Pendragon

I'm with 980 on this one... although I think AggieDave has a point when it comes to training / doing new stuff. If I'm downsizing / moving from a 270 to 450 etc etc then I'll be doing that on a skydive dedicated to that purpose. Too much to concentrate on otherwise. If it's just a swoop of a rotation I've dialed in on a canopy I regualarly jump, then of course I'll swoop at the end of a skydive (like most others!) -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

...or even night wingsuit jumps. Really cool! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I'd actually start with 45s. The effect is subtle, but you still get a nice increase in speed. Progress to 90s when you are confident with those and do a whole bunch of those before moving to 135s (which incidentally, I would do by performing a standard approach but, on the base leg, turn away 45 degrees on the front riser and, just after that has finished diving, perform the 135 back to your landing direction). AggieDave is right - you need to build consistency in your inputs. Slower inputs generate more speed and buy you more time (as you initiate from a higher altitude) than snappier inputs. We've got a progression system here in the UK - we need a "licence" in order to swoop unsupervised. The BPA produced a short manual which might be of use: http://www.bpa.org.uk/safetydocs/cpmanual.pdf -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Out of curiosity, what wingsuit was it? I found the original Skyflyer quite twitchy and prone to flat spins, but have never experienced any problems with my Acro, V-1 and S-3. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

You could de-arch a little more. Get the guy going out with you to be above you, but ahead and slightly to one side. You should then be looking at him, with you neck leaning far back, looking where you're going, rather than back at the aircraft, You're not potato-chipping much, which is good. I'd also keep your shoulders positive - they need to be rigid, like the leading edge of a wing. If you do potato-chip, it's because you're shoulders need sorting out, not your legs! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

3 things you could do first on your Xfire2 before going x-braced: 1) Experiment with the rears (if you haven't already) - you need a rotation of 270+ to have sufficient speed to make any real difference 2) Try higher rotations: I was doing 270s from 580ft at that wingloading; I think my 450s are around 730ft - and these come in quite a bit faster! They're also much harder to get to grips with; you begin to see how much variation in altitude loss you can put in by how much harness input / length of riser input etc etc you put in to the turn 3) Practise flying the openings; you've got harness weight-shift and risers (gently!) to play with - if your Xfire2 isn't throwing you around on deployment so much, the transition to x-braced will be easier Anyone else, feel free to chip in! Richard -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

... but what is it you want to know? Some things never change: Max glide is always faster than min sink, even in a strong tailwind (although the greater the tailwind, the closer max glide is to min sink) Double fronts only induces a stall part way across the wing, reducing the efficiency and increasing descent rate. In a strong headwind whereby you'd be going backwards otherwise, double fronts can get you down quicker, thereby reducing the time you're being blown backwards by the uppers, thereby improving your glide. Brakes deform the wing at the back, so you decrease the sink rate but degrade the glide Pulling your knees up improves the glide ... etc etc -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Most likely Ash White. He's good. PF Phantom with back vents would be my recommendation. Forgiving to fly and pretty stable. It's suitable for low experience and has enough performance in it to keep you interested for a long time. Acro is also very forgiving. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

You crack me up sometimes. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Yes, but you can still: - Get used to going from half-brakes to your front risers and back to the brakes without fumbling - Appreciate the increased speed of the landing - Begin devloping a sight-picture during a swoop - Making consistent turns etc etc Short recovery arc canopies require a greater degree of accuracy - but that is also true to lower-degree rotations - however, that also implies they dig out faster! You can still learn a lot... and such canopies will be more forgiving. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I would agree with what most of Dave said. However I did put ~300 jumps on my Pilot 150 @ 1.4 before downsizing (to a Safire2 129 @ 1.6) and was doing 135 and 180 front riser approaches to land. It does have a very positive recovery arc, but it can be swooped reasonably well. Safire2 at the same wingloading is possibly a better choice though IMHO. Short recovery arcs have their problems (low initiation) but they dig out much quicker too if you need it and, at more moderate loadings like 1.4, the consequences will be less severe if you really muck up. Any canopy will help you develop a sight picture, which you will use during your turn to know if to bail! Don't get an elliptical now; something like a Xfire2 or Katana is way too aggressive for learning! Besides, you won't get the benefit from such a canopy until you get to a wingloading of at least 1.6; 1.8-2.0 is probably closer to the optimum in terms of getting the benefits out of such a canopy. Last caution: Neptunes, VISOs etc are great and can really help... but don't become the sort of guy who looks at the alit thinks "I've hit x hundred feet" and yanks the front riser. That approach is the surest way to the hospital. Richard -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Thanks to Cordia Jarno from Hollandia for getting my backflying onto Hungarian TV! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

