Category: Skydiver Training Program Tips
Are you learning how to skydive, or do you want to? You’re in the right place at Skydive Spaceland’s Skydiver Training Program! Following are some tips to help you make your training more efficient and effective. As always, feel free to talk to our instructors or call us at 281-369-3337 with any questions.
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You’re the Pilot: Take Control!
Ask any group of non-skydivers what they think would be the scariest part of skydiving, and at least a few will answer, “The landing.” Ask a group of skydiving students, or even experienced jumpers, and you’ll get the same answer from a few of them. We have the guts to throw ourselves out of airplanes in flight, yet we’re sometimes scared of piloting the assembly of nylon and string that saves…
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Skydiving Tip: Predictability = Safety
Plan the dive, dive the plan. You’ve been practicing this since your first student training jump. There are two reasons for a dive plan: SAFETY! Engineering the dive so you can get in maximum learning and/or performance from the jump. Once you have graduated from a skydiving training program, there are SO MANY things you can do! You rock–you are now a licensed skydiver! But that is just a license…
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Parachute Dirt Diving
We dirt dive the freefall portion of nearly all of our skydives, but do you dirt dive your landings? Do you check the wind speed and direction at all altitudes, which way the wind will shift as you descend, etc.? If the wind direction changes, how will that change your landing pattern? As we develop more experience this becomes almost automatic, but initially we have to think about all of…
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Helmets: Secured for Takeoff
We don’t have a lot of bad words in skydiving (regardless of what you might hear after the beer light comes on! ;), but there is one we can all agree on: Complacency. com·pla·cen·cy n. — A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy. In skydiving, we say someone is complacent when they think they are safe but they are acting unsafely or in…
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Skydiving Advice: Listen With Care
Skydivers come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life, but If one word could be used to describe nearly all of us it would probably be “passionate.” This is a sport we love dearly and deeply, and we love to share that passion with others. That passion, unfortunately, can cause problems in the scenario of one jumper giving another advice. If you are a skydiving student…
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Landing Patterns and Winds
One of the best things about skydiving today compared to some decades past is that we jump steerable parachutes. We have the ability to change our flight paths and land on target, which makes it a lot easier for us to land near the hangar and make lots of jumps in a day without quite the cardio workout of walking in from far-flung fields. These steerable parachutes also make it…
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The New Beer Line
Ah, the beer line–that line close to the hangar that causes all skydivers in sight distance to yell “BEER!!!!” with glee if you land on the hangar side of it. Did you know we now have one of these in the student/A-B license landing area at our Houston location in addition to our regular beer line? Let me explain. You might have noticed that we have a reference line mowed/burned…
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Skydiver Training Tip: To Land Off or Not?
Scenario: You’re under a good canopy at 2000 feet. You are downwind of the drop zone and aren’t sure you can make it to the landing area. Between you and the drop zone are trees, brush, power lines, and likely all manner of unpleasant critters. Behind you is a wide open field. What do you do? a) Get on your rear risers or toggles, trim out your canopy for a…
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And Liberty and Pin Checks for All…
As skydivers, we like to do everything right so we can skydive again… and again… and… Lately we have been seeing a number of recent graduates, now unsupervised by instructors, neglecting their pin checks before exit. Perhaps it’s due to distraction when thinking about the upcoming jump, or perhaps you noticed an experienced jumper neglecting a pin check (shame shame!) and thought it was OK. Either way, this isn’t a…
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Seat Belts in Jump Aircraft: Not Just for Show
I once had an instructor who refused to wear a seat belt in a car. He had managed to defy all odds in two separate car accidents by not wearing seat belts; both accidents threw him out of a car that would have crushed him had he remained inside. Unlike with cars, however, the last thing you want to occur in the (thankfully extremely unlikely) event that you are in…
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What Kind of Skydiving Helmet to Buy?
