superstu

good luck guys, wish i was there. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

Start Skydiving in Ohio: "PRO", swooper, experienced, and student landing area's, plus they're building a pond. they have a ton of acreage for sure. skydive oregon: main landing area and HPL area seperated by the run way. skydive snohomish: C-license and up landing area and B- license and below/ student landing area seperated by about 3 miles Mile-Hi in CO: Main landing area and HPL (pond) those are the dz's i've mainly jumped at Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

you little bitch! have you gone through the risers on that canopy yet? it's just a matter of time, that thing is cursed by the way, you wanna do another canopy run? i remember the last one we went on you were screamin like a little girl Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

is urban jumping there now? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i'll leave that one up to you, sounds pretty bad tho Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

lol...you know i created this master piece of a thread because of you Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i'll keep that in mind, thanks for the advice Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

Have you been hurt skydiving? Hurt i'll define as something that has kept you from jumping, or should have kept you from jumping but you were just too damn stuburn to admit it. for me...not yet (knock on wood) sorry if this is a re-poll Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

http://www.peaengineering.com/rds.htm highest quality RDS i've jumped and you can get it in a reasonable time frame. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

nice guys, good to see a core of competitors out there. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

PST/ CPC championship event going on from August 30-Sept 3. then US nationals is September 16-19th. i'm not sure how many people will show up to another event around this time period. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

nice guys Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

see you guys out there...stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

very true. maybe what we need is a sticky post of qualified Canopy Pilots that are quality instructors for each state, that way people know who they can contact that is close to them. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

for a basic canopy control course i'm not entirely sure an instructor would have to be a swooper to convey the importance of what's covered in the basic course. HOWEVER, the instructor should have a solid understanding of what swooping is and what is going on when swooping occurs so they can relay the safety aspects of that discipline to the people they are teaching. now for an "advanced course" or a course that focuses on swooping, then having a qualified swooper that is ALSO an instructor are vital. you wouldn't take swimming lessons from someone who doesn't know how to swim. it's the same kind of principle. also something to think about is that many AFF instructors or TI's don't soley focus on canopy piloting and so they only have a very basic level of understanding when it comes to canopy flight. however, most of the PRO swoopers or skydivers that are 100% dedicated to canopy flight know a whole lot more about what is actually going on during canopy flight because they've taken it upon them selves to study, watch, and learn everything there is about this aspect of skydiving. flying your parachute no matter if it's swooping or not involves so many different variable ranging from physics, to body mechanics, to psychology, to fluid dynamics, it takes a lot more time to master, if that's even possible. just something to think about. edited to add: by the way Bill i'm glad you posted this, there is definitely a lot to learn in just those 2 sections of the sim. much of the info there is covered in formal and unformal canopy courses around the world Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

GOD DAMN IT are you serious? shit, the world is over, everyone clear the skies. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

thank you Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

so i'm just going to throw this out there and see what you guys think. by looking at the results everyone can see that the majority of skydivers deploy between 3k and 3.5k. however, there are quiet a few people deploying at 2.5k or 2k. and by looking at just some of the profiles of the people who posted (thank you by the way) most of those who stated they pulled below 2.5k are jumping either larger canopies, or lower wingloadings, or both. now if we have some one on a larger canopy deploying at 2.5 or 2 and we have someone who is on a little pocket rocket of a parachute deploying at 3 or 3.5, where do you think these people are going to meet up? Below 1000' correct? now how about this, if those same people that deploy at 2 or 2.5 deploy at 3 or even 3.5 and those people flying smaller parachutes open at 3 or 3.5, now where will they meet up? probably between 1000'-1500'. this would most likely allow the jumpers who fly the small, faster parachutes to get out of the air and land first thus creating less of a hazard. What do you guys think? i think it would be pretty interesting to try out for a weekend and see what it does to the canopy traffic. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

