Speed Flying

[AirCanada 0]

Check it:

http://www.acro-base.com/fr/imgs/galerie/video/videos/guerlain/speedfly-1.wmv

I thought it was a super dialed ground laucher at first, but it's a bit different.

And the skier's a super dialed big moutain competitor...

[CanuckInUSA 0]

clicky

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

[superstu 0]

love it

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

[IanHarrop 37]

nice video!

Was some of that taken at Fortress?

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[AirCanada 0]

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nice video!

Was some of that taken at Fortress?

He (Guerlain Chicherit) is french, so I doubt it.

[davelepka 4]

Seeing him hit the tree made me think of me comment that the speed flyers will be hookin it in pretty soon.

I'd like to see what a top notch canopy pilot could do with that oppertunity. Wasn't there a video posted of jumpers doing the same thing with skydiving canopies? I seem to remember some more impressive flying on that one.

Either way, if we could work that out in the sates, I'd take up skiing again.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Seeing him hit the tree made me think of me comment that the speed flyers will be hookin it in pretty soon.

I thought it was a fun video to watch up until the very end when he flew his canopy into that tree. Careful there dude ... not only can you get hurt doing this, but your canopy will get shredded in those trees.

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

[piisfish 135]

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your canopy will get shredded in those trees.

do you think he paid for the canopy ?
many people going to hook it in indeed as mentionned above. No/very little canopy flying experience and having mucho fun...

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[AirCanada 0]

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No/very little canopy flying experience

Unlikely.

Matias Rothen... the Gin Team pilot who designed their speed flying "glider" is one of the best acro pilots in the world.

It appears that there are some paragliding schools in Europe who are beginning to teach it...

[davelepka 4]

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the Gin Team pilot who designed their speed flying "glider" is one of the best acro pilots in the world.

I think that the design differences between a paraglider and a speed flyer make the experience only slightly helpful.

I wouldn't expect my skydiving experience to make me an expert paraglider pilot.

The aspect ratio, sq footage, and line lengths are all much closer to a skydivign canopy than a paraglider, and I would bet that they 'borrowed' a buch of ideas from skydiving canopies when they designed the speed flyers.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I am not sure what you guys are talking about here; those are skydiving canopies. One of them was a PdF Springo.

Chuck

[AirCanada 0]

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The aspect ratio, sq footage, and line lengths are all much closer to a skydivign canopy than a paraglider, and I would bet that they 'borrowed' a buch of ideas from skydiving canopies when they designed the speed flyers.

That's a roger.

But Matias (and most other acro pilots) are starting to fly 15, 13 and even 11 m3 "paragliders" in acro competition... Think 50 to 70cell x-braced, high performance swooping canopy.

So that sort of experience does carry over.

Either way, still looks dodgy, tho...

[davelepka 4]

You said Springo.

Anyway, I thought they might have been, but there are paraglidign companies producing speed flying canopies that look alot like thick skydiving elipticals.

[AirCanada 0]

We got off topic.

but Gin is making speed flying "gliders", canopies, whatever we want to call these things...

Check it:

http://www.gingliders.com/products/nano-tec.ph

It looks basically like a skydiving canopy to me, only maybe more elliptical? He calls it 18 cells, but I think it's only 9, the way that skydivers count them...

Would you jump it out of an airplane?

[CanuckInUSA 0]

That canopy could barely get airborne. And when it did this so called world's best canopy pilot could only fly it in deep brakes extremely close to it's stall point for a second or two at a time before he touched down. They either need to be choosing better steeper slopes (with favorable wind conditions) to be launching from or they need to be choosing a better canopy.

Don't get we wrong, it was a fun video to watch. But compared to what Jim and Duane have been doing, not very impressive from a launching point of view. If the idea behind this video was to get people like us to buy their canopy, well they've got a long way to go. My money (if I had any to spend which I currently don't) would go towards a GLX and not this Gin canopy.

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

[johnny1488 1]

i have a thought that speed flyers are going to be getting hurt a lot pretty soon.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[adamT 0]

Slack lines = bad

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Those "canopies" are available in sizes 10, 12, 13, and 14 square meters. They, according to the article, are not designed to keep you off the deck. Instead, they are designed to allow you to loft over low spots and sail a ways after a jump. This both is, and is not, "ground launching" as Jim and Duane are practicing. These Gin Nano's are not skydiving canopies, but I am sure that you could rig one of the larger up for such use if you wanted, just like the original GLX's.

Another example of a group of people taking an already-small niche (paragliding) and further breaking it down in order to get their chunk of the pie.

Purpose-built canopies such as these (Gin Nano's) would not be suitable for dry-weather ground launching as they are much too small. Likewise, a GLX "california ground launching canopy" would not be suitable for this sub-discipline in the strictest sense of the definition of Speed Flying. Too big and slow to keep you on the deck and out of the air.

The canopies in the video linked to at the top of this thread are not Gin Nano Speed Flying canopies. They are skydiving canopies being fairly-poorly glided down a slope. The dude flying into the tree had me totally cracking up.

Chuck

[piisfish 135]

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No/very little canopy flying experience

Unlikely.
Matias Rothen... the Gin Team pilot who designed their speed flying "glider" is one of the best acro pilots in the world.
It appears that there are some paragliding schools in Europe who are beginning to teach it...

Is Guerlain one of the best acro pilots in the world ? It seems to me he should learn to fly with risers a bit. Stall seems very close at some points. But well, he's one of the best skiers around, so he should know the risks he is taking.

And yes, one of the canopies is a springo

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[sgt_ludy 0]

check this out:

http://www.dropzone.tv/

IMO this is what ground-launching should look like!
by the way: it´s been made in Tirol / Austria.

nevertheless i liked the speed-riding video very much. i´ve made very similar flight experiences when using an old sucked-out Merit 170 on not-so-steep slopes.
it´s pretty fun: you ski down, more sitting than standing and on every jump it lifts you off the ground from 5secs to 30secs, depending on the wind and inclination.

[piisfish 135]

cool video indeed.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Bengel 0]

Yes, great video! THAT'S the concept of GL, in my opinion! What nice and long runs! I think I've to look for slopes like that in Switzerland! Can't wait to go again!

I'm a British nanny, and I'm dangerous!

[Canuck 0]

Situation 1: Skis are used to assist in a parachute descent down a mountain.

Situation 2: Parachute is used to assist in a ski descent down a mountain.

Two very different things.

Looks fun as hell to me. Would have been a waste of all that phat powder to be 3 feet above it the entire time...

Canuck

[skyedivr 0]

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They are skydiving canopies being fairly-poorly glided down a slope. The dude flying into the tree had me totally cracking up.

Chuck

the tree shot was hilarious.
and the guy could be a little more fluid with his movements. Very jerky.....

my power is beyond your understanding.

[sgt_ludy 0]

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Situation 1: Skis are used to assist in a parachute descent down a mountain.

Situation 2: Parachute is used to assist in a ski descent down a mountain.

Two very different things.


Canuck

you´re right, but WHAT makes the difference? is ist the inclination, the canopy, the winds? IMO it´s mainly due to the inclination. i know the location of the "flying" situation 1 video and it´s reallly incredibly steep.