gimpboogie

thanks for the great reply,
means much.

yes well i do still 'fly' on my own
with 12M bow kites

and that 55 sqf kitewing (kitewing.com to see what it is) -i'm their official 'gimp test pilot' for the kitewing, noone in a chair has flown one as far as the company knows. there are only two of us who even own one, but the other never informed them if he got himself to fly it or not... i flew mine this winter a bit, and summer.. well thats when the fun begins

I've gotten to well over 60f for at least 8 seconds at a time with the 12m one...
its a little more sudden when it comes down sometimes then a parachute is....

thus i said in my intro forum post
that skydiving saves my life because i didn't dare do those other 'flights' then...... when i was trying to learn this,

but now, i can learn more intense sh*t with the other means of flying'
ground launching sounds like fun too!

while i can ride tandem with Angus if i got a bit smashed up doing them,
but i could never have been able to skydive even with a headache, never mind bruises, blood noses and bumps, fracxtures like the other stuff gave me.....

i'll be ok.
i'll fly tandem like mad~!
and fly my other toys now again.

at this link

http://www.parachuteschool.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2048#2048

This weekend, to put it bluntly
-went TERRIBLE and then absolutely beautiful and exceptionally wonderful.

Angus and I tried that dive again (the one where I flipped around, with him flying head down trying to get me belly down so he could pull my parachute) on Sat.

-same results.

we modified things even. Tried to add leg braces, we lifted up the opening altitude from 5,500f up to 6,000f.

Same results except Angus held on to me, trying to stop me from flipping over, and I struggled with every technique-hips down, full arch, relaxed hands, arms back to compensate for backsliding, n head up- i could find to remain belly down-stable to pull. I blew past my opening, and Angus opened for me again.

Serious talk-he said 'if you were an able bodied diver i would say now-your done, im not going to endanger you by allowing you to continue'.
He then said, 'i know you have a lot on your plate,-kids, illness, ass hole ex, on n on' and 'try to get those demons out of your head, because we will try this one more time tomorrow, and if you cannot pull at the correct altitude, with stability -each two tries prior he ended up pulling because I was becoming SO unstable trying to reach out there to pull that i would be flipping like a rag doll at 150mph towards ground and even if the body position was not 'terrible' during the automatic activation device opening, it is at 1,200f putting me directly into the beginning of my landing pattern, without legs up -which takes me about 2,000f of altitude to finally pull them up!-thats huge amounts-and i would have to land with them dangling, and we all know what that could mean).

Sat. night was the toughest of my life in some ways, and the only way I could deal with it, was to stay in my tent until 11AM Sun
-one hr before that dive-my test-do I continue in this progression, or am I going to become a tandem passenger again.

I did the dive, it was just as bad, we enforced the safety even by putting two instructors and the left (Fuzzy Dave) side one was only to hold on to me when I was NOT trying to pull..... so he was there for back up to correct me if i started to roll/flip).

We upped the opening altitude again! to 7,000f!
that last time I tried to pull
-first two I could not accomplish it without the slight tilt ready to flip-so i arched again and am stable as a rock,
flying still, not moving only arching (IF ONLY there was an automatic opening device set to 5,500f and i could belly fly, flat-stable until it does its job, and i can fly canopy) 'like bad-ass' someone said of my canopy skills -hope that's good... and two more divers telling me they are 'impressed', saying ' -THATS how you fly a perfect approach and landing softly"... thats huge compliments...
but if i cannot pull that chute, i cannot do it.


so, my skydiving 'career' as a future solo student, and A license holder is yet another 'dream'
gone.
as the wind blows,
where it goes
-nobody knows;

I am (they still say I am a 'skydiver', but how does one define that?)
now
again
a tandem passenger (with Angus telling me he was emotional on the way down with his canopy after he had to pull for me at 4,900f!!!! he tried to let me that much.... even though the agreed altitude was 7,000f!! .... he said 'I would be selfish and irresponsible if I allowed this to continue, but I will fly with you until the end of time, always, as you permanent strap on instructor... and your ash dive in the end"... and we cried.)

