Getting into higher performance landings....

[rhino 0]

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When you have a couple thousand jumps, you'll realize the error of that comment.

And you have all the answers... If you disagree say WHY? Just making assumptions based off of jump numbers is childish and foolish. Care to contribute anything useful?

[rhino 0]

You need to jump everything you can get your hands on. You have to use your best judgement and decide if you can handle anything smaller. If you jump under a canopy and is scares you it's too small.

You (through jumping different wings) have to make the decision what flight characteristics you like and don't like. You might like twitchy fast turning canopies, you may not. You might like seven cell canopies and not 9. You might like an airlocked canopy more than something else. Just do your homework and work at it. Make smart decisions based off of coaching and a plan. Work your plan. Don't do what others want you to do because they think it's proper. Had I listened to everyone else I would have been using rears risers 3 years ago.. I wasn't ready then and it wasn't part of my plan.

Work your plan. Make one using your and others smarts.

Plan everything. The closest I came to getting hurt was the one time I swooped without planning and doing homework.

Rhino

[hookitt 1]

Relax my friend

Swooping at that wingloading is not what's dangerous. Going big when the skills haven't been established is.

That's all.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[grosfion 0]

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You need to jump everything you can get your hands on. You have to use your best judgment and decide if you can handle anything smaller. If you jump under a canopy and is scares you it's too small.

this is a very dangerous advice, I hope you know that.
If you feel confident what you flying you don't need to justify the kind and size of your canopy.
Just my opinion
blues
Marcus

[bob.dino 1]

'judgement' is also a correct spelling.

[grosfion 0]

thanks

[davelepka 4]

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I'm quite happy where I am with my nice square forgiving canopy

Be careful with the word 'forgiving'. Guys have hammered in on much bigger canopies than yours.

I'm not saying it's a bad canopy for you to jump. I'm saying not to forget that your canopy isn't forgiving, or nice, or mean or anything. It's a device that relies on the pilot to make it what it is.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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Swooping at 1.23-1.3 to me is very dangerous.

When you have a couple thousand jumps, you'll realize the error of that comment.

Until then... carry on.

Agreed, Tim. For everyone's personal edification: ALL of us who have been jumping since the inception of the term "swoop" learned under MUCH-lighter-loaded, lower performing mains than are available today. Saying that it is "unsafe" to learn swooping under lighter wingloads just makes me laugh.

Chuck

[drhox 0]

I am just arrived to skydive party; 1.5 year in the sport, 300 jumps. Since the beginning canopy piloting is something that called my attention. That is why I read every comment at this tread. That’s why I read Scott Miller and Jonh Leblanc seminars, bought Brian Germains “The parachute and its Pilot” book. On the other hand, as result of my concern about safety I’ve also got Piermidia’s DVD collection and “The skydiver survival skills” book.

As most of everybody here, I was scared about a 750 jumps guy that flies a 2.0 loaded Crossfire and believes a 1.6 load Sabre isn’t that much for a 300 jumps guy willing to swoop. Well, I fly a 1.1 lb/ft² loaded Sabre2 150ft and I am also a 300 jumps guy willing to swoop…

But our friend Rhino said 2 things I got agree on. First, if a canopy performance scare’s you, you rather go big. Second, regards to all swoop beginners: the same under loaded forgiving canopy that rapidly pulls out of a dive and refuses to over steer on a turn, demands you to aggressively pull front risers under 200, 300 ft to get any effect over your swoop performance; even if it is a forgiving machine about general mistake, you don’t have a such wide tolerance frame when it comes do high speed approach.

So here it comes “willing to swoop novice dilemma”: improving skills under lightly loaded docile canopies even if it means to turn a little bit closer to the “corner” to get some landing performance or downsizing to a hotter canopy…

Surely each one of us was born with a different package of skills. Maybe you are gifted, but it will take some time until you find it out because you are slowing your progression in the sacred name of safety. Maybe you are not and you will finally get to kill yourself before you have the chance to know you’ve been exciding your own ability limits. I had better be on the first group. By the way, I still have to become a closer friend of my S2 150ft before getting into a new romance.

But I cannot say guys like Rhino are wrong in what they do: they are gifted and they know it, so why not take advantage of it? I am just concerned about those ones that just “think” they are gifted and may be will soon join, as Brian Germain says, the Dead Skydiver’s Club.

Last, but not least: the fact that very skilled swoopers have jumped big canopies for a long time can not be attributed just to their pure conservativeness: there were not Velocities, VX’s, Katanas or Crossfire2 by the time some of these guys gained theirs skills. There was not even the word “swoop”. In fact, they would have mastered their incredible skills in a much different way if starting jumping nowadays.

Anyway, in a sport that kills, always better staying beyond limits, even more because we never know exactly which and where these limits are.

Just my 2 cents, althought that long...

Blue skies,

Marcio Rossi

Marcio Rossi
Brazil