in this experiment!

Thanks to all, I'll keep you posted! B|
Next Mood Swing: 6 minutes

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Tonto    1

Tonto
Hi Ripple,

My name is tonto, and I currently have a paraplegic student.

I searched around for info and got the same stuff you've got - with reference to Relative workshop Tandem procedures and Alistair, so it became a task of doing it all from scratch. You're right about the differences between amputees and paraplegics. You're in effect a Tandem master, and your legs are passengers which never heard the briefing.

Vana has been the instructor on the main side, and I've always gone reserve to help peter clear the step a little easier. We jump a turbine Pilatus PC 6. (Porter)

This is where we're at.

My student, Peter, had 25 jumps when he had his accident, and then spent a year out of the sport.
He did 2 tandems, and after watching the video we saw some of the things his legs were doing, and we needed to get some degree of control over them.

We built him a pair of trousers with a foam spacer between the knees, and the gap is filled in with mesh to prevent an entanglement/horseshoe malfunction type senario. The pants are heavily padded to deal with the butt landings and lower bone density. There are straps and rings velcro'd up the thigh to allow hook-up to a locking caribiner on the chest strap for canopy flight and landing.

He's done 3 dives with us. We board during a refuel, and he's quite capable of making it from chair to kite by himself. Because of the mesh the leg straps need to be threaded through the suit. This also prevents the senario of the legstraps sliding down his legs if he's unstable or out of control at any point. The gear is completely unmodified except for the locking caribiner. (Don't use freegate caribiners if the reserve handle is a conventional medal D type for obvious reasons.:o)

On jump run we are 1st out. We use GPS to spot, and I confirm visually on climbout, which is simply Peter swinging his legs into the airstream while sitting on his butt. When I'm happy, I look at Peter, and he starts the AFF exit checks. All exits have been stable.

These are the dives we've done.

1. A dual instructor jump with COA, practice touches and a 180 degree turn.

2. An AFF L3, which in SA is a Left JM release with the student performing a 90 degree turn towards the left instructor. The dive was good wrt heading control, but there was a backslide.

3. We added external knee braces and locked them to provide forward movement, and the 60 degree setting had him streaking off to the horizon, falling quite slowly and in a slight head down position very similar to a Vector tandem passenger as a result of the lower body drag, so the next dive will be at 30 degrees.

We have aborted 2 dives due to marginal conditions, and all his dives have been in very light winds, maybe 2 to 5 kmph (1 to 3 MPH) His landings have been quite good (No injuries:)
The problem we're experiencing at present is with his hip flexors. Being in the chair has shortened the ligaments etc, and so he's in a constant de-arch.
He's very dedicated, and is working hard in Physio to solve the problem, and we've already seen some improvement. He has a fantastic attitude and I'm quite sure we'll solve the problem.

Once we can get him to fly neutral, we'll be letting him go. I'm expecting this in the next 3 dives.

After that - we'll have to see what happens. Longer term plans are dealing with stability recovery, and that's going to be interesting.

Mail me on my Dropzone.com address and I'll let you know how we progress. I'd imagine your instructors could do with some of the info I've given you.

Blue Skies,

t
It's the year of the Pig.

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Ripple    0

Ripple
Yeah, I read that just a few minutes ago.

I don't know about Rebel, but I guess, for me, it's all about being slightly bloody minded, I've had enough choices taken away from me, so I'm going to create some different ones ;)

The brilliant things is, skydivers are really up for helping, its a wonderful feeling that there are people out there who are prepared to go the extra mile and I, for one, am extremely grateful.
Next Mood Swing: 6 minutes

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Nuke    0

Nuke
I think we share the same experience about skydivers, I have only been jumping for 11 months myself, everybody likes to help out, all you need to do is ask.B|

If there's anything I can help you with, or if you come to Sweden, please let me know.;)

/M

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wmw999    2,122

wmw999
This thread "What ya think" in Gear and Rigging has some discussion with a guy who was injured several years ago, and is getting back into the sport. You might want to try PM'ing him (go to Messages up at the top) for ideas and contacts.

Good luck, and we want pictures of the smile in freefall!

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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mikeat10500    9

mikeat10500
Quote

Did my first jump (tandem) on Saturday. I can't get over the feeling.



Instructors are paid in various ways, but we all live vicariously through our students. We can't make our first jump again,but we can bask in the smiles of our students after they make those first jumps.
This is another way of getting something extra from skydiving. "Spreading the joy".
Skydiving can change your life. Some day you may meet someone that needs a change in their life. You
invite them out to the drop zone...they make their
first tandem and you can feel it all over again!
Oh...and the parties are good too!

Quote


btw, nice to find this forum! ;)



I think you will like it here. I found lots info and tons of cool people .

....mikeB|
-----------------------------------
Mike Wheadon B-3715,HEMP#1
Higher Expectations for Modern Parachutists.

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