Dougiefresh 0 #1 January 18, 2006 I have spent half an hour in the tunnel and about 10 skydives learning to backfly. Not just backtracking, but more like RW on my back. I can do turns and fall rate adjustment, and recover from a backfly to a sit or HD easily. It seems like the only place you'd ever use it is for VRW, and that's years away for me. I have this idea that I want to be decent at all aspects of flying my body, but it seems like my time would be better spent working on my HD. Is there any reason to get good at backflying?Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikki_ZH 0 #2 January 18, 2006 If you want to make the connection to freefly: Bellyflying helps you with your sit and backflying with your headdown. It's the same reversed movements.Michi (#1068) hsbc/gba/sba www.swissbaseassociation.ch www.michibase.ch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paige 0 #3 January 18, 2006 When you are in the tunnel learning to sit fly or hd, your recovery position is a neutral back fly so you don't kill yourself w. the walls or bail to your belly (don't want this because of the increased wind speeds when freeflying). It also helps you fly on another axis making you a better all round flyer.Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate www.TunnelPinkMafia.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattjw916 2 #4 January 18, 2006 Just to add to what Paige said, one of the most dangerous things in freeflying is corking, i.e. a massive decelleration due to loss of vertical speed. If you are about to go unstable and cork, going to your back is the best way to maintain the high fall-rate and not kill someone above you. Freeflying is almost universally taught belly, back, sit/stand, headdown. That's the way AZTC teaches AFAIK and just about every other coaching program I have ever seen. All those people have thousands upon thousands of jumps and they teach it that way for a reason... and that's good enough for me.NSCR-2376, SCR-15080 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dolph 0 #5 January 18, 2006 Some maneuvers require smooth transitions, including backflying. I watched Niels Pedstrup doing some cool thing on a coach jump. Head down, then under me on his back, then some weird little rotation, then head down on other side. All in one fluid movement. I mean, I myself am much more "jerky", throwing myself around when I do transitions. Now I'm trying to do smooth eagles with my team mates, and doing it smoothly requires flying dynamically in positions that are not fully head up and not fully head down. When I go for tunnel training this summer, I'll focus on back flying and headup flying. HD is pretty hard to do well in a tunnel compared to sit/backfly from what I hear, so I'll do that on regular training jumps. Back flying/HU has the same priority as HD for me now. My thick head somehow managed to understand that I can't be a good flier without good backflying/HU skills. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertifly 0 #6 January 18, 2006 Ask Swanson...he was an expert at flying on his back before freefly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karenmeal 0 #7 January 18, 2006 QuoteBellyflying helps you with your sit Huh? "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyL 0 #8 January 19, 2006 Back flying is fun. If you enjoy freeflying, backflying provides many opportunities.Flying camera as well.Keeping an eye on a corker especially. Back flying is good for chasing a corker. Transition from sitfly or headown to back is a 90 degree move and is easily accomplished. Going back to sit or back to headown can be easily accomplished as well. Varying speed in comfortable flight. You can learn it. Keep flying. If you can fly headown comfortably then you might take someone new to freeflying for a headown ride. This type of dive will usually end up with newbie corking. If you exited hanging onto their mudflaps when things get squirrly, toss'em like a pizza, immediatly transition to back to chas'em ,keep your eyes on them,be prepared to pick up fallrate if they recover to sit or headown. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #9 January 19, 2006 QuoteBack flying is fun. If you enjoy freeflying, backflying provides many opportunities.Flying camera as well. 100%, i love exiting off the strut of the Porter under a tandem and backflying the exit. It's also a tremendously helpful skill for getting back up to a floaty person who we've made base on a sit fly jump. When i did my first session of tunnel time i was also like "what am i ever gona use that for" and now i can't imagine skydiving without those skills. Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GTAVercetti 0 #10 January 19, 2006 QuoteQuoteBellyflying helps you with your sit Huh? I would like to raise this with a "whaaaa?"Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bluefox 1 #11 January 19, 2006 QuoteQuoteQuoteBellyflying helps you with your sit Huh? I would like to raise this with a "whaaaa?" I think Mikki_ZH was referring to the visual picture. Flying on your back helps you get used to the visual picture of seeing things upside down while still being in a very stable position. This is helpful for some people trying to learn head down flying. Belly flying is similar in that respect to sit flying because it’s the same picture yet it's a very stable position. For someone just getting into skydiving you have to learn how to get comfortable in a belly to earth position. (I think we can all agree on that since it is the optimum position for deploying a parachute.) That means not only getting used to the feel of the air but acclimating to the visual picture. Luckily it’s easier for us because it's relatively the same picture as we see on the ground. Now think about what it's like when you’re on the hill. It's different. At the beginning of a sky dive you have to be aware that the relative wind is coming from a different direction which will change the visual picture. This requires getting used to whether you are trying to fly belly to earth or on your back. So I believe the point was that belly flying visuals are the same to sit flying as back flying visuals are to head down. Just my $0.02 La CANOPY COURSE Video Training with Brian Germain at AdventureWisdom.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HydroGuy 0 #12 January 19, 2006 I think that backflying would be more relevent to HU than belly as the same principles apply in regards to turning. The new SDU Sitfly DVD by Joao has some good demonstrations to this effect. To the original poster, Freeflying in not HU and HD...it is flying your body in ALL positions and transitions.Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bluefox 1 #13 January 19, 2006 QuoteI think that backflying would be more relevent to HU than belly as the same principles apply in regards to turning. The new SDU Sitfly DVD by Joao has some good demonstrations to this effect. To the original poster, Freeflying in not HU and HD...it is flying your body in ALL positions and transitions. If you are talking about what you are doing with your feet during back fly and HU then I agree. I think the whole hand thing is a bit different. As to the point in Mikki_ZH’s post, that I was trying to clarify, I think it just has to do with the basic point of visual orientation. I think it happens naturally for most people so they don’t realize its happening. The best example of this is when people fly on their back with head tilted back so you see the world upside down. This is done so you get used to the visual orientation for flying HD. Some people really struggle with this where others just seem to always know what’s up and what’s down no matter the orientation. (ok I just reread Mikki_ZH's post and realized that he was talking about movement. So maybe my point was true when you talk about visuals but not movment.) Anyway yes I agree that the ultimate goal is to get better at flying your body smoothly and in control no matter what the orientation. Personally I would be happy if I could figure out how to fly my floaty ass self at the same speed as everyone else in any orientation. As for Joao’s new DVD I have not seen it yet. I did buy his back flying one and it rocked. I think his series of DVD’s are and will be the most comprehensive on the market. CANOPY COURSE Video Training with Brian Germain at AdventureWisdom.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FFlyer 0 #14 January 20, 2006 Plus, not only flying on your back but being able to track properly on your back is awesome. Nothing better than being on a tracking dive flying on your back Being able to adjust fall rate and forward movement on your back to stay with the others while tracking is definitly worth learning how to do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikki_ZH 0 #15 January 20, 2006 Yes, that is what I meant. Thank you. English is not my first language… If you are good in backflying, it will help you coordinate your moves when you’re in headdown because you are already used to the visuals (everything is upside down).Michi (#1068) hsbc/gba/sba www.swissbaseassociation.ch www.michibase.ch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Extrakt 0 #16 January 22, 2006 caus its dammm funn, and the most relaxing pos to fly in, + it will help with ya backtrack and backmonauti. why would you need any other reasons! "If murder and suicide are illegal, then why is it ok to kill yourself and others with cigarettes?????" www.myspace.com/Hypoxicmusic Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #17 February 17, 2006 Camera.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
