LEARNING TO FREEFLY
Skydivers over recent years have pushed our sport into more and more new areas. Many of the most recent innovations come under the heading of 'Freeflying' - skilled freefalling, any way up you like, often at speeds far in excess of those normally experienced by those falling in the classic 'face to earth' manner.
Most freeflyers start by learning how to Sit-Fly, so called because the basic position for this is very much as if you were sitting in a chair. Learning sit is a good way to achieve better body control and awareness before attempting the more disorienting and faster paced freestyle and vertical flying. Your first forays into vertical skydiving will involve learning to control yourself while standing upright - a straightforward transition from sitting. The goal for many is to be able to fall in control while Head-Down, especially in relation to others, and this is where a great degree of skill is required to maintain awareness of those around you in all directions. Freestyle skydiving is our version of gymnastics, with the emphasis on aesthetically pleasing sequences of manoeuvres.
Considering that freefall speeds range from around 120 mph while in the classic belly-to-earth orientation through about 140 mph while sitting, to somewhere in the region of 240 mph in some head-down positions, you can see that anybody changing from a high-speed position to a low-speed one can suddenly find themselves on a collision course with closing speeds of anything up to 120 mph. Those involved in group vertical flying need extremely good awareness and freefall skills! The high speeds involved also have safety implications for the parachute equipment worn. Modern parachute systems are designed with present-day disciplines in mind, so extra care must be taken when selecting and maintaining your gear as a freeflyer.
QUALIFICATIONS
Before progressing on to free-fly training, you must achieve BPA Category Eight and gain your FAI 'A' certificate, and have demonstrated basic 'belly-to-earth' skills, be confident and competent at recovering from instability, altitude aware, able to track effectively. These skills are covered by the first seven levels of the WARP system. At Langar, we also ask you to achieve BPA IC1 (Individual Canopy Grade 1) which covers many basic skills relating to both under-canopy and aircraft skills and responsibilities.
The initial qualification in Freeflying is BPA FF1 (Free Fly Grade 1). This first requires basic competence in flat-fly skills (you must be fully altitude aware and able to track effectively) and then demonstrating controlled sit and stand skills. BPA FF2 (Free Fly Grade 2) covers controlled skills in relation to others in the head-down orientation.
EQUIPMENT
Every freeflyer's nightmare is a premature deployment. This is a much more serious situation than in conventional face-to-earth flying. Firstly the jumper may be changing body orientation and become entangled. Secondly, they may well be falling at a speed way in excess of the maximum recommended deployment speed for the canopy. Bottom-of-container (BOC) throwaway or a pull-out deployment are a must. You must not do any freestyle, sit or vertical flying with a leg strap throwaway. If the body is in a vertical position, the legstrap pocket and so the pilot-chute toggle and bridle line will be aligned to the wind such that they may actually be lifted out of the pocket creating a premature deployment. Main and Reserve flaps should have tuck tabs or 'crocodile teeth' to keep the flap covers closed and so help guard against premature deployment. Keep your closing loop tight and inspect it regularly to make sure that it is not worn. Closing loops and Velcro must be replaced if any sign of wear becomes apparent. A strap connecting your legstraps together under your bum helps prevent the legstraps sliding down to your knees - scary or dangerous. Whilst it is obvious that equipment items such as bridle, risers etc should be secure, even minor items need to be tight. Loose shoe laces and/ or helmet straps can create extreme discomfort and friction burns at the higher speeds of freeflying. Altimeters can be worn wherever you find it comfortable - as long as you can actually read it in the flying positions you are using. Many believe that there is a 'burble' (low pressure area) created above the chest whilst sit flying, hence a jumper should not wear a chest mounted altimeter. This is only true if the jumper is reclined on their back. This tends to be a problem with low experienced sit-flyers, so be careful with chest-mount altimeters - an altimeter in a burble reads higher than you really are. If in a genuinely vertical position there should not be any noticeable burble. An audible altimeter is a very good backup device!
