Getting back on the horse

[BoatguyNate 0]

So right now I am sitting on my ass for the past month and have another 3 weeks to go, due to a Skydiving injury. I was coming in to land, hit some turbulence on my final approach. About 30 feet from the ground, and dropped. I tried to flare but it was a little late and I came in hot and happen to land in a ditch. Breaking my right foot. I have always been nervous about my landings but now I loss what little confidence I had. I know I still want to jump again. Any pointers to hop back on that horse.

[Para5-0 0]

Canopy course.

[chuckakers 425]

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Canopy course.

The OP has 6 jumps. Practicing PLF's and learning when to use one might be a better option at this point.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[davelepka 4]

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I have always been nervous about my landings but now I loss what little confidence I had.

Everyone is nervous about their landings at first. Your last one wasn't so hot, but how about the ones previous to that?

Assuming those were good, ask yourself is those were made in turbulent conditions and if you landed in a ditch. Let's face, it those are two major errors on your part in that you shouldn't have been jumping in turblent conditions, and you shouldn't have been landing in the vicinity of a ditch.

Interestingly, the two may be related as any ground feature can casue or add to the presence of turbulence, even ones below ground level like ditches or swails. Anything that disturbs the airflow of the wind can casue turbulence, and of course above-ground features like trees or buildings are easy to understand how they can disrupt the airflow. Below ground features, however, might not be as obvious, but if the wind has a ditch or depression in the ground to spill into, it's going to effect the stability of the air downwind of that feature.

So moving forward, firstly avoid jumping on days when the winds are stronger, or gusting with much more than a 5 to 7 knot differential. Gusts are an obvious hazard, but even smooth winds can be problematic when the overall speed goes up. They will make manuvering your canopy harder as mistakes are tougher to recover from in higher winds, and they also aggrevate the situation with object turbulence.

Which brings me to my next point, before your next jump ask for a lesson in object turbulence, what it is, where it exists, and how to avoid it if you end up jumping in conditions where it may be a factor. Furthermore, find out how it may have related to your accident, and how you could have avoided it.

Which brings me to my next point, before your next jump ask for a lesson on planning your canopy flight, and using the pattern and it's turn points as a tool for improving your accuracy. Even if the ditch didn't cause the trubulence that dropped you into it, your chances of having a 'good' landing go up when you touch down on a smooth, level surface.

So when you go to jump again, your confidence is restored based on the idea that your first few landings were fine, and you identified the mistakes that lead to your accident, and sought corrective training. On top of that, turbulence stings a good number of jumpers to the tune of broken/sprained feet or ankles or bruised tailbones. It's not that uncommon, and no reason to doubt that you can make a safe landing in the future.

[BoatguyNate 0]

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Canopy course.

The OP has 6 jumps. Practicing PLF's and learning when to use one might be a better option at this point.

Actually I have 30 jumps now. Sorry for the lack of update

[BoatguyNate 0]

Thanks Dave. It wasn't winds so much. The turbulence was mostly caused by hitting a big ole cold patch of air. I jumped in Las Vegas that weekend. Winds were 5-6 kn out of the North. Just went down the week after that cold front in Vegas. The ditch was because I landed short. The landing area sucked it was literally a 100ft X 100ft of cleared sage brush. The ditch was no more than 2 feet wide.

[Andy9o8 2]

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Thanks Dave. It wasn't winds so much. The turbulence was mostly caused by hitting a big ole cold patch of air. I jumped in Las Vegas that weekend. Winds were 5-6 kn out of the North. Just went down the week after that cold front in Vegas. The ditch was because I landed short. The landing area sucked it was literally a 100ft X 100ft of cleared sage brush. The ditch was no more than 2 feet wide.

Did you have your feet and knees firmly together so they acted as a single shock-absorbing unit? That's a key part of a PLF; and even if you don't get the "roll" part done, "feet and knees together" makes a huge difference.

(That and good Frenchies; but that's thread drift... )

[Skyper 0]

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Canopy course.

The OP has 6 jumps. Practicing PLF's and learning when to use one might be a better option at this point.

+1

[kimemerson 7]

I'm reminded of the film (and I suppose it's in the book. Can't say)"The World According to Garp". In it,Garp is looking to buy a house with his wife and the realtor shows them a house that has just recently had a small plane crash into it. In fact, when they're being shown the house the plane is still stuck in the front of the house. Garp says. "We'll take it." His wife thinks he's nuts. There's a plane stuck in the living room. His logic? What are the odds of it ever happening again. It's the safest house on the street.
The moral of my story is that you got that out of the way. What are the odds of it happening again? The odds exist but now they're not as great. Unless you're an odds percentage hog. Then all bets are off. So get some extra help. PLFs and maybe video of your and other landings. It's a tough period to be in but you have to work through it. And eventually, when you're a canopy ace, your fuck ups will just reflect your advanced skills and really thrill us all. Carry on, don't quit and best of luck.

[deltron80 0]

some advice I was given when I came back after a broken leg:

- just get back up there & stay current
- keep your head on swivel
- no low turns!
- feet & knees together on final

One thing that helped me calm down a bit was being last out of the plane & pulling high.. it's nice to not have to worry about canopy traffic when you're already stressed about your landings.

Congratulations, it's always better to break a leg now than a pelvis later.

[theonlyski 8]

How the fuck do you teach the horse to arch and what are you jumping, skyvans?

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[Skyper 0]

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How the fuck do you teach the horse to arch and what are you jumping, skyvans?

Pegasus could fly. And if he couldl fly there might be some pony models available in the market as well.

[whoops 0]

my friend,
Sometimes your only mistake could be a decision to next jump, couse of bad weather, turbulancies, strong wind, bad feeling...
My injury in 2007 was absolutelly the same scenario as yours, the same leg
3 foot bones broken...
I've learned how to land past 200 jumps, dont be in stress, panik or angry, there are only two groups of skydivers: injured or not injured, you're in group one now, so learn what was bad to dont do it again, visit canopy flying course, dont be in every jumps per day, ask more experienced skydivers if weather is good.
Few next weeks/months/years you could be afraid to skydive on windy day, trust me it ends sometimes
I hope that my bad english is understandable

[baign32 0]

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I'm reminded of the film (and I suppose it's in the book. Can't say)"The World According to Garp". In it,Garp is looking to buy a house with his wife and the realtor shows them a house that has just recently had a small plane crash into it. In fact, when they're being shown the house the plane is still stuck in the front of the house. Garp says. "We'll take it." His wife thinks he's nuts. There's a plane stuck in the living room. His logic? What are the odds of it ever happening again. It's the safest house on the street.
The moral of my story is that you got that out of the way. What are the odds of it happening again? The odds exist but now they're not as great. Unless you're an odds percentage hog. Then all bets are off. So get some extra help. PLFs and maybe video of your and other landings. It's a tough period to be in but you have to work through it. And eventually, when you're a canopy ace, your fuck ups will just reflect your advanced skills and really thrill us all. Carry on, don't quit and best of luck.

The odds of this happening again are exactly the same - that's just the way it is. I was in a plane crash in '94 going up for a jump in a C-206. the engine cut out at 300ft and the plane nosed in after stalling at 50ft. Lots of broken bones for everyone but thankfully no one died. I was back jumping in 6 weeks as soon as I got the cast off my leg. I had a crush C6/C7 in my neck but it didn't get diagnosed until 6 months later. I also had a bad landing in '98 crushing my right heel on a demo jump. That was really painful but I was back jumping after 8 weeks. It's just the love of the sport that keeps me going. There's a lot of great advise on this thread you can do it!