tough day trying to Freefly

[HydroGuy 0]

Got some coaching at Perris today. Tried my first four sit dives. By the third one I could hit it for 4 seconds, before my right foot would flop like a dead fish and expose my calf to the wind. It's kind of harder than it first appears.

Then I went and got ten minutes in the tunnel of coached backflying. Totally impossible. I mean I felt as if I had never seen the tunnel, a parachute, anything. I sat on the net, or spun on the net, or flailed on the net. If I got lift, I was spinning like mad. I am not kidding when I say it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my entire life. And I paid for it

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Whatever problems you currently have won't be there 10,000 jumps from now. Patience grasshopper patience. Falling through the sky is easy. Falling through the sky with style is NOT easy. Unless you're a natural (and there are very few of those) you, like me, like everyone else, struggled when they first tried to freefly. Never said this shit was easy to do. But it sure can be fun.

PS: What am I doing in the FF forum? I haven't been in here for months.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Peej 0]

Like Canuck said dude, freeflying ain't easy, but stick with it, you'll get there. And coaching is definately the way forward. Who did you coach with?

WRT the tunnel, i remember my first time in there as well. i had over 100 jumps and my sit was pretty solid. I remember thinking, oh hell yeah, this'll be easy. Whatever! It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

At Perris you have some of the best tools to become a badass freeflier, just have patience

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[HydroGuy 0]

I was working in the sky with Jon Chishlom of the FreeFly Mega Center.

In the tunnel I was Travis and the Elements of Flight group.

My only saving grace is that I got coaching from the start...I couldn't imagine having to learn AND erase bad habits.

To say that my tunnel/backflying experience was humbling would be a gross understatement!

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[Extrakt 0]

I found the Trace 101 dvd helped me heaps, just getting the picture in my head of how it should look
when its perfect took out a lot of the guess work. + talking to the gun freeflyers on the dz. Get it and watch it over and over and over.

"If murder and suicide are illegal, then why is it ok to kill yourself and others with cigarettes?????"

www.myspace.com/Hypoxicmusic

[Paige 0]

Backflying in the tunnel and sky are very different for the obv. lack of rig in the tunnel. If you have the right coach (not saying you don't, I have no idea who it is ) they should be able to help you backfly in a manner that translates well to the sky. At 54 jumps, regardless of your orientation, the tunnel will be tough at first; it is for just about everyone else their first go too!
I went from 68 jumps not sit flying well, to having an accident, taking time off, and accumulating 15+ hours at SVO freeflying before making my jump back. On my jumps back, sitflying was a a totally different ball game, I was rocking it out (as much as i could at least ).

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com

[Helmut 0]

Stick with it!!! Solo's help dramatically. Do 5-10 solo's then get some coach jumps and repeat. If you can get a buddy who can sit and not move so you can have a reference mix them in there as well. Really work on being strong with your legs push them DOWN!!! It will eventually click. I am not a big tunnel fan for freeflying but then again I sure as hell am not Rook either. Not sure how much you will gain by spending a ton of money in the tunnel at the point you are at. Opinions will very!

[partyboy 0]

Yeah, like Helmut said. Try to get in the air first before all your maoney goes to the tunnel.

Up High!!

[JGarcia 0]

Hi, I'm curious as to how much time you may have flying in a wind tunnel? I don't quite follow the math/logic...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 15 jumps will cost you between $270 to $300, if you're jumping from $13,000. If you add 1 on 1 coaching to this you're looking at AT LEAST another $300 if you're just covering slots for a coach, if you're paying a coaching fee, you can add another $375 ($25/jump) to that. That brings the total to $915 assuming jumps are $18/slot... you can make it an even $1000 if you're paying to get your rig packed.

15 minutes in the wind tunnel will run you about $200, with 1 on 1 coaching, a steeper learning curve, a DVD of your time in the tunnel.

If you want to train, and see exponential results in your freeflying, hit the wind tunnel... if you want to jump with your friends, and fly your canopy, make a skydive. Me? I'll do both!

Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[Helmut 0]

I have 45 minutes of freeflying with the same guy your in the tunnel with and another 45 on my belly so not very much at all.

However, as you can see the person your telling to do both may not have the funds to do both. I said do 5-10 solo's then get a couple coach jumps and or make some jumps with friends that have a good sit. Not 15 jumps with a coach and pay for packers. So those calculations may be a tad on the high side

You can also see the jumper in question spent the big tunnel money to fly on their back and get no where near a sit. This post was not intended to be tunnel vs skydive post. The tunnel is a great tool and truth be told if you can do it in there you sure should be able to do it in the sky.

Just my opinion learning to sit in the tunnel can be a bit tuff and pricey and in the air a bit of an easier learning curve. Then again I am no pro and have alot less jumps than you. Hell if you got the cash do both!!!

ps. Martin's been trying to get me on the tunnel crack for a long time. I enjoyed the flight down from altitude due to weather and the student cypress fire. See ya at the DZ

[JGarcia 0]

Didn't mean to turn it into tunnel vs. air debate... I was just commenting that it's not necessarily throwing your $$ away. It is expensive to get to a point where you're doing head down carves in the tunnel, I can only hope to be there at some point down the line. I will definitely agree that it's much easier to sit in the air, but if you have the means, or opportunity to, then it may be worth checking out.

OH... and I don't recognize you from your avatar/user name...who were you in that ride down? Yeah, that was tough, seeing everyone get to jump out, while I had to stay with my AFF student. I was lucky that I had my hand on his pop-top on the ride down (one of those crazy ESP moments). Sure enough, I felt/heard the pop. Oh well, like TK said, it just gave him the right excuse to replace the last of their student Cypres'.

Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[Helmut 0]

I agree totally if you have the means and can do it being able to do both is the way to go! Learning to freefly in the tunnel you can actually feel the learning curve!

My name is Mark I had the blue and white FF suit and wings rig just to your left. We talked a bit in the packing tent with Judy and explained to me about keeping your hand on his reserve. A reserve fire that close to your face could have left a mark! The low pass jump runs were wierd I was glad to be out of that plane!!! That pilot makes me a tad nervous. Dont let Martin get you too hooked on that tunnel crack as he and Sally call it!

[HydroGuy 0]

I prefer to jump, but I also see definite advantages as well as cost savings in the tunnel.

I was advised to sit in the sky, and work on backflying in the tunnel because of the frame of reference you have.

I'm trying to get somegood coach jumps in...once I get in a decent sit, I have some LO's and friends to jump with me, video me etc. to fine tune things.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary