Learn to do Head Down

[woodpecker 0]

I am NOW.....flying was over at the last base. Damn how I miss it. Guine pig for the USAF. Ah, what fun.

-special agen man-

SONIC WOODY #146

There is a fine line between cockiness and confidence -- which side of the line are you on?

[CrazyL 0]

Ya man, I totally agree!

[patworks 5]

Head-down (inverted/head-to-earth) – A “downright” orientation with the feet uppermost and the relative wind on the head and shoulders. The upper spine is perpendicular to the ground; the legs, lower spine and hips provide movement; the center of drag is around the legs and feet. Head-down vertical mode can be fast; fall-rate can exceed 300 mph while holding streamlined positions. (However, the “sweet spot” is a fall-rate of about 150 mph).

Head-down freefly is easy to learn and do—for some. For many others, capturing skill at head-to-earth RW is elusive. I have found that people who learn chute assis quickly often find head-down more difficult. Conversely, there are some fairly competent head-down flyers who are not comfortable sit-flying or standing.
I suppose one reason for this is that one mode is “hard” in the same way that Karate is a “hard” martial art; and the other is “soft” in the same way that Tai Ch’i or Aikido are “soft” martial arts. Sit-flying and standing freefly are like the hard martial arts. For example, Karate and Tae Kwon Do are classified as External-Hard styles because they are very Yang-masculine, or aggressive. In contrast to this are the Soft-Internal styles.
Movements of the soft school of martial arts are relaxed and pliable. They are Yin, yielding, and feminine. When one sees the soft forms being practiced, it looks like a slow motion dance-like series of movements with no apparent strength behind them. Yet, a lot of force is being generated, although the energy being exerted is not easily noticed by an observer.
Similarly, head-down freefly is a soft flying art. It follows that head-down requires sensitivity, timing, and balance, as does the practice of the soft martial arts. It helps to remember that success at head-down does not come from a macho iron will that craves downright flight. Success comes from letting head-down happen. The lesson is: take time to understand what the goal is before you practice. Do not progress too quickly. Be soft. Remember that you are not trying to take a position; you must instead let head-down happen.
(More head-down blither on request)
pat

Pat Works nee Madden Travis Works, Jr .B1575, C1798, D1813, Star Crest Solo#1, USPA#189,

[BMichaeli 1]

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Trae,
allow me first to thank you for helping and not hindering self progression in jumping. All to many times people try to stunt the growth of free flying by "you dont have enough jumps yet", or "you should do this first". If you can get stable, solo jump, and want to learn a new disapline, why not learn it? If your not dangering other people I dont see the problem. For CReW or formation flying, i agree with more jumps or more experience, for solo freeflying.....grounds the limit boys. Thanks again for the help and i too will be trying head down with fitz next weekend.

Blue skies trae!!!!

I agree i did my first flower exit on jump number #48 after went into a sit they were both good FF's (lots of FF jumps don't know the exact numbers) and they kept up with me it was informative and fun... found out after that at this DZ i need 50 jumps to be FF but didn't know about that before i went on the jump i don't think i was putting anyone in danger because wasn't quirking out and they knew that i had only 2 solo sit jumps before then (i tracked perpendicular to jump run then went into my sit to get away from people)... the only thing that happened was i was back sliding a bit (not to bad) but it was perpendicular to jump run (did like i was told)... i don't feel that i needed 50 jumps to start FF because when starting something new your always going to have some problems (i know many people backslide for a while wen learning how to FF) it's just knowing what the problems are and knowing what to do to minimize the danger i think that communication and information into what your doing is very important before trying FF

i don't know anything about CRW so i'll stay out of that comment

[pilot-one 0]

So you didn't "quirk" out eh? How do you think you know what the dangers are and how to approach them with 48 jumps?

[BMichaeli 1]

cork sorry...

i don't know all the dangers but i do fell that i have an idea of some of the dangers through reading this forum and talking with other freeflyers... like i said communication and information are key (and this is not only with skydiving)... knowing what the dangers are is the first step to approaching them

would you start to do something that is dangerous without finding out the dangers before hand to prepare you for what might happen?

[hookitt 0]

That was really hard to read.

---

To answer your question: Yes, people do dangerous things all the time without trying to find out what the dangers are.

People do multi way *freefly* jumps and are nowhere's near each other or zoom by each other or simply flatten out and track...etc.

Many (MANY) skydivers don't have a clue how solid their gear is for freeflying.

If you and I did a 2 way *freefly* jump with you attempting to fly head down, we'd be fine. You won't hit me no matter how hard you try. The video would be good. I will make sure your gear is suitable as well.

Now go jump with someone that can't match all the movements you do and see what happens. Chances are it's not just the video that would suck. The sudden fall rate and direction changes will cause high seperation and high closing speeds.

I personally would have no issues flying with you but it would not be on a multi way.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[Halfpastniner 0]

How did you know you were backsliding if you were jumping alone? Let alone perpendicular to the line of flight?

BASE 1384

[LyraM45 0]

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We got the basics and Trae is correct. We would have tried it without the advice, which would have made us even more dangerous. We read all the warnings and we should be fine.

Thanks for the advice again Trae.

If you get advice and it's not the advice you want to hear (IE: get some more jumps under your belt) and you go do it anyway, then keep me up to date where/when you're jumping so I stay home that day.

I would NEVER fathom knowing that I should have a little bit more experience under my belt before trying something, but since people are emphasizing that and not telling me how to do it anyway, then eff it, I'll just go do it anyway. Do you not see anything wrong with this? The reason we need the experience is all for safety-- not just yours, but for the groups jumping in front of and behind you. I feel like doing something like this is as good as a big "F - U" to the rest of the load that you're on.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I am a stickler for things like this. I worked at a tunnel for a bit gaining some pretty decent freefly experience, but I am definitely not out flying in huge groups or going out in groups at all on my head. Why? Because I only have a couple hundred jumps and I don't think any tunnel freefly experience is going to give me the complete situational awareness that I need on a skydive-- and can only get from getting out there and knocking out some jumps to get that experience. Am I probably a little too much on the conservative side? Probably, but I think you need to sit and evaluate your situation here. If you're going to "go do it anyway," then PLEASE find a coach and/or a tunnel.

For anything in this sport, I find if there is a large number of knowledgeable experienced people saying, "that's not a good idea, you should do this or that and X amount of experience before trying that," then take a second and reassess what you're doing, because more than likely you're probably in the wrong. Just remember you're not the only guy on the load and the advice that you're getting, even if not what you want to hear, is for your safety and everybody elses.

Just my .02 on what I find to be just a heads up safety issue.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[LyraM45 0]

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I just wanted to try it a couple times. The main thing I have been working on is my Sit and Standing.... Which I did pretty good in my last video. Since this thread was back in April, I believe I only tried head down twice and only for a few seconds at a time. I got my kicks, now I am working on moving on all 3 axis.

Fitz

Mind posting the video?

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)