NeedToJump

As Kelly said: breathe and shake out your hands. Breathing and relaxing is key to skydiving. Another thing to do is lie on the ground in your box position and try to relax your body as much as you can. Remember that feeling and try to apply that feeling the next time you get back in the air. Also smile

It teaches you about air flowing over your body and how various motion will act on that airflow and move you. People with belly flying experience tend to have an easier time learning freefly than those without any. During an RW jump you are moving more slowly through the air so you have more time to recognize problems and decide what to do. It may only be half a second more, but that can be the difference between life and death in this sport. Doing more RW jumps first will help acclimate you to being in the air and knowing what sorts of things to look for so that you can recognize when things are not right at faster speeds and react more quickly. If a deer jumps out in front of your car it is easier to avoid it if you are going 30 rather than 70. It is definitely a combination but number of jumps plays a huge part. You can know in your mind everything about how to technically fly head-down - what to move to go where, etc. This doesn't mean that you can actually do it. The amount of airtime you have determines the amount of applied knowledge you have. Period. Someone with more theoretical knowledge MAY be able to apply this knowledge and therefore learn more quickly, but it doesn't change how much air time you've got. The posters here do not regulate you at all, we can only give advice based on our own experience. The reason most people on here tend to give conservative advice is because we don't know you and have to assume that you are "average." (Not refering to you specifically.) If you post to an open forum then expect to get answers from people who don't know you and therefore cannot give you an answer specific to you. Also keep in mind that in this sport it is always better to err on the side of safety. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

... What's up Rory? Hate to say this, but if you haven't flown the Katana how do you know they're almost identical? I now have about 160 jumps on a Katana 120 and about 15 jumps on a Sam 105 so the best Katana-Samurai comparison I can do is to compare these two different sizes. I won't comment about openings because the Samurai I was jumping had an H-mod on it. In full flight the Samurai was a little bit fast and responded a bit more to toggle inputs (makes sense, it's smaller.) The Katana had lighter front and rear riser pressure. I found the larger Katana easier to dive and found that it built up more speed and kept more speed throughout the dive. I also found the Katana to have more bottom end to the flare. The Samurai definitely felt a bit more solid above my head in full flight (I'm sure due to the airlocks) but both felt pretty similar in breaks. Landing straight in I found the Katana much easier to shut down. Swooping I was able to go faster and swoop farther under the Katana as well (although I have that canopy much more dialed in.) Overall I found the Samurai to be a really nice canopy and found the Sam 105 to fly similarly (but definitely not the same) to the Katana 120. They are both definitely the same class of canopy although I prefer the Katana. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I heard that they successfully completed a 45 way but the judges didn't accept it because a grip was not visible so the official record will be 42. Way to go everyone congratulations!

Thanks Andy, that's basically what I was trying to say but you explained it a lot better

On some canopies that would work fine and on other releasing 2 seconds before starting the flare would smack you into the ground hard Please be careful giving advice about high speed approaches... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

So um, what were you actually searching for that you came across this... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

You can't comletely shut a canopy down in no wind conditions - in order to fly the canopy needs forward speed. When you've slowed it to a certain point there is no longer enough speed to keep it flying and at that point you have to walk / run / slide it out. You could try flaring slightly faster towards the end of the plane out which will pop the canopy up slightly. This way when the canopy stops flying its momentum is taking it up and forward. The speed will be the same but the forward speed will be less and gravity will also be helping you to stop. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

You guys call that a pieing? There's a small spot on my nose that you missed! I'll definitely be joining you guys with the rig dumping next time

No way man, that hair looks great, especially on PD's website Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Mike - I'll definitely be heading up there in July to visit for a bit Katee - Thanks for the congrats. I think the real reason for getting pied is so people can throw pie at you Andrea - you knew me when... I attacked your thumb with my helmet and ate your pizza Howard - don't worry, you're still waaaay better at wrapping than I am Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Thanks guys! You ever get that feeling that you're safe? I did, I thought that somehow I had avoided getting pied... damn was I wrong... I have never gotten a pied like that before and Paige said that she'd be posting pictures of it I definitely feel like I have to share this with everyone. I told one of my whuffo friends about making my 1000th jump and he sent me that link... I love it Well here's to everyone I've met and jumped with for the past thousand jumps and all the new people I'll meet during the next thousand

Made two jumps today.... Damn pie smells bad Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll be there and I'll be waiting for you Ian! I am definitely looking forward to seeing you and everyong else at the meet.

It's shipping, I got mine in the mail yesterday. "The Parachute and Its Pilot 2nd Edition" Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Once you can hit the entry gates every time without adding additional input then I'd say start playing around with diving the canopy about 5 feet lower and adding input to plane it out. The thing with doing this is that if you're low at all and have to stab then you've completely negated any positive effect this may have and have just shortened your swoop considerably. Get some swoop coaching and see what the coach says. I wouldn't even try this until you're consistantly getting every bit of performance out of your canopy. This means that as you approach / get to the entry gates your canopy is over your head flying straight rather than diving you at the ground still. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

My understanding is the distance from plane-out until landing will be longer without with no input, however the plane-out occurs above normal entry gate altitude. By adding some input to force the canopy to plane out you will get a shorter swoop but more of it will be on ground level so you would get a greater distance score by passing through entry gates. As I said, that's my understanding. I definitely could be wrong and I'm sure that this differs depending on the type of recovery arc of the canopy and the type of canopy. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I just got the book in the mail today and will read it and write about it very soon. I found your seminar and the book that I got from it very informative and look forward to reading this new one.

I find it pretty funny actually how so many people with relatively low jump numbers and experience (I'm included in the low numbers and expierience part) like to say how Ron is closed minded and no one learns anything from him, yet many of the very experienced skydivers posting tend to agree with him. Hmmm... I personally will read any post I see by Ron because I KNOW that it will contain valuable information without and of the bs. I know that I've learned a lot from what he writes because I try to get over myself and my ego when I read his posts. You know what? It works. I humble myself and I learn. It's incredible what listening will do for you... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Ad-Aware located at http://www.ad-aware.com is an excellent spy ware removal application. Ada-Ware located at http://www.adaware.com is completely different and I was told that this software is actually spyware. I've never installed it so I'm not sure. Stick with Ad-Aware and you'll be fine. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Oops, I browsed for the pic but I guess I forgot to click the Upload attachment button Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

You mean something like this? Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

No it's not, but she is a damn good skydiver

Ouragan Suits is located in DeLand, FL. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I don't know if she has made FF shorts before but I'm sure that Nancy from Ouragan Suits would be able to make exactly what you're looking for, plus they'd look damn good