humanflite

Thanks for the input. Im doing a canopy control course in 2 weeks time and Im currently awaiting Brian Germains book which I will read cover to cover a good number of times. But I still like to find out as much from experienced canopy pilots as I can

Got a couple of jumps in today and it was much windier up there than I have been used to before (gusting 20+knots) wind on the ground was 9-10knots when we took off on the load but I swear it had increased a lot by the time I came down to land Im currently still flying a big forgiving 220 but it didnt feel so forgiving during the canopy flight today and I was trying to work out the best way to fly it.. A few experienced guys on our DZ said to keep it in full flight all the way.. but I swear when I turned crosswind it flew more stable and less bouncy on half brakes? Downwind I tried full flight and half brakes and I think full flight was better... but anyone got any opinions on the best way to fly in unexpected winds? As a sidenote, I got to put into practice the flat turns Ive been practising up high as another canopy was a bit too close for comfort on finals. It worked a treat

Can some experienced explain a step through...? and how you deal with it? barring EPs if it cant be fixed of course!

Bingo! To all those moaning about mpg and distance to the DZ.... Why don't you sell the gas guzzling motor you've possibly got and get something really cheap to run, that does more than 15mpg or whatever those thirsty V8s do!! A decent diesel will do 40 or 50 mpg... the maths then seem much nicer for a day trip to a far off DZ

Cheers Ross. Indeedio To the last poster....thanks for the link. have you watched on of these DVDs by any chance?

Good advice here. Im still a relative newbie to the sport but having recently been through AFF hopefully my advice will be useful.. Take a look at this thread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3242444;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread because there are some useful posts in there for you Also, GET YOURSELF TO THE NEAREST WIND TUNNEL!! I found it a huge benefit when I was starting out on my aff for several reasons. The main one being that I became very stable in the tunnel and could pull out all the AFF moves without even thinking after an hour or so in the tunnel (20 minute sessions over a month or so) This gave me confidence in my belly flying skills even though I only had a few jumps at the time! The next time I went out of the door....once I was at terminal velocity, I 'KNEW' that it would all be good..... the sensation of freefall was no longer alien and instead of panicking about body position or staying stable....it came without thinking and I could then focus on the required AFF drills. Also, read Brian Germains book, 'transcending fear' If you do the above things and put them into pratice, Im sure you will find things much easier

I found that up until I was on my AFF consols I was very nervous on the plane ride up but I kept telling myself the reasons I wanted to learn skydiving....and also had an outwardly confident front which helps no end

THANK YOU!!! Opening shock is the worst thing about skydiving for me... the 230 I'm flying at the moment doesn't evens snivel the slightest, combined with the uncomfortable student harnesses... Everytime I throw the PC, I count it out... 1000, 2000... BAM!!!! This thing opens in like 100 - 200ft max. 2 jumps and I'm nice and sore the next few days. I did jump a new rental 210 once that was 100x more comfortable, but unfortunately I had a high flare on a no wind day so the CI/DZO upsized me for the time being :) Your canopy may 'feel' like it is opening in 100-200 feet but I am rather sure that it will be much longer than that... Hopefully a more experienced jumper will chime in with an accurate estimate. A 100 feet till full opening from terminal would give you a very sore neck at best...

Some great points made in this thread. When I started AFF I had never done a skydive....After hanging around at the DZ for a few weekends waiting...due to bad weather (or too much wind for AFF at least)..I got to watching all the other jumpers and I thought I had lost my nervousness. As soon as the first jump came round I was prepared for it in that I had lost my nerves with all the waiting... But AFF instructors are often nervous looking on an AFF1.. Or at least the ones I know can be from what they have told me and this rubbed off on me a bit which added to the stress of my first jump. Once the door opened, I knew exactly what I was there for (and how much I had paid ) and I took a deep breath and went into auto pilot relying on my AFF training. The jump went well (ish) apart from I binned the landing badly by flaring at about 30ft ..as a result I ran out of flare and it wasnt pretty!!! But then I got some tunnel time (20minute session first) and it made a huge difference to my confidence and ability. literally HUGE. The shock and awe of freefall was not there on my second jump and part of this was due to the tunnel...I KNEW what the relative wind felt like in freefall, and I knew I was very stable in the tunnel and hoped it would transfer. It did. So in summary. Speak to your instructors, see if you can re arrange your aff date for further away. Work in the tunnel. (10 minutes for a newcomer IS tiring. If you practice then you will be able to tolerate more but it is FAR more tiring than freefall for a newcomer (equivalent of 10 jumps in 10 minutes) so dont worry about that side of the jump. The adrenalin will handle that... Workout your upper body a little if your worries though student canopies are very forgiving and you will be able to control it fine Im sure. Also, one factor you have forgotten....AFF is designed to shield a student as much as possible from the dangers involved in the sport. The training is very rigorous and will give you a lot more confidence. Dont think too much about 'I cant do this' and as others have said..only think positive. The best way to not be scared in the plane is to look confident and keep telling yourself your not scared!! The fast majority of (sane) people are nervous before AFF..its only natural. its how you control the fear that really matters.

Well Done! The tunnel will be a massive help. I wish I had done it before I did AFF 1 (and a tandem I should have done also) My level 1 went fine but I would have been much better prepared if Id done tunnel time and a tandem first.... Since then I have got addicted to the tunnel and my old instructors cant believe how my belly flying skills have come on for my low jump number. The big difference with the tunnel is you dont have to save your life at the end of it but its great for getting used to the windrush and getting stable for your AFF..also getting turns in is a bonus

Well, we ended up going today and it was FANTASTIC Something really 'clicked' in my brain and body and I was actually flying as opposed to falling.. Got my turns spot on, got the up and down nailed and was going right up to the max height I was allowed (grey bit I think).. then went in a three way with a B license guy (with a fair bit of tunnel time) and instructor.. that was great fun also. It is soooo much more fun now I actually 'get it' a bit... got forwards and backwards sorted as well and the instructor(s) were well pleased with our progress today. Im still buzzing...this could get expensive

As above folks.... Who are the hottest beauties on DZ.com (personality or looks or both).. Pictures are a bonus and a lil background info is always a bonus.

