Baksteen

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My best advice is to not burn yourself out. Don't go to the dropzone unless you have an itch to skydive.

There are some great people involved in skydiving that you won’t meet in any other sport. It really is one of the most tightly-knit communities I’ve ever seen.

People quit skydiving because they don’t feel the same attachment. They don’t need to skydive to feel contentment.
Maybe these people have a lot of friends, money and status to keep themselves occupied. It’s too bad because they are missing out on all the great things this sport can offer.

Why not go to the DZ just to hang out?
Especially new students; Make some friends and get some valuable advice from them.
Buy a few beers.
Learn to pack, or make yourself useful in some (other) way.

This will help one ease their way into the skydiving community, and help them form that attachment with the sport which you are referring to.

Isn't it the people who care for nothing but their own jump(s) who quit before completing basic training?


edited for clarification

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Im just curious. If you are a first jump student, with no ground instructor helping you, and your altimeter stops working, then how would you except the student to land safely???

Please let's not go there
This argument, of course, works both ways:
"If you are a first jump student with no alti, and your radio stops working, then how would you expect the student to land safely?"

ETA: In reply to your actual question: I'd turn into the wind as best I could, try not to drift, and flare "when I could see the grass blades"

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I wish i had a snappy reply but i don't.. no wait yes I do.. I got a new canopy & a chick in a studio

So, er, who are you going to sleep with first?

I guess forgetting your countdown is the same as not looking at your wrist while trying to fix that twist.

I am from a small DZ too, with a student landing area which is quite large and has lots of outs and only a few minor obstacles.

We have no radios as far as I know, but students might get visual signals for the final stage of their first five jumps. I certainly never did.

You've got a point about alti-reliance though.
I recently found out that I was correcting my eyes by my alti, instead of the other way around.
This resulted in basically good landings and patterns, but usually WAY off target.

ETA I fixed this now, some ten jumps ago.

I recently downsized from a manta 260 to a Falcon 215.
My exit weixt is approximately 220 lbs, putting my wingload at 1.0 so I am in no rush at all to downsize further.
I really enjoy flying the Falcon, because in comparison with the sluggish manta it reacts quickly and "enthousiastically" to all toggle input.

If I was to try out something else, it would be a Sabre (ZePo canopy), but whether I'll go for a Sabre 210 or a Sabre 190 will be up to my instructor.

I am aware of the limitations of an altimeter, but I would not like to not have one during a jump.
I completed S/L recently, and always jumped with an alti.

Mals aside, how can you teach a student to fly a conservative pattern without an alti?
They'd have no reference of when to make sure to be turned into the wind or anything.

Welcome back to the skies!

I've got 38 jumps, so I may make mistakes of my own, but I just can't keep quiet

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You can say what you want but I don't exactly see saying "You could do this, but it's not smart" as "bad advice". So to each his own.

Please don't consider this flaming, but one of the things you *do* say is that you do not recommend letting up your toggles when below 200 ft, because that would cause you to fall.

Then what if both your toggles at some point are at full brake? You'd get a stall, and even at 100 ft. impact from that would be quite hard.

Besides, a flare generates maximum lift, and thus softest impact when performed from 0% brake. I was taught to try to fly ten seconds at full speed (against the wind obviously) before reaching flare altitude. And although I am a noob myself, and thus prone to high flares, once you have initiated your flare, you stick with it, even if you are *a few* feet too high. But that would place me keeping my toggles down at, say, ten feet rather than two hundred.

edited for grammar

I see people telling this guy that he is not offering sound advice, and other people agreeing with that.

I can see why, but maybe an instructor or other very experienced person could/should point out the more lethal mistakes and correct them, just in case?

I cannot speak for everyone, but I too somtimes think "why the hell do I enjoy this!" even upon takeoff.

What matters is how you feel once you're out of the door.
Can you relax and enjoy the freefall?
I reckon that if I couldn't, I'd have quit by now.

A friend of mine is a teacher at the local primary school. One day he told me this beauty of an anecdote:

While he was conducting class some day, one of the kids suddenly shouted "vibrator!"
Of course that was all very funny, right until my friend asked the kids if anyone knew what the aforementioned appliance actually WAS.

Not a single kid knew, including the little stand-up comedian.
So my friend explained that some women do not have a partner, so they use one of those things "because it feels nice".
Oh. Okay.

My friend immediately forgot all about the incident, until the next parent night, when the parents of the kid who shouted vibrator completed the story.

When their son came home that night, he went to his mother and asked her whether she had a vibrator.
Upon questioning her son repeated what the teacher had told him.
Mommy explained that she was not alone, she had daddy.
Oh. Okay.

Mommy too forgot all about the incident.
Until the weekend, when they went visiting the really conservative Granny.
"granny? You are all alone, aren't you?"
"yes, dear, I have noone at all left," granny joked.
Oh.
"Then do you have a vibrator?"



I would have given an arm or a leg to have seen that particular grandmother's face..

Taking the risk of turning this into yet another "SL vs AFF" thread, i really feel you shouldn't dismiss the static-line method quite so easily.

It is still a great way to start skydiving for people who don't have enough money up front to pay for AFF (such as me).
And I don't know about AFF replacing SL in America, but in other countries that might not be true.
Especially the smaller dropzones might only offer SL.
And if a small dropzone offers both methods, SL might actually be a better choice if you just want to jump as often as possible.
Remember that for an AFF level-1 jump, three people and the weather conditions have to agree about when the jump will take place.
A static-liner only needs a jumpmaster.

