static line jump question

[freemis 0]

I made two tandem jumps: one was intense beyond anything I could imagine, the other felt manageable (the exit positions were different).

I decided to do the static line jump. How much does your stomach drop? I know it may seem trivial in the scheme of things, but it has made an enormous difference in my past two experiences.

[seejanefall 0]

I never found my stomach to drop in my static line training. The main thing that I felt on leaving the Cessna was the yank on my back from the static line pulling my pin.

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PMS #394

[Yossarian 0]

theres no falling sensation as the relative air is still quite fast, theres no more than you can feel on a tandem

[Katherine 0]

I never felt the dropping sensation on any of my SL jumps

Leeds University Skydiving Club
www.skydiveleeds.co.uk

[Mush 0]

If you really want to skydive you gotta go AFF, why beat around the bush, just like static line, you get a canopy ride after every jump only you get the cool skydiving freefall stuff , times have changed my friend.

[wmw999 2,439]

There are people for whom static line is best. While AFF does give you more freefall in a smaller number of jumps, static line is good for focusing on one thing at a time; that can be a good thing.

Depends on the student, the skill, and the DZ (a Cessna DZ will have a harder time getting altitude for AFF)

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[diverds 0]

Static line is also a lower cost alternative for those who can not afford AFF.

Skydive Radio

[G.Anvil 0]

I agree with most of the posts above, I didnt feel any dropping sensation on any of my SL jumps.

As Wendy W said, I found it helped to have to concentrate on canopy & survival skills only for the first few jumps then move on to freefall skills when the important stuff became natural. SL training can be as fast as AFF too with a god DZ.

[Skymonkey13 0]

I also learned on the SL course, of course back when i started the AFF had'nt been invented.

But anyway i was free falling on my 5th or 6th jump. I'd have to dig up one of my old log books to know for sure.

Back in the day it was quite affordable.

[BigM 2]

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Static line is also a lower cost alternative for those who can not afford AFF.

You will probably end up paying about the same money (AFF vs. Static Line) by the time you "cross the finish line", but it cost less money per jump for the static line jumps... thus making it more affordable to go make a training jump or 2 per week end. It just takes more week ends!

Blue 111-
Jeff

"When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

[Zipp0 1]

I am doing IAD. So far, I am happy with it. I'll be pulling myself in the next few jumps, and longer delays follow. It just made more sense to me, financially and methodically. And I happen to like the feeling of 'earning' that first freefall.

Going to 10,000 and getting the whole experience all at once seemed like too much, too soon. I want to savor each step.

Zipp0

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[NWFlyer 2]

It's truly impressive that this forum can create a question where there was none. "Static Line vs. AFF" has been debated many times before... a simple search on that term can answer that question.

However, since it wasn't the question you asked, I'll try to answer the one you did ask. I didn't feel any kind of "stomach dropping" feeling when I did static line ... if you do it from a Cessna, it's a very simple stepping off and a short delay followed by a very welcome opening. I think you'll find it a very different experience from your tandem, but one in which you will be able to gradually build canopy skills and build up to longer and longer freefalls.

Ultimately, successful Static Line and AFF students end up in the same place: as licensed jumpers.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[steve1 5]

I started with static line training back in the 70's, when I began sport jumping. I also made close to 50 military static line jumps during that time period. I've never felt that scary falling feeling that you mentioned. There's just too much air to have any kind of falling sensation. Even out of a Cessna.....Steve1

[freemis 0]

Thank you all for your quick replies.

I have already enrolled in a static line jump course and was about to jump this past Saturday, but due to weather, the jumps had to be postponed.

I definitely feel a lot more comfortable doing SL training first and gradually building my skills.

(My added challenge is that I'm doing my SL jumps in the Czech Republic.)

[NWFlyer 2]

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but due to weather, the jumps had to be postponed.

Welcome to skydiving.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[kingbunky 3]

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but due to weather, the jumps had to be postponed.

...and be careful when the weather is bad. bored skydivers are dangerous.

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[riggerrob 643]

First of all, I have never felt that "stomach dropping" sensation during most of my 5,000 jumps.
Static-line is better for teaching the basics of steering a parachute.
The disadvantage with AFF is that there is huge amounts of information to absorb in one day. Some students can absorb that much information, while others feel overloaded.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Some students can absorb that much information, while others feel overloaded.

I'm glad I learned static line. Don't know if I was smart enough to do AFF.


We trained our oldest daughter via the static line method. After her first jump, we then took her on a tandem, kind of backwards, eh?

[Rooky 0]

I felt the stomch dropping thing on my first three or four jumps (one tandem, and then AFF).
After that I never experienced this feeling, even on a few helicopter jumps with very little "object-movement" it never came back.

Oh, right:
Welcome to skydiving!

Rooky

[Yossarian 0]

i did RAPS and dont regret it, theres no way i could afford the money required for aff so i spread it out, also i started in october so low-level jumps forced on the dz by cloud (UK winter...) didnt bother us static liners :) by the time i qualified the next easter after around 27 jumps i was perfectly confident with my canopy control, was off the radio after 3 jumps and therefore never had to worry about that part. the only thing thats annoying about that is that by 27 jumps i was more than ready to downsize and was very very bored with a shagged out f111 288, spiralling was an impossible dream, let alone a 360 before i touched down! also you become a fully licenced jumper without ever touching anyone else in freefall, and you only see someone else in the last 3 jumps. an advantage aswell though is that you get well used to jumping from very low level, ive been on hop'n'pops from around 3k without an issue when aff graduates have thought it too dangerous, their lowest jumps being from around 5k for their level8

[SWATcop 0]

I have about 40 Military static line jumps and 5 civilian, I never felt a dropping feeling.

I did the SL course in 1994 and only had to repeat one extra jump to get my A license. It was a lot cheaper than AFF, it cost me $700.00 total from 0 jumps to A license (1994).

Kevin

Muff Brother #4041
Team Dirty Sanchez #467

[ChrisL 2]

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If you really want to skydive you gotta go AFF, why beat around the bush, just like static line, you get a canopy ride after every jump only you get the cool skydiving freefall stuff , times have changed my friend.

Some people can afford static line training, but not AFF.

Times have not changed at all in this respect

__

My mighty steed

[Mush 0]

True, never thought about it like that.

When I started AFF I worked double shifts for about 4 months to pay for it, near on wiped me out. but it was the way I wanted to go, plus a holiday in the US

With AFF there is a lot of information in a very short period of time, not for everyone, fucked up a few times myself, so I do understand.

After AFF I would never change to S/L, but S/L students that I have known want to go to AFF if they could afford it, so I see what you are saying.

[Steeler 0]

I`ll be the oddball here and admit that I did get the stomach dropping feeling pretty bad on both of my static line jumps.
I kind of expected it to feel like falling, so maybe thats why I felt it. Didnt matter, I had a BLAST!!
Now I just gotta find some $$ so I can keep doing it.

[freemis 0]

How long ago did you do your jumps? How was your exit? I have this feeling that no matter how much I practice, once I'm up there, it'll all fly out of of my head. Did you remember to do all those checks? did you remember to count? Did your lines get twisted?