Do I have a problem?

[DanG 1]

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Tell you what, I'm sorry I don't have my D# listed anymore and I haven't updated my jump numbers in a while either. I didn't place in the top 10 at nationals either, so I guess I'm full of shit.

Actually, that comment wasn't referencing you, AggieDave. I'm sorry that wasn't clear. I was trying to say that gearless_chris was wrong regarding crabbing. His advice could actually be dangerous if someone found themselves landing unexpectedly crosswind and really thought they needed to hold the upwind toggle down to fly straight relative to the ground.

Sorry for the confusion.

I'm often full of shit, but at least you and I post reasonable jump numbers and time in the sport (even if not always up-to-date) so people can choose to listen or not based on something resembling the real world.

And to those folks who always go on about how jump numbers don't mean anything and you could just put any number you want, let me say this: people who have been around for a while will pretty quickly figure you that you're full of it. You may be able to fool some noobs, but noobs are the people who are most likely to be hurt by inaccurate info. Take some responsibility and if you don't know something, just say so.

- Dan G

[pilotdave 0]

No, crabbing is pointing off the line of flight (at some wind correction angle) in order to maintain a desired flight path. You don't need to keep increasing the angle... choose the angle that maintains your flight path (which may very well keep changing, if necessary) and maintain that heading. What you're showing is more like a flare turn... kind of aiming into the wind during the flare. Saw a lot of people doing that at nationals... coming in straight down the field, then turning into the wind and cutting across the landing area at the last second.

Dave

[DanG 1]

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Again for the profile nazi's, the question was not "Do you think that this is a safe wingloading for my experience level?". My question was is it normal for people to buy brand new gear, not be impressed as they thought they would be, and start looking for something else that they will buy a YEAR FROM NOW with many more jumps under their belt?

The point is, that when you have 100 jumps, 150 jumps may seem like "many". When you have 1000 jumps, 150 jumps is not so much. The least number of jumps I've put on a canopy before downsizing is 300, and that was between jump 100 and 400 when I went from a Sabre 170 to a Spectre 150. It seemed like a lot of jumps at the time. Now, not so much.

Your experience level does matter when talking about downsizing. That's all there is to it. If you are insecure because you dont have a lot of jumps, that's your bag, but don't expect to get experienced related advice if you're not willing to post your experience.

And if you actually bothered to read everything, you'll see that a lot of people, myself included, have tried to give you practical advice. No one was attacking you until you climbed up on the "jump numbers are meaningless" high horse.

- Dan G

[pilotdave 0]

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I know what Gearless was saying, I was disputing what our experienced commercial airline pilot was saying about canopy flight.

If you're referring to me, I'm not an experienced commercial airline pilot.

I am interested in learning more about how to get a canopy to "side slide" though.

Dave

[pirana 0]

I think I just witnessed the magic dissappearing post phenomenon.

The noise went way down, and for a brief moment I thought I heard , . . .

SINGING!

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[AggieDave 6]

I thought you were a super-secret 4-bar on the shoulder pilot.

The explanation is a little involved, and works better when I can draw examples on a white board. Its even easier to explain if you have a set of "Scott Miller's canopy model (tm)." Which is a pair of Gatorz with a retention strap.

The very short answer and simplified answer that I'm sure you'll get is as follows: Basically you use the understanding of how the canopy creates a turn via distorting parts of the canopy and the pendulum of your weight under the canopy. If you lean symmetrically to one side, that entire side of the canopy distorts downward relative to the rest of the canopy, causing the canopy to lean to that side. Which results in the nose of the canopy turning to that side as well, creating force that pulls the jumper's body out away from the lean and creates a turn with the canopy. So what if you defeated the pendulum of your body with some input? I've found opposite rear riser input works best and I have an explanation, but I said this was the short answer.

Obviously you're still moving forward, so you don't move perfectly sideways like you would on your belly. Get a buddy and go do a non-contact relative jump (under canopy). Give it a try, you will be able to slide you canopy sideways relative to the other jumper with out loosing altitude. If you use your body position correctly, you shouldn't gain or loose any forward speed relative to the other jumper either.

You can do similar things with your canopy while diving it with the front risers, using the harness to sharpen or widen your turn to shorten or extend your dive, etc.

Make sense or did I shorten the explanation too much?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[AggieDave 6]

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Actually, that comment wasn't referencing you, AggieDave. I'm sorry that wasn't clear. I was trying to say that gearless_chris was wrong regarding crabbing. His advice could actually be dangerous if someone found themselves landing unexpectedly crosswind and really thought they needed to hold the upwind toggle down to fly straight relative to the ground.

Sorry for the confusion.

I wasn't confused, I was being sarcastic and trying to make a point with you (agreeing). That advice on the internet, even from a seemingly trusted source should be verified by a trusted skydiving mentor or tempered with experience or both.

I still go to my skydiving mentors with questions constantly. I'm able to temper other opinions that I don't necessarily personally trust with some experience. Many times I do both, temper with my experience and ask my mentors.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[gearless_chris 1]

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I think I just witnessed the magic dissappearing post phenomenon.

The noise went way down, and for a brief moment I thought I heard , . . .

SINGING!

I love The Hunt For Red October
I thought PilotDave was an airline pilot too. So what kind of pilot are you PilotDave?

Don't get me wrong, jump numbers matter for canopy issues, you land every time, you don't neccessarily build freefall skills every time.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[billvon 3,090]

>Crabbing is making a series of turns to go in a straight line, like a crab walking right?

No. Crabbing means you are pointed in one direction and going in another. (So named because many crabs don't go straight ahead, they walk sideways.) The most efficient crab will be one in which you turn on course and then don't turn after that.

[pilotdave 0]

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So what kind of pilot are you PilotDave?

Private pilot that hasn't flown a plane in 5 years. Kids, let this be a lesson to you. Skydiving is addictive and will ruin every other activity you do. Haven't gone skiing since skydiving became a winter sport for me too.

(off topic but the username was somewhat chosen for me... A long long time ago when I was flying often I had an email address pilotdave@email.com. I started using it mainly for rec.skydiving, to catch all the spam. When I started skydivingmovies.com and posted about it on rec.skydiving, people referred to me by my email address, pilotdave. Someone referred to me as pilotdave here on dropzone.com before I joined the site. It seemed like a good idea to use the name when I registered.
Dave

[pirana 0]

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I think I just witnessed the magic dissappearing post phenomenon.

The noise went way down, and for a brief moment I thought I heard , . . .

SINGING!

I love The Hunt For Red October
Yes, a good flick.

One of the things that made it very watchable for me is that the conversations seemed genuinely like the chats in the real world when you have to deal with politicians and the upper brass of any bureacracy.

Get those people in front of a crowd and they are so sweet and correct and accepting. A little smaller audience and the words get a little more pointed and the aim is more to conquer than to influence. Get down to the kind of intimate session where it is understood that what is said is not for general consumption and the gloves come off completely.

It's like you have to earn your stripes via years of phony niceness; then when invited to the inner sanctum you finally get to call people out directly for their stupid shit.

Good writing.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[gearless_chris 1]

For quotes from sub movies nothing beats U-571, "How far down will she go? She'll go all the way to the bottom if we don't stop her."

I have to go work on my Halloween costume now. My sewing machine just quit so I have to hand sew the rest.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.