superstu

depends on: 1 pilot ability 2 currency 3 environmental conditions 4 size of canopy and, 5 if it's a stock or "moded" canopy from what i saw this year on the PST (not just the PDFT) sizes ranged from 79-96 with a few 103's and 111's. while wingloading ranged from 2.1-2.7+ sorry i couldn't be more specific but it's too dependant on the pilot and all the variables. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

I should be there, just need to find the site to register. Is it already up? Or is it later this week we can register? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

don't know about going yet, but anybody know some of the speakers and/or what the seminars will be about? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i'll call this one my "oh crap, what did you do to your self now" picture this was the last picture in a series of pictures, and yes i came out of the pond like this. edited to add: and it hurt Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

what constitutes someone "digging"? There are a few ways we could probably look at this. the short version: the amount of input required in a certain amount of time tells you how low and in the corner you are. the more input you are required to give, via toggles or rear risers, in a short amount of time to land softly or to have the parachute back over your head the lower you were in the corner and the closer to injury or death you were. so it's not just the amount of input given but also the rate at which the input is given. the longer version: what's one key element to a good landing in general, not just swooping? Answer: being smooth with ones inputs. so when someone is not smooth with their inputs (ie stabbing of the toggles, too much input in a certain amount of time, ect) can tell you how close to impact that person was. a good way to think about this is by watching new skydivers, students, or RW'ers (just kidding), land a parachute. When they come straight in to land you often see them flair too late, now what do you see them do once they notice they've flaired too late? answer: make a quick jerking motion with the toggles down to their hips in an effort to slow down as much as possible as quick as possible, which most of us classify as a stabing of the toggles. the key concept in this example is "...a quick jerking motion with their toggles down to their hips...". you notice that it's not only the amount of input applied but the rate at which it was applied. another example would be more experienced skydivers who swoop who are low and in the "corner". in this kind of instance a VERY general rule of thumb is the more amount of input you have to give to plane yourself out, the further you are in the corner and closer to impact. so if you do a "X" degree of turn and you have to bring your toggles down to your hips or transfer to toggles from rears before you've even planed out, then you should most likely raise your turn height. however, some canopies such as the katana, velo, xaos, jvx, ect, you will have to give a certain amount of input to plane it out just because that's how aggressive they are and typically they are loaded higher than say safires, sabre2's, or stiletto's. that's, i guess, the very basics of it. but really, it's hard to quantify when you are low. because you can't say "well i brought my toggles down 3 inches so that means i was low." it doesn't work like that. canopy coaches are the best for that cuase they can help you out live and in person. next time you guys are at the dz, try watching people land and watch what those who are flairing too late do to try and correct their "lateness". this also goes back to building a solid foundation of skills, being smooth with your inputs is a very basic skill but how many people with 4000 jumps do you see who still can't land a parachute properly? it's cause they haven't built this foundation. so if you think you've mastered everything on your parachute and need a new, smaller, more high performance one, ask yourself if you've really wrung it out and are smooth with your current canopy. alright, i'm done. i'm sure i missed some aspect but hopefully this makes sense cause this was waaayyy longer than i wanted it to be. peace... Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

from what i've experienced and what i've seen on the PST some where between 2.2-2.6 is where most are flying it for distance. "optimal" wingloadings, for any canopy, is dependant on the pilot. not only that but ones "optimal" wingloading, or peception of "optimal" wingloading, will change over time and experience as well. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

from what i've experienced and what i've seen on the PST some where between 2.2-2.6 is where most are flying it for distance. "optimal" wingloadings, for any canopy, is dependant on the pilot. not only that but ones "optimal" wingloading, or peception of "optimal" wingloading, will change over time as well. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i think it's a great idea. if there's any way i can help i'd be glad to do it. i'll let some of the women rippers of the NW know. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

here is a good opportunity for you to write down what you learned from this and keep it in your log book so you can remind yourself of what steps you took to get to that point so you can avoid the same situation in the future. For example, one might write down: When did you notice things going wrong (this can both mental and physical)? Were there signals (ie altimeter read 300' instead of 400') that told you to abort your initial plan? When did you start taking action to correct yourself? Was there anything else you could've done, in the terms of flying your parachute, to prevent the skip once you realized you were too low? The answers to these questions, and others you might think up, you don't have to post on this forum. but i would encourage you to write them down and keep them for yourself. Cause the next time this happens, and it will, you can see how far you've progressed. glad you're ok, but now learn from it. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

at least he kept his shoes on in this photo, unlike our little dirt-water-dirt blindman competition we had . very cool photo, congrats Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

