Visiting a Flystation (tunnel) is probably on the bucket list of every skydiver… if not… it should be! We were fortunate to join a tunnel camp in St Petersburg, Russia during June this year. If you have yet to tick that box, here is my advice:

1. Set yourself up for success by choosing good, experienced instructors. Ange and Bailey came prepared to ensure that we all leave tunnel camp feeling like pro’s. Being a rookie skydiver, it is hard to put into words the value added to my skill level. We worked through all the randoms and most intermediate blocks during our training week. I felt like a different person when I stepped out of the tunnel after our last session… a far cry from the first day when I could hardly control my body.
2. Pick some fun team mates to make tunnel camp even better. Daniel and Clive made sure that we all got our daily dose of laughs and coffee (oh… and beer after training)! Daniel also insisted that we trial all the possible variations of Vodka (they all taste like nail polish remover). The biggest highlight was witnessing each other develop and grow during the camp.  
3. Get married and join tunnel camp as part of your honeymoon. Just kidding…. No not really… that is what we did. Johan and I are both crazy about skydiving, so it made sense!

The tunnel will see us again, although we are looking forward to trying out all our new skills in the sky. Make a note to watch out for Clive, Daniel, Johan and Elmien at Nationals next year folks!!!

From a coaches point of view: it's always so rewarding to see skydivers walk in one side a bit timid and unrefined, then put in some hard work, sweat and tears and walk out the other side with huge smiles, loads of confidence, stiff bodies and some new rocking solo and 4 way abilities.

These 4 flyers most certainly rewarded us with just that and MORE! 

The camp was specifically focused on 4-Way, with flying two on two style of coaching, which in my opinion is one of the best ways to accelerate learning 4-Way. 

In the eyes of the campers we could see some frustration and very hard self critique. From the coaches' point of view, all we saw from day one was PROGRESS PROGRESS PROGRESS! Having been in the saddle many many times, I can relate to such frustrations. It takes loads of self patience and determination to push through this seemingly impossible phase of a camp but it's totally worth it in the end. 

Bailey, D933

 

On the 1^st and 2^nd of July the SSA hosted a free fly skills camp at Johannesburg Skydiving Club.

As always, the biggest challenge that faces any SSA committee is to stretch the budget in order to reach as many members as possible. As such, the free fly committee has been trying to encourage dropzones to help carry the load of the slot rates for skills camps and events. This is mutually beneficial for both the members and the dropzone as it allows more funds to go towards attracting high level professional coaches, ultimately making the dropzone an attractive place for skydivers to purchase jump tickets.

JSC came onboard wonderfully on this concept by covering 50% of the AE coach slots for the event!

The coaches were Andre Du Preez, Warren Hitchcock, Maryke Prinsloo and Braam Van Heerden.

Brandon Rothero - photo by Andre Du Preez

Justine Tempelhoff - photo by Andre Du Preez

The weather played ball all weekend and a total of 31 coaching jumps were done from the Kudu and the Angel.

In addition, Andre Du Preez, one of South Africa’s most accomplished freefliers, volunteered his time to present a very insightful 1 hour talk on how to fly your body.

11 students received coaching at the camp with even more in attendance of the presentation.

The camp saw some great progression in both head up and head down flying, and some Cat achievements. Overall, a very promising show of interest and increasing freefly skills in South Africa!

Warren Hitchcock - photo by Andre Du Preez

Andre Du Preez - photo by Maryke Prinsloo

For those looking to get involved and further their freeflying progression, don’t be shy! Andre Du Preez wil be coaching at the Makgadikgadi Epic from the 9-12 August.

Or stay tuned for the next event in SA!

The SSA AE Committee has committed itself to develop AE coaches this year to also benefit the smaller outlying dropzones. We will therefore be hosting an AE coach development event in a few months' time in and around Gauteng.

All freeflyers that are interested in either qualifying as a Head Up or Head Down Coach, please get in touch with us by 20 August 2017 for further details on the event. Please e-mail Maryke Prinsloo.

Line twists are something all static line students are intimately familiar with. However once we start using a pilot chute to extract the D-Bag away from our bodies the frequency of line twists is reduced.

Once we add a wingsuit to the deployment equation, a few things happen that increase the chance of line twists: 

• A larger burble can slow the deployment sequence down and allow the d-bag to spin up before line stretch
• An asymmetrical body position during deployment is amplified by the wingsuit resulting in the risers loading unevenly
• Containers without dynamic corners can cause the d-bag to be extracted in a tumbling motion

These are just a few examples of why wingsuiters experience more line twists than other free fall skydivers. So is this just something you have to accept once you zip your arms into a flying nylon suit?

