chachi

i fly a vx and have never had this, any links to video would be appreciated.

definitely not text book. Manta 280 - 10 jumps Comet 228 - 25 jumps Sabre 150 - 115 jumps Stilletto 135 - 200 jumps Stilletto 120 - 150 jumps Crossfire 119 - 150 jumps FX 92 - 125 jumps VX 94 - 250 jumps, current

i am not part of, and do not want to be part of surgerytosavemyleg.com

the best advice i can gove is dont listen to people giving canopy coaching on the net. go get a real person that can work through a whole lot of material with you and show you the way from the ground up. i would suggest a professional coach. they will save you time, money, and maybe some metal.

you obviously did not understand my point. you can not blanketly say that all cross brace canopies have higher front riser pressure than non cross braces. it is simlply not true. all canopies have a characteristics that vary from canopy to canopy, from platform to platform and even between both. check my profile, obviously i dont think VX's are bad based on the riser pressure.

there are no set characteristics of any type of canopy. they all very in flare stroke, riser pressure, toggle pressure. the vx has high front riser pressure. i tend to use brakes to bring a little out and really use my harness a lot.

i think the fact that you guys try and coach people online is where the problem starts. talking about safety issues, patterns, and maybe surface control is fine but this forum is filled with coahcing posts. if people want canopy coaching they should get it live in person. anything you type is read by every 100 jump wonder anyhow. trying to limit who you are talking to at any given time is impossible. if people are serious they should go get pro help in their area. by pro i mean qualified coaches at your DZ.

Dave made a good suggestion. Flaring the canopy will bring the front riser preasure down. You asked how important front riser flight is? I would say every single control surface is important. Finding out how to get the most of your wing is the goal. A lot of problems have solutions though without always changing canopies. FYI - I think going hand in hand with flying a high performance canopy is physical health. When you say your upper body strength isn't that great I have to say trying to become a good swooper puts some abuse on your body. Your mind, and body should be as high performance as your canopy. Just my $.02

i think the x mod makes these canopies identical?

but maybe i suck anyhow. could anyone tell me where the ebay info for the guy that sold the N3 plug only was. my buddy said he had found it through these forums. thanks in advance!

hey - i wasn't taking anything you said as an arguement. but the reality is that if you offer advice you get argued with all the time. i now just tell people they can listen or not. in your case, you may be doing a 180 so far down and so low that your potential isnt high. the goal though is to keep your setup points and patterns the same as you progress through canopies simply altering things as needed for dive/forward speed. if you are doing a 180 in the main landing area on a vx94 you would need to initiate it high, and right in line with your landing area, or slightly wider if you were a carver. this would be where you would be flying into your setup right at people. also, you are starting your point A setup point upwind. and then flying downwind, making your 180 and landing into the wind, if you misjsudge the wind speed at point A - you have very little option to correct yourself without really making a mess. if you in coming cross wind made a mistake at point A you will be able to lengthen that line by moving closer to the gates, then turning downwind, or moving straighter to your initiation point. bingo, more options. swooping is about being at the right spot to make the correct turn everytime. yes that spot moves around the sky but you want as many options to get to that spot without hosing, or being confusing to the people flying around the sky with you. ps. i consider the goal of all swoopers to also consider accuracy. if you want to huck a turn when you get to the right altitude and "beer line" swoop that's fine. all of my posts would be for people that want technique and accuracy.

if your doing a 180 in your main landing area you are potentially flying at people that are already on final. bigger canopies, people not doing turns and such because you can't possibly do that wide of a 180. if your coming to setup for a swoop lane then you are runnning down the middle because everyone setting up 90/270 are coming crosswind. read the rest of what i wrote as well. it doesn't only have to do with pattern. it is a way better setup to put you at your appropriate turning altitude because as your approaching you can cut the corner, or lengthen it out if you are low or high. it will dramatically improve your accuracy, help you not do dumb shit if your high/low and it is a better pattern example. all you do is come across like every other 90/270 patten and do a 90 right before your 180, almost like a 270 but with a small turn to start it off. trust me, i know all of this becuase i did the exact thing you do and changing my setup was probably one of the single most important things that i ever did. follow the advice or don't but i learned the shit i spout from the pro's. you can try and figure it out on your own if you want, or take the easy route as i have.

