ccowden

I can't get past the tongue!

I never said that I would go naked. I just said that I would offer to fly the video!

You know how they tell you to picture the audience naked when you are giving a speech? You can do the same type of thing on a head down jump. Have a coach go with you and fly in front of you for point of reference. Have him/her do it naked. This should take some pressure off of your performance! If it helps, you can go naked too! And because I am a nice guy, I would video it for you for free!

I was thinking about this Sunday maybe. (18th)

Damn, I wish that would stick around for Sunday!

I am going to the Flyers playoff game on Saturday. Maybe I will take my gear and jump at Xkeys on Sunday. Anyone going to be around??

Why? Do you guys make mistakes?

Thanks for the info. I contacted both of the above parties, but have heard nothing back from either.

I am looking to get some info on getting a Caravan for a weekend. If anyone has any information on contacts, it would be greatly appreciated.

Holy Hotties, Batman!!!!!

Let me add- I agree that I could have delivered my opinion in a better manner the first time and should have lacked the sarcasm. It was an error on my part. I just assumed that this thread was started in that tone and I found it humorous.

My point was that this article was written in a manner that would not reach the 'target' readers in the way that I think it was intended. By calling someone 'high risk' or 'a danger to everyone around them' , you will get the type of reactions that are posted here, plus probably lose the chance you had to get through to the persons who might really need to understand this risk factor. I understood what the article was trying to get across, but I just think they went about it wrong. It had the feel of fingerpointing and made me sound as if I was not safe and shouldn't be jumping what I am. I scored a 40. I always strive for safety and education with my canopy flight and take it very seriously. This article made it sound as if I didn't do any such things. ----THIS IS MY OPINION AND MAY NOT BE SHARED BY EVERYONE. I AM SIMPLY STATING HOW I PERCEIVED IT.--- To me, and I repeat, to ME, the article was written in a way that made me feel as though I was not very safe, a risk to others, not taking canopy flight seriously, and worst of all, was completely unaware of these facts. I even used the numbers of a canopy coach who scored 2 points higher than I. I believe that the intention were good, but it was just poorly delivered. I am not saying I could do better or I am an expert or I am not in a higher risk bracket or the people who wrote this were idiots, so if you got any of these impressions, I apologize and will say you missed my point. I am just stating my opinions and assumed this forum was the place to do it. I would certainly be willing to give my input on another article dedicated to canopy safety and risk assesment. I never implied that I could write a better article, I was just displeased with this one. I would assume the writers of this article and viewers of this forum would want this type of input, but I could be wrong. I was very pleased to see this article in the magazine and it was the first one I read because I want to continually educate myself and become a safer pilot, so I appreciate the effort. But I was disappointed with how it came across.

Basically the survey said this- If you jump a high performance canopy, you are high risk. Well DUH!!! I am guessing that even the pros would be in the high risk numbers in this survey, so what is the point exactly? High performance flight is a higher risk factor than other canopy flight? I thought we already knew that. I think they wasted paper with this one and could have used the space to write a much better article on canopy safety.

Apparently there is a 'wash' created by the students body that constantly pushes the instructor away from him! But, with highly skilled flying, the instructor can stay next to him! SHWEEEEWWWW!

Right on! Let the fun begin!

Yes, I mean don't just panic and stab your toggles. You need to be smooth. If you are just into the rears enough to feel the effect, there won't be that much 'lag' to take over with the toggles. What you are describing about people 'stabbing' the toggles at the end of the surf is after the rears become mushy and are losing their ability to fly. Then you need to let go of the rears and immediately go to the point on the toggles where they take up that 'lag' and take over flying the canopy. You should NEVER get to this point up higher in what I am describing. Are you following me? The transfer from rears to toggles should be smooth. Letting up on the rears, letting the canopy surge, and then stabbing the toggles would definitely not be smooth. I think you will find this much easier than it sounds. That is why I said just go in baby steps.

If you come in on landing on a nice straight-in approach, you can try the rear risers and transefer right to toggles. The idea of practicing up high is the same as practicing your flare up high. You won't be able to gauge exactly when to do it on landing, but you get a feel for how it responds and where that stall point is. The same is true for rear risers. The most important thing to remember when learning rear risers is to do it in baby steps and not to do anything radical. The canopy will respond much more dramatically with very small inputs on the rears so you need to be ready for that. When you are coming in on final, and still up highere than a normal flare would start, just reach up and grap both rears and barely press outward on them. You don't even have tp pull them down at first to see what will happen with just a small amount of pressure pushing out on the rears. If you want to pull down a little, GO EASY and plan on only pulling about an inch, in a very smooth motion. Once you feel how the canopy responds, just go right to your toggles as if it were a normal landing. As you get more comfortable on each jump, you will be able to get a feel for it and go longer with the inputs. REMEMBER- Go in baby steps and stay smooth. You are not really flaring with the rears as much as you are planing the canopy out. But if you have been practicing swooping, you should know the difference on how you start with toggle input higher with smaller amounts to plane out in a smooth manner rather than a flare to stop and land. If you ever are on rears and feel the canopy starting to get sluggish and you are getting deeper in the rears, GET TO TOGGLES. It is probaly starting to stall. You never want to get to the point of stall on the rears, especially if you are still off the ground a ways. That is why you should go in baby steps. When you transfer to toggles, do that smooth as well. Do not do anything fast or aggressive. I know it seems like alot to think about, but it will probably be easier than you think. Just go slow and never get past your comfort point. Have someone who knows about this watch you as well. Still try up high so you get the feel for the rears and how it feels when you get too deep. Also, fly around abit using the rears up high. It all helps to get comfortable and get the feel for them. Hope this helps.

