Learning to swoop

[davelepka 4]

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ban the OP for a couple of weeks for repeated personal attacks

I don't take it personally. I almost think it bolsters my point that the only response the guy could muster was ranting and name calling. You would think if he had a logical counter-argument to make, he would have made it.

[stayhigh 2]

Don't know how good you are but most of average skydiver should not progress beyond 90 degree turn with less than 500 jumps. Or until 90 degree turn gets really boring.

Im not a canopy nazi tho. I think lightly loaded eliptical is fine as soon as you start relize that lightly loaded square with short recovery arc is trying to kill you at landing and ypu want something that dives more.

I hate 180s with passion, because they fly against the traffic with no real pattern(ie. Crosswind leg). When i look at people who do 180 from above, i have no idea when they are gonna turn or more or less what the fuck they are doing. That is why im fan of 270, 450 or 630s.

You can't never get dialed in at any turn, im guessing or it would take thousands of jumps. But one needs to get really comfortable with the turn before they crank bigger turns.

No amount of coaching or reading from the book will get you better over night. Needs to jump at consistant rate and safely land and belive that you can squeeze more distance out of same canopy will make you good. Try and re read this thread after 800 jumps. And if you can make big canopy dive and swoop well, making small canopy dive and swoop comes naturally.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[EFS4LIFE 0]

Davelepka if you had actually giving any advice other than "it all adds up to giving up on swooping" maybe I would have actually listened to you. Yes at my jump numbers I consider myself a young jumper. That doesn't not mean that I cannot go about learning HP canopy flight. I heard all the stories when Nick Batsch was a young jumper learning near here there were a bunch of guys trying to keep him down to. Look at him now. I am not saying I have the talent or skill of him. Hell I might never be good enough to compete. I don't know, but I will never know if I don't try will I? I have gone about it safely. You don't even know the specifics of what I have done, what I am doing, or my questions. It seems to me you are just blasting me because of my jump numbers without considering or caring about anything else. I appreciate your story of the inury. I witnessed the canopy collapse at couch freaks last year it happened right in front of my tent, I witnessed a guy from the chinese team hook himself in at Deland over the winter when he lost a toggle. I could tell my own story's about people dying or getting seriously injured. Want me to? I doubt it because anyone who has been around the sport has heard them, and if you wanted to you could just go read the incidents. If injuries bother you then you are in the wrong sport IMHO. The blood and guts crap doesn't work with someone who has seen those type of incidents himself, and still wants to do this knowing the risk. I knew the risks before I made my first jump. I have learned a lot since then. I also realize that swooping is the most dangerous discipline in this sport. That doesn't scare me away from trying to learn it as safe as I can. If I come off as that guy from the can you teach me to swoop cartoon so be it. I would rather ask some questions and get flamed for it then not try to garner information from more experienced jumpers. I understand the very basics of swooping. I am not the cartoon. I have been doing high altitude clear and pulls and learning everything I can about diving my canopy. The specific questions I had, not that you care, related to building techniques to keeping my canopy in a dive longer so that I can initiate higher. I hate 180's as well. The only reason I attempted one is because I was getting bored with 90's and doubles. I got out on a hop'n'pop and was the only jumper in the pattern, so I practiced it about three times up higher then went for it. I planed out too high, and I had initiated it at 400 feet. I know I should not be bringing it any lower. In fact I should be doing it higher. I understand enough to know that. So I got some good advice on how to work on slowing my turn and keeping it diving in PMs. A simple answer to a question. No flaming. I also am gonna follow the PMers advice and go back to 90's and doubles. Does the PMer think I should be swooping at all yet? I don't know he didn't blast me. He did however give his advice in a knowledgable manner and I listened. You think I only listen to what I want to hear? Ya I really wanted to hear go back to 90's until you are extremely consistent making that canopy dive longer. I really wanted to hear that I am making mistakes. No I don't really want to hear that, but I did. I listened, and am following his advice. If more people would actually take the approach of the PM a lot more of what you say would be heard by guys "that only listen to what they want to hear."

I have no doubt your intentions are well dave, but your approach is shit. That is just my opinion. Can't handle that, don't want to listen to that because it's not what you want to hear?

I am an asshole, but I am honest

[dragon2 0]

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yawn... another one.

i think it's time to lock this up and ban the OP for a couple of weeks for repeated personal attacks.

+1

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[dragon2 0]

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we were told that if we pulled on our fronts, the nose would fold under and we would die

As a sidenote, I've seent that happen a couple times and it's no joke. If people start pulling on frontrisers of canopies that were not made to handle that, yep the nose can fold under and if that happens during your swoop, you hit hard - I have had to dive away from head-high flying gravel and another such landing left divots in the grass in front of our terrace.
Case in point are the conquest and the heatwave. If you happen to own one of these, best sew a "do not touch" label on your frontrisers

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[AggieDave 6]

I put a goodly number of jumps on a Heatwave back around '02/03. Lots of front riser approaches, up to 270s and I never had the nose fold under, although when the line set got really out of trim the canopy did some really odd things.

Maybe, like with a lot of things from PISA, it depended on the individual canopy?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[ianmdrennan 2]

Ok, that's about enough of that.

Thread locked.

Op - this is your one and only warning. No PA's. Argue with Dave all you want, but if it comes down to name calling (like it has) - I'll have to give you a time out.

Now, to answer your question: Get coaching, yes I know it's expensive, but hospital bills are more so. The reality is, that if you want to go about this 'the right way' then you're going to have to get input. The earlier the better. And, if you're serious about getting better, you'll find a way to make it work.

Done.
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team