jacketsdb23

You sir, haven't got a clue. But thanks for sharing your dead wrong opinion. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

there is a difference between being safe, and having the full range of tools to work with when shit hits the fan. Flying on and landing on rears is a skill that everyone should practice and feel comfortable with, by the time they have the skill set to receive a C license...IMHO (i'm not suggesting that you should have to do this for a C, i'm just saying that by the time you get a C, you should be pretty comfortable with all aspects of canopy flight) Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Website says 90's only. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Crossfire WL 1.8+: Yes it can be done. I used to land on rears regularly. Didn't need to, just liked to do it and I was good at it. Velo 96 WL 2.2+: Yes it can be done. I did it regularly just for shits and grins. Then this one time at band camp, I got my RDS grommet stuck in my brake line and had to land on rears because my toggle didn't work. Worked like a charm. I even did a 90º harness turn to final, which was probably dumb. Comp. Velo 2.5: yes it can be done. Have done it multiple times, but not regularly. I think learning everything possible about your canopy flight (toggles, risers, harness, riser + toggle, etc.) is important. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Rear risers are good. Broke a brake line? You still have a canopy that is controllable, square, and stable. Learn to love rear risers and be comfortable landing on them. A reserve is nice if its needed, but its an unknown and they can fail. I'll take my main with a broken brake line any day...even on my velo 84 (but i've practiced and i'm comfortable with it). Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Recognizing my attitude and behavior pattern on the way to the DZ. I found on days where I "had" to swoop, I did terrible. Recognized this most on days after 2+ weeks away (business, RW, etc.) I've learned to relax and enjoy the process. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Get ready for a whole new ball game Gates really challenge your entire flight pattern because you have to set up correctly. So be careful when you first start working with gates....and understand that for a while, you'll mostly be working on your pattern leading up to your turn. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

You've got 4 other DZ's in Northern CA. Don't necessarily limit yourself to Lodi.

Ok - so most of you have probably seen this at some point over the past 8 years...but I just saw it a couple months ago...and I think its fricking hilarious. If i'm having a stressful day I'll watch this and just crack up. I was given the background before watching that some guy was tripping balls in a closet and his buddies recorded him, and then animated a lizard to it. However, upon more research found a few other stories, one coming from Dan Deacon himself (the guy who recorded this). I don't know if I buy he was 100% sober....but you be the judge. So is this guy on something? Seahorses, foreva! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCV2L0c6K0 Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

I'm always up for learning new things, so excuse the ignorance...but when would a 180 front riser HP landing be a good idea but a brake turn not? Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Yep. I would suggest that swooping has provided little if any benefit to the bottom line. They need to protect their business and restricting big turns and taking away the attraction of the pond is probably an easy decision based on the last 18 months. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