I believe him-if the best in the world cannot teach me this,'
i cannot do it.
i believe him because i respect him more then any other skydiver i know.

thats the weekend.
but there is a nice surprise he organized for me,
a HUGE one.
he offered to do a tandem 'in a few hrs' he said, and i thought it was only him and me and we would double backflip exit and with him on top of me for the stability, i can even pull, and he said he trusts me completely to fly us in under canopy.

So up we go, and I see that ALL the most experienced jumpers, the best there is, AND my 'eye in the sky' Jeff King, whom i truly have come to learn to care so much for, and a second camera man-Steve, and fuzzy dave (my camera man I was told he would film me)
so we get out, after one back flip, there is NO flips regardless of how much I try.-Angus sure IS stable, I tried to get that second flip but he overpowered me, to keep me stable. smiling at fuzzydave, while the others who all jumped after us. tracked down to....
-little did I know what was to come...

then all of a sudden I see Jeff king, coming up right beside me, and a 30 yrs of skydiving 'skygod' Steve-a camera guy whom I respect also shows up to my right- and my friends, the ones whom i have come to respect, and watch in awe as they train for in swooping, 'freakfly free fliers'-whom i would have become one of.. then canopy pilot experts of our DZ and elsewhere, and am so impressed with their flying... and who i look up to in this sport... ALL gathering around me, in a '9 way' circle with fuzzy dave flying between above us, below us,zooming his camera lens at me smiling like i never have before-seriously- and i was laughing and so so happy i have never felt such happiness...

i know it must be weird, that other events in my life not brought me this kind of happiness as it did, to fly down from 13,500f down to 5,500f with these people, all together everyone smiling and giving 'thumbs up' signs to me.

After we all came down there was group photos, someone ordered Pizza for everyone, and and beer-for people like me Wink, these people whom i so much respect, came up to me at one time or another tonight and told me several things from 'your the bravest person ive ever met', to 'most courageous', to 'you've got more balls then anyone', to 'ive thought of killing myself so many times in my life, and now i see you, and i will always think of this, and how brave you are, if i ever think to do that to myself again... your awesome.. you have NO idea what influence you've just had on my life', to 'you ARE a skydiver ALWAYS'.

what a mix of emotions for one 48 hr period.

-minna
photos:http://www.parachuteschool.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=210

thanks,
I'm looking forward to trying that dive again next Fri or Sat.
This time I want to find the stability to do excercises without us ending up spinning or flipping.

Here is the link to the fully edited video (some very nice photos FuzzyDave took, while taking the video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNP6xKIzVzI

wow! that's cool!

excellent :)

I'm deeply honoured by your high assessment of me,
but please, let us not use the word instructor and me in the same sentence, it makes me very uncomfortable
-i have 14 skydives, and 2 AFF to date..

I DO want to provide as much infoo from my perspective -as the STUDENT i am, remember that,
my perspective is only what i believed i perceive, followed by what my coaches tell me to wrok on, improve, modify etc.


but back on this all,
thanks ALL for your interest to see how this all goes along.



part 2 went like this

AFF#2 was decided to do out with one AFF instructor,
and camera man (who was qualified to help to become the 2nd AFF if needed).

1) we had a bad day for weather, the day befiore I s[ent 5 hrs in the rain, under tarps, stil getting wet trying to put up a tent to live in,
to follow DZ RULES re limited space etc. etc.

anyways that failed with the winds gusting me and tent and tarps away and off to lala land.
5 1/2 hrs of work drenched, was NOT GOOD CHOICE the day prior to the 2nd AFF.

#2
day of 2nd AFFM,, winds were strong all day and I was a'on hold' for manifest until student wind limits came.

#3 I was wanting to some day do a head down,
to which my instructor discussed with me,
and it was a possibility for me to do a tandem dive to practice other canopy skills IF there was time.

Time came.
I was getting ready to gear up for tandem, when we went to plan B -back to doing student AFF dive since winds came down and we better go now or who knows what happens.

