wtm%gr.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Thomas McCollough) (05/03/91)
In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: >I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up >skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. >Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I >started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my >pulls with when I had the ground in sight. > >Is there another jump attitude that maintains stability? Or is there >something I can do to improve my arched stability? I have not jumped >since Fall of '89, simply because I got tired or one-man acrobatics >(aerbatics?) and always worrying that I would wrap the canopy around >myself during a barrel roll. Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times >in a roll gets to be boring. > >Dave Arching alone will not get you stable in freefall. You must also be relaxed. If you are very stiff in freefall, then you may very well be out of control even if you have a decent arch. Try stretching to make your body more amenable to the arch, and then make sure you relax. 90% of skydiving is half mental. There are plenty of ways to be stable in freefall: take a look at any of the freestyle videos on the market. But you'll probably have to master the arch first. Tom
dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) (05/03/91)
I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my pulls with when I had the ground in sight. Is there another jump attitude that maintains stability? Or is there something I can do to improve my arched stability? I have not jumped since Fall of '89, simply because I got tired or one-man acrobatics (aerbatics?) and always worrying that I would wrap the canopy around myself during a barrel roll. Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times in a roll gets to be boring. Dave _________________________________________________________________________ Dave Hightower | opinion? I'm allowed to have an opinion? dth@cis.ufl.edu | well, if I DID have one, it'd be mine, all mine! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAW OF COMBAT #1: Incoming fire has the right of way #2: If the enemy's in range, so are you #3: Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you #4: Never forget that you weapon is made by the lowest bidder
bleck@ai.mit.edu (Olaf Bleck) (05/04/91)
|> In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: |> >I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up |> >skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. |> >Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable |> > Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times |> >in a roll gets to be boring. Yeah, I had the same sort of problem (as do many folks), though maybe not quite as bad--after 8 or so 5 sec. delays, I got lucky and did a good one, fortunately punched through the 5 sec. window, and went on to 10 sec delays, and never had too much of a problem since. My argument was that arching in free fall, particularly at exit where you're not terminal at all, (i.e. in a state of virtual weightlessness) is something your body has no clue how to do since there's not much force on it. You can't practic e it either, except maybe in one of NASA's zero-g flights. So the problem was to get my body some idea of what it was supposed to feel like when arched properly, and unfortunately the only way to do it in skydiving is to fall for more than 5 secs. because you're just kind of floating in that time anyhow; usually by 7 or 8 secs my awareness has 100% kicked in, I'm also falling faster, and the relative wind is now defined, so at this point, back then, I got a mental snapshot of what really ought to be going on, and then it was second nature. Pulling at 10 was a bre eze, and it obviously got easier as the jumps got longer. SO, I'd say maybe you should invest in an AFF jump, where you get a good 30 or more seconds of heads up free fall; you'd probably relax and arch just great after the first 1000 ft or so. The other thing you might try if you can get there, is a day a wind tunnel, like Pigeon Forge, TN or the likes. Made a 500% improvment in my skills! Everyone I've ever talked to said 5 sec. delays are by far the hardest. Good Luck! -Olaf Bleck, A12241
bleck@ai.mit.edu (Olaf Bleck) (05/04/91)
|> your body more amenable to the arch, and then make sure you relax. 90% |> of skydiving is half mental. |> Does this mean that overall, only 45% is mental?
bb1v+@andrew.cmu.edu (Barry Lowell Brumitt) (05/04/91)
>unstable in an arch... lots of 5 second delays... wants to try again...
If, as a novice, I might put in a suggestion....
Go back and do AFF. That will give you some freefall time with an instructor
who can see what you are doing. They can tell if you arch is bad, or if you
are unstable/tense, or if your body position is just plain wrong. A
plane-bound jumpmaster will have much more difficulty doing this. Even if you
don't arch much on an AFF, the two JM's hanging on to you should be able to
keep you face to earth.
Yes, it will cost a bit more, but if you did 23 5secs, it's time to try
SOMETHING and hopefully make some progress.
Since I see you are in Florida, you should have NO PROBLEMS finding a DZ near
you that does AFF. Someone else could do better at suggestion on near UFl, if
you don't know one that offers that method of training.
Good luck, and keep trying..... and A R C H!
