vanessalh

Depends how well the jump is going :) If we crank through 20 points and my audible hasn't gone off I'll start to feel like we're in the air for loooong time. Usually at this point I'll check to find that we're still at 6,000ft. If the jump is falling apart it takes about 60s...

Well written article, thanks! I bought my Go-Pro at around 150 jumps, and did my first jump with it at around 165. I was careful to do a jump I felt very confident in - in this case a 2-way belly with a very experienced skydiver and camera flyer. I'd heard that the camera tends to be distracting in freefall as you try to 'get the shot'. For me this wasn't the case, but it was distracting in the plane before exit - especially the GoPro which has an inane set of controls compared with the Contour. It also makes the exit trickier, whether climbing out or diving out. I only did about 10 camera jumps before I hit 200, because I realized I needed to make my in-plane procedures more habitual before I added another distraction. Even now at 260 jumps, I still take my camera off if we're doing a jump with 16 people or more, if it's a complex jump with more advanced fliers, or if it's a situation I'm not yet comfortable in (like a 5-way free fly).

Hey folks, I did a search of forums and could only find posts from a few years ago. Does anyone have a recommendation on which to use to edit skydiving videos, Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere? I video using GoPro Hero 3, all my computers are Mac. I use similar styles for titles and credits. I'd love to have software that allows me to store a library of commonly used titles/credits/transitions/background music. I'd welcome any recommendations.

He he, pretty much :) Nice to meet you too. Though we may need to meet again today because my mind is a not fuzzy... Definitely missing first load today. Second load maybe...

Thanks for all your suggestions and friendly jabs folks :) I discovered they have free beer at the DZ, which means I'm way to drunk to go anywhere to eat, but also drunk enough that I'll eat a creature a at the bent prop and pretend I didn't the next morning....

Hey folks, I'm going to be in Eloy for two weeks of jumping (yah!). Do you have any recommendations for healthy places to eat? Organic health food stores, vegan restaurants, places to get wheatgrass juice, etc. I'd like to do everything I can to keep my energy up for jumping. Thanks Vanessa

I think this is spot on. I've noticed that the more I jump the more I'm able to bring awareness to each moment, and to notice new things. At first it was noticing things I'm doing wrong and correcting them. Slowly I'm starting to become aware of others on the exit with me. I think that space where you relax enough to be able to think is what you're talking about. Astute observation!

Hey folks, I'm interested in your opinions on whether it is safer to have an RSL or not. On my one and only cutaway it was comforting to have my reserve out before I'd even pulled it, but also a little unnerving as this gave me no time to get stable before deploying my reserve. I can imagine situations where it is both life saving to have RSL (e.g. one arm broken or restricted making it difficult to pull reserve), but also situations where it makes it more dangerous (deploy while unstable after cutaway, being dragged around on a windy day if I forget to disconnect RSL) Thoughts?

Makes me wonder what else the instructor forgot to do... Wow... Excellent job to the student and the camera flyer for standing in as instructor. I was a bit worried when he had to signal a few times to pull. But yikes, how does someone get all the way to the door with the safety belt still on?

Focus on a good, stable exit. You'll give yourself a lot more time to pull if you're not spinning and flipping :) Practice a few times in the mock up, perhaps get one of the more experienced jumpers to give you a few pointers. If you're doing a dive exit, lifting elbow to present to wind and curling your legs all the way back will help you get a good exit. You'll do great! Have fun!

Hey Joey, I talked to quite a few folks at the DZ before deciding on a canopy size - all the folks at Kapowsin are very helpful. Chat with Keri, Brett, Dennis, John, Jeff - they're all super helpful. The guide here is a good one: http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf You can get a ton of speed and performance out of a canopy with a wing loading anywhere between 1 and 1.2. My canopy is slightly smaller than the guide recommends (150 Spectre), and everything was great until a few months back I jumped at a higher altitude DZ on a no wind day. I didn't do anything crazy (90 degree with more than enough time for canopy to recover), but realized too late just how fast I was coming in and sinking. I finished the second stage of my flare after hitting the ground and getting some seriously painful bruises on my knees (thankfully nothing is broken). This was after a canopy class, and dozens of perfect stand up landings on a 170 at other DZs. Please be careful downsizing too quickly, I don't want to see you get hurt! I'd like to jump with you again :) -v

I guess I owe this long and winding thread a quick report back. I did 3 jumps today, with my audible at 650, 400, 200. I started downwind at 650 each time, but ended up slightly adjusting where I began my base for the winds. I found it quite helpful to have an indication of the lower altitudes, even if I'd turned already, this aided my eyes as I lined up final. Net result - 3 landings within 2m of my target. Granted this was at my home DZ, where my accuracy has been pretty good, but lowering the altitudes and shrinking my pattern helped my accuracy a lot today. Thanks again for all your discussion and perspectives.

Ah, makes sense, thanks popsjumper. I guess even if an extended downwind were to interfere with a base from C, there's enough altitude for them to make up for it.