who said 270's were OK in the pattern? I'm sure everyone here agrees they don't belong. 270's need to be separated from the standard pattern by location or time. It needs to be 100% enforced and exceptions not be made for select sky gods/instructors/insert subgroup here. That means if you are doing a standard pattern, you are doing your part by flight a straight in approach after turning to final (no S Turns). The bottom line is, if you are in the standard pattern or the high performance pattern, patterns need to be predictable and in their specific location. HP landings in the HP landing area are very predictable. 90 turns in the standard pattern are predictable. S turns in any landing area is highly unpredictable and should not be permitted. EVERYONE needs to take park in cleaning up canopy piloting. I believe the USPA needs to spearhead an Accountability Program as it relates to Canopy Piloting specifically the requirement that HP landings and standard pattern landings are segregated by time or space. Now - if a DZO decides that he/she wants to permit HP Landings - (and to be honest a HP landing needs to be defined. A 90º turn by someone loading a Velo at 2.5 loading does not belong in the pattern with someone doing 90º turns on a Navigator 260 at less than 1.0 loading. thats a different discussion) they should be required to have accountability for separation. If they permit HP landings they do so with the understanding that HP pilots may hurt themselves. This would be a risk they (DZO) take in terms of PR management. DZO's should be required to do the following ( and let me be clear that I believe DZO's are 90% responsible for improving the canopy piloting at their respective DZ's - whether that is authorizing better enforcement, instruction and/or a combination of both) 1. Clearly identify and post landing pattern areas and rules at the DZ, and specifically in the area where skydivers congregate prior to getting on a plane. 2. Submit detailed plans to the USPA for how they plan to adhere to the membership pledge of separation of patterns by space or time. In other words, not just take their word for it. This would be specific to the DZ. 3. There should be a visible program where jumpers who witness habitual patterns of violating this pledge, can anonymously submit their concerns to the USPA. USPA should follow up on this when they witness troubling patterns (no pun intended). 4. Continue to help the USPA in adapting canopy piloting proficiency requirements. This may or may not include wingloading/canopy type regulations (I still don't know how I feel about that) Its time for DZO's to step up and take charge. You may have been jumping with Billy Bob Joe for 25 years, but if he is doing S turns in the pattern, clean it up! While I don't like the fact that Perris has removed their pond and made a 90º only turn policy, I applaud them for stepping up and doing SOMETHING. I'd like to see the pond there still with ability to do multiple rotation turns on a separate pass. I understand their position from a PR perspective. Swoopers don't pay the bills - its a small group, and they aren't going to get the benefit of the doubt when things start to pile up. Modern HP canopies, loaded highly, have significant risks. As pertains to the original thread topic, I believe that if a qualified pilot wants to jump a HP canopy and take the risk, they should be allowed to if it falls within the DZOs rulebook. Any death/injury is regrettable, but will happen as long as people are skydiving and pushing the limits. The number one rule should be "Don't take anyone else out". Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Marisan, I respect that you want to have this discussion. But frankly, your line of thinking is precisely why we have some of the problems we have today. You are not alone in your finger pointing. Until everyone checks their ego at the door and understands we are all part of the problem, it will continue. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Wow! Maybe in the 80s it was. Today its unacceptable and dangerous in the pattern to do s turns. They are unpredictable and do not fit in the standard pattern. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

That sounds like you are pointing the finger and also starts with ban them. Go away = ban them. You didn't address the fact that they need to clean up their patterns. Your post indicates that you believe one group is the problem and the other can just carry on. Again, this is everyones problem and is bigger than just swoopers. My solution includes better accountability by DZOs to the USPA for a comprehensive plan. Separation of landing patterns works when enforced and implemented with NO exceptions. If you want to ground the kid with the hot rod who is over his head, you have to ground the instructor doing s turns in the pattern or breaking the pattern because they feel like it. Nobody is immune from dying in this sport. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Yawn... I've seen more shoddy pattern flying by the old time instructors doing 90's or "straight" in approaches then I typically see with disciplined canopy pilots. What I saw at Perris in February in the main landing area was incredibly undisciplined. "S" turns on final are tolerated and its unacceptable. The quicker we figure out that this canopy issues is an "US" problem and not a "THEM" problem...the better off we will all be. Get off your high horse and offer a solution that doesn't start with Ban them! Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Well, it appears from photos on Facebook that the Elsinore pond is officially gone. So - Skydive Sacramento in Lincoln appears to be the only place left in California to hold canopy piloting competitions. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Man, some people make packing a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Quarter the slider, keep your lines straight, and open in a stable position. I haven't changed the way I've packed anything from my fathers challenger 220, to my comp velo 84 and everything in between. Let the nose hang and keep the slider tight. The thing that doesn't work well is stowing only one brake on a Crossfire2 Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

For the record, he chopped that and was lucky to have a skyhook, IMHO. I shouldn't say lucky, he chose to have a skyhook and it may have saved his life. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

I'm OK with, and perhaps in favor of, implementing skill assessment verifications to jump highly loaded xbrace canopies. That being said you can't eliminate the highly experienced, highly skilled, injuries or deaths associated with human error from those who are qualified. This statement is more directed at those who feel HP canopies should be outright banned because people get hurt or die with them. Yes - people are moving to elliptical and xbrace canopies too quickly. If we find a way to make a verification process that works well, i'm in favor of it. Hell, anything might be better than the wild west we live in today. I'm tired of seeing people with less than stellar canopy piloting experience on Expert canopies. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Simply? Yes. There is collateral damage to skydiving and there is collateral damage to jumping HP canopies. This is the lifestyle we choose to accept. Lets not sugarcoat it. We'd be kidding ourselves if we tried to say HP canopies can be jumped with no injury or death. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

