dthames

Thank you and your wife for all the work you put into the event. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Many of the larger DZs with large aircraft do a great job of putting the jumpers out on a good spot and green means, "go if it looks safe". Anyone that fails to do their homework on the ground to predict a good spot should not be the person stopping in the door because the spot looks a little off.

My experience, not specifically advice. I went from a 260 student rig to my 210 rig with 22 jumps. My wingloading with the 210 was 0.93. I did a jump in the student rig, then practiced my PLFs with an instructor watching/coaching me, then went and jumped my rig. I flared a tiny bit late and hit the ground like I had jumped off of something 1 meter tall. Not bad, but less than ideal. I was told that I didn't flare much and was too late. I had good outside video and I started my flare with my feet about 9 feet up and completely flared before I touched down, but the canopy didn't have time to fully react. I flared much like I was taught to flare as a student, which was lacking a bit for the faster canopy. If you feel your worries will affect your performance, you might need more practice on the 230. You don't want to be your own enemy. You might ask your instructors if wearing weight while you practice with the 230 would be helpful to you. Gradually speeding up your 230 landings might be helpful. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

It is very likely that will a little lead and very little shaping you could make a 2 foot long 2x4 board fly better than a wingsuit. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

You didn't ingest barium compounds while on your trip, did you? Symptoms of Barium Poisoning to Look For When barium accumulates in the body, it usually affects the functions of the nervous system. Common symptoms of barium poisoning include: 1. Muscle weakness and tremors 2. Difficulty in breathing 3. Stomach irritations accompanied by diarrhea 4. Anxiety 5. Cardiac irregularities such as abnormally high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat 6. Paralysis Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

My guess is that the search engine is not finding "scrisc" because it is looking or "*scrisc " or maybe "*scrisc." Searching for "scrisc.com" returns a different result. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I know what you are saying is true. However, in the SIM, section 4, Category C, "Equipment" included Full Orientation of the closed container. Also the RSL is covered on the Category D quiz. A student on Solo status should know what the RSL is. Just saying. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I was visiting a DZ and observed an instructor giving a solo rated student a gear check. The student could not explain the RSL to the instructor, really having no clue what it was or was for. Yes, seek someone of high competence. Maybe they can spot something you need to understand better, in additions to helping you check your gear. Obviously this student has missed out on something and needed some additional training. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Search for .wav on this page. http://flysight.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Configuring_FlySight There are specific sample rate settings that you need. The free program Audacity can be used to create these files. I have to mess with it a bit to get it figured out. https://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/ Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I gave your survey a glance and I wonder, what is the real world problem(s) that you are working to address? Several have pointed out things that you might need to learn more about, but to know your target objective would be helpful. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I always thought jumping would be fun but just never did it. About 5 years ago (at age 54) my mother made a statement about, "doing stuff while your health will still allow it". Skydiving was not on either of our minds at the moment but in a few days I had signed up for AFF. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

This is not always an easy crowd. If you fill out more of your profile information, including where you are jumping, many responses will be better. Welcome to the sport. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I try to convey to them what I had to understand myself before I jumped. We depend 100% on our gear and our ability to operate it. When was the last time you topped a hill in your car and thought, "If the brakes fail on this steep, winding road I will most likely die." The reason we don't think that is because we trust our equipment, our ability to operate, and we have learned by experience to trust those things. That might help someone understand that jumping is not a super intense thrill for a licensed jumper but a managed activity that does have some risks. We don't pay much attention to the risks in our lives that we are exposed to everyday, but there are some. We just react to the unfamiliar a bit differently. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

It varies depending on the size of everyone and how good they are at placing their body in a way that gives this person the most comfortable position. Usually facing either forward or backward. I have never seen anyone sit sideways. That, or they can turn enough to place their feet up on the left side of the airplane so that the person behind the pilot facing rearward can put their legs under them. (This works very well to save room.) In my wingsuit, I set sideways in the rear as a normal practice. I am 6'1" but I can sit sideways without extra effort and it gives others more room. My back is to the exit door side, allowing anyone that is seated behind the pilot to put their feet under my knees if they need to stretch out. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Some good advice to me was, "Pay attention to the SIM because it was written in the blood of those that went before us." Read it in detail and understand what you read. Asking questions based on what your read in the SIM is never annoying. Some people say, "Stay off the Internet", regarding skydive advice and information. I spent a lot of time on this forum, reading and paying attention to who spoke with authority that was rarely challenged. I picked out a handful that when they replied, I was careful to ready their posts. I didn't always agree, but I wanted to hear what they said. I quickly made friends with a couple of those people and felt that I could pick their brain if I wanted a one on one away from the DZ. You local instructors might have a different view of something for a very specific reason, so always visit with them if you have something on your mind to learn or to try. If it don't make sense to you, say so. Failure to speak up is an invitation to a problem. It is your quarter and your life.....and as you said, other's as well. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I am now thinking maybe not thermals. I did that again last Saturday....flew slower vertically than normal. I thought I had learned all the tricks with this suit, but I keep getting surprised now and then. Post breakoff, averaged 34 MPH for a time. Rbird. [inline slow-flight2.png] Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