Ahh, you and Lou are in agreement on teaching :) I think that's the part of the class which threw my accuracy out the most. I'm still adjusting, though I suppose it doesn't help that I jump at a different DZ every weekend :) I was the same way a few jumps ago, scared that I'd somehow spin into a deadly spiral of successively faster hook turns if I pulled one toggle down any length on final - I'm over that now, but try not to muck with it too much on final so I can flare properly. On adjusting from base to final, I've heard folks say that you should adjust from downwind -> base (go longer on downwind e.g.), but not change base->final because it can muck with traffic. Though I'm not sure how it's that much worse doing it on base->final. Thanks John!

Thanks for all your replies folks, a few things I took away from this thread: + Predetermined patterns with set altitudes and ground markers are useful for learning good judgment, but should be adjusted based on conditions (winds, other canopies in the air, etc.) + There is no real standard altitude points for the landing pattern, though some use 900/600/300 + It's important to give your canopy time to recover from last turn (~5-10s) regardless of altitude + Some good advice on how to calculate landing pattern in the air using a digital altimeter + time to see how quickly I sink I'm not sure I agree with doing pattern in 1/4 brakes, leaves less forward motion to turn into lift when flaring. But if I'm aiming for a tiny clearing in a forest I reserve the right to muck with my canopy all the way in and PLF if necessary :). Perhaps I could ask my original intended question more clearly: Is it okay to lower landing pattern altitudes (say to 650/400/200) in order to shorten landing pattern? Are there downsides to using a smaller landing pattern? Are there downsides to starting pattern at lower altitude? (assuming final gives canopy chance to recover) With the intention that a smaller landing pattern makes it easier to keep the entire pattern over landable area,so if winds shift I'm not left 100 feet into the trees with a 15mph headwind.

Thanks Nigel. The tip about taking it a bit higher on windy days is good, I'll try that next time there's wind to see how I fair. I'm trying to do exactly what you describe, and get to the point I can do it all visually (I was forced to once when my altimeter fritzed out and was pretty successful, but I need a lot more practice)

This is definitely possible, and would work well at DZs I commonly jump at. I want to get into the habit of not relying on a large landing area though. My canopy instructor was quite adamant that we not hang out over unlandable area. This resonated with me, because at any time winds could change, or even be drastically different as I descend. I feel more comfortable knowing that if winds did kick up, at worst I land on the edge of the landing area.

Yes, I definitely agree that there are a lot of factors that determine patterns. I try to ensure good separation before entering my pattern. Even though there are going to be situations which may change it, I'd like to practice a consistent pattern as much as possible, so if I do have to change I'll have a baseline to know what to expect. I guess I'm looking for some examples of what other people do, and if there are good rules of thumb folks use.

I've got the N3 - I've heard good things about the Solo2 as well - I plan to try some of the tips in the thread above (repositioning it, etc.) to see how that works.

Hey folks, I'm working on my canopy skills, and I'm interesting in how you setup your landing pattern. I used to do a fairly large pattern, which made it possible to enter at 900 ft and still be fairly on target. I recently took a canopy course at Elsinore, where the instructor had us shrink our landing pattern quite a bit from what I'm used to. I find that even when I enter the pattern at 750' and start my final leg at 250' I still overshoot my target, with roughly 15s of flight on final. I know a lot depends on the canopy and wing loading, but I'd like to know what altitude you enter each leg of your pattern at? I'm planning to tweak mine a bit to: Downwind: 650' Base: 400' Final: 200' I jump a Spectre 150, at a wing loading of roughly 1.25. Does this sound reasonable? I'm not looking to be too aggressive, so want to make sure I give my canopy plenty time to recover from the turn.

Ahh, thanks - I Googled a bit, but only found old threads complaining about N3s, not this one. Very helpful, I'll try align it better.

Hi there, I recently bought a Neptune N3 audible altimeter, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I did 5 jumps last weekend, and the first time I could hear the alarm was after I'd deployed and had begun to slow down. I could never hear it under free fall. I had alarms set at 4500, 3500 and 2500 ft, and confirmed with my visual altimeter that I deployed around 3000. So I expected to have already heard two alarms. Has anyone else had trouble hearing their audible? Is there a brand of audible that's easier to hear? I have a cookie helmet, and wear the audible in the little pouch next to my ear, so it's impossible for it to get any closer. I've tried turning it around in case the speaker is on one side of the device, with no luck. I'm considering returning mine, since it's not much good if I can only hear it after I deploy.

Thanks John, Out of interest, what is "line dump"?

Thanks all! Since it doesn't make a difference either way it seems easiest just to use the large bands and double loop them. On the voodoo of packing... has anyone else had the experience where packers give you harder openings than your own pack? It happens to me constantly, to the point that I've decided to pack for myself all the time. It might not look elegant going into the bag, but I get a great opening so something must be working...

I just purchased gear, and am discovering the joys of breaking your own rubber bands. I notice they are typically sold in two sizes (large and small). I can only assume the smaller ones are used for the stows further down the bag. Up until now I've been double looping the large bands to get sufficient tension on the lines. Should I instead be using the smaller bands here? Does it make a difference on opening?