Good ways to learn to swoop.

[jloirsdaan 0]

Well, in the near future I'd like to LEARN how to do high performance landings. I currently jump a Sabre 190...put around 150 jumps on it...and am thinking of stepping down to a Sabre2 170. Would there be a better canopy to step down to and start the learning process on?

#1 on my list is to take a canopy control course. After that get some coaching....but other tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm in no hurry to start getting crazy with it....just learn gradually. I'm only 21...I've got MANY years to learn. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[chachi 0]

my personal guide to swooping is easy.

get coached, be honest to yourself with your progression, do hop n pops, get video

...and do not come online seeking coaching or advice on canopy selection,

[vdschoor 0]

Quote

Well, in the near future I'd like to LEARN how to do high performance landings. I currently jump a Sabre 190...put around 150 jumps on it...and am thinking of stepping down to a Sabre2 170. Would there be a better canopy to step down to and start the learning process on?

#1 on my list is to take a canopy control course. After that get some coaching....but other tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm in no hurry to start getting crazy with it....just learn gradually. I'm only 21...I've got MANY years to learn. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

The Sabre2 is an awesome canopy to start swooping on, no need to go to anything more aggressive.
I have done my last 1300 jumps on Sabre2's (150s and 135s) and they are swoop monsters..

You're on the right path, getting canopy coaching early on will help you big time.

[GQ_jumper 4]

find a good canopy coach on your DZ that will be around enough to watch the majority of your landings, i've got a buddy at my DZ that makes an effort to at least give me a few comments everytime he's in the landing area when i come in, so i'm never guessing about how well i really did. AND BE SAFE, PLEEEEASE

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[m1keymike 0]

dude, there are many ways tho learn to swoop, but by far the best is to get some decent coaching from someone QUALIFIED. i havent had the chance to get on a canopy piloting course as time and money have got in the way. i was fortunate to send four years living, working and teaching on a dropzone with some very good canopy pilots who spent alot of time with me, time watching me and gave me some very good advice. having these guys around me everyday helped me enormously and im very fortunate to have had this luck. im no hot shot, and i intend to get some coaching this year also.

keep your head down out there!

[Cacophony 0]

Learn everything you can about you parachute before you learn to fly it faster than full flight near the ground. Be sure you know how to land in brakes, toggle and rear riser stalls, flat turns, off the wind line.... Land exactly where you want to land just about all the time. Obviously the people that can help you best are experienced canopy pilots that are actually watching you land. Lots of high altitude hop n pops! And do all of this on a large parachute. Once you feel you can do everything under the sun and land it just about anywhere in any wind condition (even downwind, crosswind....) then you can step down a size.

Remember, anyone and everyone will screw up sometime. Wouldn't you rather be under a bigger parachute when you do? It will hurt much less!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Swooping rocks!!! But there are no short cuts.

It's already been said, but I will say it as well. Learn how to fly your canopy in the slow flight characteristics before you start inducing speed close to the ground (and this applies to each new canopy you start to fly). Play with your canopy and dedicate jumps towards canopy control. Seek coaching because good instruction rocks. But also realize that while coaching equipes you with knowledge. It doesn't equipe you with skill or experience. Experience is gained but doing hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of jumps and stay current. Learning each canopy before you move on to the next one requires hundreds and hundreds of jumps on each canopy and just remember that even the experienced people can fuck up. Swooping rocks!!! But it's not safe.

Oh and Sabre2s are geat canopies to learn on. In fact it was a Sabre2 170 that I learned on before I moved on to other smaller more high performance canopies.

Stay safe, play smart and have fun. Choose baby steps over great leaps and remember that unless you're one of the top PST guys, there's always someone better than you. So don't let egos get in the way of your progression. But know that there are no short cuts.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[thepollster 0]

As it has been said by other posters, the Sabre2 is a good canopy to learn on, but so is the original Sabre. You will make mistakes during your progression, and if you downsize now you take away forgiveness your current canopy offers in perhaps the most dangerous stage of swooping (learning).

Also, I would not take advice from anyone who advises you to start doing turning approaches before mastering double fronts, and also braked approaches. And by mastering, I don't mean 20 jumps.

Also, if you aren't current (judging by the Iraq sigline) you have no business starting to learn swooping. You should already have read everything you can find on canopy piloting before ever trying anything close to the ground. Brian Germaine and John LeBlanc have both written some good articles, and LeBlanc's articles can be found for free on the PD website. I tried to link "The book of canopy control" by Bryan Burke, but the site appears to be down. The Burke article is used as an outline for some canopy schools, and contains a lot of good info that should help keep you alive.

