Optima

[aerialcameraman 0]

Wanting to know how many people have an Optima and use it for swooping? Maybe some of your comments and how you use it to help out in swooping?

Dealer for L&B that is why the questions

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

in my area I've seen fewer optimas in favor of neptunes. I went with Optima because it was ~$50 cheaper and served the same purpose... works great.

Only drawback is I have to turn it off every weekend or the battery gets eaten up in about 6 months.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[phoenixlpr 0]

Enable and set canopy warning for your setup, so you can start swoop by beeeep.

[YISkyDive 0]

I use it for swooping.

Its a good tool to remind you of your approch points to your turn. On a velo, or something small looking at your alti to the last second may make the diffrence between high, good or low.

I hear the increase in beeps and after the flat line, 2 seconds later, time to do a 360.

Its all around a nice way of having constant altitude awarness under canopy.

I like it.

[bob.dino 0]

Until recently I had an Optima - small, easy to set up, reliable, cheap & easily available batteries.


Downsides: Not waterproof (not so big a deal in a helmet). Not very physically tough. I've seen more than one crack while in a helmet.

[rhys 0]

The Main reason I purchased one, was the visual warning for my camera helmet as I can have selective hearing sometines and not hear my dytter. not to say I rely on it but it defiately helps.

The swoop stuff I quite like too and definately use the warnings now for my set up in conjunction with the usual alti and visual references. But the visual warning was definately the selling point for me.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[aerialcameraman 0]

So what alt. do you set the swoop warnings at and under what canopy do you use, wing loading and size? I understand the variables in swooping just wanting some good data.

[ianmdrennan 2]

Velocity 84 loaded at 2.5:

270:
1800 downwind
1200 Base
850 Start 270

450:
2200 downwind
1600 base
1150 start 450

630:
2400 downwind
1800 base
1300 start 630

Important note: These are MY altitudes - I'm suggesting anyone use these as their altitudes - turn style, loading, etc will dramatically effect these numbers.

Blues,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[bob.dino 0]

My altitudes, for a 180 on a Samurai 135 @ 1.5:

Position: 1100
Downwind: 800
Turn: 500 (actual turn is about 460-480).

[Sabre1Lucke 0]

90ft² loaded at 2.33 non crossbraced.
Setup:
1300 downwind
1000 base leg
720 start my 270°

And I use the optima, Suunto x-lander and my eyes

[morris 0]

Velocity96 loaded 2.5
500m
440m
340m ---> start 450
I´m using the "Guide" and I really like the Optima...

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

Sabre2 120 @ 1.4, 270 deg turn

1000
500
400 (start turn)

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[Sadcat 0]

Velocity 103 2,15 wl 270 deg
1600
1200
800

[Peej 0]

Velocity 103 loaded to +- 2.2, 180 turn

Position: 1800
Downwind: 1300
Initiate Turn: 700

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[AdD 1]

I love my optima, hate to swoop without it, everyone should have one.

Life is ez
On the dz
Every jumper's dream
3 rigs and an airstream

[Fast 0]

Quote

I love my optima, hate to swoop without it, everyone should have one.

I dunno, I just trust myself better, maybe that is stupid, technology has come a long ways. I will admit that I use a neptune on my wrist as a rough guide for flying my pattern.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[pierre3636 0]

i have a 108 Xaos 27 loaded at a gay 1.89

i like optima's so much i have two in fact in my helmet.

750 ft - decide if my path is clear and if setup is a go or a abort.

700 depending on wind initiate turn at earliest or give it a max of 1.5 secs before initiation.

270 turn.

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[skreamer 1]

Quote

700 depending on wind initiate turn at earliest or give it a max of 1.5 secs before initiation.

Should you not always be initiating the turn at the same altitude, just adjust your setup point accordingly? You either start your turn at '700 or you don't, if there is any reason to wait another 1.5 seconds that should be reason to abort.