What are your current goals? What are your future goals? What kind of flying are you going to do most often (camera, hop n pops, competition)? What do you want the canopy to do, what characteristics are you looking for in the canopy? How much can you spend now? How much can you spend later (some canopies require more maintanance)? After answering those questions you can pretty much answer your first question. Cause the best swooping canopy isn't the same for everyone, hell i encourage anyone looking into getting a new canopy to ask themselves these questions. hope that helps...stu p.s. the canopy doesn't make the pilot, the pilot makes the canopy. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

So i've been jumping a factory diver for the past 2000 or so jumps and literaly trust it with my life. I'm a competitive canopy pilot on the PST along with the organizer for the NWCPC and i've had some "hairy" rides where my factory diver prevented injury and in one case maybe even death. it's durable, comfortable, has great vision, and i think good looking. i don't jump it with a visor any more just cause i like the wind on my face, but also they don't make a tinted visor which i prefer, which might be the only draw back. thanks to Sky Systems

Yes, I am very happy to say that I am now part of the PD family. PD has always been a staple in the skydiving industry and with their professionalism, passion for customer service, product quality, and for skydiving I am glad to now be part of the team. My decision was not based on one single factor but multiple factors that I felt were important to me, and yes I did have a choice between PD and Team X. In fact, PD gave me the option to “bow out” of our agreement after learning I was offered a slot because they knew how big this could be. I don’t think it’s necessary to publicly tell why I switch but I will voice one of the factors that played a part in switching to PD. That being the opportunity to jump an HMA lined Velocity of similar size and wing loading to my JVX and being absolutely blown away on how it flew. Again this was only one small factor in the whole scheme of things. Thanks again to both Daedalus and especially PD for the opportunities to work with your company. The next few years are definitely going to be exciting in the world of canopy piloting and I’m just glad to have a small part in it. See ya in the air…stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

bored at work infinity at play Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

- getting good video will help you out tremendously. - Realizing that when you increase your degree of turn that you will most likely have to either start from a higher altitude or speed up your turn rate (personally i would start higher and not mess with turn rate). - do some high pulls and find out roughly how much altitude you loose with the type of turn you're starting to work on. ie 135 degree turn you loose X amount of altitude. use this altitude as a guide of where to start, when you actually do your turn and set up things change cause conditions and visuals change. only you can find the range of where to start your turn. - keep as many things similar as possible and try to only change one thing at a time. this way you can see what the changes actually effect. - expect to come in with more speed than you're used to. so the amount of input on your fronts, toggles, and harness, could change. - have the right mental frame, meaning don't let your ego get in the way and listen to the knowledgable people if they have a better way of doing things or if you're low. - plan your dive, dive your plan. walk your pattern and visualize what you're gonna do than do it. hope that helps...stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

cost too much. i am planning on the next nationals though. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

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

tell you what, you start organizing competitions on a national level then start talking shit. being an organizer on a regional level i for one know i can't make everyone happy, it just doesn't happen. i couldn't even imagine trying to cope with the logistics on a national/ international level. i for one don't agree with everything jim does but i give my .02 and if he takes it great, if not then he probably has something better in mind for the future. most of us aren't looking at what competitions will be like in the future, these little "growing pains" are just part of the process. as far as changing the course from carved to straight, they probably did this for safety reason as a lot of pilots got fucked up on this event last year. plus it makes course changes easier too. there are going to be a shit load of competitors there this year and the organizers will need to be as efficient as possible to get everything done on time. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

i beat the crap out of the swoop pants i got and they're holding up pretty damn well. and even though they're a "little" tight they did a great job at making sure everything fit correctly. i have nothing but good things to say about liquid sky. i've attached a picture as well. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

NWCPC had it's 4th meet this past weekend at Skydive Snohomish, and dispite the lingering clouds we were barely able to get all 6 rounds off. A full run down of the event along with all the results and pictures can be found on http://nwcpc.com a special thanks goes out to Sonjia and Max for taking pictures throughout this whole event. Also a big thanks to our sponsors: Velocity Sports Equipment, Performance Designs, Alti-2, and Body Sport USA. our last event is at skydive oregon on august 12-13 weekend. be safe...stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

nice! looks like a very fun meet to be at, what were the condititions like (headwind, crosswind, no wind, downwind)? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

very doubtful unfortunetely, but i am trying to work the finances so you never know i guess Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

who's going so far? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

what's the difference if you reach 60mph starting at 0mph or at 10mph? maybe a better question is: are you more likely to hit 60mph starting from 0mph, or from 10mph? (i am not saying 60mph is our terminal velocity) either way, a pilots goal is usually to hit the begining of their swoop with as much speed as possible Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

any news yet on pricing? where would one fly into? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down