CanuckInUSA

My pics suck compared to some of these other ones (the most I have is 3 people in view on a 4-way freefly jump), but they are still cool and I'll still send them off to Pete. He'll likely use one of those big-way pics (as would I), but it's still cool to view different sorts of skydiving pics. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I don't believe in this theory. I do know where you're coming from and totally agree that if you are complacent, an accident is waiting to happen. But what do butterflies have to do with it. We're all different and the tolerance for risk in one person will be different for another. This is what allows a bad ass swooper to be bad ass (besides having the skill and experience to do what they do). In otherwords, they have built up a certain comfort level which allows them to dive at the ground at extremely high speeds which would likely freakout the rest of us. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

And then downwind the landing. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

What are you implying? Before you jump to conclusions, might I suggest you read this thread http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=656787;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think the canopy nazis are too busy slamming people for using Cypreses in the Safety and Training forum. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Maybe I'm still asleep, but I don't understand what you mean. I actually was originally intending on jumping in Brush this weekend, but then I found out that Mile-Hi will have one of Eloy's Otters in town this weekend (and maybe for a few weekends to come). The Lamar boogie is next weekend and Mary is going to attack me with her fly swatter if I don't show up (or was that if I do show up). Also, weather permitting and there's enough people, there's going to be night jumps tonight at Mile-Hi. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Pete I've captured 15 pretty cool images from my movie. But mine pale in comparison with the Project Horizon pics. So while you'll likely end up using one of those, I'll still send you my pics tomorrow from work (where I have a faster internet connection). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Damm ... my pics can't compete with the Project Horizon pics. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No not the fly swatter ... anything but the fly swatter!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yah Holly gave me a kiss on the airplane and that was before we even knew each other were both DZ.COMers. She was such an awesome girl giving out all of her love to friends and strangers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Cool ... pie!!! It's possible that I could hit my 500th in Eloy, but with the cooler less jumper friendly weather soon to arrive, the shorter days and myself now looking for quality skydives instead of quantity. Who knows? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm sure there are better ones than mine (like big-way headdown jumps), but I'll try to remember to send you some later tonight. I recently made a not-for-profit skydiving movie and can capture stills in the form of JPGs from it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well I guess I've got 3 1/2 months to learn to swoop this puppy eh? Seriously, I really do need to take it slow on this new canopy as it'll be like nothing I've ever flown before. I demoed the very same canopy type and size in Rantoul. But that was at sea level. There it performed much like my Sabre2 performs here in CO. But the Crossfire2 should/will perform differently at a higher density altitude. I think you're right. I likely needed to specifically ask for differect stablizer colors. The default is likely the same colors at the top and bottom skins. PS: How's your jumping coming along? Is your profile up to date? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's funny that I've only talked with Denise via emails, PMs and messages like these and yet here I am telling you two to get to know each other and now you're friends. But what can you do? I'm switching from a Sabre2 170 to a Crossfire2 139 (loaded at about 1.5:1). Yes this is a fairly aggressive downsize (and I'll only have myself to blame if I mess myself up). But based on what I've experienced during demos and heard about the Crossfire2's bottom end flare capability, I should be fine and in few months I should be able to swoop much further with it that how I can currently swoop my Sabre2. Yes Hook not only is a very talented and knowledgeable skydiver, but he's also pretty humble in my experiences with him. Make no mistake, he does have a certain ego (how could any who flies a VX-60 in CO not have one). But it's a controlled some what humble ego (if that makes sense). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hi Angela ... you have an excellent attitude and are doing the right thing taking this course. I'm sure your course will cover these topics, but try to educate yourself ahead of time on the dynamics of flight and how a wing is able to fly and then try to find some references on how this applies to canopies. Also, try to get some info on how to fly in winds (knowledge which will certainly help you with your accuracy) and any other info (PD's website has good canopy control info). There are plenty of exercises you can be doing up high such as learning to fly in breaks versus full flight, learning how much altitude you may lose in a normal toggle turn, a flat turn, a rear riser turn as well as front riser carves, etc, etc, etc but I also have a feeling that these are some skills which you will not only learn during your course but also you'll have some homework to work on after your course. So while it's good to try and be prepared for your course, don't worry too much about going into the course and think more about what you want to do after your course. Oh those bad ass swoopers are good aren't they? When I first started, I saw the dangers in swooping and said, "hell I'm not going to do that". But in time and with more experience I started to realize the fun in swooping. But one very important thing to remember (and this applies to all of us) is that those bad ass swoopers who we admire paid their dues over hundreds if not thousands of jumps. I'd like to think that I have decent swooping capabilities what with my current skills using a certain type of canopy. But I am no where near the skill level of the world class swoopers and the only way I will ever get even close to their skill level is to take baby steps. Come Saturday, I'll start flying my 4th canopy and I'll be a fool (and possibly an incident report) if I think that I'll be bad ass right of the bat just because I'm about to fly my first truly high performance elliptical canopy. Best of luck and please tell us about your course once you're done. I took a canopy control course from Hooknswoop (which I was very happy with) and it would be cool to hear about how Scott approaches his students. Heck if I ever make it out to FL, I'd like to talk to Scott about his instruction. PS: Are you the new jumper that was directed to Sunnydee123 (Denise) a little while back? If so, I hope both you girls are behaving yourselves (I know Denise has been very inspired with her skydiving experiences). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Is the TM in those pics Chris G? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

