Getting out of a swoop rut

[Tonto 1]

I have 3500 skydives, of which 2000 have been on swoopable canopies. The last 1300 swoops have been on an Airtime Designs Jonathan 120 loaded to 1.6 to 1. My DZ is 5000ft ASL, and it gets real hot in the summer.
After a very silly phase around 150 jumps and being “caught in the corner” which resulted in a severely broken femur, a year on crutches and very little jumping for a long time, I decided that consistent swoops were what I needed. By 1000 dives I was jumping a Peregrine 150 loaded to 1.25 by Chute Shop (Looked like a PD Excalibur copy) and was pretty consistent. I then bought the Jonathan, which I have jumped without mishap of any sort for the last ten years. As for the missing numbers, they would be 600 odd Tandems and 600 CF rotation dives on AR7’s by Aerodyne Research, Matrix by Gyro (Of Icarus) and Rubis of PDF.
Here’s the rub. My swoops are ok. They’re safe and I’m covering 130 to 170 feet in no wind conditions. I carve sometimes, stand everything up but the 1 in 100, which I think catches us all…but I’m not improving. I’m in a swoop rut. I wished for consistency and I got it, but I want more.
I’m now jumping a Heatwave 100 from PISA loaded to 2.0 to 1. Its faster, but not by much. It’s recovery arc seems shorter than the Jonathan. I cover more distance in the swoop, now 150 to 200 feet. It’s twitchier but seems to slow down much more at the end. I’m not having to run much at all. Has canopy design improved that much in ten years? If this 100 is that easy maybe a VX in 89 would be the way to go.
I toggle hook/carve. I’m prepared to enter the risk arena of learning something new, like front riser approaches, and would set up my brakes for this prior to my 1st attempt. I have some experience and am prepared to take my time. I figured winter would be the best time to make the switch as density altitude is going to make things trickier as things warm up. (Its mid winter here now)
Have I missed anything? Any advice?
Blue Skies,
t

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

T,
the simple answer is that nobody with any sense toggle whips parachutes nowadays; it's inefficient and generally more dangerous than the front-riser options. There is a whole series of threads in this swoop forum on riser carving (and snapping, if that's your bag). I can promise you that you will see a marked improvement in your swoop distance using riser dives from a higher altitude.
Chuck
Are you a Monkey or a Flunky? HERE

[Kirils 1]

I jumped a Jonathan years back... I must say you are a tough cookie! It spanked me hard every 3rd jump! Things have changed so much! The newer canopies are so much faster, more forgiving and they fly almost like a fixed wing!
Check out a Crossfire2 an FX, a Chaos or Cobalt of Velocity...
You will be amazed! Younger jumpers don't appreciate my enthuasiam over these new flying machines. After 300 jumps on a T-10 and a Russian square in the 1970's I know what I'm talking about!
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...

[Rdutch 0]

All I can see is that you have been jumping cheaper not refined canopies. Companies like PD and Icarus spend a fortune on research and development designing the best canopies available. Maybe if you changed to a higher market canopy you might get better results. You can do all the jumps you want and if your canopy wont perform you cant either.
Ray

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

That's not really the point. The point is that he is using a poor technique. Toggle whipping is not the answer to longer swoops, period; especially on a canopy with a fairly short recovery arc. Would he get a longer swoop under a more "high tech" canopy using the same technique? Maybe so, but I would definitely NOT recommend trying to lengthen swoop distance in solely that manner. His swoops will grow exponentially with a better technique, then if he still wants to go with that VX (or whatever else he chooses), he will be better equipped to fly it to it's intended performance envelope.

Chuck Blue
Team Atair Swoop

[Rdutch 0]

I fully agree with you about technique is more important. I overlooked the fact that he was toggle turning. This can be very dangerous on a smaller highly wingloaded canopy. Line twists ect. I was just making the point that canopies make a difference. I have 350 more jumps on my stilletto 107 but I get much longer swoops out of my velocity. Also I would like to note that you shouldnt have to modify your brake settings for learning to swoop a new canopy especially on a crossbrace the manufacturers took a long time and spent a lot of r&d finding those settings. If your canopy is diving too much for you maybe you should start your turn a little higher.
Ray

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[PhreeZone 15]

>Also I would like to note that you shouldnt have to modify your brake settings

They have the brakes set for the test jumpers. Unless you are the same exact size as the tester, then you might need to tweak the brkaes a lot. I'm 6'2" with long arms. On some canopies I can just push my arms out to the side staight and thats the falre point, on others I need to let the brakes out by a long ways to be able to get all the flare out of the canopy I can.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Agreed. The stock brake length setup is definitely not "one length fits all". I have only owned two canopies that I didn't have to lengthen the brake lines considerably from the "stock" setting. What flies great for one person's style will suck completely for others.

Chuck
<><>swoop monkey

[Tonto 1]

14 months later, and this is how far I've come climbing out of my rut!

I canned the Heatwave 100. 3 reasons, mainly.

1. The recovery arc was very shallow.

2. It had a built in turn the manufacturer was unable to correct.

3. Loaded to 2 to 1, 5000ft ASL in the summer - was a little to quick for my 40 something legs.

I've done 450 dives since the post before this, of which about 300 have been on a Stilleto 107 loaded to about 1.78. It was second hand, but after having the trim checked and replacing 2 lines (One after a chop) it flies very nicely, and shuts down far better than the Jonathan or Heatwave ever did. It actually feels WAY bigger than those canopies - like about a 135.

I toggle spanked it for 100 dives just to get familiar with it.(I'm a very slow learner..) Then, thanks to PM's with SkymonkeyOne and Hookitt, I started my adventure into front riser swoops. All the comments and promises made have come true - but, as always, I still have a long way to go. The canopy still seems to turn VERY fast on risers, so I'm turning (off an alti) at about 450 - 500ft, and getting my best swoops off 270 deg turns.

I'm still using trips (such a dinosaur!) but will be moving back to conventional risers within the next 2 months. (100 dives) I'll then start learning the rear riser flare, which I must confess is a bit tricky with trips.. eapecially when you find only one...

I'd like to thank SkymonkeyOne and Hookitt for their input and experience, as well as 2 local jumpers, Rob Kruger, for inspiration and Chris Beasley - a former AFF student of mine - for insight into look, feel and learning something new. A couple of thousand dives from now - I should be doing OK!

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[ianmdrennan 2]

nice man. Glad it's working for ya. Once you've gotten that canopy down with risering techniques, just think how much fun a x-braced is going to be.

Nice and slow. Be safe.

Blue skies
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[chrisb 0]

hey t, it always feels wierd to hear the way you seeing me. anyway i feel really pos. bout all this and Hey i'm still looking up at you and to you to keep my perspective in check Think I like this sport. Might stay a while.

" Heed the bearer of the crystal ball..... or to the clinic with you "

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