#4
Focus was good I beleive for me, during the clib\mb, and during the exit.
we modifed the exit so I was kneeling on my legs at the doorway rather then hang my feet out the door.
this permitted one instructor and a small doorway to deal with.
plus camera man behind me.
exit was good.
i found stability.
all is well.

got thumbs up to start excercises,
we were to do the prasctice pulls again.
switched hard deck for opening main, as well as wave off (up to 6,000f from 5.5f)

I immediately noticed that without A"rick the planet' on my right, Angus and I started turning ojn a 360 axis due to my backsliding due to my legs almost bent up to my butt-staying in one place and not flopping around was a blessing.

#5
Backsliding was corrected not only by me but Angus.
thus when practice pulled all seemed doable, (we were turning about once ever 2 secs at slowest but my neptune recorded our fastest speed to be 148mph instead of 128 with the tqwo AFF's).
That was fine.
The real pull came, wave ooff weas fine.
After that I dipped my head *chin down) to place my hand on it while looking for the pilot chute handle, i flipped us upside down so fast i have never moved that fast.
it was a 'cool' feeling, no scariness panic etc, except
arch, arch arch' was my mantra.

after review, Angus and Dave both tell me that Angus DID help me get back to belly down.
When it was happening a) I felt like it was not a long time at all, (which it w3as not, it was more like a barrel roll) BUT my sense of awareness was NOT the best, i arched thought I got us belly down, and then waited for Angus to act.
I knew we had blow past 6,000f, perhaps close to 5,000f and i knew if i blew past 3,000f i'd be goping golfing.
So I thought it was best to leave AnGUS WHO surely had his heads on his shoulders, do take over a bit there.

I needed to focus on what to do next because if I did not see Angus I would have to go to main immediately and first try to check alt. inccase i've blown my hard decka and go to reserve.

SO when thigns do happen unexpectedly
it is extremely important to know 'ARCH ARCH' MANTRA, and to focus on altitude, and what to do next - is it pull main , or go to emergency procedures.

enmd result, we are again modifying some sort of braces into the legs
-we cannot do this fully without them.

-we are doing this dive again, these issues must be resolved.

-the landing is important tio plan.
the radio man -DZO had different 'signals' then the previous one.
different radios and also i heard and then not heard what was ebing said.
it came and went, for me.
i believe it was me, and my adrenalin.

so alternate plan incase of radio not working or these sort of issues, is to have.
along with emergency landing plan.

our alternate plan was to look for Angus and he would fly my pattern so i woudl follow him,.

I had wrong harness/container.
my chest strap was so high below my chin that it was pushing my head upward making a bit difficult for range of motion to see sideways or low doqwn.

I lost concentration (or hearing of?) the radio often, but knew sun was in the direction i needed to fly in iorder to get to where i was going.
then i saw angus.
i followed him in.

the landing was the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES I WAS SOAKED! first of all, two geese decided to flhy directly across my final approach about 200f abnove ground.
we misse4d each other :)
then i saw the bowl and knew i was not making it there, unless i did something stupid like try a 30 degree or more turn below 100f.

so i had to land close to the runway, right into a big puddle.

the ophoto looks like i am sliding in a tobaggan of water on my butt, splashing water alll over me head on downward like in a shower... sliding and gliding quite a bit until i grabbed my right riser and opulled the chute down to the ground.

it was a great jump, despite the increased turning due to backsliding and the leg issues,
despite flipping around back to ground and back again while trying to go for a pilot chute,
it all went qwell and the landing was great.

this dive will be redone again.
'REPEAT'
the log book says,.
like it should.

-minna

thank you,
I'm honoured that your interest was kept till now!
THANKS.

BEER,
one case of heineken,
one case of corona FOR THE DZ who helped me do this all for the first time, and I was there for them for the first time...
and a 5L keg of heineken for my home DZ.

I apologize for the mistake on the names.
It is John McCarthy the accuracy canopy pilot who was teaching me (and the DZ was Gan. owned by Mr. Tom McCarthy
for freefall pictures on Tom's web site www.skydivegan.com

Go to the pictures page.

ALL photos there are courtesy of Dave hatherly.

http://www.skydivegan.com/main.html
Go to photos page.

blueskies,
-minna

Beautiful!