It is pretty common for a student's concerns and worries to increase as your knowledge of what can go wrong increases. At 13 jumps you are right in the middle of that process. As you build confidence that worry should go back down....some. With about 250 jumps I had some bad line twists while in a wingsuit. I had problems getting them to untwist because I was in a slow turn. There was no excitement but at 2000 feet, as trained, I said, Okay, do what you were taught and get a functioning canopy over your head. No excitement, no rush, just did what I was taught. My second was a year or two later. The canopy was not fully inflated on one side. It was jerking me around and was something I wanted to be rid of right away. One look up and it was gone in less than 2 seconds. Landing patterns take practice. One thing that helped me early on was that while I was on my base leg, I would look at my target and think, "If I turn now, would I hit it?" Think, act, evaluate, and take notes. For example if you said, "I thought I should turn, I turned, and still went a little long", then the next time when you think it is right, do a two count and then turn. Record your results and see what it takes zero in on your judgmental eye. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I went back to my records looking for the jump that I was thinking about. It was a fairly warm sunny winter day at Zhills. The marked area is 35 seconds, 5 samples per second is 175ish data points and it was locked onto 10 satellites. I can't make a strong case for a thermal other than I would not expect to gain better than 10% all the sudden without an outside influence. And there were thermals that day. [inline supercruise2.png] Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

It is common that when you first start jumping that adrenaline surges makes you tired. 3 or 4 jumps as a student in one day wiped me out (age 54 at that time) Almost 5 years later.....I drive 4 hours to the DZ and 4 hours back home on the same day. I leave the house at 3:30 AM, at the DZ right at 7:30 and can get on the first load. I jump 5 or 6 times normally. If I jump 7, I start feeling it about half way home and that is not safe. I fly wingsuits and I think that makes me tired faster than normal belly jumping did. I have paid attention to the weather forecasts and what really happened with the weather. I have learned when it is best to just stay home. I don't want to drive down for 2 jumps. But when the weather is good, I go, even if I just went last week. You never know when the next nice day will be. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

That's weird... In hot days your vertical speed should be higher as the air will have lower density. Thermal activity wouldn't account for it at 4000ft+ unless you are flying along a major highway or somesuch, since at that height the column would have arranged itself into a rather narrow shaft and there would be the corresponding downdrafts surrounding it which would nullify any effects. Well, I can't be sure. But twice that happened this summer. In my Rbird, when I am pegged out, I can fly 37 MPH vertical pretty consistent. I was hearing 34 and thought, no way, and tried to hold it. Both times it happened there were noticeable thermals under canopy, so I was guessing that might be the cause. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Being flexible enough to arch well will help. You said the tunnel was okay but more range of arch will never hurt at this stage. Stretching is largely free. If you are not supper limber, you can practice your stretching at home. Investing that sort of time in the sport also helps you in your determination. I was sore from trying to arch and hold it. I recall thinking, I could do that 3 or 4 times right now the results (flattening out during the jump) would be the same. That might not be your problem but working on it can't hurt your progress. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

I agree with the technical assessment but just wanted to comment on the last little bit. Reinventing the wheel as it were is necessary for any technological advancement. The wheel has in fact been reinvented many times, the wheel and the tire that is. From stone to wood and steel to aluminum alloys, non-pneumatic to pneumatic, to non-pneumatic again, to tracks etc. Subtle changes that alter how it can be used, effectiveness, and efficiency. Innovation is important, and sometimes requires challenging the status quo. In that respect, I applaud the OP's effort, flawed as it is. The question he is trying to answer is also a somewhat important one for the more nuanced aspects of wingsuit flight. GPS speed is irrelevant when you are talking about aerodynamics because the GPS has no concept of air speed over a wing, which is the determinant factor of aerodynamic performance and handling. Everything from gyro-copters and sail planes to commercial airliners and super sonic jets, rely on "indicated airspeed" to define their performance envelopes. IAS tells you flight characteristics, GPS just tells you speed related to an arbitrary fixed position. You can land some small airplanes backwards in a strong enough head wind, that is a function of IAS, not speed over the ground. GPS doesn't even give you true air speed (which is a speed-over-ground equivalent). If you maintain a constant GPS speed throughout a jump you are in effect changing your air speed continuously to accommodate changes in pressure at differing altitude (even with zero wind). i.e. If you register 100kph GPS speed at 10,000ft and 100kph GPS speed at 3,000ft; then you would actually be experiencing a higher "indicated airspeed" at 3,000ft, and therefore different flight characteristics. (the air at 3,000ft is denser, so there are more molecules traveling around the wing, and therefore more lift and more drag). But yes, GPS is "good enough" for the vast majority of wingsuiters and for competitions when everyone is jumping under the same conditions. ** To give a real world example, I've exited at 13k ft into a 70mph headwind in a small wingsuit and my ground speed was virtually zero, a GPS would assume I wasn't moving (IAS or TAS would tell me how fast the air around me was moving), turning 180 degrees, my ground speed (aka GPS speed) would have been my airspeed + the 70mph wind, making it appear as though I was traveling through the column of air much faster than I actually was while IAS and TAS would remain the same (at the same altitude).** The GPS is great if you only pay attention to the vertical speed. Vertical speed does not tell all. For example you can fly slow like a falling leaf or fly hard fast, with speed generated lift and have the same vertical as flying slow. But removing the element of upper wind (horz speed and glide ratio) you can get a good indication of your performance from vertical speed. I have a practice of flying hard and vertically slow after breakoff and before deployment if it just a small group. During some hot summer days I noticed my vertical speed lower than what I can normally do. Thermal seem to be adding an offset like a tail wind would. So much fun to play with the numbers. Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Pete, this is not aimed directly at you and I don't want it to be, but often someone says, "You didn't fail, you learned something didn't you." Well the reality of the world is that we do fail and very often. Failure demands change, before success to happen. If there are no hard and fast measures, then everything would be sort of okay, just not the best in the world. Nothing must be fixed, just hope for better luck next time. (not) Most people would feel that failure is not an acceptable level of performance. When I had to repeat a student level, I failed to progress to the next level, which was my objective. Did I fail to properly skydive, no. Did I fail to do other things, no. But I did fail the task at hand. And that, has a profound effect on my next move. (I don't like to fail) If the OP thinks he failed, I will say, "Okay what can we do to succeed the next time?" Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”