BMAC615

@faulknerwn and/or @wmw999 What’s your recommended progression path for someone wanting to get into CRW? I looked at the threads in CRW Forum, but, they are a little old. What canopy do you start with and what WL? When do you move them to a WL of 1.3? Let’s say they show up to their FJC and the AFFI says, “Why are you here?” And the student says, “I saw a video of people doing canopy formations and I want to do that.” What would you tell them to expect to do from jump zero all the way to being able to be on some CRW Big Ways (9-way diamonds+).

You aren’t the first or worst and won’t be the last. If you have the opportunity to visit a wind tunnel, I highly recommend it. You’ll be able to get the body flying part down and have confidence in your ability to do what needs to be done. The rest will be a mental game.

Yes, I appreciate the feedback! Sabre @ WL of 1 -> Katana @ WL of 1 was an example that wasn’t using exact numbers, but was directionally correct. I’d rather see someone with an exit weight of 190 consistently land within seven feet of a target center and then become proficient at proximity flying and then learn basic high performance landing techniques on a Sabre 190 and THEN move to a Katana 170 instead of someone on a Sabre 190 not be able to consistently land within seven feet of a target center move to a Sabre 170 and still not be able to consistently land within seven feet of a target center and not do any proximity flying and not learn any basic high performance landing techniques then downsize to a Sabre 150 and still not get the basics down and then go to a Katana 150 and THEN start learning high performance landing techniques. Frankly, best case example scenario is someone with an exit weight of 190 and ~200 jumps can begin to learn basic high performance landing techniques on a Sabre 190 and after 400+ jumps begin to learn some advanced high performance landing techniques on that same Sabre 190 and get over 500+ jumps before moving to a Katana 170. (Those jump numbers are guidelines as some people will pick up on it faster and some slower [or never]). Of course, nothing is set in stone or linear. I’ve noticed people who do CRW are almost ALWAYS better/safer canopy pilots after 10-20 CRW jumps and can move to a Lightning @ 1.3 pretty quickly and could probably safely move to a Katana @ 1.2+ much sooner than someone with zero CRW experience. Also, WL is not exactly linear either. A 170 @1.1 WL is not the same as a 135 @1.1 WL. Here’s a great article that may help: https://uspa.org/Portals/0/files/misc_downsizechecklist.pdf

I’d rather see someone’s piloting progression improve on a specific low performance canopy w/ a WL of 1 (Let’s use a Sabre as an example). After they can consistently land that canopy within seven feet of a target area, (and preferably have done some proximity flying) and have demonstrated basic high performance landing techniques and everyone agrees they are ready to move to a higher performance canopy, stay on a WL of 1 and move to a Katana. It’s MUCH safer to do that then go from a Sabre w/ a WL of 1 to a Katana w/ a WL of 1.3 and THEN learn basic high performance landing techniques. Everything is basically the same, but, it just happens faster with a higher WL.

What is your order of operations for teaching high performance landings? What do you teach first? Then what? Then what? P.S. Appreciate the feedback!

Perfect - exactly the type of feedback I was looking for! This is the full description now: Brief Overview of appropriate timing of when to learn various skydiving disciplines from someone who began skydiving in 1993; US Army Airborne; Static Line, AFF, Tandem & Wind Tunnel Instructor. I instruct/coach students, A and B License holders and have told this story numerous times and decided to make a video series so I don’t have to give this presentation in person 2X a weekend. Also, this presentation will allow the newer skydiver to view different disciplines to have a more in-depth discussion with their instructor in order to get them on a path specific to their passion. Watch this video to learn more about the differences in skydiving disciplines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1rMtCPZFGw Learn Basic Belly Flying Skills: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLks4G_kAOgo5di84rCJEZ4CTFX5O74WdQ Kinesthesia: The Art of Body Flight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P_QPWyay20&list=PLks4G_kAOgo5di84rCJEZ4CTFX5O74WdQ&index=9 Learn Advanced Body Flying Skills: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLks4G_kAOgo5aHTzd83fk1NQY5Y6fcWuC How to get into Angle Flying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL4s4zRB-yI How to get into Freeflying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6oiHGcCu94 Learn Basic Wingsuit Information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZGhmoggknk&list=PLks4G_kAOgo72t9u-4BNiK53IInvcL-Gs

Also, I added this to the description: “Brief Overview of appropriate timing of when to learn various skydiving disciplines from someone who began skydiving in 1993; US Army Airborne; Static Line, AFF, Tandem & Wind Tunnel Instructor. I instruct/coach students, A and B License holders and have told this story numerous times and decided to make a video series so I don’t have to give this presentation in person 2X a weekend. Also, it allows me to baseline expectations of the pups I’m working with.”

Cool, then it hit the mark and as I suspected, there’s no bad/unsafe opinions. I just send my pups to my channel and tell them, “watch all this stuff before we begin working together next week.” Again, appreciate the feedback!

