sebcat

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content

    125

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Posts posted by sebcat

  4. Quote

    Quote

    I think tracking is fun I like it a lot in fact, but often when I straighten my legs out and bring my arms back I start something that feels like teeter tottering back and forth, can't think of a better way to describe it.


    It's called porpoising. You have too much arch in your body and it's trying to find a stable point. Roll your shoulders forward towards the ground, the opposite of arching.

    Like Jack said, point your toes. Your knees should be locked, legs fully extended. Do NOT bend too much at the waist, esp. at first. Try to flatten out like a board, planking in the air. One of the most important things is heading control. Make sure you keep that as you increase your speed.

    Tracking well requires pushing on the air to get the desired results. Keep that in mind when you're tracking. If you're not pushing, you're not tracking.

    Stability costs you performance; performance costs you stability. It takes practice to stay straight and stable in a really good track. I'm glad to see you practicing it and trying to get better.

    Many, many jumpers don't track as well as they could. Some with 1000+ jumps are downright abysmal at it. It's a huge survival skill to be able to track well. I, too, recommend a little video coaching. :)

    This is really good advise. I have outside video of me bending too much at the waist and turning slightly during tracking and it's really obvious looking at the video that it kills performance. Seeing that really helped me getting better.

  5. Quote

    Yes I do consider myself to be reasonably fit. I am 6 foot and 185 lbs. I don't work out as much as I did when I was in the military for sure, but am by no means some lard ass. What gives you the impression I am unfit?


    I am not under the impression that you are unfit. However, stronger muscles reduces the chance of having these types of injuries. Working out (strength training) a couple of times a week is a better risk mitigator for this particular injury than swooping less is.

  10. Good job.

    Quote

    Has anyone here ever heard of a student jumper experiencing malfunctions on both of their first 2 jumps?
    (especially one being a horseshoe)



    Technically, the one on your first jump wasn't a malfunction. I've witnessed a horse shoe on a first time S/L jumper from the ground. Canopy stayed in the bag, I can't really recall if the jumper was entangled with the lines or the bridle, or both. She did her EPs and landed safe. I think she might have quit jumping now, but she continued to jump, got her licence and jumped for a few years.

    What type of plane are you jumping from?

  12. Quote

    Depending on airspeed I would be surprised if I were more than 100' below the ac under an open canopy.


    This is interesting, and something I've been thinking about. Assuming level flight: since the gravitational pull is still the same, and your body isn't generating a lot of lift (though obviously it's not in a vacuum, so air resistance is a factor), you would have fallen roughly the same vertical distance after any given time as if you'd exited from a balloon? Note the question mark, I suck at math. But when you deploy on a hop&pop, you have less air speed than a terminal deployment, so the deployment will be faster (in distance traveled), and the distance that matters is the sum of the vertical and horizontal distance, so you've got that going for you (i.e. a shorter vertical distance). Also, given that the first second or so after exit, you will not fall very far (a couple of meters), is the risk of getting your reserve fucked up worth a pop&hop? Sure, you can get the d-bag effect, but you might not.

    Please correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm saying this because I'm really not sure if I'm right.

    Here's a data point for hop&pop deployments (might not be very representative, so bring your own data). Lightning 143 w/tail pocket, unknown exit speed:
    0s - exit
    1.458s -pilot chute released from hand
    2.479s - line stretch
    3.750s - slider all the way down
    4.479s - airplane in frame as reference (se attached photo, go-pro wide angle, but none the less)

    OP: I can tell you that if you're sitting in the plane shortly after take-off, minding your own business, thinking about what's for dinner and suddenly the airplane starts to dive or w/e at 300 ft, you're gonna be like "what was that?!", and by that time you realize that you're going down, it's too late. You're too low. Your best bet is to stay in the plane, though (I'm sorry to say, I saw the pictures) that does not mean it's safe to do so, but it's your best shot at survival.

