Blade Running or how to speed up the canopy if you are on the mountain

[Spizzzarko 0]

I have seen the video too. He told me it was a spectre that he used. I believe a 135. I think he even convinced the resort to buy his canopy for him.

[VivaHeadDown 0]

Learn to paraglide first. What you know from skydiving will not help you in paragliding, but what you learn in paragliding will be invaluable in ground launching skydiving canopies. I've been running off all sorts of hills in Southern California without instruction, and most everything I've learned has been adapted from what I learned in paragliding (with the exception of canopy control during the flight)...

The importance of a good launch point.
Seeing a good line to follow before you launch.
Picking a launch point that leads to a good landing area.
Commitment on launch (uber important!!!).
Learning to fly close to the stall point of your canopy as you get speed and can let up on brakes.
How to read a hill for air currents (mostly rotors).
High and Low cycles of wind, when do you not want to launch.
Angle of the hill, size of canopy.
Ground handling of canopy.

That's just a small list of things you need to know well in order to pull this off successfully. If you have as few jumps as your bio says, I don't recommend trying it until you've started to get an understanding for what you're getting yourself into. I've seen far more experienced canopy pilots than I get hurt doing this, so the risk is high. If you decide not to listen to reason, and go for it, the only advise left is GET VIDEO. That way when you wake up in the hospital your friends can show you just where you went wrong so you don't make the same mistake next time. :)

Don't Confuse Me With My Own Words

[sysop 0]

Have a fun!

www.speedflying.ru
Mountian Fly School

[chileanXaos 0]

Itried doing it this year on a sabre 135 , but I tried to launch but I was at 9000 msl so Icould not generate much speed so I crushed , I think that I could generate more speed with skis , but at that time there where only rocks.

[SlatonAirSports 0]

You'll soon be able to get info on Blade Running and Ground Launching at www.BladeRunning.com

CanopyPiloting.com (W/Forum)

[FredSkydog 0]

No arguements here. I'm waiting for some friends that know what they're doing.

[KEVINLOVE 0]

In regards to locating "safe" sites to launch, I agree with Chuck....

A minimum slope angle of 30 + degrees, as well as reasonable areas on the hill in case of an unintentional landing on the hillside.

I always hike the hills and become very familiar with the landscape, so I have options.

A hill facing into the predominant winds, with a landing area that is wide open with no other hills, trees, and or buildings near by to create turbulance.

I would STRONGLY suggest getting professional instuction before just ""going for it".

I speak from experience. It's VERY easy to get hurt speed flying and or riding.

With proper instruction you will be better infromed when hunting for new sites.

On my space page the first couple of videos show examples of hills that open up to safe landing areas, they might give you a good idea of what to look for . The grassy hills in the vidoes , have winds that come up the slope about 60 70 % of the time, in the correct directon (straight up the slope)

If you happen to see the videos of speedriding, understand that speedriding is a whole new ball game. They are NOT the same thing.

Safety precautions are much different up in the mountains. Flying via skis, down a mountan, through narrow rows of trees with turbulance and weather conditions that can change rapidly, defiinitely requires permission and professional instruction.

SPEED FLYING AND SPEED RIDING ARE NOT THE SAME THING!

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KEVIN_SWOOPS

Good luck, be safe.

K