I'm a lightweight

[Candy 0]

I can hold my liquor, its just that I fall like a feather. I weigh 108 pounds, geared up with weights and my rig I'm 133 pounds out the door. My average fall rate is 107 mph, my Neptune has even recorded me falling at 93 mph, so yeah I've spent alot of time alone up there. On an 18K jump I have time to do my nails and call my mom.
So, is there any hope for me or should I just get used to jumping solo

Any ideas??
Candy

[Remster 30]

It wil be a case of putting all youcan on your side..

From modifying your body position to allow more air past you (talk to an instructor), to adding weight and ahving a tigher, slicker jumpsuit.

My wife weight 120, and I weigh 220, and we do 2ways together, so it can be done!

Remster

[SkiD_PL8 0]

Plenty of people can fall with you. Wear weight and arch hard. I weigh 145 and I bet with you wearing weight I could get up with you in my fast suit, if not I definately could in a slightly baggy suit or freefly suit.

Greenie in training.

[jumperconway 0]

Time for a "lead belly"! Arch!

[Fallndown 0]

Come on down South to Cal City, you won't have to jump alone, or wear weights and we'll get that fall rate goin on....

[flyangel2 2]

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Wear weight and arch hard.

Wear weights yes.

Arch hard, no. In a hard arch body position, it's hard to take grips.

Talk with an instructor, one who knows what they are talking about. Go up with the instructor and a video person. Have the video person video the skydive from the side angle. Then you and the instructor do a good debrief with the video.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[cvfd1399 0]

Start downing 40's and get a beer belly

[kelpdiver 2]

Recruit more lightweights! We'll all appreciate it!

[JohnMitchell 16]

You're about my wife's size. An important part of the equation for falling fast, at least for belly flying, is that your container is not too wide. Put your jumpsuit and rig on and look in the mirror. Does your container disappear behind you or does it stick out a inch or two on each side of your waist? That's a lot of drag that you just don't need. I know that Velocity Sports Equipment can make an extra narrow Infinity that would probably hold your present canopies, yet hide behind you. The extra deep, narrow container also reduces flow separation on the backside, cutting drag even further.

[n2skdvn 0]

I'm in the same boat as you but i over came it weights do help. tight jumpsuits also help too.

if my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
my site

[Conundrum 1]

I weigh 105, plus gear I'd say I'm about 120 out the door. I can jump with big guys (weight between 180 and 200 I'd guess )and fall just as fast as them, with no lead on.

I fly the mantis and keep my elbows closer to my body and pointed down whle arching, it helps me fall fast while still enabling me to turn points and stay stable just fine.

[SkiD_PL8 0]

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Wear weight and arch hard.

Wear weights yes.

Arch hard, no. In a hard arch body position, it's hard to take grips.

Talk with an instructor, one who knows what they are talking about. Go up with the instructor and a video person. Have the video person video the skydive from the side angle. Then you and the instructor do a good debrief with the video.

I have no problems taking grips when arching harder than normal but then again I guess I never really have to "max out" my arch to keep up with anyone either.

Greenie in training.

[flyangel2 2]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but with your low jumps numbers you can't possibly be turning that many points.

What is your weight? What is the weight of the other people you are jumping with.

How many points are you turning, what kind of points from the dive pool are you turning.

Again, don't take this the wrong way, trust me when I say that a hard arch will make it hard to turn points and pick up grips. I'm not a small female, I weight in at 135-140 pounds, but when I was on a four way team, it was with big guys, 200 plus pounds, and I had to wear weights to match the fall rate so I didn't have to struggle with the grips being in a hard arch.

When you arch hard, your arms are above your shoulders. How can you take grips when your hands are up that high?

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[ripcords 0]

From the less serious side. How about doing hybrid dives? Have the big guys do belly, and you sit, perhaps the fall rate would be the same?

[dzkid39 0]

You can try jumping with me first. I fall pretty slow too. Are you comeing out any time soon because i havent seen you in a while.

Nick

[Maxx 1]

You should seriuosly try to become a proficient wingsuit flyer

Good luck,
Max

[Candy 0]

Hey ya guys,
Thanks for the advise and the encouragement, thats great I really appreciate it. I've gotten a lot of good information reading these forums.