Thanks for sharing and many more beautiful dives to come John!

Blue skies,
-minna

Thank you for the kind words.
I'm pretty happy about it also.
I had TONS of help from MANY people dedicating a lot of time, energy and $ to this.
They ALL know who they are,
-THANKS!!! YOU MAKE MY SOUL SOAR!!


next jump T minus 48 hrs or so....
if Mother Nature permits.
On Sun 27th I was to jump but the winds were gusting to 19mph grounding me, which was a very good thing because there was a lot of turbulance, and other issues other then the ground wind speeds.

I watched the experienced jumpers at PST on Sun Apr. 27th and they were having bucking bronco rides under their canopies....


live to jump another day was that days motto.

Were getting a Grand Caravan in T minus 21 hrs,
but my jumping depends on a lot of things other then the availability of a plane and winds @ 15mph or less.

So... my next one will be when it will be!

I cannot help but add in this thread something that is on my mind totally outside of this forum topic but deeply ingrained within my personal journey to skydive.

On Oct 28th 2007 I had my most successful skydive to date, and on that day we lost Tonto-who was a pioneer in teaching paralyzed people to skydive.

On Apr. 26th I finally had my first AFF and on Apr. 27th the skydiving community worldwide and specifically here in my home Ontario Canada lost a deeply loved and accomplished skydiver Ahmed.

I dedicated my first dive to Eric-Tonto. He was on my mind prior to the dive and after the landing I looked up to the blue skies and said to Tonto "look at me fly now, THANK YOU !!!" for he had much email contact with my coach Angus at the beginning stages of my learning process.

This is somehow significant enough for me to state here.

I do not know why.

my computer is crashed, using public ones so cannot upload any photos now but here is a link to my DZ forum where there are a few photos:

http://www.parachuteschool.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=345

the "final leg" of this project went as follows:

1) Angus wrote an "adaptive free fall program" for me to follow.
Basically a 'modified' AFF skydiving instructional manual.

2) Dave and Angus checked and re-checked the rigging (of my pants) and continually are developing further modifications to the leg stability and landing safety issues (i.e. building some sort of a 'skid pad' on the butt of the "gimp freefly" pants for added safety for the critical tailbone area)

3) Skyventure NH donated a tremendous amount of support from tunnel time to dedicating their most experienced tunnel instructors to this project.
FF stability was established in the first 1/2 hr block of tunnel time and Angus was confident of our ability to continue to the next step
-1st AFF dive.

4) The tunnel experience 'astonished' the tunnel instructors (in that I was able to gain stability as fast as I did). This I credit to Angus doing 12 tandem progression dives, many discussions with Dave and the expertize of the tunnel instructors in teaching me the skills.

5) Angus felt my stability was 'solid' enough that he was prepared to jump with ONE AFF instructor on our first dive (*only him and Dave on video) but we decided to put safety 'in the bank' (*as Angus says, 'always make sure you have altitude in the bank') and recruited -on the recommendation of the DZO-Mr. Tom McCarthy, another AFF instructor (one who is known for his stability and thus he is called 'a planet of his own'-solid fellow in all possible ways)

6) Angus spent 1 1/2 hr sessions with me two days prior to our dive onrefreshing FF expected procedures, along with high speed and low speed malfunctions, and all possible important aspects of canopy flight.

7) Master Rigger Mr. Will McCarthy repacked my main AND reserve prior to my jump.

8) Champion accuracy canopy pilot Mr. Rob McCarthy gave me a one on one canopy control instructional session on the day of the dive.

9) Angus spent great amount of time helping me focus on the correct solo dive. To build positive muscle and mental memory for this dive. Dirt diving, visualization, what ever you want to call it but it was a 1 1/2 hrs worth of training per day for 5 days prior to this dive. Purely focussing on the way things are supposed to go, and the 'perfect' dive (if there ever could be such a thing), to build that into my mind.

10) On the day of the dive after about 4 hrs of preperations (for the rigging, repacking and canopy control sessions followed by private sessions with Angus on mental focus- I DO NOT want to ever have to pick up golfing, and mental focus is the key for me on this one.... the dividing line between those two sports) we were ready to dive.

