ianmdrennan

Sorry but Dave is correct. Your wingloading (whether high or not) played a part in dropping you into the group below you sooner than expected. Regardless of wingloading it's your responsibility to fit into the pattern below you. Higher wingloading/smaller canopy means that comes up faster and needs to be identified and dealt with higher. It's not as irrelevant as you think. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Hi Scott, The more tapered the canopy the more the pilot has to deal with things like deployment positions (possibility of spinning up and having to chop), oversteer, rate of turn, etc. I'm not entirely sure that the idea of a heavily tapered canopy (remember the sabre2 is lightly tapered) is in itself something to get worked up over, but it's more what comes along with it that make it unsuitable for up coming jumpers. I think that, more than anything, is why people get their panties in a bunch. I think it does deserve discussion though. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

We currently use trend @ work for over 5000 employees + additional computers. It's been very good to us so far. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

4. A good pilot knows when to say "No" The good thing is that you spotted the pilot on Saturday. I don't know how close the other canopy was (may have been far away) but as Phree said, front risers aren't always the best choice. Slower is better when things start getting crazy. Of course lets step father back the chain. You've already made it apparent that you want to fly smaller canopies than recommended - if you're going to do this you better be AHEAD of what's going on. If you'd focused on levels with other canopies would this have happened? Did the other pilot spiral down in front of you? If not, you're responsible for finding your "place" in the group. Finding your spot in the pattern is an important skill to have. Work on it. These kinds of things can "normally" be prevented way before they even happen if the pilot is constantly evaluating the situation and making the appropriate adjustments. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Sorry you had that experience on openings, can't say I've had the same on the 103, 96, 90 and 84's I've jumped. In fact they've been one of the nicer opening canopies I've owned. Of course if you *fight* the openings you're in for a rough ride Have you tried another velo - maybe you just got a dud? Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Part of learning is changing your opinion. That post has made me re-evaluate my position on RW before Freefly. Nice post. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

No worries. I misread your post..sorry (but I'll leave it in there cause it's worth noting

Unless you're practicing rear riser landings (emergency) I'd agree with that statement. A shitty rear riser landing will easily be outswooped by a good toggle one. Rears (for HP landings) are really the last step when you're milking as much as you can from your toggles. That means a very smooth, slow and consistent flare before touchdown. There are VERY few people I see doing this. I do see plenty of stabby movements though. In the context of this discussion we're talking about the last part of the landing. Whether you arrived at 15mph from a straight in approach or have slowed down to 15mph during your HP landing, the flare from that point is the same. So adding any speed doesn't make a bit of difference in the amount of flare the canopy is able to provide once it reaches that speed. What I do think has happened is that the pilot's toggle position is better because putting too much input in at speed produces a noticable amount of lift or pop so they've put in just the right amount to keep level. Another thing that can cause loss of lift at the end is the pilot staying in a particular toggle position too long. For example they flare hard to the sweet spot to level out the canopy, then instead of smoothly continuing the input, they hold the sweet spot position too long and have to stab or speed up their input too much at the end than if they'd been "flying" all the way through. Hope that makes sense cause it's a toughie to describe in text

you da man!! I knew I could count on Drew Performance Designs Factory Team

Well even though the weather forecast looked like crap we still got the loads going by midday. Was a lot of fun (that pond sure is nice) and will be back tomorrow or in the near future to have a little fun. Thanks all. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

182 and a 206 I believe. Yep the caravan left 2 years ago. The dropzone, while now accomodating fun jumpers, focuses primarily on AFF and tandems. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

OMG Kolla...you're killing me here Coming from PD I know it's gonna be top notch. Just tell me when it's available so I can bug you with orders See you soon. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Check the promo link on their front page. It's definately different even though it still carries the Promo II label. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

You dirty bastard...now all you've gone and done is make me want it more Blue skies, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Dream of flight on the PD frontpage Can't wait - should be a blast. YAY! Edit: Looks like they've changed their Promo II clip as well. There's a lot of footage on there I don't remember Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

I know what you're saying but instead of a "staged flare" try to think of it as actually flying a wing. The goal is to keep yourself level with the ground as long as possible. We do this by increasing our flare as necessary at the sacrifice of forward speed. Eventually we'll hit Andy's magic number and no longer be able to generate any lift with the given forward speed. That is the point of touch down. I often see people not finish their flare (and I can be guilty of this too sometimes ) because they're able to put their feet down. The trick to remember is that just because you can put your feet down, doesn't necessarily mean you should. Practice up high all the time. Keep flaring the canopy, paying particular attention to the wind noise, the pressure on your leg straps and decent rate. You should find that at about shoulder height (lower on some canopies) that you'll feel yourself plain out and things will get quieter. This is the canopy's "sweet spot" from full glide where for a period of time you'll have zero decent rate. That's where you want to be just prior to the ground. From then on a smooth controlled flare all the way down should accomplish what I was discussing above. keep flying that till you absolutely HAVE to touch down (canopy runs out of lift) and I'm sure you'll find you have much softer, slower landings. It's a lot of info to cram into text, but I hope I've at least helped give you an idea of what you're trying to accomplish. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Probably cause he's smarter than you See you soon bro! Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Shane, Any front riser approaches are not to be taken lightly. The jumper has mentioned that they're not interested in adding additional speed (swooping of sorts) to their landings. We have no idea on how many jumps they have (assume over 200 at least because of D), how current they are or what flying styles they have. To encourage adding speed isn't good advice. As mentioned before, Ari had the best suggestion for dealing with the "issue". Blue skies, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

LOL - I hear ya. No need to tame the beast before the 15th - let's just all be safe and have a good time. Till then. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Blue ones Paul. The sport is better because of people like you. Thanks. BSBD. Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Gotta hit the gates now my Fro-Bro Hows the velo treating ya? Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Your weather god comm device is broken. Weather looks like crap right now - I'm counting on you to take care of this Schimmle I'll do Hop n pops in the rain Shit, I'm gonna get wet in the pond anyway! Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Well.....Yeah

Could you imagine how much damage you could do in a pillow fight with "Insta-hardening pillows" ? Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Landing looks harder than normal, but he's landing it alright. Blue ones, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team