CanuckInUSA

Freefall is cool ... but I have way more fun under canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

ROFLMAO ... yup Grant is a skinny white boy ... maybe to AggieDave the jolly green giant. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Go back, speak to the staff. They will fill you in more than anyone on an online forum can. This is good advice ... good on you Andy. Welcome to our world Tammy ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If you deffo want to learnt o skydive then go straight into AFF. I didn;t even do a tandem before going into it since i knew i wanted to learn. However if you're still unsure do another tandem but don't be fooled into thinking you'll learn anything from the tandem which will help u in AFF. AFF you are in control, tandem you are a passenger. Tim I agree with popsjumper ... please do not be giving out advice on topics you clearly know little about. It's all about the freefall isn't it. ROFLMAO at such poor advice as to what you seem to feel is correct. At this early stage of Tammy's jumping career there is a lot that she can still learn from another tandem if she thinks it would be best for her. Or if she feels she is ready, she can try an AFF jump. Please educate yourself more about this sport before you start spewing bad advice to new jumpers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What sort of wind? Strong, medium or light? and what canopy control inputs did you utilize to try and get back? Or did you just sit there in full flight? There is no guarantee that anyone can get back from a long spot. But there are canopy control inputs that people should know about that will help them in the downwind scenario you speak of. With strong winds at your back it is often best to fly in brakes since it allows the canopy to stay aloft longer and allows the winds to push you more since you are exposed to them longer. In moderate winds it is toss up between brakes and rear risers, but in light winds it is best to fly your rears. In all cases ball up your body and try to create the least amount of drag. But ... what must you decide by 1000 feet AGL? You must have already decided where you are going to land by the time you get to 1000 feet above the ground. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Excellent!!! I have only jumped in Ogden once ... but they are a good group of people out there and it is a pretty DZ with it's close proximity to the mountains and all. But I am not going to speculate as to when you will jump since I am not familiar with their tandem training procedures. Have fun ... I'm sure you will. :) Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I am going to have to try and remember to download it from home this evening. My employer has huge chunks of the net disabled here at work (I am amazed that I can even get on to DZ.COM ... LMAO ... especially with all the spyware the employer has installed on this computer ... ha ha some corporate dweeb at CA is probably reading this right now ...). Anyway ... Dan Raymond has done a great job with some of the other swooping videos he's made in the past and it sounds like this is another good one to watch. I look forward to seeing it later. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What time is your tandem scheduled? You jumping out of Skydive Ogden or another UT DZ? Maybe Moab? If Moab say Hi to Clint for us. Anyway I used to jump in Colorado and at this time of year there is a lot of afternoon thundershower activity. But I am not sure if Utah's is like Colorado's weather. Regardless ... chances are that you will be jumping before dusk. DZs tend to try and get all their tandems done ASAP in the day. When I jumped in CO, I liked either morning jumps or late afternoon or evening jumps since the air was the most stable at those times (before or after the thundershowers). But I am not a big fan any more of sunset swoop loads (not an issue for you) since the light can be flat at that time and I came close to pounding in one day on a sunset swoop load. Also swooping the pond (once again not an issue for you) on a sunset load with no wind is freaky since the water is glassy and the depth perception is hard to decifer. Of course now I am living nowhere near a swoop pond, so it is a moot point. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I've yet to experience this, but a friend once told me about a BASE jump he made in the rain. When he left the object he could see the drops as a blur falling faster than him. Then for a split second there he was in freefall falling at the same rate as the rain drops and they looked like rain drops. Then he accelerated past them, they returned to being a blur. Trippy to say the least. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I ###king hurts. Enough said. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