11) We left the plane as planned @ 11,000f.
First dive involved three practice pulls, with altitude awareness to a 5.5 'wave off' and deployment by 5,000f (my hard deck is 3,000f in this first dive). Initial assessment from debriefing shows that this FF section was fairly well executed with circle of awareness noticeable in the video, response to hand signals, and wave off at the correct altitude. There was some backsliding in FF which was evident from the video as well as my personal feeling of where i felt I was 'heading' (I felt like I was slightly pitching upward with my head and torso-need to work on correcting this with my arms)
There was an issue during deployment of holding on too long to the pilot chute, which had the potentiality of becoming a malfunction had I not let go at the time I did, for Angus was ready to open the container since he saw the lines going up but no bag coming out.
This is certainly an issue which MUST be corrected, thus this first AFF dive will be done again before we will continue on to the next step.

12) Canopy control was 'nice' according to the DZO watching and on the radio. Landing was in the bowl, and my log book states it was within 2M of target.

13) Leg straps worked fine and easy enough to operate that only minor adjustments are necessary.

Over all, this was a good dive and leaves me feeling confident and positive towards redoing this dive (for the pilot chute issue). I feel confident I will succeed this task and move on in the next dive.

I am very happy, and also quite glad to see that I landed within 2 M of target and the 7 min. 30 sec. FF time I've accumulated in my log book.


More info will be available once a through analysis of the dive video is possible sometime soon.

Blueskies,
-minna

this tells me I'm definitely 'odd'.

I didnt yet ever have fear, sweaty hands etc. tec.

but the only time i feel 'uncertain' and vigilant is watching my altimeter while we are climbing and after 3,000f I start to relax with the feeling 'if all goes sh*t for sideways durng the plane ride, i'm safe t get out of this plane'.


what is wrong with me that i do not have these other nornal fears?

thanks for the kind words,
I'm not sure if I rock r not,
but i do work hard, try to make calculated decisions with my coach Angus, and have faith that by the end of this
season I will be joining the dark side
and learning the jedi art of FF.

Quote

(either a 300 or another canopy Angus will jump with my gear before I do)

/reply]


This I think is important to reiterate
The canopy will be chosen based on the fact that my landings must be smooth, slow and controlled.

EIther a "big boy rig" with a 300,
a tandem canopy (probably not)
or some student canopy meant for a wing load of 300 lbs or so

should really be considered for anyone starting to jump
with lower leg dysfunction.
paralysis to any degree in the legs require the landing to be taken as PFL's always but with a further consideration
-legs needing to be out of the way
of potentially getting caught under you in any landing situation.


The canopy chosen should only be suggested by the most experienced coaches, and after consultation with the manufacturer and/or a Master Rigger.

Same with any modifications, and 'additions' to fly pants (like mine and what Peter uses), or any other item you will have on you,
while skydiving.


My canopy is chosen by Angus,
regardless of my body weight.
I weigh in between 170-180 lbs, and as a typical student could easily start with a 280 and go down from there faster then I ever will.
This is a different playing field all together,
then a diver with leg use.

whether I jump defined by conditions-winds,
are determined by Angus regardless of what the typical student standards are.

Next update will be the tunnel experience.
-minna

To become active member in the Bonus Days Club you must very narrowly escape eternal freefall ... one exciting time.)-Pat Works

The harness test for these adaptive free fly pants has been conducted.

findings:

*asides from the video posted proving we can take this all too lightly sometimes... these are the edited out parts of the instructional video. Luckily I trust my life with these coaches..


findings:

straps need to be repositioned to below the knee.

stirrups are necessary to keep the pants down while pulling up the legs for landing position.


its easier to pull down then up, we needed to change the angle of approach on the leg straps. From pulling them up, to pulling the straps down at the chest harness.

using a properly fitted harness would have given some comfort (given the bruises it seems that it was a bit excessive bruising from what Angus said)

grippers on jump pants are a good idea after all!!
especially for AFF students who don't have use of their legs.

the harness does not fit inside the same pair of pants which fit FF friendly size (snug) when it was used outside the pants.
We tried to fit the leg straps inside the harness, like we originally planned, but the fact that these pants fit me snug originally, left it too tight for the leg straps inside. Options being to widen the pants, or slots for the leg straps on the outside, we chose the latter being easier, cheaper and faster.

when doing your emergency procedures make sure your AFF instructor does not have your reserve handle.

have fun, but always remember this is not about having fun,this is about training your mind to save yourself when it becomes necessary.
And it becomes necessary each time you enter the plane on the ground.


