Fun Possibilities Under a Canopy.

[d123 1]

To give an example (that you can relate to) of what I mean here's the tunnel list of fun things to do and learn that I've discovered (so far):
- Belly fly with control levels, rotations, using only your arms, only your legs or both, flying in weird positions all these things I had fun learning them.
- Walking in the tunnel was wow... nice.
- Same thing for doing the matrix pendulum forward and backward while standing. Damn this is so much fun!
- Playing with more wind was like man .. there's another world out there to discover yeah baby !!!!
- Playing with less wind was man this is crazy. How low can I go
- Back fly was really different but when it clicked it's was like re-discovering confi walking. Personal moving lazy boy!
- Transition from stand to back .. fuck man this was fun to learn.
- In place Transitions Belly to Back was noice things to play with.
.. and the list is currently growing.

Same thing for Longboard. As you learn more things you can play with those ingredients to be yourself and that's how you're having fun and it creates your style of riding.

What is the list of fun things to learn and do under a canopy?

Truly me,
Jean-Arthur Deda.

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[NeverTooLow 0]

Try to get to know your canopy in any possible situation and flightmode.

I dont say talk to local coach, I have heard a lot of crap from local heros. So find the right guy.

Read this book:
Brian Germain's Parachute and its Pilot

[frost 1]

There are a few very good links in the "Basic and Advanced Canopy flying: educational materials and videos" topic that will lead you in the right direction. All of the exercises listed in those links and in the newer SIM will be helpful and are designed for a gradual progression towards becoming a safe and capable canopy pilot. The key is not to skip steps and not to jump ahead of yourself, just like with the tunnel training.

[d123 1]

So here's where the question comes from. It looks to me that the only progression we have is swooping. That's the only thing we can discover that will give you some fun. It also looks to me that the learning process is no fun at all.

I'm looking for something simple that would show that there's more you can do with a canopy. It can be anything like sliding in your flare, maybe jumping in your harness anything that can show that there's fun in canopy. Something that goes with "Half the fun is learning" and that you don't have to go through hell to find something good at the end of the learning process, if you survive. You know what I mean?

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[frost 1]

The learning process never ends. The more you learn, the more you know how much you still have to learn.

Swooping is definitely NOT the only thing you can do with your canopy. Canopy Piloting (aka swooping), CReW, Accuracy, Ground Launching and Speed Flying are all canopy disciplines and are all fun in their own way.

But before you can do advance things with your wing, before doing whatever you deem to be "fun" (I have no idea what you mean by "sliding in your flare" or "jumping in your harness") - you should learn the basics of canopy flight. If you dont know what your canopy can do and how to control it well, sometimes what seems to be "fun" can actually be "dumb". And doing it can lead to deadly results. Some of the examples are: being dragged under your canopy with a pick up truck, doing hard spirals in the air, etc. All of these can lead to injuries and death if you dont know the limits of your skills and your wing.

Get canopy coaching from a reputable instructor in your area. You are at a stage when you can greatly benefit from a structured canopy flying seminar or camp.

[danielcroft 2]

Warning, comments from a noob:

Here are fun things I like to do when I fly:
- Front riser dives, left, right & double
- Different methods of flat turn
- Flying around clouds
- Clear & pull from full altitude
- Flying with others (not CReW, just in proximity)
- Dog fight
- Hanging in brakes & looking at the view (yes, I'm watching for traffic)
- Getting buzzed by a jet (friend has video)
- Getting buzzed by the jump plane (not close but still fun)
- Demo different canopies
- Land on target (yes, this is fun for me)

It is what you make it dude, if you don't enjoy any of this stuff then maybe you should go to the tunnel? ; )

And to follow up on what frost said, we're always learning. That means that at 144 jumps (or 177 as I have right now) there's a lot we don't know and even more we don't know that we don't know. Each canopy flies differently, each requires thought & concentration.

[d123 1]

Hey Frost,

I did a canopy course in Spain where I've discovered (as a personal experience that I've integrated in my flight habits) The Back Risers (BR turns consumes less altitude, BR flare) and half brake flares. I've also found the limit of the reverse turns and practice dive recoveries. I can land in a tight spot and do turns in flare. The last ones creates a bit of fun but other than that they are more related to necessity than fun.

One time I've seen a guy landing straight in doing a slide on his feet instead of running. I've liked that one and in that spirit I'm wondering if there's something safe and fun that I can do at my current level instead of playing the downsize to swoop game. Didn't get any answers at my DZ.

Don't get me wrong man, I really appreciate that you take the time to try to answer my questions. Maybe there's nothing fun one can do at this level which is a bit sad.

