skyyhi 0 #1 February 11, 2004 Most of you have read my AFF stories where I regale you with these wonderful freefall stories ending in not so pretty landings where I usually end up plf'ing (either fully, or just a knee down to stop forward momentum). Well, I have been doing student solos for a little bit now and my landings have been getting progressively better - not perfect but better. I am actually getting the toggles down into a full flare (something I have struggled with on the big student canopies because I have ABSOLUTELY NO upper body strength - think popeye's gf Olive Oil's arms). I worked hard for that flare, working out with weights, doing pushups, etc to get some upper body strength and it is paying off. Okay, I wander. . .back to my story. It's the Elsinore Instructor Burnout Benefit and I have a plan to do 4 or 5 jumps on Saturday. Its a rather chilly but BEAUTIFUL morning so I grab a student rig (Javelin container w/Nav 240 canopy) and don a jumpsuit. I head to Kat in manifest and get myself on a 25 minute call. My friend Jen is also on this load with me. Up we go. . ., Jen's 5-way group exits and then a couple of freeflyers, then it's my turn. The uppers are 30 so I give a 15 second count then dive out. . .my dive is nice, I can see all the way to the ocean this morning, reach pull altitude and everything is perfect. After some canopy control checks I fly to my holding area, throw some spirals, set up my landing pattern and away I go. . .I flare just fine not too high, not too low, but I still don't stand up. . .hmmmm. Jen sees my landing and says she thought I had it. So I am thinking, am I every going to stand it up? Very frustrating. So I manifest again and go up, same rig, pretty much the same dive and I come in for my landing. . .nice plane out on flare - I sit back in the saddle, pull to full brakes and voila. . .touchdown - feet on the ground. . .little celebratory dance and I am SOOOOO happy I forget that the canopy is up in the air. . .oops, grab risers, pull it down, pull on a brake line and throw a knee on top of the canopy to get it to collapse. Okay, now this HAS to be a fluke right? Well I get really excited and manifest again, this time I am on a 40 minute call. My friend Bob (Skylord) shows up and decides to take pictures of my landing. . .now the pressure is on. Dive the same, uneventful canopy ride, final approach, notice wind has changed directions a bit, slight pull on toggle to adjust so I don't end up in a crosswind. . .begin flare, nice plane out, relax back in saddle, full brakes and voila. . .another beautiful stand up. Okay, is this for real? gotta do this again. . .I go immediately back up and try again. And this landing was even more perfect than the last. I think I actually get it now - I believe I was anticipating the PLF so much that I would attempt to lean forward when the canopy planed out and would throw my center of gravity off - don't know for sure if that was it, but I am sure some of you more experienced folks can help with that. Yeah, I know. . .BEER is owed for the standups. . .Shark has already informed me of that - since I will finish up my A requirements next time I am out I will probably owe double the beer. . .its all good. As soon as Skylord sends me the photos I will upload them here for you all to see. . . Yeah I am stoked. . .lol________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #2 February 11, 2004 Dont give up! What is your weight? It might happen that your gear is a bit underloaded, and thats the reason of the weak flare. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #3 February 11, 2004 yeah, I am a bit underloaded but I am still on student status and listening to my instructors with regards to downsizing. They know me best regarding my abilities. I have a good strong flare now so no worries there - all that working out has paid off big dividends. My exit weight in the student gear is approximately 160 lbs. . .loading the canopy at .67 to 1.________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #4 February 11, 2004 Ive meant that if its underloaded it wont level out. We have Nav220,260,280 in our club. I had jumps with them. I prefer Nav220. I had stand-up landing most of the time, but not all of them was soft landing. Ive managed to break my leg with Nav220, but thats a different issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #5 February 11, 2004 Yeah, I hear you there. . .I could not get the 260 to plane out at all. . .I've had no problems with the 240. After a few more stand-ups they will downsize me to the 220. I am happy with my slow downsizing progression. . .keeps me feeling safe.________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #6 February 11, 2004 Ok. If I were you I would rather try Nav220 if your instructor agrees with it. 0.7 is still one the safe side. You`ll see the difference. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jen1129 0 #7 February 11, 2004 Great job with the standup landings! It will get easier... I stood up about 1 of every 2 or 3 landings till something clicked at about jump 40 or 50. And yes, it does get easier when you downsize, but like you I was (and still am) in no rush... Pretty soon you will have your A and we will have to do some jumps! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #8 February 11, 2004 QuotePretty soon you will have your A and we will have to do some jumps! Yes we will. . .I am going to try to finish my A the weekend of the 21 and 22nd. . .hopefully it will work out for me weather wise and wind wise. . . I am really excited to FINALLY get done. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #9 February 11, 2004 Maybe this isn't the place to post this but......Your posts always bring a smile to my faceThank You!!"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #10 February 11, 2004 QuoteMaybe this isn't the place to post this but......Your posts always bring a smile to my face Thank You!! Glad I could make you smile. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamsr 0 #11 February 11, 2004 I think no being able to standup student canopies is half down to the canopies themselves, i did all my student jumps on a skymaster 290, and i could never land the things properly. Student canopies are so detuned so you can't stall them that they don't generally plane out when you flare. As soon as i got my own rig with a Hornet 190 loaded at about 1.25:1 i have had no problems with landings and even though i come in quicker it's so easy to land because it has a much more powerful flare. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #12 February 11, 2004 Darcy, Way to go Lady. You do catch on fast. MichaelMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #13 February 11, 2004 QuoteWay to go Lady. You do catch on fast. Thanks Michael. . .but FAST!. . .it only took me 14 jumps to figure it out. . .but if that is fast, well, I will take it. . . By the way, glad I got to meet you at the Instructor Benefit. . .I had a BLAST. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kris12 0 #14 February 11, 2004 definitely fast! I have just started consistantly standing up my landings (jumps 105, 106, 107). Good for you! Congratulations!! kristen swooo #3 MB #3587 P.M.S. #66 "so let go, jump in...what're you waiting for? it's all right 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #15 February 11, 2004 Quotedefinitely fast! I have just started consistantly standing up my landings (jumps 105, 106, 107). Good for you! Congratulations!! Thanks! We shall see if it will hold. . .but I built up a lot of confidence landing 3 in a row. . .hopefully I can duplicate that on the next time out. . .we shall see. . .the funny thing is that I got really superstitious after the first one and would only jump that same student rig for the rest of the day. . .too funny. I was driving Rhonda, the student rig packer crazy that day so I gave her a little bonus. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crutch 0 #16 February 12, 2004 Great job on figuring it out! I think what may really be happening though reading your posts is your perception/attitude about landing. Most students are constantly trying to speed the landing prosess up. What I mean is, instead of letting the ground come up to you, you try and get down to the ground. This causes all sorts of problems by reaching for the ground which distorts how you are sitting in the harness. I think when you "sat back" in the harness you were maybe forcing yourself better into this mindset.blue skies, art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shark 0 #17 February 12, 2004 QuoteWell, I have been doing student solos for a little bit now and my landings have been getting progressively better - not perfect but better. Well, you've been doing better because you don't have to listen to us on the radio anymore. On your Level 7 & 8 I didn't talk to you, other than checking to see if you could hear me. We'll discuss the downsizing later on. You are doing fine on the 240. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiveNFlorida 0 #18 February 12, 2004 QuoteQuoteWell, I have been doing student solos for a little bit now and my landings have been getting progressively better - not perfect but better. Well, you've been doing better because you don't have to listen to us on the radio anymore. On your Level 7 & 8 I didn't talk to you, other than checking to see if you could hear me. We'll discuss the downsizing later on. You are doing fine on the 240. I found that after getting off the radio my landings got much nicer and more consistant:) You finally get to start deciding when to flare based on your visual perception, rather than relying on some instructor to yell FLARE! haha. Good for you, chica! Keep up the good work:D Angela. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #19 February 12, 2004 QuoteYou are doing fine on the 240. Tell me about it. I was afraid to take any of the other 240s. . .I had to have MY rig. . .lol. I even wrote the number in my log book so I can get it next time. I am in no hurry to downsize. . .as you well know. . .As long as what I am using is working for me, I am HAPPY. . . Okay, so I am having WAY too much fun. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FunBobby 0 #20 February 12, 2004 Darcy - Good on ya for improving on your landings. As for me, with student rigs and mains, I actually did very well landing, but I had a helluva time figuring out my landings when I started jumping other gear. I jumped all sorts of canopies, many borrowed and some demo gear - a raider, several triathlons and sabres, a raven main, and a spectre. For a little while, my landings actually got worse. I was only standing up half the time, and when I fell, I'd get some pretty good scrapes, bumps, and bruises. My accuracy wasn't great either, and a few times, I bullseyed the taxiway, compass rose, and once, even an empty aircraft apron. Nice. The bad thing was that my apprehension about my landings affected me in freefall; I didn't fly as well because I would worry about the eventuality of landing. It was frustrating for a while, and I wasn't sure I wanted to keep jumping if I couldn't figure out how to land. And then, all of the sudden, it just started clicking. Gear for me was really important - I did well under a spectre and better under a triathlon. I jumped a used tri and liked it so much that I bought it. I put several hundred jumps on that canopy. I still have it, as a matter of fact, in my backup rig, though I've ordered a replacement and will be looking to sell the triathlon. Hey - care to try it? FunBobby Edited - dangit, why can't I type right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FunBobby 0 #21 February 12, 2004 By the way, Darcy, I'd be careful about taking any advice from this guy "crutch." Check out his avatar - anyone with a head that big and with face that goofy can't be all there..... Where does "crutch" come from anyway? That can't be good. Just kidding, Art! You da' man! And if I hadn't given us all such a s#*tty spot that day , maybe you'd have a different name on dz.com. Say hi to C & A for me! Bobby Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Islandcool 0 #22 February 12, 2004 QuoteWe'll discuss the downsizing later on. You are doing fine on the 240. NO DUDE! If you downsize her she'll nag me to jump my new rig. Keep her on that 240 until I get back in the air. Ed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #23 February 12, 2004 QuoteNO DUDE! If you downsize her she'll nag me to jump my new rig. Keep her on that 240 until I get back in the air. Dude, it is a SWEET rig you got. . .hmmmm, Mark, how soon do you think I can downsize to a 170? Before April?. . .lol________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