Barry
ps. If you don't know what AFF is, write me, and I'll send you a description.esj@gnarley.eng.ufl.edu (Eric S. Johnson) (05/07/91)
In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: >I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up >skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. >Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I >started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my >pulls with when I had the ground in sight. > >Is there another jump attitude that maintains stability? Or is there >something I can do to improve my arched stability? I have not jumped >since Fall of '89, simply because I got tired or one-man acrobatics >(aerbatics?) and always worrying that I would wrap the canopy around >myself during a barrel roll. Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times >in a roll gets to be boring. > 23 5 second delays? ouch. 1. Find another instructor. A different guy at your DZ or find a whole new DZ. Granted you may be a complete uncoordinated bum ;-) but 23 is outragous. A good instructor would have cured you by now or bought ya a bowling ball and stopped takeing your money. 2. If you can afford it, get into a AFF program. I can give you names and phone numbers for some of the best AFF instructors in the world who live here in north Florida. Its expensive, but one AFF jump might cure your off the step stability problem (and boy will it be fun too ;-) You could then proceed with the static line training. 3. What I found (somewhere around my 6 or 7th PRCP) was to pratice everything in the shallow end of a swimming pool. Grab the side as if its the strut, look to your left and visualize a JM yelling GO! Hit a arch and exhale and float to the bottom. Modify as needed for prcp's etc. Water will help you feel your arch. Best - o - luck Ej A-12472
bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) (05/08/91)
>In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: >>I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up >>skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. >>Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I >>started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my >>pulls with when I had the ground in sight. I had the same problem. It turned out that it wasn't so much my body position but my propensity for looking at the ground. This always blew my arch. Then one day as I was climbing out I noticed that there were fluffy clouds above the plane. As I exited I bent my head back sharply to look at the clouds. I stayed flat and stable. Hope this helps. Bob Church D-8195 NFS27 -- ********************************************* * bob church * * bchurch.oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu * *********************************************
bob@atari.UUCP (Robert F. Hutson) (05/10/91)
>>In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: >>>I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up >>>skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. >>>Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I >>>started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my >>>pulls with when I had the ground in sight. > Yeah, I had the same problem. One day, the local diving club came up with this great new (money-making) idea. They tie-wrapped a 35mm camera to the strut. 'For $10.00 we'll take your picture!' After spending the ten dollars, nothing was more important to me than staring into the camera! Do you know how much arch it take to follow the plane after release? Best jump of my life! To be serious for just a moment, looking into that camera forced me into the right arch and the trip was great! If you can't mount a camera on your plane, pretend anyway. BTW, the picture shows me as either screaming for my life or having the time of my life. It is one of my most prized possessions. -- ~ bob (Bob Hutson) ========================================================================== ....uunet!ames!atari!bab (work) 408-745-2142 San Jose, CA
mitchell@MDI.COM (Bill Mitchell) (05/12/91)
In article <2938@atari.UUCP> bob@atari.UUCP (Robert F. Hutson) writes: > >One day, the local diving club came up with this great new >(money-making) idea. They tie-wrapped a 35mm camera to the strut. >'For $10.00 we'll take your picture!' > >After spending the ten dollars, nothing was more important to me than >staring into the camera! Do you know how much arch it take to follow >the plane after release? Best jump of my life! > I did my first 5-sec delay exiting straight out the door of a cessna instead of facing forward and holding onto the strut (per standard practice at that jump center). I front-flipped going out the door, ended up stable on my back at about the count of 4, and decided to pull in that position instead of resuming the tumbling trying to get belly-down. The pilot chute and sleeve came up between my legs, and I rotated feet-down as the sleeve came off and the main deployed. My jumpmaster was an ex Golden Knight with 4000+ jumps, and his first question when we got together on the ground was whether I had done a lot of springboard diving. Bingo. Going out the door that way had felt like a springboard takeoff, and I had arched head-down. We went right back up for another 5-sec with me concentrating on holding an exaggerated head-up arch, and that one went just fine. this before -- mitchell@mdi.com (Bill Mitchell)
ccjg@hippo.ru.ac.za (John Goetsch) (05/13/91)
In <2938@atari.UUCP> bob@atari.UUCP (Robert F. Hutson) writes: >>>In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes: >>>>I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered. I took up >>>>skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it. >>>>Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable; as soon as I >>>>started my free-falls I lost control on every jump and had to time my >>>>pulls with when I had the ground in sight. >> >One day, the local diving club came up with this great new >(money-making) idea. They tie-wrapped a 35mm camera to the strut. >'For $10.00 we'll take your picture!' >After spending the ten dollars, nothing was more important to me than >staring into the camera! Do you know how much arch it take to follow >the plane after release? Best jump of my life! >To be serious for just a moment, looking into that camera forced me into >the right arch and the trip was great! If you can't mount a camera on >your plane, pretend anyway. What, I have tried to do is to encourage exiting trainees to maintain *eye-contact* with the jumpmaster on exit. This means that your head will be back automatically, and it is amazing how hypnotised one is by simple eye-contact. Much like looking into the camera, but the human element seems to help. Good luck! -- John Goetsch -- Rhodes University -- Grahamstown -- South Africa Internet: ccjg@hippo.ru.ac.za -- uucp: ..!uunet!m2xenix!quagga!hippo!ccjg Phone: +27 [0]461 22023 ext 279/280 - and lastly - Fax: +27 [0]461 25049
artb@hplsla.HP.COM (Art Bori) (05/14/91)
>>One day, the local diving club came up with this great new >>(money-making) idea. They tie-wrapped a 35mm camera to the strut. >>'For $10.00 we'll take your picture!' >What, I have tried to do is to encourage exiting trainees to maintain >*eye-contact* with the jumpmaster on exit. This means that your head In a similar vein, the Cessnas on our DZ have a "smiley face" sticker affixed to the underside of the wing. By having static-line students concentrate on looking at the sticker it seems to help them maintain a good arch. There are also a couple of hand shape stickers on the strut to remind them to get out far enough before releasing from the plane. Blue skies, Art Bori D-11402
karenk@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Karen Klemm) (05/15/91)
At the drop zone where I learned to skydive, we had a C-182 and the training method was S/L. We put a flourescent orange dot on the underside of the wing, right above where the student hung. The dot was about 6" in diameter so it was easy to find. The jumpmaster's commands actually included a "DOT" or "LOOK UP" before the "GO" command. This worked rather well, at least to get first jumpers to arch. Karen Klemm D-11813