superstu

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Everything posted by superstu

  1. just sayin, i know how some people misinturpret what is said on the forums Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  2. those are his starting altitudes, not his distances Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  3. 1. What Mike "frost" said. listen to your canopy 2. "whipping" the canopy has less to do with turn rate and more to do with where you are positioned under the canopy when you come on heading and start your roll-out. ideally you want to end up as high above your canopy as possible when you start your roll out so that you can maximize the pendullum effect you inevitably create when you do your turn. The main issue however is 95% of the people out there either turn too quickly and aren't able to ever generate the power to really capitalize on that pendullum effect, or they never turn fast enough to get themselves far enough out away from the canopy to again capitalize on the pendullum effect. In short a correct turn should be so smooth that you don't notice the person accelerating the turn and there really shouldn't be a noticable "whip". anything noticable like a "whip" distorts the canopy so much that your actually losing speed, or at the very least not gaining speed. accelerating throughout the turn is important however because if you don't and your start coming back underneith the canopy then you're decelerating and again not generating the power needed for a good swoop. smooth = fast Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  4. uhhhh, not exactly Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  5. This question is really no different than someone looking to change things up under a larger canopy. The first step is to define your goals - What do you want to do in the future? Compete? Beer line swoop? What? - What flight characteristics are you looking for? For me personally i'd stay under the same canopy doing the same turn and really dial it in. If you are very comfortable in all conditions then add a little weight to give you a taste of what it's like to fly at a higher loading, 5-10pounds max. Change only one thing at a time. When you do end up downsizing go back to wearing no weight and doing 270's. That is what I would do personally, but I have never seen you fly and don't know where you're at in the whole scheme of things. stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  6. they are not the same Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  7. i've used the UPT system in ALL situations and if you pack it correctly it's fine with everything. just make sure it's packed correctly Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  8. Congrats to all, job well done Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  9. Lets put it this way, the majority of top canopy piloting competitors use both audible and visual altimeters. but they've also engrained their sight picture that they can swoop with out one...that's what practice and experience is for Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  10. As stated before, downsizing is NOT the way to go, improving your technique is. Just like everything else out there, to be good at something (or in the case of swooping it's to survive) you need to start with the basics and build a solid foundation. If you skip steps you're done. Describing how to improve and effectively utilize harness input in general is hard, but to describe how to transition when doing front riser dives is even harder and I think a lot of critical info could get lost while trying to describe it here on the forums. That's where a good coach comes into play. The best advice i can give people wanting to improve or explore harness inputs but don't have a canopy coach at their dropzone is to do full altitude hop n pops and try different ways to move the canopy with harness inputs. Move the leg straps around and see how it effects your harness inputs. Try putting your hands on your fronts/rears/toggles/ and completely off everything and seeing how the canopy reacts utilizing the harness. Do these things up high and soon you'll start seeing results and have another tool in your tool box to use. If you have a canopy coach available seek him/her out and they should be able to put you through some drills and even be able to do some air-to-air stuff with you to really get you going. And if you're in Colorado look me up and i'll fly with you and give you some drills. Also, if you want these two video's might help you visualize what matt002 was saying about "reconnecting" with the harness once double fronts has been initiated. note: not the best quality video and not the best turns in the worlds but hopefully it will give you some ideas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erFa7sfimqs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnskcihz5-Q Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  11. why have they been interesting to you? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  12. well looks like i was wrong about distance, GW takes home gold. lets see what else i will be wrong about Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  13. So who is everyone picking to win this "little" event? Here's my picks: Speed: Greg "GW" Windmiller Distance: Nick Batch Accuracy: Christian "Wuzzi" Wagner Freestyle: Jeffro Overall: Marat (home field advantage ) let the games begin Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  14. Haven't put on a camera in a few years but took these on one of our Denver Bronco's football game jumps. fun stuff Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  15. from what i've heard it's supposed to be a stepping stone to the JVX but that is only rumors. i think mikeal stevens had one at world championships in 08' if i remember correctly. