GL canopy

[Radioshack 0]

I have been doing some research on ground launching and am wondering what type of canopy I should look into getting so I can practice some kitting.

Thanks mucho!

Edit: sorry I was in such a hurry I forgot important information! I weigh about 160 pds.

[hjumper33 0]

I have a stiletto 120 strictly for GL and I love it. You can pick up ragged out stilettos or sabres of appropriate size for really cheap. Just remember if you are flying something big that it can get crazy quickly if youre launching in high winds.

[yoink 321]

There are lots of canopies out there that are specifically designed with groundlaunching in mind.

They range from the skydive inspired Daedalus GLS / GLX and Aeros Ballistic, to the high-performace paraglider end such as the Neuvres Swoop and Bio Air Ski'M.

Have a look at this site for some of them: http://ulrichprinz.de/air/speed/index.html#pdf

We're also starting to gather a decent amount of general Ground Launching information over in the Speed flying forum on paraglidingforum.com.

The only skydive wing I've launched was a Sabre - it's a brilliant canopy for kiting, but required quite a steep hill and specific conditions to fly well.

Have fun!

[dploi 0]

Don't ground launch anything you wouldn't skydive. Not yet, anyway. With <100 jumps behind you, go big (~1:1 W/L) and square and avoid high winds. The speedflying landing environment is generally much more demanding on canopy skills than the big, flat fields you get in skydiving.

If you can find one for cheap, look for a Spectre or Sabre 2. They're very easy to kite and launch. They can both fly pretty flat, won't stall out on you too easily (if you need to fly in brakes) and will set you down gently wherever you may end up. If you go with the Sabre2, I recommend loading it at or under 1:1, as even a big one maybe be a bit fast for your experience. You'd probably be fine with with a Spectre 150.

Defnitely look for a SF-specific harness. It just plain sucks to use a skydiving rig. Also, I can't recommend proper training or mentorship enough. Attending a speedflying course or at least getting some hands-on training from someone who has will save you a lot of frustration and potential pain/injuries.

Ground launching/speedflying isn't exactly deadly early on, but it's a hell of a bonebreaker if you don't know what you're doing. Have fun, stay safe, and good luck!