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From: bleck@ai.mit.edu (Olaf Bleck)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Re: Arch problems
Message-ID: <15560@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 4 May 91 01:53:08 GMT
References: <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <1991May3.120653.21687@hellgate.utah.edu>
Sender: news@ai.mit.edu
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Lines: 22


|> In article <28390@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dth@reef.cis.ufl.edu (David Hightower) writes:
|> >I have a problem that maybe some of you have encountered.  I took up
|> >skydiving in the Spring of '89, and immediately fell in love with it.
|> >Only problem was, I could not arch enough to remain stable


|> >   Plus, doing 5-second free-falls 23 times
|> >in a roll gets to be boring.

Yeah, I had the same sort of problem (as do many folks), though maybe not quite as bad--after 8 or so 5 sec. delays, I got lucky and did a good one, fortunately punched through the 5 sec. window, and went on to 10 sec delays, and never had too much of a problem since.  My argument was that arching in free fall, particularly at exit where you're not terminal at all, (i.e. in a state of virtual weightlessness) is something your body has no clue how to do since there's not much force on it.  You can't practic








e it either, except maybe in one of NASA's zero-g flights.

So the problem was to get my body some idea of what it was supposed to feel like when arched properly, and unfortunately the only way to do it in skydiving is to fall for more than 5 secs. because you're just kind of floating in that time anyhow; usually by 7 or 8 secs my awareness has 100% kicked in, I'm also falling faster, and the relative wind is now defined, so at this point, back then, I got a mental snapshot of what really ought to be going on, and then it was second nature.  Pulling at 10 was a bre








eze, and it obviously got easier as the jumps got longer.

SO, I'd say maybe you should invest in an AFF jump, where you get a good 30 or more seconds of heads up free fall; you'd probably relax and arch just great after the first 1000 ft or so.  The other thing you might try if you can get there, is a day a wind tunnel, like Pigeon Forge, TN or the likes.  Made a 500% improvment in my skills!

Everyone I've ever talked to said 5 sec. delays are by far the hardest.
Good Luck!

-Olaf Bleck, A12241