Angus told me, that each time I go up, it is to be with my safety gear
(I have a kit of gear he wants me to dive with.. for off landings: a cell phone-since I cant walk back to the DZ, a medical info badge-i.e. if I land somewhere knock myself out and a local shows up finds out I can't walk they might think I just broke my back.. meanwhile I just need a lift to the DZ to my wheelchair)
and with a checklist in my mind that I go through...
a big part of that includes
a) telling the pilot and each occupant in the plane what altitude I'm leaving at.... letting everyone know I open at 5.5 (must by 5) is necessary also.
b) rehearsing my mind through the dive as we did this weekend on Sun. for hours.

It is all about awareness.

of
altitude
and
surroundings.

"where are the others" was the most common 'check' going through
our dirt dives right after altitude checks.

proximity to DZ
IS ESSENTIAL for a paraplegic skydiver.

I do not want to land too far from my wheelchair.
not across a ditch at least, or beyond cow pies.


furthermore, there is the idea of what to do with the parachute once I'm down, and bring it back to the DZ, the packing area...
a bag.

I need to jump with a large plastic bag tightly inside my special pocket with the medical ID etc.
into this bag I place my canopy and then roll along the ground
OUT of the landing path, then towards the building.


these are the little things that matter much but often are overlooked.
Tandem progression was different. I was attached to him,
flying my big bus I will fly alone and need to bring her back safe and clean.
(either a 300 or another canopy Angus will jump with my gear before I do)

enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pYcnAggFG8

Quote

My name is Angus Smith and I am a tandem skydiving instructor in Toronto Canada.

I have approx 6000 skydives (27 years) and 1700 tandem instructor jumps (16 years). I have done approx. 20 tandems with persons of various disabilities (paraplegic, quad., MS, MD, blind, etc....).

Recently I started tandem progresion jumps with Minna Mettinen, who requires the use of a wheel chair. She is ABSOLUTELY determined to be able to skydive on her own, and I have committed myself to help

her get there. We are planning to do some tunnel training in April or May before moving onto AFF jumps.

This is why I am writing to you for assistance. Are you able to provide information that would help us?

I hope to hear back from you with whatever assistance you can offer?

Blues Skies,

Angus

Angus and i just finished our harness hanging with my new pants (which I think I posted pics in my thread)

Once that video is edited I will give the details of our experiement, what worked what needs to be changed in those pants (a few adjustments are certainly necessary) but over all we are now very ready
to go to the tunnel and start flying,
20 more days! yah!
an hour a day... for a long time

Quote

nearly 4 hours. And I hate it.

me 2

don't own a car
or drive well
so catch a ride with one of the 3 of us here from my drop zone. One guy, one car .... the rest of us, bumming.

$40 gas each trip.
4 to 5 hrs each way depending on weather.
sleep with my sleeping bag at the DZ on a couch hopefully, or in my wheelchair,
but usually I stay with Angus-my coach.

He can fit me,my wheelchair, his parachute, and my gear for the weekend in his little smart car...
drove me home once even!

Hi Rob,

Great to see you on board at the DZ dotcom.

My coach Angus and you know each other I think.
Perhaps you'll be glad to know I'm going into the wind tunnel in a month to try on my FF pants.
We did not use your modifications on the harness for tandem progression,
but also I have hip flexors so jack knifing was not our worry.

As for stability in FF, we will find out in less then 2 months how it all went.

blue skies,
-minna

Hello,
welcome.

