Canopy Advice

[Hooknswoop 19]

Landing injuries and fatalities continue to happen at an incredibly high rate. Too many times I have heard “I don’t know why I did that. I knew better than to do that. That was stupid”. From new canopy pilots not understanding the basics of canopy flight, to intermediate pilots diving into small canopies because hook turns look very cool and fun, to experienced skydivers making mistakes because their canopy training never progressed beyond being able to pilot a large F-111 student canopy to the landing area under the watchful eyes of their instructor. The knowledge is available to keep these incidents from happening.
Lisa has tried to advise jumpers when they have questions. She has taken the time to try and help others. Her advice generally meets with resistance because she doesn’t tell people what they want to hear. She advises caution, education, training and experience as the path to becoming a competent canopy pilot. This is not the path jumpers want to take. They are looking for the short cut, the quick fix to becoming a high-speed canopy pilot. If you ask someone for experienced advice, don’t try and tell him or her they are wrong or argue with them. She is not attacking when she says that you do not have the experience to downsize yet. It is so much easier to tell someone that they are ready for the next step than to tell them they lack the experience and/or capability to move on. Lisa is a resource that has been abused and those people that took advantage of the anoyomitity of this forum to attack her should be ashamed.
I have been skydiving since 1995. I have 2735 skydives and 40 BASE jumps. I am an AFFI, SLI, TDMI, PRO, Senior Rigger, and Pilot. I have over 1000 jumps on cross-braced canopies mostly loaded at 2.6 to 3.1. I currently jump an Icarus EXTreme VX-60. I have never been injured skydiving. I am willing to help Lisa (and others) give advice on canopy control and rigging to those that want to learn. I do have several rules that I hope you can appreciate;
1. Before you ask a question, try to answer it yourself. Include what you think is the answer with your question.
2. If you disagree with my opinion (I am not always correct), e-mail me directly. We can post the final analysis of the e-mailed discussion that we both agree on.
3. No personal attacks. Keep the discussion on the topic or start a different thread.

[freeflir29 0]

Dude.....check the other post. We know that people are stupid and think they know more than they do....I mean....look at me.....
"I only have 125 jumps, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[lazerq3 0]

Yeah it kinda boggles my mind when someone asks a ??? about smething and then the msecond they hear something they dont want to hear they get all pissy when all anyone here is trying to do is help. But like is alway said everyone is entitled to there opinion, however some peoples opinion hold a lot of water and should be taken in to thought!!!!
jason
( you did forget one thing though.........BOOOBIES!!!!! hey lisa said I could say that word!!!!

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Derrick, welcome aboard, but you would be better off to take your commentary to either the safety and training, or swooping and canopy control forums, that is where people take things seriously. Still, we cannot have enough experienced people on the boards in my opinion, so welcome to the fray. There are plenty of questions to go around.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
Team Atair
http://www.extremefly.com
My webpage HERE

[PhreeZone 20]

Let me also welcome you to the boards! Keep your eye on the Canopy Control, Saftey and Gear fourms. There is where the majority of the canopy questions pop up. Those that do pop up here are quickly routed there. Its always better to have another voice of caution then it is to have one of pushing the edge.
And tell your girlfriend, thanks for getting you involved here. It kinda becomes addictive after a while.... Phree
C-31712
Canopy Nazi #2, currently on a rest but still watching......
Political Correctness-At least one person at any one time will be offended by something

[freeflir29 0]

however some peoples opinion hold a lot of water and should be taken in to thought!!!!
Yeah....like mine...LOL
"I only have 125 jumps, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[skybytch 273]

I just have to say thank you Derek. Your words mean a lot to me. Welcome to the forums! It's good to have you here.
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?

[skymedic 0]

I for one thank you.....we need another voice of reason around this place of super downsizers....
marc
"...a mind stretched with new idea's will never regain its shape"

[sangiro 26]

Welcome Derek. Good to have you onboard. Safe swoops
Sangiro

[QuickDraw 0]

I may be buggin you later on in the year dude
....not another Texan

• Quote

[freefallfreak 0]

Welcome Derrick...