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[d123 1]

Quote

Warning, comments from a noob:

Here are fun things I like to do when I fly:
- Front riser dives, left, right & double I did a lot of them in the last 100 jumps above 1500 feet and from that altitude in terms of fun the experience looks the same. I've done them with harness turn, with kicking in the harness from half brakes from double front to turn but I find them pointless unless you want to swoop. Edit to add: Actually I'm using them sometimes to burn some altitude from 1200 to 1000 to start my pattern if it's possible.
- Different methods of flat turn Done that. Actually I've done my entire pattern in deep brakes and went to half in the final. It was a contest to see who can stay the longest in the air part of the canopy class
- Flying around clouds Never done it bro.
- Clear & pull from full altitude Never done it bro.
- Flying with others (not CReW, just in proximity) 3 times but I just flew straight in and a friend got close. It was not that much me. It's always you fly straight I come.
- Dog fight Never done it. What's that?
- Hanging in brakes & looking at the view (yes, I'm watching for traffic) Yes but is not really a skill that you discover and you can say "yes I can do this" is it?
- Getting buzzed by a jet (friend has video) Never done it and is not really a flying skill that you can discover and play with.
- Getting buzzed by the jump plane (not close but still fun) Never done it and not really a flying skill.
- Demo different canopies - Can't really demo in Canada.
- Land on target (yes, this is fun for me) - Done it out of real and imaginary necessity.

I've also flew and turn with a front and the opposite toggle but all those ingredients are not going into something bigger and they become pointless.

Edit to add: That's maybe my point. I've learned a couple of ingredients that don't really go into something bigger that is fun. Does it makes any sense to you guys what I'm saying? If I want to stare at the sky I can do that from a hot air balloon while drinking some wine with friends and listening to music. I would like to discover something about me under that canopy like I've did with any other non competitive sports that I'm doing.

Anyway thanks for taking the time.

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[JohanW 0]

Build on the proximity flying. Why would you be base every time? Can you brush endcells with different people, different canopies, different sizes, different wingloads? Try the high H&P and playing with a cloud.

But if canopy flying doesn't float your boat, learn to be safe at it and enjoy the freefall. Just don't downsize, and don't swoop.

I love flying, wingsuits, big canopies, small canopies, flight simulators, anything. But backflying isn't for me. Why would you be the same? We all have our preferences, don't we?

Johan.
I am. I think.

[danielcroft 2]

I think we just have a different view on canopy flight (which is fine of course), all of the things I mentioned may not be a step to some fixed goal but I find them all fun (which is what your thread was asking I thought).

Hanging in brakes & looking at the view isn't a skill per se but it's practicing a skill which is quite useful in certain scenarios. Braked flight (deep brakes & half brakes) is definitely a skill to be learned. I don't find riser turns pointless, I like pulling high & setting off my freefall alarms under canopy. I've used riser turns in a pattern to avoid being on the same level as another canopy on landing (yes, I checked for traffic before). Harness turns are what I generally use on final when I'm landing - it's an important skill which allows me to keep my toggles at the ready. When you say "done it" about some of these skills, it sounds like you consider this skill learned and perfected. Much of my enjoyment comes from doing these things better. Landing 20 meters from the peas is great but what about dead center every time? Learning these skills isn't a matter of checking it off once you've done it, it's knowing that every time you want to you can and when you get a new canopy (or change your wingloading) you need to re-learn these skills because the parameters change.

Dog fight is where you're chasing someone under canopy & they're trying to lose you. It can be quite dangerous if people don't know what they're doing though. It's something that I learned of in Brian Germain's canopy class. I haven't done this either because I'm not that comfortable flying with most people yet & the wing loadings are important to make it work (if you're not good enough to accommodate for them with skill).

I enjoy just about everything under canopy, sometimes I want to skip free fall & go straight to canopy. ;) To me, you just don't sound like you're really into flying? Maybe that's wrong but that's what it seems like to me. The "something bigger" that you're talking about is just being a good pilot, practicing all modes of canopy flight is reward in itself for me because it's all fun but the end goal is just being proficient and current with these skills in order to be safe. I don't know if there's a better goal out there than that. As mentioned previously, if you're talking about particular disciplines then swooping, accuracy, classic accuracy, speed flying, ground launching are it (probably missing some, I am a noob after all), if none of them interest you then I guess you should invent something or do something else that you enjoy. :)

[jerm 0]

find a CRW camp and go take it... you will learn amazing amounts about controlling your canopy and flying it with precision up in the air.

take an accuracy course and you'll learn about flying it with precision close to the ground

go do the high hop&pop with someone, and play with a cloud.

give it all a try and see what works for you

Landing without injury is not necessarily evidence that you didn't fuck up... it just means you got away with it this time

[peek 20]

I came up with this a while back. There is a thread here somewhere too, but I don't recall a lot of posts in it.

http://www.pcprg.com/swoopstreamer.htm

[d123 1]

Thank you Jerm, JohanW, mister Peek!

I think I will try to find a way to do those things regularly.

Few trivial question about the streamer (think about them as me looking for a guideline):
Did you always recover the streamer?
Any suggestions on what spot to choose?
Any suggestions on how should I approach this experience without getting intro problems (with the DZ, pilot, or something like that)?

I have a good feeling about this. Thanks guys!

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[peek 20]

Did you always recover the streamer?

Yes, I did it on days with little wind.

Any suggestions on what spot to choose?

Not really.

Any suggestions on how should I approach this experience without getting inro problems (with the DZ, pilot, or something like that)?

Might be better to do it on a separate pass if you are at a larger DZ, and treat it like CRW jumpers.