CLOTHING
Sit-flying, freestyle and vertical flying can be done in whatever clothing you feel comfortable with, even nude if you insist. When starting to learn, however, there are several options that can help: For sit/stand, tight legs and a baggy top create low drag on the lower body and high drag for the upper body. This helps keep the body vertical. Tuck your top into your bottoms, and tie very tightly with a drawcord at the waist - to prevent your top blowing up over your handles. If you are going to wear an ordinary jumpsuit suit do not wear booties. The air will hit the feet and try to take you head down or into a backloop. Baggy bottoms can inflate similarly, so make them tight at the ankles or fit 'stirrups'. If you can afford it, special jump suits and accessories can help you:
- Freestyle and Skysurfing suits generally have the tight legs and baggy top mentioned above and the materials are designed to give much more drag in just the right places than simply jumping with jeans and a t-shirt.
- Free-fly suits have drag pretty much everywhere and are popular because it means that a jumper transitioning from sit to stand to head down does not radically change the amount of drag and hence air speed. Beginners may find them difficult though because there may be too much drag on the legs to maintain a comfortable sit position.
- Winged sit suits: These are specifically designed for sit flying and are ideal as they catch the air just under the arms holding the jumper upright and have no drag on the legs. Suit wings are designed for your fall rate characteristics - so someone else's may not be good for you. Sit suits offer better general control than other suits, but: if you are not in a symmetrical position a sit suit can put you into a terrifying spin and hence may not be ideal for early attempts. When jumping a wing suit make sure none of the material is caught under your harness - jumping with only one wing inflated will create problems. It can be awkward to pull using wings. Rather than extending your left arm (which can inflate a wing), pull your left arm in close to your torso, and keep your right arm close in while reaching for you toggle. Do practise pulls during your early jumps.
- Webbed gloves: These are another device to help increase upper body drag, they also help fine tune the fall rate. If you are jumping with webbed gloves make sure you can easily get your hands into your handles and toggles before you make the jump. Do practise pulls during your early jumps.
PLANNING and PREPARATION
Have a plan. Always decide what you are going to try on exit and in freefall and determine break-off and deployment altitudes before you get anywhere near an aircraft. Don't try to achieve too much too soon. Spend a few jumps on just one move until it becomes second nature. Only do solo jumps until you are skilled in the positions and can track away properly. Two ways between inexperienced freeflyers can be dangerous - there is a very high risk of high speed collisions.
EXIT ORDER
There is a huge debate as to who goes first and who goes last. Actually, there's more disagreement than debate but here are the arguments: Freeflyers out first: Their higher fall rates means there is a danger of them catching up or even overtaking the group before them hence they must go out first. Freeflyers out last: The higher fall rate of freeflyers implies they will be spending less time in freefall than flat flyers. If this is the case then flat flyers getting out after freeflyers will be have more freefall drift and so move across the sky horizontally, ending up directly above the earlier-leaving free flyers. Once the free flyers have opened, they will then start to fly back to the drop zone directly under the group out after them. This could be particularly hazardous if a flat flyer has a malfunction cutting away directly above the open freeflyers.
There is no clear cut answer, and, in practice, the decision will be made by the Drop Zone and Jumpmaster of the aircraft. Something to be taken into account is the degree of responsibility of the free-flyers involved. The Jumpmaster will often be part of a larger group who would, in theory, be getting out before the freeflyers, thus leaving them to time the exit interval themselves, which dictates horizontal separation between groups. Less experienced jumpers (whatever their discipline!) are often more interested in getting out and enjoying themselves, tending to exit closer together than is safe. While many experienced freeflyers consider that freeflyers should get out last (because the danger of losing horizontal separation is more serious than the risk of losing vertical separation), the DZ management may require at least the lower-experience freeflyers to be supervised, and therefore exit first, for exactly the same reason.