Quote

Honestly it look like your legs had momentium that carried through while the tandem instructor used his leg strength to apply resistance against the wind. Do you have any and if some how much muscle strength to control your upper legs?

Head down flight is mainly controled with leg inputs so depending on the amount of control you have will determine how hard it will be to do head down flight.

that was what I feared I was looking at.
My legs had so much momentum
that while Angus has legs straight
(im imagining trying to stop the rotation-thus his
comment about not being able to stop the 1st one)
mine are halfway up to my chest,
bringing us into the second flip.



No control outside of some hip flexors.
Like squeezing my butt cheeks together,
and while doing that can recruit
the side of my hips,
running down the side of my leg
so if you were to watch me doing it,
you'd see my legs move about
2 inches toward each other
as I sit here and flex my hip muscles as hard as I can.

Hope that was a description giving enough understanding.
So, no weight bearing beyond perhaps it was 12 lbs
PT said last time.... then my legs buckle out from under me.


I was thinking that is what was happening,
after looking at it more carefully.

It IS an important clue
to me,
if I understand anything...
to what will happen when I commence any movement outside of belly, side slides, is that
tracking will be difficult with my legs fixed at optimum stability in FF..
as will precise flips (it seems that this will be the case in subsequent flips).

I believe I'll learn to sit fly, but the head down I was thinking a different method then the typical.

legs are fixed at the knees at an angle.
both together -thighs facing the ground.
To counter balance that, I was hoping to put both arms back, as if riding rear risers.
I would have hoped that would create the symmetry.
But it might cause forward movement with unstability developing quickly.

I shall see at some point surely,
yet also want to think it out all.

As Angus now has sent me instructions on tunnel drills and our AFF progression drills.
Basically am to memorize each step,
of each dive in each section of the program.
starting with the tunnel skills.

I have 5 weeks to memorize it all.
We will hang in the harness, dirt dive them
each over the next weeks.

Weekends at the DZ dirt diving all the AFF dives....
obsessive perhaps, but Angus is willing to join me,
and he believes in muscle memory as I do.

I want to learn,
and learn well.
am 'smashed up' enough all ready
want to become a good skydiver
even if i have to ride that bus for canopy for the rest of my life,
i'll just start to focus on accuracy with it.

Yet my true love is in the FF.
which is why I am so critical of the video,
and wanting to know what is happening,
why and is there anything i can do about it.
or is it something to adjust my altitude goals around.
(If I realize Im going to end up with a 2 for 1 each time I try to flip, or the side slide will eat up 2x the alt. for me to find stability... then I want to be prepared ans accept 'that's life' at least I'm flying

A few more important quotes.

'"mperative that the student is able to perform low speed landings"
(much more critical for those of us with leg disabilities)

"to select a parachute that is larger than a conventional training parachute, such as a tandem parachute. Do NOT take chances with parachute size!!!

I share this because some have shown interest in trying these things.

Yes I encourage everyone to reach for their dreams,
live happy lives and engage in meaningful activities.
I stress the importance of waiting for someone else to be the "guinea pig" trying this out, and learning from their experiences, then going to the most qualified instructor you can find.
ps
This document, once it is completed, tested to prove correct in the specific methods of instruction will be available in some format to those interested.

-so far I have shared MY EXPERIENCES, but Angus is the one writing up the manual

Angus has been developing a Adaptive Free Fall Program
document, which is not near publication yet

but I think this is important to state now.

EVERYONE,
Angus writes:

"under no circumstances should it be considered the definitive document. There is no substitute for experience. Only HIGHLY qualified and experienced instructors should attempt to train disabled students for solo freefall. "

You must read the experiences I have,
as a guideline for what can happen.

Taking into consideration that some non-traditional methods, such as using an advanced skill as butt sliding on landing, are necessary in some instances.

It is critical you understand the increased risks involved and subsequently the importance of employing ALL safety measures available, as well as utilizing tandem progression while practicing safe landing procedure. Trying a butt slide on your first AFF without working on it with your instructor in tandem format is extremely dangerous. I can testify to it:
I tried to flare at 30f the first time ,
without Angus I could have been smashed up.

Be well, remain safe and have fun,
-minna