something to think about for new jumpers wanting to downsize

[listo 0]

Ok, it seems that a lot of new jumpers with low jump numbers are wanting to get smaller canopies way before they are ready. They seem to be seeing stories and pictures of Jim Slaton, Luigi Cani and guys like them jumping 39s, 40 somethings ect. Unfortunately these low timers think that there is something cool about jumping a canopy that has a smaller sqare footage number. I just wanted to put up a post that addresses wing loading.

First of all, sqare footage numbers have nothing to do with how a canopy is going to perform. It is all based on wing loading. I had a "rookie" swooper the other day asking me about what his next canopy should be. I asked him what his current wing loading is on the canopy he was jumping. This person has 300+ jumps and had NO CLUE of how to calculate his wing load. He really thought that you have to be flying a sub-100 canopy to be competitive. I explained to him that I fly a velo 120 and my swoops are plenty long and fast enough to manuever any course being used for competition today. It completely blew his mind that I could fly a 120 and do that. This is when I went in depth with him about wing loading and techniques to modify flight characteristics. Not only that, I highly encouraged him to stay with his stiletto 150 @ 1.5 ppf and go to a structured canopy course with professional pilots.

To the people who are relatively new to swooping: It is very important to completely understand what you are wanting to get into. It is a highly technical and unforgiving sport. Life is precious and can be smacked out of you very quickly if you don't get reliable information and training. It is NOT something that you can learn in one season. You might get decent at it, but it will take years and thousands of jumps to become proficient like the pro's. There are a lot of people out there that will encourage you to try things, be careful about who you are listening to. More than likely, if they are competition canopy pilots, there wisdom and advice are worth listening to. If you are learning from someone that is just the "local bad-@#% canopy pilot", you could very well be setting yourself up for disaster, then again, you might get lucky and attain just enough info to keep yourself alive which could lead to you actually learning something. Either way, it would be in your best interest to get to a professional canopy camp. You will learn things about wing loading, technique, dangers and most of all, you will learn how to teach yourself in a correct manner. Think of it this way, if you are building a million dollar house, wouldn't you want the foundation to be as strong as possible. If you are just starting out with swooping, regardless of how many jumps you have, you really need to get a solid foundation to work with.

I hope that this post will serve as an eye opener to new and upcoming swoopers. I have been very fortunate to have great people to learn from, some of which are PRO pilots. I can tell you from experience, they don't think of themselves as celebreties when it comes to helping people learn, they will think and treat you more like a brother or sister.

Best of luck! Safe, LOOOOOONG SWOOPS!

Live today as tomorrow may not come

[dharma1976 0]

nice post! and read brian germains book a parachute and its pilot so you might maybe just understand the wing you are flying and how it works before you make mistakes based on ignorance saved my ass a few times ;)

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[dharma1976 0]

and also that is a safire 1 179 that I am swooping in my picture ;)

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

First of all, sqare footage numbers have nothing to do with how a canopy is going to perform. It is all based on wing loading.

Square footage can have more to do with how responsive a canopy is than wing loading.

For this reason a 120 is an inappropriate choice for a 100 pound girl with a few hundred jumps even though her wing loading is just 1.0:.1. A 95 loaded at 1.5 is a questionable choice for a 130 pound guy with 500 jumps.

[dragon2 2]

Quote

Quote

First of all, sqare footage numbers have nothing to do with how a canopy is going to perform. It is all based on wing loading.

Square footage can have more to do with how responsive a canopy is than wing loading.

For this reason a 120 is an inappropriate choice for a 100 pound girl with a few hundred jumps even though her wing loading is just 1.0:.1. A 95 loaded at 1.5 is a questionable choice for a 130 pound guy with 500 jumps.

What's wrong with putting a lightweight girl with a few hundred jumps on a 120?? It's the girls with 50 jumps on a 120 I'm more worried about...

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Spizzzarko 0]

Odviously you are missing the point. A 120 is still going to be faster than a 150 of the same make and model, and wing loading. I has shorter lines, and less material over head, causing less drag, causing faster speeds.

[dragon2 2]

Quote

Odviously you are missing the point. A 120 is still going to be faster than a 150 of the same make and model, and wing loading. I has shorter lines, and less material over head, causing less drag, causing faster speeds.

I'm not missing that point, and I'm a lightweight (not 100 lbs though) girl myself. If you have a few HUNDRED jumps, a 120 is fine, IMO. I know it is zippy, I jump one. And I wouldn't advise one for a first canopy or even a second. But after you have downsized properly and have a few hundred jumps under your belt, why not? Over here you now need 500 jumps before you're allowed a 135/120, but I got mine before those rules, at ~350 jumps or so. No big deal. Yes it's small. Yes it's zippy. Yes it's zippier than a 150 at 1:1.3. Duh. And yes I can land it downwind in a backyard.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Spizzzarko 0]

Obviously I have missed the point. Have fun and be carefull.

[GQ_jumper 4]

I missed the bus to school once, that thing was so hard to see pull up cuz of how short it was

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[listo 0]

Drew makes a really good point. Smaller canopies have shorter lines and they also tend to have lower aspect ratios which means that they are going to react with a "snappier" feel to them.

Thank you Drew for pointing that out, it isn't something I was thinking of when I put up this post.

However, I was directing this to the people who have more than 100 jumps that are wanting to get some higher performing wings in which case wing loading is the more relavent issue.

Drew does make a good point to think about though. Although I wouldn't put a 100 pound girl with 100 jumps under a stiletto 120, I might put her under a sabre 120.

I have a friend with about 400 jumps and I swear that she can't weigh more than 105 soaking wet. If she jumps anything much larger than a 120, she really has to be careful in windy conditions, otherwise, she won't make it back. This is were wing load really comes into play.