However, the good guys in the States recommend going out last, especially for lower experience freeflyers, with break-off at 5000 feet minimum. One breaks off from a freefall formation by flat horizontal tracking, not by pulling at different heights, but this does rely on a sufficient interval between exits. So, help yourself out by learning what the issues are, and be prepared to deal with safety first, fun second. Freeflyers really deserve to get out last - they need the warm comfortable seats at the back of the plane! Now all you have to do is convince the Jumpmaster and DZ you will deal with it properly.
EXIT
On your first sit jump, the easiest way to exit is to step out facing the tail with your back to the prop blast. Then ride down the slip stream like a slide into the sit position. It is important that, soon after exit (so you have plenty of altitude), you make sure that you can easily flip over face to earth in order to get into a stable position to pull. You don't want to discover this is a problem when screaming through 2,000 feet at greater-than-normal freefall speeds.
FREEFALL
Some useful skills to learn are:
- Sit or stand exits
- Controlled turns
- Sit /stand transitions whilst maintaining a heading
- Returning from an unstable position into a sit or stand.
- Forward and Sideways movement (see Tony-Suits "Follow Your Feet" for more info).
- Initiating a fast sit/stand spin and stopping it quickly.
If you get into a spin, flip over, get stable, check your altimeter and, if height permits, try again. Try new skills in bursts of 10 seconds max: you tend to drift across the sky, so turning round after 10 seconds and going back the other way will help
.
On your early jumps, if you are out of control or experience any other problem: get face to earth, it's what you're used to!
It is helpful to practise being 'unstable': your body needs to learn that face-to-earth is not the only way to fly. For example, if you do get into a spin and you are confident you can handle it, why not throw in a barrel roll as well? The overall object is to be in control any way up whatsoever - that's what 'stable' really means. One of the most common early problems in sit-flying is a reclined body position. If you let it, the air will catch your legs and push them up towards your waist. Push down hard with your feet and you should find yourself sitting upright. Once comfortable in this position you simply extend your legs to fly in a stand-up.
ALTITUDE AWARENESS and BREAK OFF
Free flying can be as much as 50&percent; faster than belly flying, so its particularly important to keep good track of altitude if you have developed a 'body clock' based on belly flying. Break off heights need to be much higher than before as you need time to
- get face to earth
- slow down and
- track away,
before you pull. Furthermore the old break off heights were designed for much slower closing speeds than are inherent in today's zero-p elliptical canopies. We recommend breaking off by 5000 feet, particularly while you are low-experience. Make sure there is no one above you before you go face to earth or you run the risk of creating a funnel at break off.
DON'T CORK:
when a cork is placed under water it wants to jump rapidly back up to the surface. This is analogous to what happens to a freeflyer going face to earth. He/she will rapidly 'pop-up' (relatively) and collide at a dangerous speed with anyone above. That is why it is essential that you are comfortable recovering into a sit position before you go on to two ways or bigger.
VERTICAL RELATIVE WORK (VRW)
Vertical relative work requires a whole new set of skills, do not assume you have these skills just because you are an experienced belly flyer. Master the skills listed abovebefore you go out on your first VRW jump. Brian Germain (of gold medal-winning team 'Z-Air Time') recommends that your first 500 VRW jumps should be no bigger than 2 ways. Whilst 500 jumps may be a bit excessive, it does underline the point that with the addition of a third dimension of flight, the chances of a zoo become all the greater and so it is best not to have too many people straight away. Most jumpers find freeflying is all about exploring 3-D movement rather than trying to build the biggest formation. Most freeflying instructors recommend you become proficient at sit and stand-up flying before you go head down. Just as in conventional formation flying slow gentle dockings are preferred. Fly into your slot, don't crash. Most importantly - have fun. VRW gives the unique opportunity to fly your body in any direction through any orientation, enjoy it.
Above all: if you have any questions or need advice - ask for it!