[dharma1976 0]

actually I would say that just about any semi competent swooper has a range of altitudes that they turn at for turns and then adjust their turn style accordingly...

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.

[pierre3636 0]

well...in perfect conditions ie no or facing a very light wind the turn starts at 700 feet. facing stronger wind its lower AND in stronger down wind it is higher. I know that if i turn at 700 feet and i dont do more than a 270 turn with my canopy i end up in a safe position given those criteria. the longer i wait the OR the stronger the downwind the closer i will end towards the ground and obviously un safe. strong down winds turns i avoid in totality and leaving a turn for more than 1.5 sec (and thats an absolute MAX its always less) after my beep at 700 feet i also avoid. its my confort zone...or my way of trying to create order doing something that is incredibly dangerous. letting go and stepping over "my" rules will put me somewhere i do not want to find myself.

these criteria/times/turn degrees/ are all relative to my wingloading and my canopy. once i change the canopy or i change my wingloading all the rules will need to change and it will be back to the drawing board. but thats not too soon - i have in my mind at least 500 - 750 jumps left on that 108 xoas which is still a while at 20 jump a week.

is there something wrong with my approach?

i prefer using visual as well as audible Q's. my opinion is that the more experienced you get the more you can rely on visual perception (all though lots of people still have one off day and it costs them - something im desperate to avoid.). I can't imagine myself ever doing big turns without an audible. my 2c.

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[ianmdrennan 2]

Quote

well...in perfect conditions ie no or facing a very light wind the turn starts at 700 feet. facing stronger wind its lower AND in stronger down wind it is higher.

100% incorrect. Initiation altitude is exactly the same regardless of wind speed.

More often than not pilots rush through their turn (because they're blowing off course), or hold their turn longer than normal because their visual cues aren't the same as a no wind day. Either way is pilot error. The same turn, done in the same way, will not have a different altitude because of ground winds.

Blues,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[Guinness_fr 0]

To put it in another way:
The fact that you need to adjust your turn height is because you haven't been able to correctly adapt your setup point to the wind conditions and you are trying to compensate this during your turn because you are being blown off course, resulting into a slower or faster turn

This is a mistake everyone has done at some point in their swooping career.

Being able to correctly calculate how to adapt your setup point in strong (esp. cross-)winds is a quite difficult skill when you are performing long carving turns. It does look simple on paper though

[pierre3636 0]

gotcha ! ok will work on it this weekend

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[pierre3636 0]

gotcha ! ok will work on it this weekend

quick question though - if a hypothetical canopy flies at a 50mph in a straight line:
A-into a wind blowing 10 knots
B- with a tailwind (ie down wind) blowing at 10 knots

what would the effect be on the on the on the touch down position relative to where we started the experiment if you could draw a line in the sand?

sounds like im reading my perceptions wrong.

~ time is ~ time was ~ times past ~

[ianmdrennan 2]

That's a hard question to answer. It depends on rate of descent, canopy type and size, time spent in dive, etc.

The best thing you can do is focus on performing the same turn (or as close as you can - safely) every time. The more variables you remove from a training scenario, the better. I like to work on 1 thing at a time - it helps me gauge success or failure of the test more reliably than trying to determine which one of the 5 things I changed had a negative or positive impact on the landing. Once you do that go out in varying conditions and take an 'educated guess'. The do your turn over that spot - don't adjust for the gates and see where your drift takes you. After you've landed make the appropriate corrections and try again.

For me, in a 15mph head wind on my base leg, to hit the gates without drift I have to fly way over them so they're almost out of sight behind me. It's a weird feeling but the drift during the turn and recovery arc causes me to enter the gates with no corrections (assuming I don't muck it up).

If I have a 15mph downwind I start WAY before the gates and aim to totally finish my rotation before I'm lined up with the entry allowing the drift to push me on course during the recovery.

It's a very hard thing to do and requires training and trust in your judgement on your lines. It's a constant struggle not to line up the visuals in crosswinds, but if done right will really help you get a leg up on the competition.

Blues,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team