mr_woosh 0 #1 January 12, 2007 having 14 jumps worth of experience and being beyond the point of being broke I am looking for some free info on canopy control and more precisely on precision landing. Looking for pointers and advises as I rarely end up where I want to be, mostly overshooting but occasionally running short as well. I do realize that it should have been discussed here before, but first, English is not my native and second, being new to skydiving I am not sure what would be the most popular words related to the subject, so advises on keywords for search are also appreciated! Thanks for taking your time to read this and hope you'll spend just a bit extra typing in some words of wisdom in reply! Blue Skies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #2 January 12, 2007 Right now you really should get a mentor at your DZ. Get someone that you look up to and trust. They should be a very experienced canopy pilot and all around skydiver. 100 jumps may sound like a lot right now, but 100 jumps is not experienced in the least. Look to your former instructors and other top jumpers at your DZ. Now for stuff to learn on your own: The biggest thing to learn for canopy control, besides the basics on proper flare and finishing your flare, is how to do a flat turn. Take your canopy and go do an altitude clear and pull (deploy at 10,000ft or so) and fly your canopy around. Go into about 1/2 brakes and try to do a 180 deg turn in the least amount of altitude lost. Try letting up slightly on one side and do a turn, try pushing a little more on one side to to do the turn. You'll need to do this a few times to get to the least amount of altitude lost. That will save your life when you're low and close to the ground and need to turn for some reason (canopy traffic, etc). Beyond that the big thing to learn is how to fly a pattern. Here's a copy from another post I wrote a couple of days ago: Quote The hardest thing to learn on the way to learning how to swoop is how to be consistant with your landing pattern and accuracy. To have a good swoop you have to be consistant with your swoop. To be consistant you have to have a good pattern every time. If you can't hit your downwind, then your base leg at the right altitude at the right spot, then you won't be able to start your swoop at the right spot of your choice (i.e. to hit a course) at the right altitude. So for now get an arial photo of your DZ and get it laminated. Get yourself a dry erase marker and draw every single landing pattern. Strive to fly what you drew (if safe). If you fly what you drew and you landed 20ft short then slide your entire pattern 20ft in the right direction and try again. Keep doing this every time. Eventually you'll get to where you can fly a nearly perfect pattern and land exactly where you planned. You have to be able to do this or you won't be able to swoop accurately or safely. While you work on your pattern and accuracy, then you can also work on the important aspects to canopy flight. That's learning every in and out of your canopy. How if flies in toggles, your stall point, your flare point, how to flat turn, do a "climbing" turn, a regular turn. How to bail out of a turn and how to bring your canopy out of a dive gently with the toggles. Then learn how your rears react as well. Do a lot of altitude clear and pulls, work on these things with a digital altimeter. Get to where you can do a flat turn in the least amount of altitude lost (180 degree turn). Then start working on double fronts, holding for 2 full seconds. See how long it takes for your canopy to naturally recover. Doing all of those drills and getting your pattern under control will typically take someone about 150-200 jumps to really get a full understanding. Many times we see people skipping steps. Those people either end up like me or someone else. If they end up like me then they're lucky. That means they didn't get hurt, but they've had to spend hundreds of jumps to relearn those skills and its taken MUCH longer to start to get an understanding. If they're like someone else that means they got hurt, killed or killed someone else (i.e. canopy collision). Don't be that guy. Good luck! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sinister 0 #3 January 12, 2007 I didn't read what AggieDave wrote (too long and not enough time for me to read it. *lazy) but I am sure it is good advice. You should follow this check list 1. Start saving up some money. 2. Borrow, Buy or Steal Brian Germain's book then read it 3. Save more money 4. Read the book again but this time understand it and read more than just the interesting looking stuff with pictures. 5. do some jumps with the money you saved. 6. Save some more money, sell coke or something it is quick cash and once you get your clients hooked they will keep coming back to you for more. This means you can get on a consistant jumping schedule, which is one of the most important things in learning canopy piloting skills. 7. Use some of the money from your addicts that you have accuired and get a qualified canopy coach it will progress your skills much faster and probably save your life or at least a Femur one day. 8. Listen to the advice you get and use it. Good luck buddy and welcome to the sport be safeShane Murphy www.adrenalinegeeks.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hommie 0 #4 January 13, 2007 ATTENTION to anyone posting to mr woosh. This poster also goes by the name Hookitlow on this website. Before posting to him, you may want to read up on the turbulance he's managed to stirup in the General Skydiving Discussions forum. He's posted 3 different threads in that forum since 2 days ago when he created the profile and all 3 threads have been locked. Check out his size of canopy, brilliant............ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr_woosh 0 #5 January 13, 2007 first of all I'd like to thank both AggieDave and Sinister for the responses. second I am not sure whether to laugh or cry over the hommie's post... QuoteATTENTION to anyone posting to mr woosh. This poster also goes by the name Hookitlow on this website. I have no clue who Hookitlow is and strongly suspect that hommie either IS hookitlow or has some serious issues with him.. or may be it was just a spam post and I should not even bother with it.. Quote Before posting to him, you may want to read up on the turbulance he's managed to stirup in the General Skydiving Discussions forum. He's posted 3 different threads in that forum since 2 days ago when he created the profile and all 3 threads have been locked. I did participate in a couple of discussions, but would hardly consider it a source of turbulence Quote Check out his size of canopy, brilliant............ I'm sorry but I don't even have a canopy yet.. I guess that settles it. still open for suggestions. coaching advises are appreciated and I do plan to get some coaching soon, but with this thread I guess I was trying to see how much and what exactly one can learn on his own. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluiev 0 #6 January 13, 2007 I guess Ill bite and vouch that Mr Woosh is in no way the same person as the one starting the commotion on their canopy choices. As far as the advice, I like what Aggie and Sinister said (except for selling the coke part ). Ill lend you the book once I get it, Woosh. In the meantime, I think Aggie is right on the spot and we should inquire with our favorite instructors in a couple of weeks, then get on the canopy class when we get our A license . Of course, we'd still have to satisfy the accuracy requirement of our yellow card. Hehe. Anyway, back to lurking. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