  13. So, after the first ten jumps or so, why did you jump it 190 times more? :)

    I've owned and jumped the following skydiving canopies (in descending order of #jumps):
    Sabre 2 170
    Lightning 143
    Sabre 135
    Merit 170
    Springo 120

    The hardest opening I've ever had was on the merit. The openings were normally fast, but not painful. But that particular opening sure made me see some beautiful stars. Only hard opening so far, knock on wood.

    The softest opening canopy was the Sabre 2. Took forever to open and the end cells always needed some help.

    The sabre and the springo opened/opens perfect. Fast but not too fast, on heading. Only had one spinner on the springo, but I think that was because of an incorrectly stowed toggle. Sure was a ride.

    The lightning also opens fine, at ~80 knots :)

    All in all, I really liked the Sabre. YMMV.

  14. Quote

    As someone mentioned earlier, out beyond near-future changes in regulations and so on, as we continue to merge with technology there will come a time when real-life experiences can not compete with virtual ones. This is already happening to a significant extent, with many people preferring to play a computer game than do a similar activity in reality. It won't be long before immersive computer entertainment will trump any physical sport or adventure activity, though.


    "The Machine Stops" is a good read, I'm told.

    Emulating reality is like proving a system from within the system itself. Or like masturbating. Or like "yo dawg, we put a reality inside you reality &c"

  15. Quote


    05/03-05/06 P3 Big Way Camp - Skydive Perris
    05/10-05/13 P3 100 Way Camp - Skydive Perris
    05/16-05/20 P3 Spring Fling Invitational - Skydive Perris
    05/25-05/28 40+ Masters Skills BW Camp - Skydive Z-hills
    05/30-06/10 Aussie National Record - Skydive Perris
    06/08-06/10 Heros 48-way Invitational - Raeford Parachute Center
    06/14-06/17 Ohio State Record - Start Skydiving Ohio
    06/20-06/24 2012 VIP Sequentials - Skydive Boltuva, Brazil
    07/02-07/06 East-West Kaleidoscope Dives - Aerograd, Kolomna, Russia
    07/06-07/08 Wright Stuff Invite II - Skydive Chicago
    07/06-07/08 2012 Oregon POPS State Record WRP - Skydive Oregon
    07/10-07/13 Siberian Express 2012 - Skydive Tanay, Kemerovo,
    Russia
    07/23-07/27 Euro Big Way Camp 2012 - Flightclub Dropzone, Wloclawek, Poland
    08/04-08/06 2012 Montana POPS Record - Meadow Peak Skydiving
    08/21-08/25 Baltic Sky Way 2012 - Skyway PIA, Palanga City, Lithuania
    08/24-08/26 Big Way Skills Camp Weekend - Chicagoland Skydiving Center
    08/30-09/02 P3 Big Way Camp - Skydive Perris
    09/06-09/09 P3 100-way Camp - Skydive Perris
    09/21-09/23 40+ Masters Skills Big Way Camp - Skydive Chicago
    10/12-10/14 40+ Masters Skills Big Way Camp - Skydive Cross Keys
    10/10-10/13 POPS World Record (Deland)
    10/19-10/21 2012 Texas POPS World Record Practice - Skydive Spaceland
    12/05-12/09 2012 POPS World Record FS (Eloy)

  16. Quote


    A friend of mine (Velo 84, loaded WL 2:3) and I (Velo 96, WL 2:25) flew together at around 600 m above ground, we had a constant headwind at that time.


    I don't know what happened to you, but you might want to improve your safety margin. After all, shit happens. Getting wrapped up under velos at that altitude might not be a pleasant experience. :)

    What you describe sounds a bit like a wing dock coming in with too much upward momentum. Can you describe the nature of the contact? What part of his body contacted what part (nose, top skin, lines, &c) of your outer cells? Were you still on rears and rising? Did your canopy turn left or right?

