new velocity - what to do

[jdfreefly 1]

I already have my plan, but I am curious to see what the crowd says.

Hop and pops only for x number of jumps to feel it out, or just throw it in the rig and go jumping, and pull high for a few to feel it out...or, just throw it in the rig and see how it fits into your normal day.

Methane Freefly - got stink?

[chachi 0]

i would do 5 high pulls on any new canopy if i could. especially if this is a very different platform that what you are used to ie. major downsize or first xbrace.

if i was only downsizing slightly i would do 20 hopnpops.

[ccowden 0]

Personally, I would do 2 or 3 hop and pops at altitude to play with it up high and get the feel of it. Then just plan on opening a bit higher than normal for awhile and taking things slow and cautiously with landings.

[Canuck 0]

This might bring on a few flamethowers, but...

If you really think you need to be doing 20+ hop and pops just to feel the canopy out, then you're probably not ready for the canopy. You know??

I'm not saying that you wont learn lots in the first 20 jumps on any new canopy, I'm saying that if it takes 20 or more jumps to feel comfortable enough on the canopy to integrate it into your regular jumping routine, there's a problem.

My suggestion is to do one or two high(ish) altitude hop and pops to make sure everything is set up right, find out where it stalls, check out riser pressure, etc. Then, just take it easy for a while, and go back to square one on your swoop progression.

Canuck

[brits17 0]

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Personally, I would do 2 or 3 hop and pops at altitude to play with it up high and get the feel of it. Then just plan on opening a bit higher than normal for awhile and taking things slow and cautiously with landings.

I second that.

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[chachi 0]

i think you misunderstood. i could put the canopy in my rig and fee comfortable. i would probably do a day of hop n pops with a new canopy though and i picked a number out of thin air.

if i changed platform though i would probably do 3-5 high pulls and really get the feel of it for my benefit, not that i think i would fly into the ground with it.

[dayle 0]

I think PD recommends not taking the canopy to terminal for the first few jumps on a new line set.

But other than that, I'd do a couple of high hop & pops to play and feel it out and then go from there.

Dayle

[TheDonMan 0]

Why wouldn't you just go to altitude pull high once or twice, feel how it flies then find out how it opens at terminal. I'm not sure if you downsized or not but with high performance canopies the opening at terminal seems to be the most interesting part of the skydive. Line twists, break stow coming undone ect can really make for interesting situations. I say just pull high after reaching terminal, watch what your canopy does and learn how it fly from up high. . Review your emergency cutaway procedures......

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.

[PhreeZone 20]

I'd love to see where this is published. I've seen it kicked around a few times but everytime some asks more info about it or for the paragraph it came from the topic dies.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[hookitt 1]

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If you really think you need to be doing 20+ hop and pops just to feel the canopy out, then you're probably not ready for the canopy. You know??

I don’t completely agree. He’s got way too many jumps to believe that. When I first jumped a 97 Stiletto, I pulled at 11,000 feet. I was convinced that I was going to cut it away at 3000 feet and land my reserve instead. By 5000 feet I knew it was controllable.

After the weekend I gave the canopy back and kept jumping my 120. A few hundred jumps later, I was ready to actually buy one of my own so I borrowed one to see if that was the size I wanted. The thought of flying something I'm not familiar with kinda freaked me out. After several jumps I decided it was the right size and ordered a custom canopy.

Before the canopy arrived 12 weeks later, it freaked me out again and buyers remorse set in thinking I'm certainly going to die now.

I did the same thing that ccowden suggested and never looked back.

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

[Dazzle 0]

I've just had mine relined by pd and nowhere in the paperwork that came with it did it say that.

[marks 0]

defiantly do at least one hop and pop to set the lines.

[Remster 30]

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defiantly do at least one hop and pop to set the lines.

I never heard of this before. And if I wanted to test the lines, I'd give them the maximun stress I can, ie, a terminal opening.

Remster

[hookitt 1]

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defiantly do at least one hop and pop to set the lines.

Why? What manufacturer actually states this is necessary or even suggested? The only reason it would be a good Idea would be to familiarize the jumper with the canopy. Taking a canopy to terminal for the first jump doesn’t make a difference.

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

[hookitt 1]

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defiantly do at least one hop and pop to set the lines.

I never heard of this before. And if I wanted to test the lines, I'd give them the maximun stress I can, ie, a terminal opening.

OH... read it again.. he said "defiantly" not definitely. NOW it makes sense

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

[marks 0]

naaaa for real though. I just do a hop and pop always when I have a new canopy so that the lines set in to the attatchment point on the canopy.

just something I do, I guess im anal or something. you know where the line attatches to the canopy, there is a loop and the loop isnt set unless you have jumped the canopy.

