Photo by Keith Larrett |
Sit
Fly
What do you do when you have 17 years
in the sport, about 3,000 jumps and you're getting bored?
I'd been watching the new craze of chute
assis (sit flying to the unpretentious) and almost convinced myself
that I was too long in the skydiving tooth to master all the new
stuff. Total bollocks! I donned a sit suit one day last year and
came down grinning from ear to ear, I'd never had so much fun in
ages, worse still, I hadn't got a clue what I was doing.
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The Way Forward
I soon realised that this was the way forward and I've now taken
to quoting Gus Wing ("Belly flying is great if it's all you can
do") and trying to convert the rest of the pancake flying fraternity
(belly flyers). I also decided that most of the video stuff would
go and I'd get back to taking stills pictures. Sit flying was about
to open up all kinds of new angles.
During the course of the last year I
got re-hooked on skydiving and learnt loads of lessons and, if it
helps, I'd like to pass some of them onto the virgin sit flyers
amongst you:
Gear
Your rig was probably designed for belly flying, you will be in all
sorts of strange positions and at faster speeds. A premature opening in
the sit position is likely to take half the reserve container with it
so beware.
- Tight closing loops are the order
- Beware of leg strap throwaways (secure that pilot chute)
- Velcro the bridle line between the BOC pocket and pin just under
the main container flaps
- Beware of lifting reserve and main pin cover flaps
- Stow shoe laces, pull up cords and collars, they either beat you
up or get lost
Flying
However experienced you are it is likely that you'll find it's 'back to
basics' when you start sit flying.
- Get the equivalent of Warp or one on one coaching (We went to Skydive
Sebastian and got help from Chuck Karcher at a ticket + $10, great value,
great vibes)
- Do loads of drill dives … Keep groups to the minimum
- Get video as you would other disciplines to help the learning
- Use a sit suit, it's like training wheels on your first push bike.
Tony and Symbi make great suits
- Make a commitment to forget other flying for at least a few jumps
at a time. Because you know how to belly fly it's all too tempting to
go back to it. You'll need 20-40 sit jumps just to get comfortable.
Safety
Beware - you travel faster, you travel across the sky and you don't track
as well in a sit suit. Apart from some of the tips above please consider;
- Exit order; although there are two schools of thought it is generally
accepted that sit and head-down flyers get out first, don't be afraid
of getting out well short of the spot Allow plenty of time between groups
- 8 seconds between head-down flyers at Sibson
- Wear a multiple altitude warning thingy, a Time Out!! is exact and
it's British made ! Break off at 4 grand
- Track with the back of your hands facing mother earth when wearing
suits with inflatable arms
- Beware horizontal and vertical separation
Attitude
- It's never too late to learn, sit flying brings a whole new dimension
to your enjoyment of the sport
- It's never too early to learn, we now have a generation of flyers
who only sit and freefly
- Avoid ever having another bad exit
- A great way to forget about dirt diving
- You never need be serious again
I'm having a ball learning how to fly from 18 year olds with 200 jumps,
just as I was starting to get a grip on this sit flying and taking a few
decent snaps I got persuaded into trying head down freeflying - Now there's
a challenge!
Simon Ward
sward@pobox.com
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