You're going to come back and tell us all about it, right? hello labrys. of course

Thanks Brett Im looking into coaching and have found its not as expensive as I thought. I was misinformed and thought it was £10 per minute but its actually £1 per minute of coaching time _ brief, de brief time etc etc Ive got 30 minutes booked in this weekend with 'minimal' coaching as it was a special offer but once I have done that I think I will arrange a coached hour once a month or more if funds allow

gimpboogie Did you ever get a support to keep your thighs up as well? I pencil sketched a corset type support that goes round the central part of your body and is made form possibly strong plastic or better, and then off that are some pieces that go down the front of your thighs and then tightened to the corset piece.. At the back of the thigh you would have the same thing with straps that hold your thighs back also. basically meaning the position of your thighs can be set...to offer better arch, flatter etc And then the student would use a similiar knee brace like you talked about that kept the knees bent at an optimum position. Im not sure how this would work in practice and would take a fair bit of developing but technically it would be possible to at least get the legs in a decent position to start

Ahh gotchya on the tunnel time. Thats a real PITA. but never mind. You can still focus on the jumps with Angus and see where they take you.. Out of interest was the accident that left you in a wheelchair from a motocrosser? I may have misread that but Im curious to know as I used to race a lot of motocross and know a few good friends who have been badly injured. one is now quadraplegic sadly.

I think its about time America got off its obesity riddled ass...and started walking some more Lets face facts, there are some folks stateside for whom walking a few miles a day would help reduce obesity instead of driving EVERYWHERE because they are so lazy

Thanks for the info Ross. I had a quick look on your site and as I will be going halves on a few hours (not all at the same time tho!) of tunnel time with a friend could you pm me with if you do coaching at bodyflight bedford and give me an idea of costs etc thanks

Thanks need2jump My local tunnel (2hrs away by car) is Bodyflight in Bedford http://www.bodyflight.co.uk/ and it is a very professional setup from what I have experienced. Thanks for your tips. The instructor did give us some pointers b4 starting and also some pointers in the tunnel, however he was a talented tunnel rat himself and enjoyed doing the moves we were trying to do and performed them with sickening perfection each time. (they were helpful as demos tho) in other words though he liked to show off the the spectators!! but that didnt help us out. What we wanted was some manual body position tweaking until it was 'spot on' and it took me about 5 sessions until he gave me the thumbs up that all was great. But in the tunnel you cant hear anything so I didnt get all the info he was trying to tell me regarding going up and down and side to side.... I did mean boxman position in my first post!! It seems the mantis position is taught shortly after A license and this is what Im wondering if I should do in the tunnel? Looks like I may have to pay for coaching at £10 per minute

hey folks, I recently went tunnel flying for the first time and LOVED it Me and my friend did 20 minutes each (split into 10 x 2minutes) and it was superb. As I have a low jump number I thought the tunnel would be good to help advance my freefall skills and so we have decided to go regularly to the tunnel to get some hours in. I have been finding it difficult to find any books or manuals on tunnel flying (or normal FF skills)...or any web articles that go into the basic principles of freefall movements (eg/ up, down, forwards, backwards, sideways etc) At the minute my tunnel (and freefall) skills include: Stable arch 360 turns either way - usually stable as in no wobbles! a bit forwards (I can track really well in freefall) backwards no problem Up (a bit) Down (a bit) I cant afford to pay for coached lessons for a month or two as the tunnel time costs enough anyway when added to regular jumps so Im hoping for some tips just to give me a heads up before my next session One other question I have is that at the start of the session I was hovering above the mesh (1 ft off~ it) and I didnt really know how to rise up....(as Ive never done it on AFF!) In the last 2 minute blocks I was getting to about 5 or 6ft off the mesh (not knowing how at this stage) and was arching more and coming back down again... but it wasnt consistent ie/ I couldnt deliberately make myself go up... Any tips on what I 'should' be doing for this to happen? Im 14 1/2 stone and 6ft 1 broad build (not fat) and the tunnel is easily capable of propelling me through the roof the instructor said so I cant blame tunnel power... Can I perform as well in the tunnel using the basic arch or do I need to start learning the mantis position in order to progress fast? Thanks for your help

Find a 'friendly' doctor

Get a doctors report and providing you have it under full control then most DZ should welcome you. At least mine would :)

Thats a very good point John Tunnel Time Mina... Its not gonna be easy but theres a guy who lostd his legs in an accident whos in the Swedish free fly team so anything is possible

Tandem harness ? I dont see what that has to do with buying a rig?!! Student rigs are ok, just make sure you do the leg and shoulder straps tight. Your instructors (when you start AFF) 'may' be different if and when you complete the course and get your A license, but I doubt it as the general views on DZ.com are that you should use hired gear for a while. The reasons are several. Mainly, so that you can try out a wide range of different canopies and get some 'ok' canopy skills. Also, so that you can get down to a 'suitable' size of canopy that its worth dropping $2k into.. At the end of the day, instructors dont like over eager students.... it makes them worried

No. For AFF I have used DZ equipment. You are not allowed to use your own rig as they have two pull handles for both instructors in case of emergency. (student screw up!) Also, I wont be able to buy gear with my ex AFFis blessings until I have around 100-200 jumps. It will cost me a lot more which I am not happy about but at least I get to get some experience with a variety of different kit and then hopefully settle on my own canopy in 12 months or so.