So maybe it would be better if you just listed the pros and cons of each method, and let people decide for themselves which method suits them best
Edit Well, a static liner needs only a jumpmaster - and good weather conditions at 3500 ft.

(Warning: low jump number)

Because you might have pulled the ripcord partially free when yanking it, so that there is a risk of your main deploying when you do not expect it anymore.
This could mean that you'd have to deal with a new malfunction, such as a personal downplane or an entanglement.

On the other hand, if you did cut away, the main will (probably) stay in the container, and be less likely to tangle in your reserve.
And if it turns out you cut the main away for nothing, it will still be inside the container, and easily be fixed back onto your rig.

Paraphrasing my basic training:

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2. If your parachute doesn't open, or it opens but everything is not just like normal (unless it's line twists, which you should try to kick out), proceed to step 3, or directly to step 4.

...which you should try to kick out - provided you haven't reached your predetermined cutaway altitude yet. (say 2000 ft.)

Step 3: replace the "for a bit"-bit with "until you reach cutaway altitude"
If at 2000 ft you haven't solved the nuisance yet, it immediately becomes a problem. Cut away, and pull your reserve ripcord, even if you're jumping with an RSL.

Should you have lost altitude awareness, and be below 1000 feet, do NOT cut away, just deploy your reserve.

Well, sort of...

For starters, I always turn against the wind using my rears immediately upon opening.

Second, I have practiced canopy control, but haven't made the official jumps yet as demanded by the requirements or the A-licence.

However, I am not confident enough with my flying skills to land anything but a completely operational canopy, and I feel that a rookie like me should never attempt to land upon rears for practice (for f's sake).

Besides steering with risers only costs a lot of energy on such a huge student canopy as I'm jumping for now.
So should a steering line break, I think the best option for me is to cut away for now (altitude permitting), and land the reserve.

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Where do I say that you have to land on your rears?
I only explain how to free your thumb, finger, ... (learned by experience )

I quoted you to expand on your point while replying to Lowie :)
For a further explanation see my sig

And the reason I said that was that i am not confident about how my chte reacts when I touch my rears instead of the steering lines, let alone what happens when I flare that way.
For now, I will not touch my rears unless very high up.
If my chute doesn't react the way I thought it would, I'll still have time to cut away if in doubt.

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IMHO wouldnt it be better to use your hook knife to cut the offending brake line and land on rears than to cutaway and risk losing a thumb or worse - entangle the reserve on a trailing main

See my post, no need to cut the brakeline.

Besides, would you really advise a rookie like myself and the original poster to try and land on rears?

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Of course things can go bad, but as someone said once here: I prefer dying because of my mistake and not because of a gear failure.

I prefer not to die at all, and to jump as safely as possible.

In the Netherlands, AADs are mandatory for anyone not yet in possession of a C-licence (CRW and such excepted, obviously).
Yet we get taught the full EPs, and are told never to rely on RSL or AAD alone.

In the air, always finish your EP, even if the RSL has already pulled your reserve.

Remember, your main safety backup is yourself, so keep it well maintained and up to date.

The way I was taught, which boils down to:

If necessary get back to the "parking space" and stay there.
Cross the predetermined 1000 ft. line at that altitude and with the wind at your back, if necessary crab a little. Make a left hand turn, so you are flying against the wind at 250 ft, WITHOUT crossing the 250 ft line, which was also predetermined.

Do NOT make any wild turns below 1000 ft, as these cost altitude and could cause you to crash. In addition, you might end up crashing into another jumper.
(this is not a dig at swoopers; fact is that some additional rules apply to students
edit I cannot open that "my answer" link..

Thanks, or rather, dank je :)

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[..] At that point it is up to them to ask questions and you to answer them as best as you can. But if you think that there are some special words or phrases or actions you can take to create more skydivers you are wrong plain and simple.

Sorry.

If people ask what I do on weekends, I tell them my schedule. If they keep asking, i'll allow that I go to an airfield. Still interested? I tell them I'm learning to skydive.
I watch their reaction. I tell something about my jumps so far, the best and the worst ones.
Again, I watch their body language.
If they really seem interested, why not explain that everyone can learn it?
What do I care whether I actually convert them or no? At best they'll come and do a tandem, or even a course, which means extra cash for my DZ; at worst they say that they'd never skydive.

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No, if they really wanted to jump they would find away. DZ's always need packers, lawn mowers, Plane washers, etc. People take up second or even third jobs to come up with the money if they really want to do it. If they really want to jump they can find the money, otherwise they really don't want to do it.

They need to know such options exist, is all I want to say.
It would seem to me that saving up for skydiving is more appealing if you can do it by performing a skydiving-related job. Keeps the interest alive, so to speak.

Hello everyone,

I am from the Netherlands, and so far I have a mere 20 jump under my belt.

My static-line course went well enough, and so far I have made 9 freefalls, some of which went well enough, and some of which even a certain Scott L. would shake his head at, even though i didn't pull my release.
Despite that, I am in good hopes of getting my A-licence before too long.

Edit: by the way, my username is the Dutch word for brick, for those who wonder.