I can't land!!

[willso 0]

I have been skydiving for 18 months and only have 40 jumps. This alone would suggest that I am not quite 'current'. My finances don't allow me to jump anywhere near as much as I'd like to and I still hire my gear at my DZ, which works out to be $80 a pop!!

Anyway, because of my lack of 'currency' pardon the pun , I have recently had a very hard landing on my arse. I could barely move and thought I had busted my back, but after several hours in hospital and plenty of pain killers I am recovering SLOWLY .

My question is, apart from my lack of currency is there any other reason that I have difficulty landing? I have had some good one's but then again there's been some other hard, but not as hard landings in the past. This has really put me off jumping . This is all on a 270 main, I can just imagine my arse if I was on something much smaller.

Any opinions? Advice? Words of encouragement? I don't want to quit, I love the free fall, it's just the last little bit that seems to scare me the most .

Willso

[Kimblair13 0]

Do you flare?

[bob.dino 1]

Would this have been last weekend? I didn't see all of your landing, so I will say ask the instructors who did.

[willso 0]

On this landing I was heading down wind, and to tell you the truth I don't know if I did?? flare that is. I know that's an integral part of landing, but I was coming in very quickly and may have panicked. A friend of mine reckons that a smaller canopy may not be as 'difficult' a proposition as I think , you?? I weigh 92kg and thought smaller = harder landing. He has 1500 + jumps and says that you have more control with a sports canopy as opposed to a student rig??

[willso 0]

Yeah it was. I hadn't jumped for quite some time. I had one before this and landed on my feet. I had my flight plan in my head to land up wind, but followed another jumper down wind and paid the price!!

[bob.dino 1]

Flaring completely and doing a PLR instead of lifting your legs up would help a lot more than a smaller canopy.

[willso 0]

What about currency? You seem to go straight from AFF where you have radio contact being guided in for landing, to B rels where you're on your own?!? I'm not making any excuses, I know I messed up. I think the thought of a landing freaks me out. Now I can see why so many people get hurt or worse on landings

[bob.dino 1]

Talk to an instructor in person. It'll be a lot more effective than me (not an instructor) trying to coach you over the internet, especially given I don't know you or anything of your issues.

Get to the DZ, preferably in the early afternoon once most of the work jumping is done, and ask to talk to an instructor about your issues.

[superstu 0]

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A friend of mine reckons that a smaller canopy may not be as 'difficult' a proposition as I think , you?? I weigh 92kg and thought smaller = harder landing. He has 1500 + jumps and says that you have more control with a sports canopy as opposed to a student rig??

1st off, if you went to the hospital on your current canopy, that's probably a good sign that you should stay at that canopy or upsize a little, not downsize. yes, smaller canopies are more maneuverable, but that just means you need the skills to control that maneuverability.

2nd, it sounds like you need to develop your landing pattern better, you know, the downwind, base, and final, type of approach. talk to your AFF instructors, or your well informed canopy pilots in your area. flying a predictable and safe landing pattern is vital to surviving in this sport.

hope it helps and hope you heal quickly.

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

[Orange1 0]

from one newbie to another...

do you visualise? a lot of people seem to spend a lot of time dirt-diving and otherwise practising or visualising their freefall but not much else. something i learnt early on was to visualise the entire skydive, right from climbout and exit, freefall, opening, canopy exercises, then the landing pattern and finally... flaring and landing. and before each jump i go look at the DZ and look at where i expect to set up and land. i found all this helped... just 2c to think about maybe?

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[Travman 6]

I watched the entire landing, I was one of the people that came to assist you. The downwinder was a bad idea, and according to my observations you flared too high. That was just my observation, I am no where near an instructor, but as soon as I watched you flare at that height I cringed and then watched you pull your legs up instead of getting ready to PLR made me cringe further. There are some excellent instructors at that DZ that can help with your canopy skills.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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I cringed and then watched you pull your legs up instead of getting ready to PLR made me cringe further.

Wow! I've tried that by myself too. My tailbone was hurting for 2-3 weeks after that hit.

[damion75 0]

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something i learnt early on was to visualise the entire skydive, right from climbout and exit, freefall, opening, canopy exercises, then the landing pattern and finally... flaring and landing. and before each jump i go look at the DZ and look at where i expect to set up and land. i found all this helped... just 2c to think about maybe?

I would definitely agree with this! Working out roughly where you will need to be at certain set heights for a good landing pattern (before you even gear up) will help you a lot in making sure that you end up facing into wind. You might want to ask one of the coaches / instructors for some help doing this the first few times.

Caveat to this is that sometimes people do end up doing stupid stuff under canopy and your plan might have to change in the air but since you are on a 270 most people would be out of your way anyway!

The downsizing sounds like a really bad idea!

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[L.O. 0]

The better the plan you have made for landing, the more consistent it will be. It all comes down to being current though. Sorry to tell ya, but it sounds like you know already.

Learn to pack well, hang out at the DZ. you can pick up a lot of very good stuff from Osmosis. you may also pick up enough money from packing other peoples stuff that you can afford to jump a little more.

If I don,t have my landing planned at the end of my track, I am behind the curve. The smaller canopy you end up with the farther ahead you have to be. Talk to your instructors see what they say.

HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

[Andy9o8 2]

Timing your flare better is obvious, but from the eyewitness account, you pulled your legs up before landing. That makes me guess you may have been looking straight down at the ground instead of out at or near the horizon. For newbies especially, looking straight down can make you instinctively "anticipate" your impact and reflexively pull up your legs. That's one of a couple of reasons why students are taught to look at the horizon at landing.
Also, for God's sake, squeeze those feet and knees together when setting up for a landing. With or without a PLF/PLR (preferably with...) it makes a huge difference.

[Ladybug 0]

Did you copy my post from a year ago?

I had a similar situation. My husband started video taping my landings (because I never believed what people were telling me). After a couple of videos, I was able to see my problem areas, and I've been standing them up ever since.

• Quote

[ockers 0]

Hey Adam,

I hope you weren't following me & Jackie in!!

Take care up there mate

P

[jimoke 0]

one thing is for sure......you will always land! it's the law.
finding the correct height for your flare will determine how hard or soft you will land. practice this after you open and clear your airspace. flare 100 times if you have to.... forget spiraling down

the good news is you did not freak out and turn low to get back into the wind........it is very important on your upcoming skydives that you do not get stuck in your mind that you absolutely have to land facing the wind, then set up poorly again and make a possibly fatal low turn.

with that said, it is preferable to land facing the wind, that should have been if your initial canopy training. the pattern you fly will is a very important part of your training and should be reviewed with an instructor no matter what license you have, if you need more help with pattern work ask for it. your instructors should be happy to help you. It makes everyone in the sky with you safer.

some people understand canopy flight immediately, some don't. seek out a rated canopy coach, buy Brian Germains book, do what ever it takes to gain the confidence and understand the fundamental concepts of canopy flight.
did I mention No Low Turns?

I also agree with the young lady who suggested videoing your landings,
have a jumping friend or even a nonjumper film you then debreif with an instructor. if your on a budget, a six pack of beer can go a long way with some instructors!

oh yeah, no low turns,
STAY SAFE,
Jim Oke

The ground always, remembers where you are!

[DiscoStu 0]

I saw you on the ground but didn't see the landing. I am very glad to hear your OK!!!

From a new jumper to another. Ask the instructors at the DZ. Provided they are not too busy I have found they are usually more than willing to help. Don't get too focused on following others, some people delibrately land cross-wind and down-wind as part of their own training to learn their canopies capibilities.

If you are still not confident with your landings don't get hung up landing in the intermediate area. The area between the intermediate pit and the student cross is BIG, FLAT and usually out of the way of other traffic. This way you can concerntrate more on your flare with out the distraction and danger of other canopies. I have deliberately landed there several times when I was on a new canopy and needed/wanted the space.

Also (I should be doing this myself) maybe deliberately PLR your next few landings even if you think you will stand up. Its good pratice and will help prevent injuries if you land hard. I know one instructor who seems to make every student he TA's PLR their landing.

Have fun and stay safe

[dorbie 0]

Landings freak you out, you don't know if you flared, you landed on your arse and not your legs. All this is worrying, whatever you do don't downsize without advice and approval from instructors.

Do you practice under canopy when you're flying at altitude to feel how the wing flies and responds to flare? You definitely want to be doing this, and maybe look left or right to get a feel for your pitch angle (not during a real landing just at altitude).

You're on rental gear, maybe you should try to jump the same canopy every jump. Get advice on flare timing from your instructor (there are simple ways to get better visual cues) and save up for a canopy control course. You only have one spine.

On something that big you should be OK if you flare *slightly* high, hold it in brakes and PLF (probably could stand it up), you'd at least have better landings than not flaring at all, but discuss all this with your instructors. There are dangers like increased risk of stalling or surging into the ground if you let up on the toggles.

You could always take a tandem ride or two with a TI and take the toggles with them, just to get advice on height and have someone there with you to calm you and remind you where you should be looking when you flare. A couple of tandems back to back then a solo might be just what you need, ask for a discount if you're doing all that + gear rental .

[magnio 0]

I have 75 jumps (since May last year, so I guess it makes me kind of current) and I can still count my standing landings on one hand ;-)

But I have never been hurt - there have been some hard landings, and my knees usually have a green-blueish pattern, but nothing worse. I have usually forgotten (yes) to flare or flared just halfway down (and I HAVE practiced them in air, plenty of times, so I know how the canopy reacts to it).

ALWAYS gather your knees. No matter what you do, knees together. Two close legs are 6 (I think) times as strong as one to land on. My legs are usually tight at around 100 ft, and remain so.

Practice flare again and again and again high up (above 2000ft), and remember you need about 10 seconds of straight forward movement with your canopy to get the most out of it (highest speed - ok, for your currency and experience, that is :-)) so have a straight landing pattern.

Take your toggles 1/4 down at treetop height (or rooftop or whatever you can see if you glance straight to the side or *straight* forward) and start the rest of the flare *when you think you are touching ground*. HOLD YOUR HANDS DOWN when you you are finished - never ever let go of the toggles before you're down. ANd keep the knees together and prepare for PLF.

Having someone film and debrief your landing will probably be very useful, too. Try to think of what you THINK you did and then see what you actually did.

As for radio, that's not common in Norway and I never used one (except on my 10th jump when I changed DZ). We're on our own and it tends to go well.

Blue skies - I am off for some nice winter skydiving in -15C now :-)