^ you should also read my post on page two. your 180 setup is definately not a cool way to setup. it causes confusion, and if you are doing it in the main landing area especially can help to have a bunch of people setup on the wrong side. if you change your setup to the cross wind way i explain your accuracy will improve along with being a help to the others flying around with you.

wow, another thread completely ruined by people picking apart posts, having no interest in sharing and also changing personal views, and no real path for learning. amazing how nothing intelligent gets through when you hold fast your point and refuse to bend. to greenlight especially. i have a couple of your type on my dz. blaming everything on the "idiodic swooper" - how about you grow past your own experiences and realize that your way is not the only way. grow, educate, learn, change, evolve are all words that come to mind when thinking of the attitude change you need. read my post please on page two. so much of it probably pertains to you.

my $0.02 swooping and normal landing should be in completely separate areas of the landing area. if your dz has not yet segregated the two completely different styles of landing you should preasure your dzo's. regardless of what any of you guys do if they are together accident potential is high. speak with your dzo's immediately. 180's - are a weird setup and most people do a 180 by coming flying down the flight line and performing the turn. this is completely wrong for two reasons. first, judging your height accurately while cruising downwind leaves you in a bad position to be low or high at your initiation point. this usually results in stupid maneuvers to get to the correct height. secondly, you mow down the middle of the landing area and you are very unpredictable. if you do 180's you should be coming at a crosswind the same as a 270 approach and turning a 90 downwind right before you perform your 180. this will make your pattern more predictable, your initiation point more accurate, and your control over your swoop much safer. the problem is we now have two distinctly different groups trying to share the air. on one hand people fly larger more docile canopies and think that the swoopers are making it dangerous. well, let me tell you - most of the people flying these larger canopies thinking they are being safe rarely fly patterns, regularily sashay on final, and are generally as much of a danger as swoopers. then you have the swoopers that are progressive, fast, and appear to be show offs. most get coaching, fly predictable patterns, and are very in control. but then again - in this part you have lots of idiots too. we need to separate these two types of pilots. we need to live together safely. this comes from educating yourselves and your friends, coaching, knowing your canopy, flying predicatble patterns, discussions on loads, and generally being constanly aware. SWOOPERS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT NEED CANOPY COACHING - EVERYONE DOES if you disagree with this statement you are part of the problem, then again i know few people that get specific canopy coaching so I know there is just a bunch of little time bombs waiting to go off.

xfire or xfire 2. the softest opening canoy that i have ever jumped. i miss it - but i love my VX :D

we need more female swoopers!! so good for you. you should get a canopy that you can fly at a consitant wingloading. you do not have to weight up for any portion until you need to gleen that little extra. a quote below from jay moledski off canopypiloting.com "Its not about how much weight you can wear, its how you fly your canopy. The only guys wearing a ton'o'weight and having any kind of success are already top ranked pilots who are looking to try and push the envelope and increase there scores buy a fractional amount. First learn to fly well, then learn to fly great, then learn to fly exceptionaly awsome, then use weights as a stratagy to compete for top position. You can trust me on this one, its not about how much weight you wear, its about how you fly your canopy. P.S. I competed most all of last season at a wing loading under 2.1 (wearin no weight) Fly-Free!! JAY" - get coaching - do high pulls - start ground launching - get accurate you need to have a plan of success. you need to slightly push yourself and also learn your limitations. i got serious, got accurate, and got a wing designed for swooping. i do not think all canopies are the best to learn to swoop on and you should be jumping something with that in mind. i also think local competitions are awesome. CPC over here will improve me tremendously and even though i am new to my canopy and finished 7th in the CP here i also learned soooo much.

don't swoop when your frustrated. if your trying new stuff and things aren't going well and you think one last good one i'll go hard is bad time. you dont need to prove anything...

if any of those teams that are kinda serious but not going to medal tell them i would shoot nationals for them. i am canadian though so they cant medal. i came down last year and shot a team and would do it again.

I agree with Ian's assessment of Pro Swoopers. They are all about helping you become better not trying to hold you back. They just want you to be a great example of the sport and will try and arm you with information to avoid a collision with the ground or someone else.

i agree with Aggie - how do you build a correct sight picture when you don't even know what that height is (without a neptune) i use it in conjunction with my eyes but they are accurate to 10 feet and i have realized over the last 100 jumps more accurate than my eyes have been in the past. you still guide it around but knowing your at 680 - 720 is a nice range.

why not simply take the grim reaper aura out of it - thats the problem part in my opinion. could still be concise and educational.

i started doing 90 front risers on a sabre 150 at 43 jumps loaded at 1.2 - i got coached on it and havent looked back and have yet to have a super close call although i did hit some soft dirt hard once that could have broken something. since then i have maintained that if you are going to swoop, go learn from the best.

i didnt think you were jumping on me simply stating your points. and your right, the net does have a way of not bringing out what we really mean.

i do agree that canopy "pilots" be it swoopers, BASE jumpers or paragliders have an exceptional feel for the parachute - instinct in the situation is something else altogether though.