Quote

Derrick, welcome aboard, but you would be better off to take your commentary to either the safety and training, or swooping and canopy control forums, that is where people take things seriously. Still, we cannot have enough experienced people on the boards in my opinion, so welcome to the fray. There are plenty of questions to go around.

Ditto...we're just a bunch of crazies here...lol...so if the subject gets changed once in a while, don't take it personally...everyone has to scream "BOOBIES" once in a while...
TripleF
BOOBIES, BOOBIES, BOOBIES, BOOBIES...(Whoops, I said it again...Tee-hee...)

[SpeedRacer 1]

Especially you, FFF!
Welcome Derek. It's very heartening to hear that you've got over 2000 jumps & no injuries. I may be coming to you for advice pretty soon, if/when I can get back into skydiving (financial problems).
Speed Racer
"Fill your hand, you son-of-a-bitch!"

[LittleJumper 0]

Not that you dont have a valid concern or issue..but this is probably most appropriately designated for the safety forum
What you "think" you cannot do ...you CAN if you "think" about it

[Hooknswoop 19]

I intend to mainly cruise the Safety and Training, Gear and Rigging, and Swooping and canopy control forums, but felt it best to make my initial post here to reach the largest audience. I figured everyone checks this one, but less people check the others.
Derek

[Opie 0]

"It kinda becomes addictive after a while...." especially when it's 20 degrees out and we're not jumping!
Opie
If your not on the edge, you can't enjoy the view!

[AggieDave 6]

You're not jumping because its 20 degrees, or something else? Come on, a little cold never hurt no-one. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[MarkM 0]

Welcome aboard.

[Zennie 0]

Hey Derek! Glad to see you made it online!
First off, Derek has offered me lots of advice on canopy control and I value his opinion greatly. His tips have helped me immensely.
Second, to underscore Derek's point, we have a jumper who is currently in ICU, and last I heard he had a cardiac arrest that they were fortunately able to revive him from. We're all just hoping he'll pull through.
This jumper, for reasons that are unknown to all the jumpers I talked to, decided to try a 180 hook turn for the first time at somewhere between 100-200 feet on a canopy loaded around 1.4. He impacted still in a double-front riser dive. The result? Both legs broken in several places (including both femurs), a ruptured spleen, a damaged kidney (which may never function again), a damaged liver and a ruptured aorta (that he didn't bleed to death is nothing short of a miracle). And those are only the injuries I know of.
I went out to where he hit today and there are literally impact marks several inches deep in the ground. It was easy to figure out which divot belonged to his feet, knees elbows and face. Made all of us sick. I'm glad I wasn't there for the actual incident.
My point in bring this up is that people like Derek, Lisa, Chuck and other people with thousands more jumps are valuable resources who possess information which can literally save our lives... if we put our egos on the shelf, be patient and heed their advice.
Thanks again Derek for showing up here. I look forward to your posts. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[AggieDave 6]

Wow! That sucks, my prays are with that guy. I was at Eagle Flight when basically the same thing happened to a jumper there, bad situation all around.
Zennie, you may want to post that info in a new thread so we all know...
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[Opie 0]

"a little cold never hurt no-one"
Feel free to come on up and enjoy the weather. Good jumping in Illinois this time of year starts just like it does in the summer, at the airport. We just go to a different one and catch a ride to someplace warm!
Opie
If your not on the edge, you can't enjoy the view!

[AggieDave 6]

Then I'm better not mention the absolutely perfect weather we had in Texas today. Big blue sky, temperatures in the mid to high 60's, I was jumping in freefly pants and a t-shirt all day. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[indyz 1]

Opie:
Hey man! Where's Seaton in relation some of the bigger cities in the state? There are a few jumpers from Archway Skydiving in Vandalia on the boards (myself included), and a bunch more from the Chicago area DZs.
--
Brian
Homepage

[Opie 0]

I'm 1 1/2 hrs NW of Peoria, or an hour south of the Quad City area. Two hours to Skydive Chicago which is the closest turbine dropzone.
Opie
If your not on the edge, you can't enjoy the view!

[Kelly 0]

he's definitally in my thoughts...
My little corner of the web.