And I had considered breaking this up into lots of little videos and making a playlist. That may be the right thing to do. Appreciate the feedback!

Regardless of my qualifications, is the content sound? I didn’t spend a ton of time on this, but, I figured someone might benefit from the work I did, so, I posted it. The reason I’m seeking feedback is I want to make sure I’m not giving any wrong, bad, or dangerous advice or that I’m not overlooking any errors. Some guy on Reddit lobbed a comment that, “This is such horrible instruction” with no follow up and it made me second guess the content. My inner circle of instructors, coaches and S&TAs have all agreed on the material, but, it can’t hurt to get more perspective from this group as, collectively, you all have a gained a ton of knowledge and experience while I was away. If it really matters, I started jumping in FL in 1993 and achieved my D-License within 6-months (so I could go to the ‘93 WFFC); went through the Kinesthesia program with Guy and Pam Manos, Guy later personally trained me on how to teach the Kinesthesia methodology and I went on to train many new jumpers using the program before the coach rating existed; US Army Airborne, stationed at Bragg/Raeford mid-90s; Static Line, AFF, Tandem Instructor; trained in all disciplines with numerous world champions; I was also one of the first wind tunnel instructors at the original SkyVenture in Kissimmee in ‘99-‘00. I left skydiving in 2000 after working full-time for several years at a couple FL DZs and SkyVenture. Came back in October of 2020 to pursue wingsuit flying. Did my FFC w/ Dan Darby in March and just finished training w/ Scotty Bob and Julia for four days. Since coming back, I have been jumping with recent A and B License holders and have told this story numerous times already and decided to make a video series so I don’t have to give this presentation in person 2X a weekend. Also, it allows me to baseline expectations of the pups I’m working with. I’m not so worried about reaching a broad audience and specifically avoided the “HEY GUYS, WHAT’S UP? TODAY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SKYDIVING DISCIPLINES - BE SURE TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!” So, am I missing anything or is anything I said bad or unsafe?

I didn’t care to get feedback until some guy on Reddit said it was terrible instruction to recommend people wait until they have a lot of experience before engaging in angle jumps. Was curious if anyone else felt that way.

Whelp, anyone have any hats I can eat? Oxis is going bankrupt.

On a serious note, I’m curious to know what the people in this forum think of this video and the opinions contained. I made it for my students/pups to set a baseline of understanding of when to expect to do certain things.

LOL, I didn’t realize how old it was until I got to your reply

Video about appropriate timing of engaging in various disciplines

The Javelin Odyssey Dynamic corners require a slight bit more attention when closing, but, not a huge hassle. Solves a problem that doesn’t really exist for CRW, but, doesn’t hurt other than the extra 30 seconds it takes to close it right.

It would probably be easier to take a photo and recreate the arrows and text.

Property has been purchased.

Travel restrictions have been the only thing keeping me from traveling to the IWT in Sweden and doing a camp w/ Jarno.

You might be right. Or, this might make it more common. We’ll see.

Well, the alternatives to one hour in the US WS tunnel are to spend $1500 for 60 WS skydives over 10 days or spend $1k in travel to fly to Sweden and another $1500 an hour in that tunnel. For training purposes, I’d say $1500 per hour of tunnel time with world-class coaches is a bargain.

Of all the rigs to steal, some knuckleheads wound up with some of the most famous in the industry, LOL.

I’m not doubting that the certification activities are different, nor, am I doubting Oxis’ Li-S batteries having a shorter lifecycle than Li-ion. I’m saying the certification process you posted requires Oxis to demonstrate the level of probability of non-failure before increasing the lifecycle certification. We are in agreement that the current Li-S batteries have a short lifecycle, but, that’s an issue that can potentially be overcome with development in the same way the Pipistrel pack and BMS development allowed them to go from 100 to 500 and potentially to 1000+. I also recognize Oxis’ chemistry and engineering may never prove more than 100 cycles. However, I believe Oxis has confidence that they will be able to get lifecycle beyond the current 100 and Wh/kg beyond the current 400. As you know, it wasn’t that long ago that Li-ion wasn’t suitable for electric automobiles, yet, here we are.

I could be wrong, however, I remember watching an interview w/ the CTO of Pipistrel, Dr. Tine Tomazic, where he mentioned the low lifecycle of their batteries and how they are slowly working with the aviation authorities to get certification to officially increase the longevity of their packs.They are using cylindrical Li-Ion type cells and started w/ 100 and moved to 500 when they introduced liquid cooling. Based on what I have learned, they are working on certification for 1000+. Sounds like Oxis needs to demonstrate the level of probability of non-failure required to move from 100 to 500 and beyond the same way Pipistrel did. That takes time.

You might be right, but, it’s all speculation at this point.