Downwind?

[mwthomsen 0]

I heard in the pro swoop meets that some of the swoops runs are set up so the landing is downwind. How are you able to bleed off the additional speed that you have going downwind and still land on your feet?
Mike

[skymedic 0]

Swoopers dont really land on there feet...they kinda slide it in....I am sure skymonkeyOne will help with this answer..
marc
BSBD

[freeflir29 0]

Plus......Swoop meets are generally over ponds. Forward speed doesn't matter much when doing a "Dead Man" into water.....actually...the more the better. To a point....."I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[prost 0]

You would be suprised. I stand up my downwinders, but I don't go down wind unless it is less than 10 mph. It does take good technique and timing though.
William

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Yes, some meets are set up so you make runs in both directions. Some are set up so you start in one direction and carve either into the wind or downwind at the end, sometimes crosswind. The reason that some are set up straight downwind, though, is that the event directors conclude that the wind is blowing too hard for the competitors to get lengthy swoops into the wind. There was a meet in New Jersey last year where the winds were blowing above 20 mph; it was conducted downwind.
The ends of swoops vary wildly from competitor to competitor. In downwinders and in cases where jumpers are loading their canopies too heavily, you see two general methods: running like hell and sliding. PPPB competitions give you no points for "style". What that means is that you see us busting our asses on a regular basis in competition. The courses are very demanding and give little room for error. It is for that reason many of us compete in "battle gear". By that I mean motocross pants, shin guards rotated around to the outside of the calves, etc. It did not take me long to figure out that jumping barefooted with only a pair of shorts on is not the hot ticket in the desert. Ball it up one time because you caught a toe during your run-out or slide and you WILL lose lots of skin. My motocross pants saved me much grief the very first day I wore them at Perris.
As for general downwinders, I always "stand them up" by sliding to a stop on both feet. The faster you are going, the farther out in front of you your feet need to be when you put your feet down. As you slow down, you move your feet more under you so you don't fall over backwards when your canopy stops flying. Start with your feet too far under you and you are just begging to catch a toe and faceplant. I do not recommend running out downwinders, or any landing for that matter, for the exact same reason. The only competition event that I do not slide in is the PPPB distance rounds. There, you are judged at your first point of contact with the ground, so it behooves you to fly your canopy all the way to the stall point and land much like a long jumper in track and field events. Not pretty, but pretty does not get you paid in the PPPB meets.
Chuck
My webpage HERE