With a recent rise in canopy collision many people have been taking steps to help solve this fatal problem. Steps ranging from separate landing area’s to banning a certain landing pattern. However, like all emergency situations or accidents there are signs of trouble before anything ever happens. So here I would like to share some things that might help prevent future accidents and situations starting from the beginning and an attempt to look at the whole picture of how we can prevent future issues not just the moment when we land. DZ Responsibilities - Acceptable sized landing area and locations [Student landing area, Main landing area, High Performance Landing area (HPL).] - Communication on DZ landing rules to all jumpers continuously and frequently. - Basic understanding of what swooping is to all new jumpers along with the importance of smooth, predictable landing patterns Pre- boarding of aircraft - Know who’s on your load, what are they flying, where are they landing - Communicate landing direction, especially in light and variable winds - Know who’s opening up behind you, if there’s someone flying a small parachute help get them into the pattern by possibly sitting in breaks so they can pass you. Exiting - Give longer separation between groups, this will “open up” the air Opening altitudes - Students, A, and B, deploy by 3500’ - C and D deploy by 3000’ - Remember altitude is your friend, the more altitude we have means the more space we have to work with so open higher - Plan your dive, dive your plan…open when you say you’re going to open Canopy flight - Clear your airspace and look to see where you will fit into the pattern, you might have to go into brakes to fit into the pattern. - Do NOT spiral over the LZ to try and be the first to land if it’s putting others in jeopardy. Spiraling over the DZ below 1000’ under a large canopy is no different then starting a swoop at 800’ Landings - Land where you say you were going to land - If traffic is heavy do NOT swoop - If swooping, do it in the HPL area - If landing straight in, do it in the main landing area - Be aware of the landing direction as to not land perpendicular to other jumpers. Remember straight in pilots can just as easily cut-off and kill other straight-in pilots just as swoopers can. - No S-turns, they are unpredictable and take up much of the airspace. Some things you might not have known about the aspects of swooping or speed induced flight approaches A typical, but not all, swooper will initiate a 270 degree turn any where from 600’ to 850’ with some of the bigger turns (450-630) starting as high as 1400’ above the ground. This means that if you’re over the HPL at these altitudes there could be swoopers coming down as well, and it is highly advise NOT to be over the HPL below 1500’ A typical, but not all, swoopers wingloading can range from 1.8 – 2.4. This means that in full flight a swooper can have the same decent rate as someone under a canopy wingloading of 1.0 – 1.3 doing spirals. This means that the person doing the spirals on a lower wingloading is now condensing the airspace and creating a hazard for themselves and everyone else around and behind them. Remember, we need to look at the whole picture and not just one aspect of the canopy flight. We also need to realize that knowledge is power and the more informed about skydiving, swooping, and surviving, the better off everyone will be. There is NO quick fix for this but if we work together on this constructively then we can at least get through it. Please add or comment on anything you see here, just make sure it’s constructive. Stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

ian...you're a douche bag don't worry paul, i gots your back. by the way you gonna be in CO june 14-17? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i'm pretty sure you're not the only one who doesn't care for a Velocity, however, you are probably the first person to compare the toggle stroke of any canopy to chewing gum . the velocity, along with all other xbraced canopies, are definitely a different breed of parachute and like alcohol can be an acquired taste. try out some other canopies in similar sizes to compare your thoughts and go from there. glad you got to experience the velo...stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

probably 3k Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

I would like to know your average deployment altitudes for either RW or FF. I only put these 2 disciplines down on purpose as these are the majority of what people do. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

in light and variable winds usually the whole load agrees on the landing direction and only if the wind picks up a lot does that change. what i mean by a lot is a noticible and steady amount. communication is key for instances like these. also, i've seen more instances of people doing a regular downwind, base, and final approach after a RW jump come in at each other than i have a swooper starting above and landing just before a conventional landing person. but both do occur. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

Landing into the wind is common practice at this DZ, however, as stated the wind was very much variable this day and was switching directions as people were landing, thus the importance of following the same direction as the first person down. also to note, the winds were less than 5 mph so people should be able to land crosswind in those kind of conditions or they shouldn't be flying that canopy or flying at all. edited to add: by the way, the person who set the pattern was not a swooper. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down