Don't take your eye off the ball

[Squeak 17]

I did 3 jumps today and got 2 hard landings for my troubles.
Jump 1 coming in on final and a camera flyer came in under me, I was aware of her the whole time and took evasive action, however my evasive action had me going towards a fence, so I turned a little off windline, and looked over my shoulder to make certain I was not going to hit the said camra flyer. By the time I turned back again I was lower than expected and flared too late. Hit on my feet HARD, went forward and rolled. I'm OK but a little tender around the ankle.
The 3rd jump was another doozy, coming in on finals, I checked the wind sox and go into wind, flare at the appropriate time and all of a sudden I'm being blown from a side gust, smacked onto my knees but Got up and and brushed myself off again.
Total injuries, bruised ankle and bruised ego.
But not a total loss all jumps were fun in the air and I learned a bit about landing.
Don't take your eyes of the ball when landing, make them get the hell outa the way.

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?

[RichM 0]

Did the cameraman swoop under you? If not low person has right of way. Try to start planning the landing as soon as you have finished checking your canopy and stowed your slider, etc. You should be trying to achieve the best vertical seperation between you and the canopies above and below you. If you are under a large canopy and last out you can leave your brakes stowed for a while, allowing the others to land while you float around, but make sure you unstow your brakes by about 2000ft so you can deal with any issues that may result in a cutaway at that point.

From your description it sounds like you could have established that you were going to be landing close to each other quite early on. If that happens plan to land elsewhere, and fly that plan as early as possible. A long walk back is way better than a ride in an ambulance

Hope this helps

Rich M

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

all of a sudden I'm being blown from a side gust,

Stand out in the landing area and see how many "side gusts" you feel. Generally this is what jumpers believe happened when they flare un-evenly or are not straight into the wind.

Hook

[billvon 2,434]

>and looked over my shoulder to make certain I was not going to hit
> the said camra flyer.

If you have to look behind you, chances are you aren't going to hit him.

>all of a sudden I'm being blown from a side gust . . .

I suspect you moved sideways a little, stuck out one hand to 'break your fall,' and the canopy responded by turning. This is the #1 reason for bad landings by newer jumpers.

[Squeak 17]

no it wasa poor hand position, the instructor on the gound was trying to tell me what was happening, but it was too late. In the end the problem was exacerbated by my pulling down on my right toggle instead of letting up, but up until I was going sideways both hands were correctly positioned, my instructor said that learning to deal with the wind condiition was a leaned skill, which is difficult to teach, due to the rare and random nature of that type of landing.
After I landed there was a guy coming in on a 79^2 footer and he saw 2 of us go down, when he came in he was shitting himself.

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?