[jloirsdaan 0]

I wouldn't come online seeking coaching advice or canopy selection. I come online to have discussions. To see if my thinking is flawed. I'd love to talk with a canopy coach....however I don't have that opportunity just yet. Thanks.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[jloirsdaan 0]

Yeah...not too current. Did all my 175 jumps in the 1st year. Then got stuck out here. I've had a 4 month layoff for now. Will be home at the end of Jan. Will get as many jumps as possible before returning for another 6. Then I'll be back for good. Wouldn't dream of downsizing or starting swooping until I get back and get "comfortable" in the air again. Just starting here for information.....then will get back get current and start from what I know and have learned. Thanks for all the insight...pretty much what I figured learning wise.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[AggieDave 6]

That Sabre is good enough to start to learn on. If anything, it moves slower and gives you more of a chance to deal with something happening.

Start doing a LOT of altitude clear and pulls. Learn how your canopy flies in every single configuration. Learn how it flies with the front risers, with the rear risers, with the toggles, with the harness and with combinations of those things. For instance, harness+front risers or harness+toggles, etc. Learn what if feels like to stall your canopy. On toggles and rears. Learn how to bail out of an approach. Learn how to do the simple things you have to know how to do. How to fly a pattern perfectly and correctly. How to land accurately (those two things are the most important to learning how to swoop). Learn how to bail a swoop and end up back on line, since you may end up having to do that sometime. Learn how to quit flying your canopy and just fly your body. That learns up high.

Going to a CReW camp or getting CReW coaching will help you a LOT as well.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[jloirsdaan 0]

Yeah, I like my old sabre. Its been a good canopy! Not too much of a problem with hard openings....brisk, but not crazy.

I love higher hop n pops....I'll like them even more when I get a more comfortable harness! Looks like I'll have lots to work on when I get back. I'd got to the point where I could do all the checks on my old canopy...but 4 months of no jumping then another 7 or so probably isn't going to help my situation. Thanks for the advice and insight.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[btucker 0]

Alot of people like Brain Germain's book. It's not a "swooping for dummies" but it will help you ask the right questions to the right people.

http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#parachute

Blue Dreams Benno

[AndyMan 7]

Quote

Alot of people like Brain Germain's book. It's not a "swooping for dummies" but it will help you ask the right questions to the right people.

I agree, Brian's book is an excellent reasource.

Brian focuses on teach people how to fly a canopy well, which is a very different thing than "learning to swoop". This is a key difference, and a good path to follow. People who prematurely decide to swoop only get themselves into trouble, with predictable results.

If instead somebody intends to learn to to be an great canopy pilot, then the step to swooping is relatively easy.

Brians book is an excellent resource for somebody looking to be a great canopy pilot.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[jloirsdaan 0]

***Brian focuses on teach people how to fly a canopy well, which is a very different thing than "learning to swoop". This is a key difference, and a good path to follow. People who prematurely decide to swoop only get themselves into trouble, with predictable results.

If instead somebody intends to learn to to be an great canopy pilot, then the step to swooping is relatively easy.

Brians book is an excellent resource for somebody looking to be a great canopy pilot. ***


Thanks for that.....you made me think about something I've been overlooking. It shouldn't be about learning to "swoop". It SHOULD be about being a good canopy pilot. If you are a good one....and have built up your experience level.....then swooping isn't such a big "jump". You will already have the basic skills, if you have taken the time to learn how to fly your canopy.

Just some thoughts I was having....I get bored easily. BTW, I bought Brians book....it arrived yesterday. I've already started reading it....and at this rate should be finished reading it within a day or so. Thanks all.

Jordan

Go Fast, Dock Soft.

[dharma1976 0]

Quote

***Brian focuses on teach people how to fly a canopy well, which is a very different thing than "learning to swoop". This is a key difference, and a good path to follow. People who prematurely decide to swoop only get themselves into trouble, with predictable results.

If instead somebody intends to learn to to be an great canopy pilot, then the step to swooping is relatively easy.

Brians book is an excellent resource for somebody looking to be a great canopy pilot. ***


Thanks for that.....you made me think about something I've been overlooking. It shouldn't be about learning to "swoop". It SHOULD be about being a good canopy pilot. If you are a good one....and have built up your experience level.....then swooping isn't such a big "jump". You will already have the basic skills, if you have taken the time to learn how to fly your canopy.

Just some thoughts I was having....I get bored easily. BTW, I bought Brians book....it arrived yesterday. I've already started reading it....and at this rate should be finished reading it within a day or so. Thanks all.

and then read it again

I have read the swooping section like 5 times now

and I just booked him for may for the advanced canopy courses at one of my home DZ's

Cheers

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[Widgeon 0]

And again and again and again. As your skill set and abilities improve, more things will make sense. Get some coaching too; there is no substitute.

[marks 0]

Quote

Well, in the near future I'd like to LEARN how to do high performance landings.

don't over analyze things and make alot of jumps.