On my way to Rantoul this year, I purposely drove through Kansas City to check out the Adrenaline Rush Imax movie the following morning. Having never been to KC before, I was a little lost at times driving around late at night. Now I wanted to save some $$$ and sleep in my car. But I was very leary what with driving through what seemed like black neighbourhoods in KC (I was the only white person in sight) and the thought of trying to sleep but not knowing who's lurking out there ensured that I'd be better off staying in a hotel or motel. And I'm a guy. As a woman, I'm not sure sleeping in your car in a place like NYC is all that safe. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well I just went and read some of the new reviews about the Sabre2 and with the exception of one or two people negatively commenting on the less than desireable openings, the canopy was given some good reviews. I've made 300+ jumps on two different Sabre2s. Does this make me an expert? Hell no ... but the fact remains is that I have made over 300 jumps with this canopy design. I have been slammed very hard once and this was likely due to a rushed pack job where I didn't pay attention to my slider. I have also experience several other less than desirable slammers as well and once again, it was likely due to my packing technique on those jumps. But I have also experienced many many many nice soft openings. Now another less than desirable aspect of my canopy is it's tendancy to dive (usually to the right) once it's in the process of fully inflating (it snivels on heading, but then usually dives to the right). Now this might be an issue if my hands weren't doing anything during my opening sequence. But my hands are very active searching for my rear risers and I am able to control the dive by steering with the risers. In 300+ jumps on a Sabre2 I have maybe experienced 2-3 line twists and no canopy malfunctions. Why? Likely because I am controlling my openings with my rear risers. My only complaint about the Sabre2 (and this is an issue for more advance canopy flight) is the relatively quick recover arc. I often come out of my front riser carves a little high (better high than low) because the dam canopy just won't stay in a dive for very long. But to it's credit, it's not designed to be a swoop machine. It's designed to help people like myself learn how to swoop in a relatively safe manner. Now would I recommend a Sabre2 canopy to someone just off of student status? That's a tough question. I do believe that a Spectre or a Triathlon (I've flown both and owned a Triathlon as my first canopy) are nice pretty safe canopies if the canopy pilot doesn't behave badly. But while the flight characteristics of the 7 cell and 9 cells are different. I do believe that the Sabre2 can be handled by someone with relatively low jump numbers. Sure it's semi-ellitpical, but it's elliptcal features are actually very hard to notice (and let's not forget that a Spectre is also semi-elliptical). Is the Sabre2 a good canopy? Hell ya!!! Is it the best all around canopy out there? I don't know, but some say it is. I'm not experienced enough and haven't jumped enough different canopy types to know any better. But I do know that there are numerous very experienced jumpers out there who fly Sabre2 canopies. They may not always use them on every jump, but they do use them. Take SkymonkeyOne as an example. He's a PST competitor and wouldn't use one during a swoop comp. But unless I'm mistaken, he uses one regularily when he flies his Birdman suit. Why? Because it's known to have friendly opening characteritics (a much sought after thing for Birdman jumpers). So the diving characteristics of the Sabre2 are very well likely pilot and packing errors, not canopy design problems. But there's nothing wrong with Spectres and Triathlons (or other similar canopies) as first canopies. Talk to the instructors and experienced jumpers at your DZ and trust their feedback more than you trust what some of us here on DZ.COM have to say. After all, they will have a better understanding of your skill levels than any of us who don't know you ever will. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My incident happened on a Saturday and while my rig wasn't ready to jump on Sunday (I believe the rigger at the DZ that day intentionally didn't repack things because he personally decided to ground me), I actually grounded myself (I could have jumped rental rigs on Saturday and Sunday) but instead, I video taped some friends landings and what is really cool is that two of those landings were good enough to make it to my recently released first (beer) skydiving movie. For a while I had the footage of my Cypres snivel in my movie as well, but recently replaced it with a bad ass pond swoop from one of Colorado's best canopy pilots (Chris Gray). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're allowed to feel that way about Icarus. But there's a reason why many people think the Crossfire2 is a great canopy. And that's because it is a great canopy. The Crossfire2 is not the same canopy as those first Crossfire editions. But what do I know? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I've never heard this before, can someone please explain? I talked to an AirTek rep at Rantoul and told him about my Cypres snivel and he reiterated what many other people have said. The Cypres works off of air pressure and the air pressure is different when you're on you belly, your back, in a stand or headdown. The 750 feet we all know and love only applies to when you are belly to earth. In all other attitudes, the Cypres will fire higher. In my case, it likely fired at about 1100-1200 feet because I was under the saddle but still fast enough because my canopy wasn't fully opened yet. Once again, my video shows me initiating the pull at 2200 (this included a wave off, so I likely pulled somewhere around 1800-1900 feet) the canopy snivels like it always has, you hear the cypres fire (which I wasn't aware of at the time because believe it or not my reserve didn't come out of the tray and believe me there has been numerous debates about why it didn't come out and I no longer fly that reserve and instead have downsized one reserve size as the reserve was a little large for the container). And finally, I have video of myself stowing my slider with my wrist mount altimeter showing 1000 feet. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This does not make sense to me. But what do I know? How much does it cost to rent a rig? My DZ was charging me $25/jump for the rig and another $20 for the lift ticket. Now how much $$$ will your canopy depreciate in the time it takes to do all those rental jumps. Now if you have access to a quality rental rig at lower prices, then sure rent away to your heart's contempt. But when I was just off of student status waiting for my first rig, the rental gear was of extremely poor quality (very ugly old NARO containers, F-111 mains with thousands of jumps on them that flared worth shit, etc, etc, etc). Now the DZ has since upgraded the containers, but the old tired F-111 boats are still in service. Are you really going to become a better canopy pilot flying a canopy which has a poor flare, or are you going to learn from a more modern design which actually works? I don't know? Spectres and Triathlons are great canopies for newbies. But wherever you're getting your information about Sabres being dangerous, it's the wrong info. Sabres (especially Sabre2s) are awesome canopies. I have learned so much from my old Sabre2 190 and now my soon to be sold Sabre2 170. If people are hurting themselves under a Sabre it's because they are making mistakes, not the canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Several months ago, my Cypres fired at the very tail end of my snivel. But I wasn't as low as some would believe. I have video of myself initiating my main pull sequence at 2200 feet AGL. Yet due to several circumstances: 1) I was hauling ass coming out of a headdown jump and needed to slow down before I pulled. 2) My Sabre2 canopy is known to not open all that quickly. 3) I jump at a very high density altitude DZ. 4) And finally the Cypres will fire much higher than 750 when you're already under the saddle but still not open. My Cypres could have killed me instead of saving me (of course I was the one to blame for being at 2000 feet without a canopy over my head). Now does this mean I should not be skydiving? I $@!^ on anyone who says "yes". Once again my video documents everything which happened on that jump (including hearing the Cypres fire at the tail end of my snivel). Is initiating your main pull sequence at 2000 feet AGL dangerous? For many of us, the answer would be yes, but there are many old timers who have or still go lower (there's an older timer belly jumper at my DZ who shall remain anonymous is routinely going lower than 3000 feet because that's the way he's always done it). Now I took several lessons away from that jump: 1) While I would argue that I didn't lose total altitude awareness (I was watching the planet the entire way and had every intention of getting on my belly and pulling), I was a little too reliant on my ProTrack and missed my break off warning. So when my pull warning sounded, I thought it was my break off warning and it only took about 2-3 seconds to travel from 3000 feet AGL to 2200 AGL (once again I have video evidence of this whole event). Now I have since adjusted my ProTrack warning altitudes higher than what they were on that jump and try to remind myself that I need to be less reliant on my audible (despite the fact that it is a very important tool for headdown freefliers). 2) Also, if I every find myself at 2000 feet AGL again with nothing over my head, I need to go for my reserve. But how many of us have that "go for your main instinct"? I know I wasn't the only one as numerous people (even some of the self proclaimed ultra experienced jumpers here on DZ.COM) have also gone for their mains while low. In fact, for those of you who have seen Chronicles III, you know of the low pull incident at the end of the movie and this guy went for his main. 3) Finally, a big lesson I learned is that I'm not immune from making mistakes up there. So how many of you (and I'm sure there's a few skygods who will say yes) think I should not be skydiving because of my Cypres snivel malfunction? Once again I $@!^ on you if you say "yes". People make mistakes and hopefully if they are lucky, they learn from those mistakes. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

And beer ... oops ... did I really say that? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey this is nothing to be ashamed of. If you're not mentally ready to jump, DON'T jump. Try not to worry about making the perfect jump or the perfect exit, because they just don't exist (at least at our skill levels). The important thing is that you have the mental skills to act calmly and rationally in a very dynamic and intense environment. I'm lucky in that I rarely experience butterflies in the air. I usually feel anxiety before I jump, but that because of the lack of oxygen (I jump from 17500 feet MSL here in CO). But some people claim that it's healthy to have butterflies, so don't beat yourself up because you're not alone. Never cross my mind and I'm usually the exact opposite "how fast can I get myself back up in the air". You're still an infant in this sport. In time you will find your niche. But as some will claim, your butterflies will always be with you. Just make sure that your mind is rational and clear on each and every jump you do. Things can happen fast up there and we have little time to waste hesitating. Good luck ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over