alti aware

[Skyrose7 0]

Hey all, just had a wake up call this weekend and wanted to share. I am pleased to find that I am not as dependant on my instruments as I thought. After wffc, the first jump at home I just filled a student load and jumped with the jm. ON our last point, we broke away and I looked to find that I was at 6,5...hmm, wierd, but cool. sit fly, alti check--6,0---wow, I should have lost more altitude! sit, belly---trees are getting wayyy to big---pull. I opened just below the jm, and my alti read 4,0...When I landed it still read 4,0. I found out I pulled at about 2,5. I am sharing this story because I realized how much I expect my altimeter to work, and that is not such a good thing. Use it as a bonus, but don't rely on instruments to do your job for you. blue skies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mind is like a parachute--it works better when it is open. JUMP.
MaryRose

[christoofar 0]

Same experience here. Your #1 altitude indicator is definately your eyes. If it "feels" low, you're probably low. Don't trust the alti to be infallable. Take a quick glance down every now and then.

I don't know if there have ever been any audible mals like the analogs do (although they are "digital," the pressure-reading instrument can still mal).

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[rendezvous 0]

getting an audible as a back up is probably a good thing to do too.

[freeflir29 0]

Yep.....I have an alti 2 and a Time Out. The time out is definately a back up to #1 My eyes #2 the Alti 2. I have pulled high before thinking I was too low. It turned out to be just my perception being off that day. *shrug* I'd rather pull than not.....

[fudd 0]

I've had malfunction on my alti too, But it was during a 4-way. I noticed in the plane going up that it didn't seem right. It jumped in 1000' steps. All the others had dytters and altimeters, so when we did breakof at 4000' I just countet 5 sec. It looked like 3000'. It felt like 3000' and it was 3000'.
I prefer a working altimeter, though... It's nice however to know that you also can trust your inner clock a bit.
Here what happend a sunset load once...
---
In the plane. Everyone has seated down and buckled up:
JM: Hey, you don't have an altimeter, shall I run and get one for you?
Jumper: Nah, don't bother. No googles so it's gonna be blury anyway...
---

There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

[Danger 0]

I agree that your eyes are the best altitude sensing device. I have had my dytter quit on me and have had the face plate blow off my Alti2 twice.

If the ground looks big, you are probaly close. Wave off and pull.

Danger

[fudd 0]

A dytter that quits can be bad enough. A jumper on my DZ got another scare. He did a tendem jump (as JM) and set his dytter to flatline at tandem altitude. (3500'-4000' I think).
Then he forgot he had adjusted it, and did a normal jump. Guess who got a little chocker when suddenly he got a flatline. (Oh shit, am I that low, pull? pull? eh...doesn't look low, altimeters shows 4000'...wait a second...ah....!)

There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

[rendezvous 0]

Ofcourse the best thing to trust is your own perception and instincts but until you develop good ones it's not a bad idea to have an audible onboard. I'm not saying you develop a blind faith towards it. Trust yourself first. But if the dytter is working correctly when your eyes are playing games and your alti is not moving it might just help in the decision process. Even on a normal day it's a good reminder just in case you are slacking out a bit in the jump. I don't recommend the audible as an alternate to anything. I recommend it as one of the things to have.

[christoofar 0]

Quote

---
In the plane. Everyone has seated down and buckled up:
JM: Hey, you don't have an altimeter, shall I run and get one for you?
Jumper: Nah, don't bother. No googles so it's gonna be blury anyway...
---

If you squint really hard you can see. I usually don't wear anything on hop and pops... except sunglasses usually.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[faulknerwn 38]

You just need to be careful with them. I got rid of one a long time ago because I came to realize I was waiting for the beep and not being altitude aware. About 6 months ago I got a Pro-track but am trying to be extremely careful about not waiting for the beep. Its very easy to do.

I was talking to a guy at Rantoul who casually mentioned that'd he'd had 2 canopies out 3 times. I was shocked and asked him how - once he took it low on a 9-way because of crowded airspace when tracking, and the other 2 he basically just ended up low because of lack of awareness because he didn't hear his audible.

With a look of disbelief on my face I asked him then if maybe he should consider checking his altimeter once in a while in freefall.

His reply was that he never looked at his altimeter in freefall.

With my mouth hanging open, about the only thing I could respond was, "I highly suggest you start!"

This guy has between 500-700 jumps I believe., Scary stuff.

[Skyrose7 0]

That guy is the type of jumper that scares me. I think he was one of the people the old timers at my dz told me to watch out for at wffc. That type of jumper puts everyone at risk.


as for the ati, I am looking into getting an audible as well as my wrist alti. The only reason I don't want an audible is because there is a chance of being dependant on it. That is the last thing I want.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mind is like a parachute--it works better when it is open. JUMP.
MaryRose

[Jessica 0]

Quote

The only reason I don't want an audible is because there is a chance of being dependant on it.

Then do like billvon and some others advise -- set each altitude (besides the flatline, I'd suggest) 500 feet below the point you intend to take the action. For example, if you planned breakoff at 4.5, set it for 4. That means you should have initiated breakoff before you hear it, and if you didn't, you get a) reminded to breakoff and b) a nudge to pay better attention to your altitude.

Skydiving is for cool people only

[christoofar 0]

At Rantoul I saw someone with two audibles, an analog on the shoe, and one on the wrist.

If you need this many gizmos to figure out how high you are, perhaps skydiving is not for you?

I'm happy continuing to glance at my analog. I have a fashioned mount on my rig for it so I don't need to wear it on my hand or on my shoe or my chest strap, and it's always there so I never forget it.

And when the thing busts, I can just slap velcro on the back of another Altimaster and put it on the mount on my rig.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[PhillyKev 0]

Don't forget that a lot of 4 way team members wear extra alti's so that they're visible to others when they're turning points.

[billvon 3,031]

>At Rantoul I saw someone with two audibles, an analog on the shoe,
>and one on the wrist.

Yep, had one guy like this on my loads. Digitude and altimaster on his hands, two audibles. Remember, beware the skydiver with four altimeters. He has little attention left for actual skydiving.