Fly in your range for more successful skydives

What does ‘range’ mean?

When we fly with other people, jumps are more likely to be successful if we can each fly ‘in our range’.  The term ‘range’ in a skydiving context defines the fastest and slowest we can individually fly whilst maintaining stability relative to others when picking up grips and being picked up ourselves.

The point at which we cannot maintain relativity with stability to pick up or be picked up is known as being ‘out of range’.  Being ‘on the edge of our range’ is when we could not go any slower or faster  and still remain stable, relative to others and be able to pick up grips and be picked up ourselves.

There are things we can do to speed up and slow down.  We can arch more, wear lead and a tighter jumpsuit to fall faster or we can flatten out and wear cotton sleeves, a t shirt or a baggy jumpsuit to slow down.

For all of us there is a point at which these measures become counterproductive.  There is only so much lead a person can wear and still be able to pick up grips with their arms.  Canopy wing loading is also a safety factor to consider.  Likewise, when someone is flying with a very baggy jumpsuit, precision moves will be harder for them and also for those around them where the turbulence associated with the excess material requires extra effort from team mates to fly in proximity.

When we are flying in competitive teams and events or where the group goal is to be as successful as possible, we are each responsible for ensuring we are flying in our range for the job we are being asked to do.

Range is not an excuse, it is a fact.

Because we are all unique in terms of height, weight and flexibility, our relative fall rates differ.  Fact.

Too often, in the early stages of learning, the concept of range is not fully taken into account.  A person weighing 57kgs may be told to arch harder to keep up with an 80kg instructor and a person weighing 110kgs may learn to fly flat, with knees down in an attempt to fly relative to others who are falling slower than them.  Both scenarios lead to the student learning to fly with a compromised body position which does not set them up for success later in their flying career.

I was one such student.  Being quite flexible I just used to arch more to fly with my faster falling friends.  And so my body position was forever compromised.  When I was picking up a grip, I would bring my boosters in to minimise lift therefore losing the stability and mechanics that they offer to an efficient flying position.  I would also have to bring my elbows into my sides (known as ‘chicken winging’) to maintain a faster fall rate whilst picking up a grip.  In 4 way block moves, I would have to compromise my body position so as not to float.

And then Joey Jones came to Australia to coach my team at the time.  He helped me understand that these actions compromised my own stability and the stability I was able to bring to the build of formations.  By constantly flying out of range with my faster falling team mates I was missing out on being able to fly with stability, power and maximum efficiency.  I was letting the team down!

And so I started flying with lead in my team.  It was a big change and it took a long time to reprogram the muscle memory and create a more balanced body position.  Ultimately, the difference in my flying has been incredible.  By making it possible to fly in range, I lost the feeling of being constantly ‘on the edge’ and had a new level of control and power.

Joey Jones – World Champion, FS coach and competitor extraordinaire:

“Having matching fall rates while maintaining an effective body position is important to the success of any Belly jumper. The important part of that statement is “while maintaining an effective body position”.

If I had a dime for every time I heard “Fly your body not the weights” I would be a rich man.

Fall rate is a factor of Math, not flying skill! If you take your full frontal surface, in the optimal body position and divide it by your mass you will get a number, I call it the Coefficient of Fall Rate (COFR). That number should be close to equal for everyone in the group.

This number can be adjusted by suit type to make up for slight differences in the groups COFR. Make sure you include your rig weight in your total mass. Equal size rigs will have a larger impact on the COFR of a short person than a tall one.”

Slot – a consideration

It is not just who we are flying with that we need to consider in deciding how to equip ourselves to fly in range.  The slot we are being asked to fly is also a factor.

‘Centre’ slots in a 4 or 8 way team or ‘base’ and ‘anchor’ slots in a big way formation typically require the flyer to maintain stability and relativity when they may have three or four grips on them.  In the case of bigways, many people may also be flying in formation behind or around them, anchored from this slot.

Similarly, a last diver docking on the edge of a large formation, would need to consider how to ensure they can get to the formation quickly and yet still have range when they get there in a situation where the formation fall rate will fluctuate and potentially slow down as it builds.

An FS team example

I have just started jumping with a new 4 way team and one of the first things we are working on is to understand what it takes for us each to fly in range with each other.  Meet the team:

Melissa Harvie: 72kgs, 176cms, flies chest high, zero lead, inside centre.

Leon Black; 75kgs, 178cms, flies relatively flat, 2kgs, outside centre.

Helen Mahony; 63kgs, 167cms, flies relatively flat, 5kgs, rear.

Laurence Garceau; 57kgs, 165cms, flies very chest high, 5kgs, point.

Greg Hamilton; 65kgs, 175cms, flies relatively chest high, 8kgs, substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

A big way example

In a bigways context, check out this photograph of the 2014 Women’s World Record 117 way sequential second point formation.

I was flying an ‘anchor’ slot, circled in orange at 4 o’clock’.   The bigway training phrase ‘technique to get there, lead to stay there’ was applicable to the situation I found myself in.

I needed additional lead to fly in my slot to manage the tendency of the sector behind me to lift.  The additional weight I needed to fly in formation put me well out of range to fly relative with the formation as an individual (I would be flying faster).  And so I needed to apply technique to fly to my slot with the additional weight.

Tunnel context

Tunnel time is becoming a popular social and training experience in Australia.   Your flying range in the tunnel can be expressed as a % where this relates to the speed of the air in which you fly relative to the capability of the power available to the tunnel itself.

Because tunnels differ in their power capabilities, you cannot compare %’s between tunnels, only between flyers in a specific tunnel.

Knowing what percentage you fly at whilst flying in your range is useful when choosing team mates or flying socially.  If performance is a goal, flying out of range makes for less successful jumps and therefore poor value for everyone’s time and money.

As an example, my range in the Penrith tunnel is 64-67%.  My optimum efficiency in a balanced neutral body position is 65%.  I can fly at 63% however I compromise the efficiency of my body position when I do this.  I have also flown at 69% however would not be able to maintain this over an extended time or fly dynamic manoeuvres without the high risk of body malfunction!

Key points

• We all have a range.
• When we fly in our range, we are able to maintain good posture and fly with a level of stability and control.
• There are multiple factors that influence what equipment we need to help us fly in our range with other people, these include our weight, height, flexibility and our slot.
• Where performance is a goal, everyone needs to fly within range for success to be possible.

Melissa

 Is an experienced and successful skydiving competitor and coach with a history of National and World level representation in 4way, 8 way and Big Way Formation Skydiving.

Melissa is a member of the Aussie Bigways coaching team, actively coaching at events and providing guidance to other coaches and Mentors in coaching and training best practice.

Committed to helping skydivers achieve their goals her ‘Supercharge Program’ has been endorsed by Dan BC as one of the most efficient ways to develop best practice personal flying skills and fly with confidence relative to others, with friends, in bigway and sequential teams.

Contact Melissa directly to find out more about how her coached programs can help you achieve your goals.

 

melissaharvie@gmail.com  0408 553 561