  18. Quote

    Anyways, I got the rig repaired and learned a few lessons. Namely: if I'm tired or unfocused when packing - and I was - call it a damn day and go home...


    Another thing that might be worth considering is to have redundant checks as a part of your packing procedure, and sticking to it like it's some sort of weird religious rite, or as if your life depended on it :). It will take longer to pack, but I think it's worth it. I stow my toggles, check them visually, pull firmly on the steering line above the cat's eye toward the canopy to check the stow, and make a second visual check when I stow the risers in the container. Visual check involves some touching and going through the procedure in my head. It's not "check brakes", it's "the toggle is through the cat's eye below the ring and stowed in the elastic thingy, the excess brake line is stowed ..." etc.

    Redundant checks goes for the entire pack job, not just for the toggles part. You might develop a mild case of OCD, but that's normal. If you implement this properly, you will soon be able to pack a single container system on a packing tarp, in the woods, in the dead of night, being tired as f*ck. YMMV.

  19. Quote

    cheap and easy solution - get a bottle of saline nasal spray at cvs, walgreens, etc. and after each jump, give each nostril a puff. worked for me at least.


    Depending on how much you jump, this might not be a good idea. Go easy on the nasal spray. It dehydrates your sinuses over time, which is the problem in the first place. Unless it's cancer ofc, then you can use as much nasal spray as you want.

    If I'm active for some period of time, breathe a lot, it's cold and I don't drink enough water (e.g. skiing up north with a lot of gear) I get that too. Dry sinuses, not cancer.

    Edited to add: your body usually adapts over time.

  20. I actually like the S/L progression, especially over here since it requires more jumps on a student canopy (24-ish vs. AFF's 10) and I also think it's good for the student to focus on the canopy from the beginning, as opposed to freefall skills. That's another discussion though. Bad body position during the deployment sequence is a problem and can regardless of deployment method used cause horse shoes and other problems. Proper training need to take place to mitigate that risk, and a proper attitude should be established early during student training. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk, but I think it's important.

    I say things like that too sometimes but I'm not an instructor and people really shouldn't listen to me :) I try to be good though.

    And while I do prefer turbines I did my first S/L's from a C206. FWIW.

    Back on topic; our DZ started a mentor thingy this year. I think it's a good idea. I started jumping with a friend and we kept each other motivated during our time as students. I think it's important to have someone to talk to, someone to motivate you, be it a fellow student or a mentor. The problem is, I guess, that you don't really know anyone in the beginning and if you're in an environment that doesn't feel warm and open then it is less fun. The whole social part of skydiving is very important, we all spend more time on the ground than in the air, a lot more.

    But if a student really wants to be a licensed skydiver they usually become one. Is it really up to the DZ to motivate them? I don't know, but we, the sport, the club need fresh meat so I guess so. Someone has to fill the slots, right?

    No, I think it's more than that. People are interesting, regardless if they're students or world record holders and everyone has nothing to lose and everything to gain if a DZ is warm, fuzzy and welcoming :)

    Also, if skydiving was more affordable we'd have more skydivers. But that's controlled by the market and there really is not a lot of things we can do about that. I guess we just have to make sure people think it's worth it, and encourage students to make smart economic choices when it comes to buying stuff so they can spend more money on jumps.

  21. Quote

    As far as I know, cloud clearance regulations are no more relaxed in Europe (at least, in the UK) than they are in the States. It's just that European DZs tend to bend those regulations further and more often. So you need to ask yourself whether it's the rules you're looking to change, or people's attitude towards them.


    This is so true.

  25. My conscious self was formed in the 90's so I wasn't around when PONG came out, but I've heard that the resolution was terrible and it didn't even have any colors! I mean, come on. Of course you'd have to resort to jumping out of air planes, what else could you do? Either that, or flipping cows.

    I like the outdoors, if it's any consolation. :)
    I will probably look back on that day in thirty years, thinking how things where better.