We fall from the sky very fast. Because of this a lot of relative wind is generated typically on our faces. It's like sticking you head out of the car on the highway which is going twice the speed limit. Because of the wind, a lot of noise is generated in your ears and between the wind in your face and noise, this is where a lot of the intensity comes in. In time when people do enough jumps, they learn to turn off the wind noise and it becomes dancing in the skies. Then the canopy opens and the noise goes away and you are left with a peaceful tranquil feeling several thousands of feet above ground and you get to take in the view from up there that the majority of the public has never seen. I know why the birds sing, I share their playground. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Woohoo ... you are about to have the experience of a life time. Hope you enjoy it. I'm sure you will. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You will enjoy the landings of a zero-p so much more than an F-111 canopy, so yes by all means if you can afford it, go pick up a zero-p canopy somewhere. Sabre2s and Spectres are both excellent canopies and you would not go wrong with either one. The difference between the two is one is 9 cell (Sabre2) which will glide more and have more of a swoopy landing and the other being a 7 cell (Spectre) which will come in a tad steeper but has excellent and reliable opening characteristics. There are pros and cons to the 9 cell versus 7 cell. If possible demo them both to determine which one you like better. Also if you are looking for a 9 cell canopy to compare the Sabre2 to, check out the Pilot and Safire2. If you want to compare the 7 cell Spectre to another canopy check out the Triathlon (though personally I feel the Spectre is superior to the Triathlon). PS: I agree with AFFI, get a 170 over a 150. It will be safer and you will learn more on the 170 at this stage. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Nothing in life is guaranteed. But if someone wants to get into high performance canopy flight, one needs to know that there are no short cuts and the people you see swooping typically have thousands of jumps and are often very current. With that in mind here are a few other ideas to follow: 1) Fly a canopy appropriately sized with the appropriate design based on your current skill, experience and currency level. 2) Dedicate jumps towards canopy control (hop n’ pops and high pulls). Flying in traffic is no time to be learning new canopy control techniques. 3) Seek out canopy control instruction from qualified canopy control instructors (count yourself lucky if you are local to these people and have access to them as mentors). 4) Continue to practice the drills these coaches teach you and never stop trying to learn more about the control range and performance envelop of your canopy. 5) Before you downsize, ask yourself (and preferably a mentor) why you feel you need to downsize. 6) Do not downsize to a smaller more aggressive canopy until you have put hundreds and hundreds of jumps on the current canopy and can perform the necessary canopy control skills (I forget where they are mentioned), but BillVon should have them up his sleeve some where. 7) Do not skip a step in the downsizing progression. 8) Seek out more canopy coaching whenever you change canopies and/or are looking to try the next more aggressive turn type. 9) Never think it can’t happen to you. 10) Unless you are one of the top PSTers, know that there is always someone better than you and keep the ego in check. I know there are plenty more ideas …. but this is a start … Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Skydiving is not nearly as dangerous as the general public thinks it is. Yet in the same breath, skydiving is far less safe than many active jumpers think it is. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I have only been in this sport a short 5 years. But I disagree with your assessment that self policing is not working. I have actually seen some progress in how many (not all) people approach canopy flight. It is not something that happens overnight, but as more and more people progress in this sport (without killing themselves), the education improves and more and more messages of responsible canopy flight get told. But with all these advances in gear and better canopy control coaching ... we are still finding new ways to kill ourselves. But legislation from governments is the last thing I want to see in our sport. I am incredibly frustrated with how people in society constantly judge others who are different than themselves and I live in a very money hungry, arrogant and selfish part of the world night now (Alberta Canada with it's new found power due to the Oil here and the politics of the world we live in) and the people here have an incredibly close minded ignorance about the real dangers of skydiving versus their perceived assumptions all because of a few high profile incidents that the media latched on to. The last thing I want to see is some arrogant, selfish money hungry golfing oriented lawyer tell me what I can and can not do up there in the skies. Where I have issues with this thread is that it is mud slinging being done on the internet. There is nothing we can do about Ted (BTW ... I did not know Ted). But we as jumpers can do something about the people still alive that we see at the dropzones we jump at. If we see some newbie wannabie flying recklessly then we need to speak up. If we see some professional skydiver flying recklessly in traffic, we need to speak up. But slaming some deceased guy on the internet is not going to have any effect on the person at the DZ who does not read DZ.COM ... if this concern qualifies me as some soapbox dweeb ... well so be it. I live a pretty pathetic existence nowadays and it really doesn't matter what I say because most people are all to quick to judge me because I am not like them. We are not going to solve the sports issues on the internet. We can only start to try a solve the issues at the grass roots level ... at the dropzones. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Really? That's funny cause I thought DZ.COM was more global and not specific to a given country. I mean it's founder is not American. I guess I should log off now since I am not in America. Did Ted make a mistake? Hell yeah he did. But what I don't get is why drudge up a "slam Ted" thread? What did he do so different than all the other fatalities (swooping or not)? I don't see the "so and so" one year aniversary thread popping up on a daily basis yet there are enough fatalities out there. I am sure swooping related accidents will continue to occur, but from what I can see the message of canopy piloting is getting out and many (not all) people are hearing it. If you look at the rash of recent fatalities, death is still occurring for many reasons, not just swooping. Assuming I'm even here one year from now, I'm looking forward to listening to people slam some poor old guy for not opening anything or how about slaming a friend who decided to take his own life? Oh and I have a friend of mine who passed away last fall, is someone going to start the slam "my friend" thread on the one year aniversary of his passing? Looking forward to that thread. Sure hope this Kevin guy never fucks ups. Can we reference this thread if he ever does? There are far too many judgmental people out there. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This post is not directed at Smiley but instead is directed at everyone of us: You know what pisses me off about society. The way we constantly judge people who are different from ourselves. Anyone one of us who jumps out of an airplane let alone purposely induces speed for our landings could be the next one to fuck up and no doubt there will be no shortage of people wanting and willing to slam the next person who fucks up. Is jumping a cross braced canopy at 500-600 jumps smart? History and logic tells us that it is NOT the smartest thing to do? When shit happens, it happens real fast. What about 900-1000 jumps? What about 1500-2000 jumps? When is it okay to be jumping a high performance canopy and inducing speed for ones landing? We are all different and what was the norm yesterday many not be the norm tomorrow. Obviously if someone is dedicated, seeks coaching, allocates time towards canopy control and does their swooping in controlled environments, well they are showing more respect for the dangers than some yahoo that just wings it and they will likely have a better chance surviving this less than safe discipline. But none of us (even the pros) are immune from a momentary lapse of judgment. What is my point in all of this? No way am I endorsing the person who is behind this thread. Hopefully he realizes that “he is not all that” and he shows respect for what we do up there because the margin for error is pretty small. But careful passing judgment on others people, because the shoe could very well be on the other foot some day. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Shit happens ... especially when you jump a highly loaded cross braced canopy. Probably not the best canopy choice for a 4-way camera flier ... but come on now ... we know 4-way camera fliers who also jump highly loaded cross braced canopies. At the risk of not progressing as a freefall specialist, I think I will stick to control environments such as hop n' pops and high pulls. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Where in this thread have I said a single word about swooping in traffic? WTF? First off you totally missed the point of practice flares at altitude. Not to sound like a broken record here, but they are NOT done to help you with ground references. No they are done to help people learn the physical feel of the canopy just before the imminent stall. You know all that stuff about learning your canopy. Learniing the control range. Sure it is only one piece of the puzzle. But it is an important piece. Get out there and jump. You've taken the necessary initial canopy control training (take more if required ... you think I took only one session of canopy control training ... hell no). Assuming you were paying attention in class, you have been given the theoretical knowledge, but it is now up to you to put that knowledge to good use by jumping, doing the drills, dedicating jumps towards canopy control. If you are expecting some sort internet explaination of how everything works, you are sorely mistaken. You're not going to get it. Ultimately it is you who will teach yourself how to land. Often it takes hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of attempts and some people get it faster than others. My point all along was that rear risers are not to be feared. They require respect. You don't just go yanking on them. But they are not to be feared. They work very well when you know their range. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

