brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (03/30/85)
I remember it took me a few dives to get into a proper
no-lift (vertical) dive. My technique is to bend forward
at the waist, hunch shoulders, arms by sides using hand
area for airbrake steering & roll control, and - most
important - tuck head forward with chin on chest.
Warning! - in a good no-lift, since you are looking back
at your feet, you can't see where you're going.
It's important to lift your head frequently to check your
distance to the formation and make sure you're not going
to drill some poor sucker flaring beneath you.
The no-lift is one of my favorite skydiving experiences.
I agree with Fred, those first few weightless seconds
are such a blast! You've got to have a good long way to go down
before it's worth using.
It's no good either unless the formation is somewhere beneath
you and not off to one side. You lose altitude at such an
enormous rate, that if you hold it just a tad too long you
go way below where you want to be.
The flare from a no-lift can be quite exciting. Aim to a point
some distance out from your slot and flare into a delta.
Your momentum converts to extra lift, so you can "skip"
across to your slot in a flat approach.
--
Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan
AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ
{ihnp4|ahuta|pegasus}!phoenix!brent
(201) 576-3475paul@ubvax.UUCP (Paul Fries) (04/01/85)
Re: Brent's comments on no-lift dives. > . > . > . > > It's no good either unless the formation is somewhere beneath > you and not off to one side. You lose altitude at such an > enormous rate, that if you hold it just a tad too long you > go way below where you want to be. > . > . > . I have found that, even if the formation is not directly below, the no-lift dive can be quite useful. There is no better way to pick up airspeed quickly. Transitioning to a max-track position is easy and you end up being able to cover large horizontal distances in short order. While you might not be able to dive directly to the formation, a couple of seconds in the no-lift attitude can be just what's needed to get the job done quickly. Of course, the formation must be WELL BELOW (as Brent points out), as you will lose an enormous amount of altitude in the blink on an eye. > . > . > . > > Warning! - in a good no-lift, since you are looking back > at your feet, you can't see where you're going. > It's important to lift your head frequently to check your > distance to the formation and make sure you're not going > to drill some poor sucker flaring beneath you. > . > . > . (At the risk of being flamed by those for whom this is obvious...) This particular point cannot be stressed enough. Your airspeed during a good no-lift dive can easily be in excess of 160 MPH (a fellow at my DZ who is not known for exaggeration claims to have been clocked in excess of 200 MPH). Held too long, you may find yourself closing on a formation at 50-60 MPH. Hitting anything at that speed is going to leave both you and whatever you hit in no condition to skydive for a while, with a good posibility of being unconscious for (literally) the rest of your life. Paul Fries C-17147
brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (04/08/85)
Just a word on getting into position above the formation.
I've noticed on lots of exit photos, looking back up at the
aircraft, lots of folks exiting a DC3 and going straight into
a maxtrack or delta.
If you are toward the back of the lineup, your first priority,
after stabilising in the prop-blast, is to kill your
horizontal airspeed. Most effective is a full flare into the
relative wind (head down), or a dead-spider is even better.
The quicker you kill that horizontal component (it's carrying you
away from the formation), the steeper your descent can be,
(a great excuse for a no-lift ( Ohhhh... Wow! |-) )).
This is especially useful if your slot is on the other side.
It's easy to measure how effective it is, you feel an enormous
pressure - like a big, soft hand tossing you across the sky toward
the formation. If you eyeball the other jumpers below who didn't
flare, you can see and feel your descent path lifting above theirs.
Once you're in the no-lift: Zow! you zap right past em !
Exit flare works best from an aircraft with a high exit speed
(DC3). It's only marginally effective from a 206 or 185 -
then you're in a small enough load that you don't need to
dive anyway.
Blue skies !!
--
Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan
AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ
{ihnp4|ahuta|pegasus}!phoenix!brent
(201) 576-3475kas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) (04/17/85)
>I remember it took me a few dives to get into a proper >no-lift (vertical) dive. My technique is to bend forward >at the waist, hunch shoulders, arms by sides using hand >area for airbrake steering & roll control, and - most >important - tuck head forward with chin on chest. Thanks for the suggestions--in retrospect I recall having my head way back because I like to see what I'm about to run into. The rest of my body was pretty much as you described. So, I'll try counting my toes, or something, next time I need to dive fast. I remember being taught in my first jump course that the body tends to go where the head is pointed--so this must be an example of that little-known law of aerodynamics. Ken Scofield C-9355 Hewlett-Packard PCD Corvallis, OR {ucbvax!hplabs, harpo, ogcvax}!hp-pcd!kas