Welcome to the world of gear decisions, skydiver! You’ve been jumping an open-face helmet throughout the student program, but you’ve been seeing a bunch of the cool kids on the drop zone jumping full-face helmets of various styles. What’s right for you? Your preferences will, of course, drive your selection. Here are a few things to think about as you shop: Full-face helmets These are highly recommended as they offer…
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How to Open/Close a Super Otter/Supervan Skydiving Door
Have you had the chance to open the jump door on one of our Super Otters or SuperVans yet? No? Are you nervous about it? Fear not, we have the scoop! Whether you’ve operated the door yet or not, chances are great that you’ll learn a valuable tip or few from our latest YouTube video on how and when to safely operate the side jump doors on a Super Otter…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Taking the Next Step
“Congratulations, you’ve just earned your skydiving A license!” “WooHOO! … “…now what?” When a skydiver graduates from our Skydiver Training Program, some hit the air flying hard and never look back. Often, however, a graduate will wonder a little bit about what to do next. Your skydives up until this point have been tightly structured, and now you’re just being turned loose? What kind of jumps should you do? Should…
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Loading Area Etiquette
Getting ready to board an aircraft for skydiving is more than a little different than boarding a plane for commercial travel or getting in a car for a drive. There are concerns for personal safety, the safety of others in the plane (and the plane itself), and efficiency. Stay safe and efficient with these loading tips! Personal Safety Complete your gear checks before the plane pulls up. This means 3 rings,…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Cool Weather Gear
We may be in southern Texas, but the weather is definitely cooling down! Skydiving in wintertime brings a few challenges we don’t have in summer, namely how do we stay warm while staying safe? The heavy winter clothes you need to avoid frostbite can bite you in other ways, especially those big, bulky hoodies we love so much. Loose, floppy clothing can obstruct your handles if you jump without a…
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Skydiver Tip: Weather Watching
“What’s the weather like today? Is it good for students? What about experienced jumpers?” If we had a dollar for every time we got that phone call, text, or Facebook message, we’d all be retired. 🙂 And as you know, the answer is usually a variety of “You can’t jump if you’re not here.” In all seriousness though, weather and its nuances are critical to whether we can skydive or…
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Skydiver Training Program Tip: How Many Dives in a Day?
It’s one of the most common questions we get about the Skydiver Training Program (other than price): How many training jumps can I do in a day? How many SHOULD I do in a day? While the ideal number of jumps in a day will of course vary with the student’s fitness, goals, and budget, there is one very strong recommendation we make for everyone: Every time you show up…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Your First Skydiving Gear Purchase
When you’re about to graduate from our Skydiver Training Program, it’s time to start thinking about getting your own gear, and the accessories (helmet, goggles, altimeter) are the best place to start. We provide everything you need during the program, but afterwards you will need to rent our gear or buy your own. It’s a great idea to go ahead and get your own accessories for a number of reasons:…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Call Ahead to Reduce Your Wait
No one likes to wait for anything—doctors, prescriptions, someone to get the right size of shoes out of the stockroom, or even the 60 seconds you’re supposed to wait before spitting out your mouthwash. While they say all good things come to those who wait, some good things can come without waiting, especially if you plan ahead. When it comes to Skydive Spaceland’s Skydiver Training Program, we highly recommend that…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Paperwork is Homework
Are you ready to skydive? If you show up for a Skydiver Training Program jump without having completing your paperwork (dive flow quiz) for each jump you intend to make that day, the answer, sadly, is “not yet.” Why is this quiz important? It tells us that you have studied your student manual and that you are mentally prepared for your skydive. This preparation also will get you in the…
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Skydiver Training Program: Early Birds Get the Jumps!
Birds and worms aside, the Skydiver Training Program student who checks in early definitely gets the jumps. Aside from just having more time in the day to skydive, there are a number of other benefits to early morning check-ins: Winds are usually lower. Wind conditions are usually less turbulent. Temperatures are cooler. You get on the schedule early and can plan out your jump day before the sleep-ins. You are…
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Skydiver Training Program Tip: Study for more fun!
The Skydiver Training Program at Skydive Spaceland gives you a lot of detailed information to help you become the best skydiver you can be. You can increase your success and fun on each skydive by studying the dive flows before you come out to the drop zone. Study as many dive flows as you plan to do for the day, and if you have any questions for your instructor or…