I think this is most of your problem. JUST LET IT DO IT'S THING. You are always going to have the searching characteristic with a Velocity, but that doesn't mean it's going to open off heading. It is just how they open. If you just stay still and let it do it's thing, the openings will come out generally on heading and be quite smooth. It just takes a little getting used to this type of opening. I tried doing minor corrections, much like you are describing, on my first few openings on my Velocity and it really could get ugly and seemed to make it worse. Once I got the advice to just let it do it's thing and just hang still, the openings were great. I now don't touch the risers until it is open. It is a differently opening canopy for sure, but letting it go about it's bussiness is key. It will start to snivel, turn 90 and look like it is gonna go one way then turn the other way and look like it is going to take you for a ride. But if you just let it go, it will just search around and open quite nicely within 45 degrees of heading most of the time. Beyond that, my next suggestion would be to send it back to PD for them to look at. Velocities are not known for problematic openings, and there could always be something off with yours like trim. But I thinl if you saty still in the harness and don't touch your risers, you will find it will open nicely.

Yes, I mean it is really quite docile in regular flight, doing nothing radical. It is still a high performance wing, so I figured it would be understood that you are going to have all the characteristic of such, like loss of alot of altitude in turns.

I agree totally that if you are going to fly a Velocity or any Xbraced canopy, then you need to commit 100% to learning it and staying very current on it. It is definitely not a 'couple jumps a weekend' canopy. And I think you do have to look at every landing as an 'event'. Not in the sense that you are always like "Wow, just barely pulled that one out!" But in the sense that you need to treat it as a seperate discipline and be on top of your game. You just can't afford to make any big mistakes. Even a couple little mistakes can turn into a life-threatening situation and you have to treat it as such. It is a process that you have to crawl into, not jump head first. (this is a general statement and not necessarily directed at you or your abilities) The Velocity is really quite docile in flight, contrary to what most may think. It is the high performance characteristics where you will see the huge difference. ie: aggressive front riser flight, long recovery arc, altitude loss in the dive, rear riser input on landing, and remarkable bottom end lift and flare. Plus you have to be ready to deal with what happens in a less than perfect situation like line twists or a malfunction or if you do make a mistake. The Velocity is an awesome, awesome canopy, and can be learned and enjoyed by anyone as long as they are ready and RESPECT it. By 'ready' I mean has worked into high performance flight over many jumps and become very proficient on each canopy as they went. Along with that and the training and understanding that is out there, I really believe we are on the right track.

It is when your palms are facing earth and above or level with your head, as if you are pushing down on the wind. The type of posture a waiter would have carrying a tray or delivering a pizza (pie). Yes you want to avoid this. It means you are flying way too much with your arms and are trying to 'hold' yourself with your hands and arms. Try to keep your arms relaxed and your hands below your shoulders. You can also try turning your palms towards the sky. This will take away the tendency to want to fly with your hands.

Officially? I am not sure, but if it is above like 25 degrees and halfway decent, they are usually jumping. Don't know as if they ever "close for the season"

That is why I stated that pro swoopers have different set ups. Sorry if it was misleading.

It never ceases to amaze me that people who live in America, under a blanket of freedom, which allows us to do so many wonderful things, can take it for granted. We have our sport because of that very freedom, and can enjoy it because of this great country in which we live. Without that freedom, our president, it's government, and all the selfless devotion of the men and women of the armed forces, our wonderful sport would not even be a posibility. Whether you like Nascar or George Bush, the Daytona 500 is the single biggest sporting event in the world. And it is only because we live in a free world. There were many, many people less fortunate than we today who didn't get to jump, watch the race, or even eat because of where they lived or were serving. I think we should all be grateful and thankful for what we have, where we live, and that we can enjoy skydiving at all. The president visiting the Daytona 500 is a great thing. I wish presidents would visit more events. If that means shutting my DZ down for a couple days, I think I can survive.

To answer your question about the flare starting at your ears- I think that sounds a bit excessive for where input from the control lines starts, unless you land on rear risers and want that. But looking at your profile, at 85 jumps on a 120 loaded at 1.6, I think you are pushing it a bit too early. You even have swooping listed as one of your disciplines of choice. Now, I don't know you or your abilities, but I am just stating my opinion based on what I have seen and to my experience. My advice would be to talk to someone with canopy piloting experience on your DZ and ask for their input. I didn't load a cnopy at 1.6 until I had more than 1,000 jumps. I know people are doing it way sooner than that, but 1.6 at 85 jumps is too much too soon, in my opinion. Ask people at your DZ and stay safe!