WTF do you think you were doing those drills? To recognize how the canopy would feel prior to the stall or for just shits and giggles? Why does a pilot practice power on and power off stalls? For shits and giggles or maybe they practice it so that they know how the wing feels just prior to the stall? Why do airline pilots get put through the simulators practicing all sorts of emergenices? Cause they want to purposely increase their stress levels? Or maybe they do so that when the shit does hit the fan they act instinctively and correctly? What is one of the canopy control tasks BillVon has recommended we all do in his list of things to do before we decide to downsize? Geez I seem to remember landing with the rears as being one of these steps to accomplish. So that's great that you took a Scott Miller class ... but did you feel that now that you've done his class you do not need to continue to explore the performance range of your canopy? You're done ... you know all you need to know and there is no need to actually practice? If it takes hundreds and hundreds of practice jumps up high before you actually do it low to the ground, well then that's what it takes. Practice it slowly bringing it lower and lower to the ground and sooner or later when you are ready you will land with your rears and then you will understand where I am coming from. Your rear risers are not to be feared. Learn them and use them. You will be a better canopy pilot because of this. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I can understand a student/newbie not feeling comfortable landing with their rears. But for everyone else? OMG if people don't know how to fly and land using their rear risers then stop all this nonesense of specializing in freefall, go take a canopy control class, dedicate jumps to canopy control, upsize if need be and learn how to control that canopy. Your rears are not to be feared. All this nonsense of some people scaring other people telling them that they will stall their canopies has got to stop. Any wing can stall at any airspeed and at any attitude. It's aerodynamics 101. Any abrupt control input could cause a stall. So learn how to control your canopies people, learn how to recognize the imminent stall. I've stood up my landings on a big ass 303 square foot BASE canopy just as I have landed a small sub 100 square foot swooping canopy all by using just the rears. It is not all that hard. Just don't start yanking on your control inputs, be subtle and feel that canopy buffet moments before the stall (plus know that the canopy will stall at a higher airspeed ... once again it's aerodynamics 101). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

NE DZ peeps ... with Sam(antha) sitting in the raft? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

LMAO ... I couldn't agree with you more. Case in point: how many of us out there think that we are above average drivers while at the same time we think most of the other people we share the road are morons. Do the math ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I just want to add that I do not wish ill will on Mr17Hz business venture. I am just speaking from experience working in the IT world which includes working at start up companies (I have been exposed to Vulture Capitalists and I know how ruthless they can be ... they think nothing of selling their mothers graves to make a buck). Anyway when you are the new guy on the block a lot of scrutiny is directed towards the product and it is best to produce these "whitepapers" which explain the architecture of the product, what 3rd party tools are used and what potential licensing these 3rd party tools may require. Plus it sounds like this product is using a front end client, not just a browser based thin client and it would be nice to know more about this front end client. Plus it would be good to know of what back end server latency is planned ... you know all that stuff a business wants to know to ensure that they are not left out to dry sitting on the ground when some server blows chunks. I honestly do wish Mr17Hz good luck. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over