Thankfully the answer is NO. A lot can be done to reduce the frequency of line twists.

Containers

• It is recommended that a 8-9ft bridle is used with all wingsuits and this should be considered mandatory on larger suits.
• A large 28 or 30 inch pilot chute with a light weight handle helps to speed up deployment
• Dynamic corners are recommended as they allow the d-bag to be extracted more easily
• Semi-stowless d-bags are popular with wingsuiters as the lines feed out in the centre rather than in the rocking side to side motion of a regular d-bag

Canopies

The past 2 years have seen all major manufacturers working on wingsuit specific canopies. 

These 7-cell canopies have low aspect ratios which are less likely to spin up if things don't go to plan with your deployment.

The canopies are also designed to pack smaller than your standard ZP canopy to allow you to fit a larger canopy into your existing rig. A larger canopy gives you a lower wingloading which is again more forgiving of poor deployments. PASA recommends a square or semi-elliptical canopy with a maximum wingloading of 1.3:1 for wingsuiting. Wingsuit specific canopies are aimed at skydivers flying larger intermediate and open class suits but can be used by all wingsuiters.

Some of the wingsuit canopies on the market are:

• Pilot 7 (Aerodyne)
• Horizon (PD)
• Epicene (Squirrel)
• Winx (Atair)

Wingsuit

A larger wingsuit is more more likely to cause line twists than a smaller one, as small errors are amplified in the deployment process.

More fabric also makes it more difficult to get out of line twists once you have them. If you are regularly getting line twists on a small suit it is highly recommended to get your openings dialed in before zipping into a larger wingsuit.

Angle of attack (AOA) at deployment also influences the chance of line twists. A low AOA results in d-bag extraction towards the feet. This deployment method requires dynamic corners or the d-bag is easily spun up during extraction from the container. A high angle of attack or a stalled suit results in lower airspeeds and a large burble which slows deployment down and gives more time for the d-bag and skydiver to rotate relative to each other.

For these reasons it is important to be current and have sufficient experience before jumping a large wingsuit. 

In summary choosing the right gear and flying a suit that matches your experience level are the best ways to prevent line twists during  deployment.

Dylan Hemer, D965, SSA WS

Disclaimer: This is in no way related to videos posted by the author

Why do I have to do ISPs and CAT IIs? I have met several students or intermediate skydivers asking themselves, why they have to cover coach slots and follow this programme.

It is a genius programme, designed to make you not only a safe skydiver that is now skydiving with others but with the intention to teach you the right way from the beginning and make you a good and safety aware skydiver. 

I am a paying member of three different skydiving associations. From my point of view, the South African coaching programme gives junior skydivers a better skills set than any other association I have come across. A coaching student is being taught the basics in a very controlled environment, one-on-one. 

The German Association, DFV, for example has an FS Introduction before you may acquire your licence and another introduction after you have passed your licence. Both introductions are not described or laid out anywhere. Therefore, people learn very differently. Depending on the dropzone and the coach, you either learn a lot or very little.  

On average, skydivers in South Africa do their CATIII in FS between 75 to 100 jumps. That means, that skydivers are capable of safely doing 4-ways. Very frequently I have seen, people with more than 100 jumps attempting 2-ways or 3-ways but never even docking throught the entire skydive. After having spoken to them, it turns out they were just not taught properly how to move in the sky. There was simply no programme allowing them to follow a logical progression. 

The South African Coaching Programme is designed to teach you in a controlled environment and to optimise your learning potential. 

Ange, D927

Canopy Piloting MiniMeet 

Leading up to South African Canopy Piloting Nationals 2017, the CP committee is organising a MiniMeet for Intermediate and Open competitiors to get comfortable with the course. 

Date: 9th September 

The CP Commitee is happy to announce that Billy Sharman will be providing free coaching for the entire weekend, 9th and 10th of September. Entitled to the free coaching are all people who plan on competing at Nationals. 

For more details about the MiniMeet or Nationals you can contact the CP commitee via this link. 

Peter Lawson Cup 2017

Get some more competiton experience and register your team for the Peter Lawson Cup. If you are playing with the idea to put a team together for Nationals next year, consider getting some competiton experience beforehand. For registration and more details: info@skydivepretoria.com