Clear-and-pull from altitude?

[Cepheus 0]

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So now the question I throw out there is this: why can a S/L progression student do his/her first freefall from 4,000 and no one thinks twice about it, and an AFF progression student isn't in a hurry to do their hop n pop from 4,000. Hummmm?

I'm looking forward to doing mine...

--
Skydive -- testing gravity, one jump at a time.

[freeflir29 0]

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you guys MUST be jumping a left side door

Yep...I was making an inside joke about an incident last summer out of an Otter. A CERTAIN CRW Dawg pitched his P/C so fast it made a loud "Thunk" on the side of the aircraft. Got some people's panties in a MAJOR wad....

[Kris 0]

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I have to laugh to myself when I'm helping a recent AFF graduate out the door (no insult to you intended) doing their first hop n pop. They look out the door when you're at 4,000 and you tell them to exit and they get all nervous.

Yup...Know the feeling. I learned via the IAD method and never gave a second thought to doing a low hop-n'-pop when Oklahoma weather prevented us from doing anything else.

I went to an all turbine-DZ earlier this year and it was friggin' cold during the morning so I asked manifest for a H&P. I get on the Otter and tell the pilot to let me out between 2 & 2.5K with no cut.

I actually had people look at me like I was crazy, and who seriously thought I was kidding until the red light came on and I slid up the door.

Green light came and I was out the door at 2300 and in the saddle under my Stiletto at 1900. Perfect CRW-style exit.

Heh. AFF kids these days...

Kris

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[Sonic 0]

We had an AFF grad at our dz - did AFF at a big turbine DZ, came to our 182 dz and was scared to get out at "only" 10k

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[dterrick 0]

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Green light came and I was out the door at 2300 and in the saddle under my Stiletto at 1900. Perfect CRW-style exit.

Yee haah!

My best 'unintnetional' freestyle h n p was my first door exit (not step) and I guess I must have launched asymetrically. I did a cartwheely frontloop tunblefuq from 2800 but KNEW I had time to pull. JM was a bit pissed at the showboating in front of the remaining student but the 'kid' liked it. So did I. Told him what happened (I'm too honest, I guess) But, it made me feel like Calvin (& Hobbes) in one of their downhill escapades
Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[flyangel2 2]

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My best 'unintnetional' freestyle h n p was my first door exit (not step) and I guess I must have launched asymetrically. I did a cartwheely frontloop tunblefuq from 2800 but KNEW I had time to pull. JM was a bit pissed at the showboating in front of the remaining student but the 'kid' liked it. So did I. Told him what happened (I'm too honest, I guess) But, it made me feel like Calvin (& Hobbes) in one of their downhill escapades

A few years ago when I was working on my pro rating, I was doing hop n pops from 2,000 with a very slow opening 210. The CRW dogs in the plane though it would be funny to trip me as I was going out the door. The first back loop was out of control, so I had to show them I was under control and went into a second one. Got the canopy opened, and even landed in the peas There was a gal on the load that had graduated AFF months and months ago and still hadn't done her hop n pop. I had to go up with her later that day and calm her and talk her through her exit from 4,000.

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

[neiliss 0]

I have done 2 hop n pop's since graduating a few weeks ago from AFF. Both of them were terrible imho. I was pretty unstable on exit and pull on both of them. I am planning on doing alot more of them in the future to get myself stable on exit as soon as possible and deploy. It seems like a weakness from my AFF training. Anything lower than 10K is really scary.

Cheers
Neil

[freeflir29 0]

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I am planning on doing alot more of them in the future to get myself stable on exit as soon as possible and deploy

A great exercise to help you out is just to get out at full alti and just do a "practice" H&P. Work on maintaining heading and stability while doing practice pulls right out of the airplane. A lot of AFF students find this helps since there isn't all the "pressure" of being "low." Only takes a few seconds out the door and then you can work on free fall skills all in the same dive!

[jfields 0]

I love doing clear & pull's from full altitude. Actually, it is my jump day ritual to do one for my initial jump each day, if possible. I especially like to do it when I get to a new dropzone. That lets me visually match things on the ground up with the aerial photo most places have. You'd be surprised how out of date they can be, with new developments in places that used to be open fields. They can also be misleading if they were taken in a different season. I can watch the jumpers below and view their patterns as well.

Some of this has been mentioned in other posts, but I'll list off what comes to my mind:

Before deciding on a Clear & Pull:

1. Check with the pilot, well before even manifesting.
2. Check the winds aloft.
3. Ask the opinion of the more experienced jumpers if the weather is suitable.
4. Review the aerial map.
5. Check to make sure you have adequate weather protection if it is cold. Remember, you're up there for a lot longer!
6. Talk to an instructor or experienced jumper you trust about the possibility of disconnecting an RSL if you have one.

Once you've decided it's okay to Clear & Pull:

1. Disconnect your RSL, if you've come to that conclusion.
2. Let the pilot know you'll be doing it.
3. Get information on exit point from the pilot.
4. Check where you should be in the exit order (usually last).
5. Let other jumpers on the load know what you are doing.

Have fun!

[DYEVOUT 0]

"6. Talk to an instructor or experienced jumper you trust about the possibility of disconnecting an RSL if you have one."
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At the risk of sounding stupid, why unhook your RSL?

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."

[jfields 0]

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At the risk of sounding stupid, why unhook your RSL?

That is a personal preference issue. The theory being that if you are doing a clear & pull, you have tons of altitude to play with. In the event of a malfunction at 12,000+, you don't have the same issue of getting your reserve open quickly that you do at normal pull altitudes. So disconnecting your RSL allows you extra time to separate from your main in the event of a mal, thereby reducing the likelihood of a main-reserve entanglement. It would also allow you to regain proper body position in the event of chopping from a spinning main, for example. But then you have to remember to pull your reserve (which should be part of emergency procedures anyway). Disconnecting the RSL gives you the option of delaying your reserve pull a bit. Pros and cons of both, of course. That is why I suggested talking to an instructor, rather than simply advising a person to do it.

[DYEVOUT 0]

Oh, cool.

Makes sense - Thanx for the input.

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."