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mccordia

Rodeo Fun

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oh wow!

Do you have more shots of that exit?
The rider and pilot are inside the plane.
The pilot gives a count and holds the rider's knees? or suit?
the rider looks to be sitting on the rig on exit and stays there.

I have been doing it wrong/different all this time...
I intend to hijack this thread to put together the "This is what works for me" check list for rodeos.
There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

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We always try and exit a rodeo like you would a tandem. 4 attachment points. Two top, two bottom.

The rider holds the shoulders/rig on the top, and the pilot holds the legstraps, suit or leg grippers on the rider.
If this exit comes of well, they will end up belly to earth, and the pilot opens arms, stretches legs, and flies. If it tumbles, due to them having top and bottom connections, the whole thing will not open up and start flailing through the sky. So you can easily tumble two or three times, right yourselfs with your legs and body (passenger just stays close, does nothing). Ive attached two images showing an unstable exit as well, and you see its no issue.

Once stable, another advantage is that you can push the passenger down to where you want him/her to sit (haha...him...right!:D:S), so they are not to high on top, and in the right position in terms of weight distribution.

A last thing is, make sure the key is up/down and hop out. And not a head/upper body shake left/right, as that usually leads to upper body leading out the door, and tumbling as a result. Though again, as long as the pair sticks together. No biggy.

Check this video at 2:30 for a good view on the exit (of course easier out of a tailgate, but shows the hand positioning well).

And another good view here

JC
FlyLikeBrick
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Since I shifted to doing this exit about 3 years ago after a tip from a Ukranian friend (Thanks Gregory!), we've had a close to 100% succes rate in exits. Even with sometimes 500 to 1000 ft of tumbling, the two stick together like glue and come out nice and stable.

Only when the pilot lets go of the rider, it usually goes to shit. As it opens up, and develops into two bodies spinning around eachother in a wrestling match from hellB|

Of course your passengers can still fall of later, but you can still have fun with that...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRnZbtiVvuU

JC
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Since I shifted to doing this exit about 3 years ago after a tip from a Ukranian friend (Thanks Gregory!)



Gregory is my new hero.

I also see the riders are sitting on their knees with their legs completely on the wings on either side of the wings.

Could you take a picture or video in a mockup door showing the hand and foot placement of both rider and pilot. (i want to be able to show my rider the video and have them mimic it.)

And I have taken a guy on a rodeo. Am I the only one?

(The attached picture has nothing to do with this post, I just figured that if people are going to read this crap- might as well give em something to look at : Rolf backflying)
There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

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Feet position doesnt matter much. Can be on the wing, on the legs, laying flat, around the legs. As long as the weight is distributed nicely and not to far forward (which makes it fly very steep) unless thats what you want of course.
JC
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thanks for the info.

It is a balancing act to keep them in the right place.

Another question: I tell my riders, that they don't need to try and correct their position if they feel like it is unstable. I tell them that I will feel it and fly under them. It's my job to stay under them not they to stay on top of me. Is this what you do also?

Also: I tell them that from the exit, it is their skydive as well. the plan is to give them a signal to ditch at 5000 and they usually roll off and are stable with plenty of separation by 4500. It also means they have plenty of time and space to pull a bit higher if we did not go as far as we originally planned.

I spot our exit about half the distance we usually do for WS exits. (Standard = Half mile offset leg and then a turn with planned total of 1.5-2 miles, depending on winds, dive plan, etc.) But I have only done rodeos in DZs where there are plenty of outs along the planned route. What is your plan for not dumping someone too far to make it to a good landing area?

Another problem is that even experienced local jumpers who know the dropzone well, are not good at spotting anything farther than a 1/2 mile. We usually look at the aerial on the ground and do some spotting from the plane on the way up.

Also: if there are tandems or students on the load, we usually land at about the same time. Usually no problem. but with a less experienced rider, they are not used to sharing the pattern with big, slow canopies. "Don't cut off the students". Do you remind them that students pull higher and take up more airspace?

Some of this comes back to the whole discussion of WS rodeo rider and pilot experience needed. I don't have a strong opinion on this yet, I know it took me less than 5 rodeos to suck less. And lighter, better freeflyers work out better.