... and just to add to that - think about being at a specific point above the ground at a specific time, i.e. something like "being over the path but level with the windsock at 1,200 ft; by the fence at 800ft" etc etc. Practise accurately getting to, what will become, your initiation point. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I was saying the same thing that you just said. By definition, for that to happen, you must have passed the "bigger" canopy at some point. All I'm saying is that, given certain sets of conditions, this is more likely and so more people will be trying to land within a given timeframe. You on a Velo "overtaking" someone on a Triathlon would just illustrate the point. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Rubbish! My inital point does not assume that freeflyers swoop more than any other discipline. It merely points out that, if freeflyers exit after belly flyers, then more people open at the same time on the same level, increasing canopy congestion. So, if you stick freeflyers out second, you will have more people under canopy at the same time at the same altitude. It's not idiotic at all, it's a factual consequence of the decisions being made about the exit order. There is a second point, which is around which exit order is best; I think there's a bunch of misguided people around but that's not the point of this thread. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Fine, but please stop being on that side of the fence that includes all those that don't swoop and therefore aren't affected by the proposals and appear to think that making it difficult for swoopers is somehow going to make it better. Yes, the low man has right of way... but not the right to fly an upredictable pattern either (somthing that I've seen WAY too much of!) A 270 swoop isn't necessarily much of a non-standard pattern as it is predictable; when we're talking about the "low man" we're also referring to the point that by swooping you increase your descent speed and potentially catch-up/overtake someone below you - certainly landing before them. You don't have to be swooping to do that; somoeone on any highly-loaded canopy can do that. People should just learn to stack correctly and look out for each other; we don't need people spiraling through the stack, "catching thermals" above the LZ, blindly turning (swooping or otherwise) nor bell-ringing on finals! We should also be thinking about exit order in terms of canopy size a little more... and yes I still vehemently hate the fact that many places put freeflyers out after flat flyers even when the uppers aren't strong which only serves to have more groups open on the same level, increase canopy congestion and eliminate a non-existent risk. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Well, I am planning on coming, provided I can get a decently priced flight... but I guess you know that already. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Oh you are so right. Why do we still have people (the world over) that think they can spiral down and cut others off because they're going to do their usual bloody-minded approach and use all available airspace on their big, "safe" canopy? Of course, they're "more experienced" than me so they know what they're doing. Crap. It's not about people under HP canopies; it's about people who don't seem to appreciate everyone around them, regardless of what they're flying. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I'm going to be in Budapest on business from Tuesday, leaving Sunday evening. Might be free at the weekend to jump: - Is it worth bringing my BASE rig? - Any good DZs around? Would someone be able to pick me up from my hotel? All responses gratefully received! Thanks, Richard -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

I'm going to be in Budapest on business from Tuesday, leaving Sunday evening. Might be free at the weekend to jump: - Any good DZs around? Would someone be able to pick me up from my hotel? - Is it worth bringing my BASE rig? All responses gratefully received!

Indeed. 90% aqueous hydrogen peroxide at that; you have to distill commercially-available 50% (which is not recommended doing in a built-up area) The peroxide is pushed through a silver gauze using compressed nitrogen; the required thickness of the wires etc has required some experimentation I believe. This causes a catalytic reaction in which the peroxide is transformed into water and oxygen in a strongly exothermic reaction (several hundred degrees celcius). This causes the water to be turned into steam and, given how much the gases expand, produces a significant amount of thrust (and it's noisy!) All quite simple really... in theory! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

FWIW, I think it can be. A correctly executed high performance landing - with people stacking correctly and being disciplined - is perfectly safe in a designated landing pattern where others choose to do straight-in approaches. Other than educating jumpers on how (and when) to correctly execute a high-performance landing, the issue is congestion, which can be exasperated in a number of ways: 1. People spiraling through the stack (this has nothing to do with HP landings) 2. Freeflyers out 2nd making more people open on the same level (again, nothing to do with HP landings) 3. Plane size and group size (you don't tend to get canopy collisions at Cessna DZs!) 4. LZ size and usable area Not everyone executes a HP landing with the same rotation Sometimes everyone has to bail, whether the plan was straight in or HP -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

To be fair, I think you're forgetting that it's a sponsored event to build brand awareness for a product. Behaviour like that is incompatible with the image they're trying to build, so it makes perfect business sense to cut and run. The decision would be a commercial one, not one to "punish" any jumper. On another note, great footage Jarno! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

Let's just say that it was a good job he left when he did because most other jumpers weren't exactly happy Besides, he'll probably be too embarrased to show up at another event like that... and, given how incensed Wim was, he's certainly off Go Fast!'s list for that one. -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13

...but then all you get are answers from masses that don't swoop anyway. That's like asking a bunch of flatflyers whether they would frequent a DZ that banned freeflying. Besides, IMHO DZs that effectively ban swooping are just covering up the fact that they are unable to exercise any control over patterns, and who jumps what. Personally I would ban the "bell ringing", spiraling through stacks, s-turns on finals and other unpredictable - and dangerous - practices... and remind everyone that the low person only truly has the priority always claimed if they're not doing anything stupid like that! -- BASE #1182 Muff #3573 PFI #52; UK WSI #13