ianmdrennan

I'm of two minds about the whole business: On one hand I believe lower jump number folks need to be focusing on other aspects of their descent without this distraction. On the other hand, I don't see any immediate danger in them doing this, as long as they've received instruction on what exactly they are supposed to do (i.e cheststrap BEFORE toggle release ), and when appropriate times are to do it (clear airspace, etc). I'm not entirely sure the flight characteristics benefits would be noticable on large wings BUT having the chest strap wider, with the slider down, will reduce the ability for a pilot to get into linetwists with aggressive toggle movements (which I find inexceperienced jumpers are more likely to make). Now, as far as the slider goes - there are pro's and cons too. Keeping the slider down on the risers will prevent a significant amount of wear and tear on spectra lines. The downside is, that besides the fussing factor, it's another distraction and it must be secured. There's already been at least one case that I know of, of a slider riding up and pinching a break line causing a fatality. Bottom line (for me) is that the jury is still out

I agree. Jan Chandler was killed a few years ago after doing this on a big way. She popped her brakes too low to cut away. To CK - if you're facing into the wind, your best bet is full flight. If you have the wind at your back your best bet is rears, or toggles (it appears some canopies respond better to one or the other). All the canopies I've owned respond better with toggles. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Fixed it for ya Performance Designs Factory Team

Sorry, but I feel like I have to comment on some items in your post. If you're doing this, then you need to stop your turn higher. If you're going to rears, immediately, on a velocity or KA, you are starting your roll out too low. I think you'll find that doing the above will change your sentence to: :"Got a couple 300 200+ foot swoops I agree that the input must be smooth, but from your description you're still rolling out too low. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

What a fun weekend

Some people were asking about the course this weekend and how many people there would be. There are 7 slots per class, although my ideal number is 5. Any higher than 7 and the debriefings go too long, and people don't get enough individual attention. See you then! Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Absolutely not. That's one of the best teaching tricks Scott ever showed me. I'm surprised you haven't seen me doing it before

Hi Tom! Hopefully this will answer your questions. First, I can't deny that I'm heavily influenced by Scott. I've sat in on a number of his classes (both as a student and as a pilot learning to coach) so of course there's a lot of similarities between the two. Scott has been a mentor (not always by choice ) for a number of years. I owe him a great deal of thanks for showing me so much of what he's learned. I basically have 3 different classes. Essentials Course: The essentials class pretty much mirrors Scott's stuff and what you'll find in the USPA handbook. The day consists of 5 jumps with classroom training between each jump. Topics covered are patterns, essential avoidence maneuvers, understanding your gear, etc. Intermediate/Advanced Course: This builds on all the concepts laid out in the essentials, but tends to cater more to pilots who want to get more out of their wing, understand it better, etc without going for all out competition. If you're not doing any sort of HP landings (double fronts count

that's what your boyfriend told you So your Mom finally got that operation eh? Performance Designs Factory Team

Yep! Nice Swoop D. Performance Designs Factory Team

Judging from the info in your post, I'd say you're rolling it out too low. Almost every who starts jumping a KA (or a velo for that matter) from a quicker recovering canopy starts to roll out too low and loses all their energy in having to plane the wing out. You should do some high pulls and figure out how long you need to spend after a turn recovering before you start losing speed. Hint: It's going to be longer than you realize Blues! Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Lets schedule a weekend then Kitty

I'm proud to announce that Skydive The Farm has officially opened the Canopy School. We are tightly integrating into the AFF program to ensure that students are given quality instruction as soon as they graduate. The school will also cater to intermediate and advanced pilots, as well as competitive swoopers, and one on one coaching can be arranged. I will be teaching courses on the following dates, if you're interested please contact Skydive The Farm for pricing and slots: May 3rd - Essentials Course (all levels welcome) May 4th - Advanced Course (typically focuses on High Performance flight). June 21st - Essentials Course (all levels welcome) June 22nd - Advanced Course (typically focuses on High Performance flight). Sept 27th - Essentials Course (all levels welcome) Sept 28th- Advanced Course (typically focuses on High Performance flight). Blues! Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

I think the message I got through (below) was from that. It was from the Feb issue of parachutist. In message1: Dangers and emergencies and more importantly tragic consequences if any fabric is on people message2: Panic is on the horizon Performance Designs Factory Team

Just bought my tickets for the 22nd August - Sept 2nd. Nats is my priority this year, but hopefully the PST meet will be just before as well. Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Talk is cheap Performance Designs Factory Team

Kevin and yourself will just have to come and ask for it personally

Greg, Thank you. The Farm is rapidly turning into GA's premier DZ You guys rock. On a side note, the Canopy School classroom is just about finished and will be integrating with the AFF program. Regular classes coming soon! Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

So I see there's a new blog up posted on the 31st. Looks like there's some free stuff to be had (a shirt it looks like). I'm gonna send in and see what happens. Performance Designs Factory Team

I would agree. It's actually a topic that came up in discussion with a very well respected pilot regarding the terminology used in the new SIMs. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

Just a general note to all. I've decided to let threads like this sit here a day or two to make sure they gather awareness from the piloting community, but then I'll be moving them to the Events forum. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

You don't think the better option would have been to leave the toggles stowed, use your good arm to steer back to the dz, and plf for landing? If you KNOW you're injured and unable to use both controls, why would you intentionally put your canopy in a faster configuration (full flight/glide)? Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

I agree and encourage everyone to learn as much about their canopy in as many different flight configurations as you can safely test (i.e above 2000 in no traffic). To the OP, I think it's commendable that you're trying to learn all these things, but I would suggest keeping it off the deck, and instead up high for now. Some of these things can be unnecessarily dangerous to try on landing at any level, but especially at yours. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

While there is absolutely a HUGE amount of talent in the Southeast region, I think you'll find that's largely driven by access to good information and coaching. That said, the Southeast will always rule (sorry I gotta be a little biased here). I'm seeing the skill rise more and more of in other regions, and that is awesome. Well....except Texas....let's be honest - nothing good ever came from there Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team

I disagree. The DZ's I jump at have all implemented landing policies and/or seperate areas. Maybe not everyone has changed (and there will always be someone who wont), but I think a lot have change for the better. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team