Joellercoaster

Before you have your A license, you are still a student. In the UK, this means you need to have an instructor on the plane with you (even if they are jumping with someone else - this will often mean a higher ticket cost), restricts the size of canopies you can jump compared to a licensed skydiver and the winds you can jump in, as well as (drastically) who can jump with you if you're not doing a solo. I suspect other places are similar. It will also make it harder for you to jump at dropzones other than the one you are training at - not impossible, but difficult and probably not worth it. The good news, it doesn't last long. Ten more jumps in the UK, a few more or less in other places plus a little bit of testing. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think your mate has a dry sense of humour, and what he was really saying is "it's not time to downsize". -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

We're probably getting beyond the scope of this thread, but: Yeah, that. The Sparky video is what I think of as a "classical" technique (and I'm pretty sure she can still do it faster than I can do the "new" way :P)... but when we want to really turn in a hurry it's more of a tilting of both legs into an angled plane. The leading knee is a bit lower than neutral but not by much, and the booties cover a wider horizontal area. As Steve likes to say... "pressurise your control surfaces". -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Your arch is fine! It will serve you well. sirenoremac is right; you appear to be tucking your foot back rather than dropping your knee (you can see your coach driving his knee forward in an attempt to demonstrate, and you seem to get it a little bit as you progress - there are ome turns in there!). While dropping your knee is not the only way to leg turn (there are all kinds of tricks with booties), your current technique is not one of the alternatives Ideally you need to balance your upper and lower body inputs - and because your legs are huge and powerful by comparison, you'll need to put in a fair bit of upper body input in to avoid rotating around your head. Getting this balance and coordination right will get rid of the wobble

That is excellent. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Actually, I have. It's why I'm jumping this here 135 instead of the same-model 120 I already owned (it was a great deal ). -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

But plan on doing some competition because it's awesome (Rookie 4-way is, IMO, about the best bang for buck skills improvement curve for a beginner skydiver, even one who intends to freefly. And much much fun.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Until someone cuts them off out of nowhere on final, and their hand acts before their sense of self-preservation. Mistakes are really easy to make and we all make them. They just get (mostly) smaller as we acquire experience. The trick is to set yourself up so that your mistakes aren't fatal, and scale your risk as your actual flying ability increases. The scale of error that can kill you on a small canopy is way smaller than "pulling hard 30ft from the ground". Nowhere near retard levels, believe me. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'll bite too - because I wondered almost exactly this, when I had near enough exactly your number of jumps. The first time I went elliptical (300-some jumps), you and I were right. More hassle than it was worth. Now I love my Stiletto not for its crazy hair-raising turn rate, but for its incredibly efficient flight. It just out-glides everything else around me, and it lands beautifully at my wingload (where my Pilot 132 does not, and my wife's Sabre2 135 though better still does not compete). Those (seemingly) come from the tapered profile. The sportiness is just the price I pay for the efficiency

The problem is, no matter songs you play, some of the jumpers aren't going to like them I once spent a week in Spain jumping out of a Porter that had a stereo, but apparently only a single Jamiroquai CD. I think even if you started that week liking Jamiroquai, it would have tested your love. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

In general? No. I've got one in my attic... it's there because it's bigger than I mostly want to jump, not because it's going to break me. At some point it'll come out again. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

As you'll see in the thread that's been linked to, it was a misrigging. Fairly easy to do, but very easy to catch if you get into the habit of looking. Gear checks save lives! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Assuming downsizing is actually what you should do (for whatever values of "should"), definitely demo a Pilot 150. I am about the same weight as you and felt like the difference from a 168 was dramatic (more so than 188 to 168 had been). Try a Safire2 149 and Sabre2 150 as well - they all fly and land a bit differently; now that you have some jumps, your feeling for the differences will have evolved and so might your taste (or it might not - I started on a Pilot and still have one in my second rig, it's on its second reline ). -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I agree strongly with all of this, but would bump the big grippers into the "definite" category. Things like vented booties are a matter of taste; having had both kinds for a while each I prefer unvented and the biggest the suit maker will sell me. The vents are up to you but trust us on the size part! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think you are getting way too hung up on the phrase "high performance". Forget about your Stiletto vs Sabre thing for a minute. The SIM has that in there because we know, or strongly believe, some things: 1) Canopy dangerousness does not scale linearly with wing loading - rather, overall size plays a role. 2) It's a good idea to have this idea written into the safety manual, so people don't just go by wingloading. 3) The place where that curve seems to "bend" is somewhere around 150 (though there are people who would say 135). 4) You gotta choose a number. So choose the slightly more conservative one (or the one that most people who think about this issue seem believe, in this case). So you can take the idea we're trying to convey as "Don't just go by wingloading; smaller canopies are not a good idea for beginners, here is a point where you should start being wary." -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

As you will be aware with all that experience, speedwings fly differently to skydiving canopies. In some ways they're more high performance (high aspect ratio elliptical) but your GL experience beforehand can be a disadvantage too. A speedwing does some things much better than a parachute... you can get out of some kinds of trouble on one that on a skydiving canopy are a dead end. People with that kind of muscle memory have had some interesting experiences. I am sure you know this, but it's worth pointing out to people reading this thread in the future eh? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Nah, I own one and it's fine. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Not really. Just because it still feels like it's asleep compared to a Stiletto of a similar size (to you) does not make it less high performance. It just means the Stiletto is even more high performance I have friends who jump 80-foot crossbraced canopies (or smaller) loaded at 2.8 and even 3. This does not mean my Stiletto 135 loaded at "only" 1.8 is not a potentially vicious canopy or that I should ever treat it casually. How many jumps you have skez, on what canopies? Not meaning to turn this into a dick measuring contest (I don't really have much experience either) - I am just curious as to what your background is; your opinion is not a common one and I'm interested in how you came by it. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is true, as far as it goes. But the important thing about shorter lines is that they make things happen faster when you turn and roll. This is not just a proportional affect of wing loading - the center of mass of the whole vehicle, parachute and parachutist, is closer to the middle, and it's easier for it to rotate. If you make a mistake on a small canopy, no matter how loaded, it takes less input (and less time) for it to become a big mistake with you pointed at the ground. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This happened to all my Pilots over the years as well (leading to replacement of the lower brake lines with other vendors' Spectra), until my last reline, when I got HMA. Problem solved? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I love Jump Twenty Six! It's really well put together (though like all of them, a little long ) and I agree, the specific part of the jumper population they are aiming at is great. Long may it run. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Is their problem skydiving in general, or when you mention the wingsuit in particular? You might just be giving the operator too much information. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

That form has been "having problems" for as long as I've been skydiving (and through at least one entire Aerodyne website replacement). Maybe they should find a different way for people to send them message over the Internet... I'm sure there is some way... I just can't think of what it might be. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Is this what folks in the US refer to as "teaching the controversy"? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think you guys are talking about two different canopies. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?