So if you REALLY want to stop this, the answer is to reduce or eliminate access to HP canopies. The ongoing incidents prove that a ban on -- or severely restricted access to -- HP canopies is the only thing that would be effective. People keep talking about training and mentoring, but that alone is not working. It's just more talk. The time for talking has come and gone. It's time to DO something. . Well then what do you propose? You are talking about banning hp canopies. That will never happen and it shouldn't. Everyone has a choice. Yours may differ from those who are qualified and choose to jump hp canopies. If you want 100% guarantee nobody will get hurt or die this isn't the right lifestyle for you. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

What do you want the USPA to do? Tell skydivers with thousands of jumps that they are not allowed to jump an HP canopy? This isn't a 200 jump newbie. Its not students banging themselves up. Its folks with decades of experience. Nothing that has been suggested for the USPA to do short of banning HP canopies will stop this. If the DZ's get fed up with it they will ban swooping. Perris has done this. I'm sure more will follow. If you don't want to swoop, awesome. If someone else weighs the risk/reward and has the experience to know better, and the DZ is allowing it, good for them. I'm the first to admit this trend is troubling. But there is little the USPA can do. This ball started rolling along time ago and its going to be tough to stop. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

Sure upsizing is a good idea. But when have skydivers, in general, ever fit the mold of a good idea? We fall out of airplanes for fun. Fast canopies are fun too. Dangerous, but fun as hell. Fly safe, have fun, and don't hurt anyone else. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.

FLCPA Meet #1 / Zephyrhills, FL / Jan 21–22 Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals/Sydney Skydivers/Feb 8-12 ISM Meet #1 / Perris Valley, CA / Feb 18 FLCPA Meet #2 / Zephyrhills, FL / Mar 3–4 NCCPA Meet #2 / Skydive Sacramento / Mar 17–18 Canopy Piloting Training Series Event Three @ Raeford Parachute Center, Nort Carolina March 23-25 FLCPA Meet #3 / Skydive The Farm- Rockmart, GA / Apr 14-15 ISM Meet #3 (NorCal) /Skydive Sacramento / Apr 21-22 FLCPA Meet #4 / Raeford Parachute Center, NC / May 5-6 Danish open nationals (Denmark) cp-danmark.dk May 17-20 BlackMountain CPC (Belgium) / Zwartberg, Belgium / May 17-20 NCCPA Meet #4 (NorCal) / Skydive Sacramento / May 19-20 Kiev open Cup / DZ Borodyanka Ukraine / May 24-27 OPEN DUTCH NATIONALS / Blauwestad Netherlands / May 31 - June 3rd FLCPA Meet #5 / Skydive The Farm, GA / June 9-10 USPA 2012 CP National Championships / Skydive The Farm, GA / June 4-17 Ukraine Nationals / DZ Borodyanka Kiev Ukraine / 28 June - 01 July British & German Nationals / RAPA Germany / 28 June - 01 July Norwegian Nationals / Voss, Norway / June 25 - July 01 Italian Swoop Open / Bologna, Italy / Aug 15-19 (free bus/shuttle A/R from Bologna AIRPORT to DZ, 25minuts) Paraskuf 3rd CUP / DZ Borodyanka Kiev Ukraine / Aug 22-26 Pink Open / Klatovy, Czech Republik / Aug 24-26(moved bec. of X games trial) French Open / Castelnau Swoop contest (France) / Sept.28-30 World Championships 2012 / Dubai UAE / Nov.28-Dec.9 Location change for our next meet here in CA. Make up meets for #1, #2 meet in California TBD. Plan to run them after Nationals. Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen God is Good Beer is Great Swoopers are crazy.