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  16. The more speed you have the longer you will be able to effectively stay on rears in my opinion. that being said its very much a feel thing and its a good thing to practice both holding them too long and also transitioning earlier than you think you should so you can fine tune what you like. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  17. i really can't think of a draw back to be perfectly honest. there's been a ton of people jumping them for a long time, both swoopers and non-swoopers. if you need new risers i would say get them. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  18. i did a jump on Nick Batch's JVX 63 this year so i could compare it to my VC 71 and couldn't fit it in either my 316 or 319. i was shocked how big that thing packed up Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  19. no arguement from me on this statement. this is one major reason for the higher incidence rates over the past years. It does appears that's how PD has set up their canopy progression, just like Icarus is safire, crossfire, FX/VX/JVX, and when possible i'll guide people to those paths. however, it's still more about the pilot than the gear in my opinion and I won't necessarily tell someone to get off a certain canopy (unless its not flight worthy) just because it doesn't fit into the "optimal" progression. there are obviously a lot of variables to consider when starting to swoop and the progression within swooping and its just easier and safer to help someone out when that person is there in front of you and you can watch them fly and land. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  20. actually Morris jumps different sized velo's and has held the world record in speed for a short while and i have heard rumors he's just set a national record for distance i believe in germany or spain i forget where. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  21. Yes, but let me clarify. It is my opinion, and only my opinion, that swooping starts with the basics of flying a pattern and having a good knowledge of its capabilities. When I coach people and they want to "start" to learn how to swoop, to me it doesn't matter what canopy they are on because at any level a swoop doesn't start with a 90,180, or even an 810, it starts with a good pattern and having the ability to control your parachute in all situations, that's where learning to swoop "starts" with me. It could "start" somewhere else for other people, but from what i've seen those people that haven't learned the basics typically don't get very far either in swooping or our sport. now if you're talking about learning a specific turn or maximizing your swoop, then yes i don't think the stiletto is the best choice of gear to have, but i don't think it's the worst either. there have been plenty of examples of people swooping the shit out of stilettos, spectres, whatever. again, it's just my .02 p.s. On a personal note at the begining of this past swoop season i personally took a step back and revisited my own pattern and spent a solid 2-3 months of jumping focusing primarily on my pattern because i wasn't happy with my consistancy in my swoops (hitting the gates, power, ect). Consequently this past swoop competition season was one of my best years yet on a personal level. I attribute it to me getting back to the basics and focusing on things i had forgotten. Just food for thought Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  22. Personally i would try and demo any canopy i'm considering buying before i actually buy. i still do this to this day. as far as canopy choices are concerned and your goals it's very hard to say what would be right for you cause the majority of us haven't seen you fly and land. however, in my opinion the stiletto and sabre2 are great canopies to start the process on. The Katana in my opinion is the closest thing to a Velocity out there and probably not the best canopy to start learning on. try and demo the stiletto and sabre2 and see which one you like the flight characteristics better then worry about size. Really any canopy, given the pilots skill, will swoop great. For example Jimmy Tranter, one of the original test pilots of the Velocity, jumps a Spectre 97 loaded around 1.6 for our Bronco's demo's and can out swoop people on Velo's and JVX's. He can pull 250-300' swoops on the thing, he can carve it on the pond, and has dead aim accuracy with it. Swooping has NEVER been about the size or type of canopy, it's ALL about your abilities and experiences. Give Jimmy T an F-111 PD 190 and he'd still out swoop most people. One last thing, if you're going to get into swooping please realize that it's not IF you're going to hit the ground, it's WHEN you hit the ground. please take this into consideration when getting into this aspect of skydiving. be safe...stu Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  23. Anyone have dates for 2011 events yet? Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  24. yeah, you might have been there once or twice Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down
  25. 1. September 11th, 2008 demo over ground zero 2. Demo swoop 3. Denver Bronco's football game last year. Slip Stream Air Sports Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down