End of verbal spillage
There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

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I tell them that from the exit, it is their skydive as well. the plan is to give them a signal to ditch at 5000 and they usually roll off and are stable with plenty of separation by 4500. It also means they have plenty of time and space to pull a bit higher if we did not go as far as we originally planned.

I spot our exit about half the distance we usually do for WS exits. (Standard = Half mile offset leg and then a turn with planned total of 1.5-2 miles, depending on winds, dive plan, etc.) But I have only done rodeos in DZs where there are plenty of outs along the planned route. What is your plan for not dumping someone too far to make it to a good landing area?



My take is that the wingsuiter is responsible for navigation. if you exit and determine that you are too far from the dropzone, you can ditch the passenger much earlier (unless it's a big boogie with a gazillion aircraft running loads at the same time) and they can pull high and make it back.
the passenger should get briefed about this possibility ahead of time.

I like to get them off my back even higher than you do. 6k or 5.5 I roll them off. they should pull high. this keeps them out of other traffic too if they are in the saddle by 5.

some passengers seem to think they need to track or something. the only situation where that would happen is if you are doing multiple side by side rodeos and the passengers end up being released at the same time... though ideally you wingsuiters should first separate from each other before dumping off the passengers.

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Another problem is that even experienced local jumpers who know the dropzone well, are not good at spotting anything farther than a 1/2 mile. We usually look at the aerial on the ground and do some spotting from the plane on the way up.



wingsuiter should be spotting the plane.
passenger just pulls after separating from wingsuiter. they should have enough experience/knowledge to make it back from a slightly longer spot. if they do not have that experience, they are not skilled enough for a rodeo, end of story.

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Also: if there are tandems or students on the load, we usually land at about the same time. Usually no problem. but with a less experienced rider, they are not used to sharing the pattern with big, slow canopies. "Don't cut off the students". Do you remind them that students pull higher and take up more airspace?



yes, always make sure everyone knows what altitude everyone is pulling at.
wingsuiter should not be flying in the tandem's airspace. know where they are hanging out, look for that, and avoid it. needless to say, no flyby with a rodeo on your back...

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Some of this comes back to the whole discussion of WS rodeo rider and pilot experience needed. I don't have a strong opinion on this yet, I know it took me less than 5 rodeos to suck less. And lighter, better freeflyers work out better.



exactly... all about experience. it's why I ask for 100 jumps.
if your goal is to get laid like purple mike, your requirements can be different... but if we are to look at it from a safety perspective, riding a wingsuiter requires a certain level of experience that should not be taken lightly.

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My take is that the wingsuiter is responsible for navigation.


Agreed.

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6k or 5.5 I roll them off. they should pull high.


Understood. I will adjust future plans accordingly.

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some passengers seem to think they need to track or something.


Agreed.
I tell them to just roll off and pull stable. I have a video somewhere where the guy rolls off to a backfly and you can see the horizontal and vertical separation.


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wingsuiter should be spotting the plane.


Yes, WS should spot the exit. Also, passenger should know where the exit is and be able to spot the DZ if they get dumped out the door.

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if they do not have that experience, they are not skilled enough for a rodeo, end of story.


They have plenty of experience but that specific skill is lacking. (Maybe a case of "GPS ruined spotting"?)


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wingsuiter should not be flying in the tandem's airspace.


Agreed. I make sure the rodeo rider also knows this. We are use to exiting after tandems and looking for them. Most jumpers don't ever see a tandem in the air.

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no flyby with a rodeo on your back...


Double birdeo flyby...one on each side...that would be cool. I'd like to see that

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if your goal is to get laid like purple mike,


And geek the camera

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riding a wingsuiter requires a certain level of experience that should not be taken lightly.


I would add that: Not all rodeos are equal. Out here in Eloy, you have a lot of room to play and a huge landing area, so standard birdeos are easier than a heavily wooded region with houses, fences and power lines. I would also want my rider to do a lot of flights with me before we do the double birdeo flyby.
I would also want my rider to be more experienced if we are flocking with trackers or WS fliers.
A standard birdeo, in a wide open DZ with plenty of time between loads should be the birdeo pre-school for both rider and pilot.
There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

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Yes, providing they're made aware that they may get a PC hesitation.




Or PC's around their neck and other scary stuff.
Im 100% okay with people pulling of the back, if they are sitting on someone else. If they are riding me. Hell no. Seen to much scary shit haha:D:S
JC
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