I always set each attatchment myself, by hand on the ground the best I can then do a hop and pop to lock them in. I guess the thinking behind it is to not have this doing it at terminal. hell I don't know why I do it, I just do.

but it also helps set the slinks in place.

[marks 0]

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defiantly do at least one hop and pop to set the lines.

I never heard of this before. And if I wanted to test the lines, I'd give them the maximun stress I can, ie, a terminal opening.

OH... read it again.. he said "defiantly" not definitely. NOW it makes sense

I totally used spell check for that, and I picked the wrong one..

[chachi 0]

i was told to do this after buying my vx

[berchtoldaj 0]

Get a navigator daless.


Just kidding,

maybe not immediately, but I would do 2-3 hop n'pops with in the first 20 jumps. I also think it is beneficial to periodically do them to continue to explore your canopies charactaristics as your skill level increases.

Have fun on your new velo.......see you at swoop club.

************
Watch out for planters.

[jdfreefly 1]

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Get a navigator daless.

Haha... very funny asshole!

So at this point, I think maybe I should add to the discussion.

I haven't jumped a velo since I was injured under one a year and a half ago. When I got hurt, I had probably 10 to 15 jumps under a velocity, but I had never really devoted the time to getting to know the parachute. I made a mistake low to the ground, one that should have been recoverable, but because I didn't know the parachute well enough, it cost me. In my opinion, it is only due to luck and thick bones that I am not dead.

Also, since then, I saw two friends die under one in a wrap, another friend hurt under one and numerous people I've watched escape death or injury by a rch(red cunt hair, a slightly larger margin than a blonde cunt hair, but less then a black one).

Since that time, I've had a lot of time to think about this, and my new opinion, and one I am hoping to spread, is this:

Just like a tandem is not just another skydive, the velocity, and any crossbraced canopy like it, is not just another parachute. I think too many of us think of it as just another step forward in the progression, and I think that is a mistake. There is nothing out there that will prepare you for just how unforgiving this parachute is, and when you transition to it, you should take it very seriously. Never in the history of the sport have we had a parachute where the line between a survivable landing and a fatality is so thin. The technology has changed, and it is high time we changed with it. I know all ram air canopies are unforgiving, but these things would just as soon kill you as put you on the ground in one piece.

I understand the point of view that if you think you need 10, 20 or even 30 jumps in no traffic to be comfortable under something that performs at this level, you may not be ready for it. But look at it another way, is it going to hurt? What if you manage to learn something in those jumps that happens to save your life when things go bad? Take it even farther, what if everyone going through any canopy transition took the time to do this? Would it decrease the number of landing accidents? Maybe, maybe not...but it certainly wouldn't increase them.

I think it would be a great thing if everyone, from the student moving to his first 1:1, or the 3 year veteran moving to a cross-braced, took the time off from their normal jumping routine to get to know their new gear better. I actually considered coming up with a "canopy transition syllabus", but then I realized that I am lazy...and I can't spell sillybus.

As I said, I have my own plan. I just thought I would try to start an interesting discussion. Maybe I'll follow up later and actually write that sillybus...perhaps some of the more quallified veterans out there would like to get the ball rolling.

Then again, maybe I'm just being a safety nazi...I get like that sometimes.

Methane Freefly - got stink?

[Canuck 0]

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I understand the point of view that if you think you need 10, 20 or even 30 jumps in no traffic to be comfortable under something that performs at this level, you may not be ready for it. But look at it another way, is it going to hurt?

Of course not.

Enjoy - Velos take the fun out of freefall.

Canuck

[nicknitro71 0]

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new velocity - what to do

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK IT!

Memento Audere Semper

903

[L.O. 0]

Lots of good advice here but like you said, " I already have my plan". Sounds like your fishing for some combative responses. maybe stir things up. Thats OK with me. You have your plan, so just go do it and don't hurt yourself.

Have fun, but don't be a sally.

HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

[GravityGirl 0]

What does that mean? "Don't be a Sally." I've never heard that.

Last weekend I got my new (to me) Velocity, and I opened at about 8k. I did brake line checks, toggle stalls and rear riser stalls. Two more jumps opening high and I started to get the harness turns down.

I freaking love this thing. I can't wait until the weather clears tomorrow so I can go play with it some more.

Have fun with yours. Let us know how it goes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[dayle 0]

Hi Phree, I just bought a used, (new to me) canopy with a brand new line set. The guy I bought it off told me that PD recomends doing a hop & pop or two prior to taking it to terminal.

I doesn't really matter to me cause I'm going to do many hop & pops up way high to get used to the canopy before I really start flying it.

Dayle