Thanks again,
Candy

[Candy 0]

Hey Fallndown
I've been wanting to get over there to Cal City, spend a lot of time in that area, love to play in the Panamints, I've heard in the summer when it gets hot a lot of the guys will start early, jump all morning and shoot in the afternoon.....now that sounds like a good day.

[Candy 0]

Nick

I'd love to!
I've been heading over to the coast this winter, its warmer and no tulley fog. See ya in the spring.

Candy

[happythoughts 0]

The key to relative work is to stay with your group in a normal body position. To do this, choose a fast suit and add the appropriate amount of weight.

You want to work in the "middle" of your fallrate range. You want to be able to de-arch to slow down and arch more to fall faster at times.

If you are arched way out and then reach to take grips, you will flatten out and pop up.

As you do bigger stuff, you will have to fall faster to "get to" the formation. You want to have range.

Those are the reasons why you want to fall in your mid-range. Get a weight belt and try 8 lbs initially. Experiment. Talk to other women your size. Don't be surprised if you are wearing 12 to 14 lbs. (I know - Ugh!)

My ex g/f is 105 lbs and 5'1" and wears a leadbelly weight belt. She is an expert big-way flyer and regularly jumps with guys my size. I am 190 lbs.

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

I completely agree with Mary. I COULD arch hard with no lead and keep up with larger guys (because I have as a newbie with no lead), yet it wouldn't be efficient. Besides, my RW suit with HUGE grippers, cordura booties, etc. catches a lot of drag, even though the front is nylon. I began to wear a lead belt at around 105 jumps or so, and, ever since, it has not been a problem for me to fall slow or FAST with anyone, not even during faster 4-ways when the men are wearing lead, too.

Btw, I weigh about 95 lbs., but I am pretty compact. I feel that wearing lead is a given for me, and it doesn't bother me. Don't listen to people who tell you to arch hard or not wear lead. Work with a coach, and you will see that a change in your body position (mantis) and a change in gear (adding some lead to your regular gear) will let you fall with anyone.

My last belly jump was with a friend much larger than myself at a boogie. See attached picture. (I wore about 12 lbs. of lead max.) I was not maxed out at all. Keeping up the fall rate is simply not an issue. It won't be for you, either, if you work on it before attempting to move on. Basics first! Good luck with all.

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[SkiD_PL8 0]

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Please don't take this the wrong way, but with your low jumps numbers you can't possibly be turning that many points.

Since when was the thread about the number of points I turn? I said I had no problem taking grips not that I was an expert at RW.

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What is your weight? What is the weight of the other people you are jumping with.

I weigh in at 140 and have jumped with people in the 180-190 range with no weight.

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How many points are you turning, what kind of points from the dive pool are you turning.

That all depends on if we are doing 4-way or 6-way most of the time we do dives with large piece moves for the fun factor.

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When you arch hard, your arms are above your shoulders. How can you take grips when your hands are up that high?

When I fly my arms are usually at the same height as my shoulders unless I am flying mantis. when I arch hard I don't reach up, I might if I was trying to get down to a formation and was to close to swoop in.

No hard feelings I am always open to advice although it did seem like you totally discounted what I said simply because of my jump #'s. I am by no means an expert at RW. I am sure I will never stop learning actually. However I do feel I have a good grasp on the basics at this point. Bear in mind jump numbers aren't everything, I could have hours of tunnel time you don't know about (which is not the case) just something to think about.

Greenie in training.

[skycat 0]

What kind of weights are you using? If you have a vest I recommend a weight belt, it puts the led down by your hips which helps you stay head high and able to reach grips easier while arching.

Fly it like you stole it!

[happythoughts 0]

She said she had a fallrate of 107. She would have to arch a lot on every skydive, that seems like a bad idea.

I once jumped with a woman who had 200 jumps, most (160) of them solo. She was tall and thin. She started 4 way and everyone complained. Arch, reach, pop up, arch, reach, pop up. Eventually, she became so discouraged at constant failure that she quit jumping with others.

Regardless of your jump numbers, constantly arching hard to stay down is not a good idea. The proper suit and weight are the best method. Arching may work very well for you, but because of their body shape and weight, women need different answers.

Just a note, Mary also works with a lot of new jumpers, a lot of them women. She can point out many things that guys, myself included, would miss. Personally, I ask her opinion on issues related to women and jumping if one comes up.

[SkiD_PL8 0]

The first thing I said was wear weight. Everyone seems to think that I am against her wearing weight for some reason, read my original post.

Greenie in training.