Swooopa-x

hey rhino, sounds like you enjoying your new little machine. good to hear it dude - use those rears right an its like a turbocaharger out the bottom of the dive. also - i found a reline sorted my snivell snivell bang enjoy People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I've had my camera switch off due to the pilots radio call on exit... Kept happening the whole day until someone offered it as a possibilty. asked pilots to hold off on call for a while and no more problem. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

yeah Travis. we just took him for his 3rd one the other day. think he's about 6 now. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

interesting thread - I posted some time ago about vx velo or xaos. Didn't get any of the feedback about how differently they handle being loaded + 2 Due to financial reasons I'm still jumping my fx tho I cant wait to move on. I load at 2.1:1 at 5500ft and my longest swoop to date is 127m thru a 10ft entry gate but its tough to repeat. At our Nat's recently(at sea level) I thought why not load it up to 2.25 - Wow did I lose performance drastically.No bottom end whatsoever! won silver overall - my friend won gold - loading his xaos27 to 2.4 .He is currently playing around the 3:1 mark at 5000ft asl and flying closely with a friend in a brdsuit. F*#*ng AWESOME and the landings are sweet - massive distance on the rears then shutting down on toggles to easy touchdowns. My machine is so clearly inferior. I just dont have that faith in it anymore but I have enjoyed the journey and I have learned a sh*tload so I say to rhino have a blast dude and enjoy your new toy.Stay safe and remember these canopies are all awesome and its usually the pilot that needs an upgrade . That said - cant wait for my velo. hehehe People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I used to race motorcycles. heard a lot of this type issue in those circles. It sounds to me like a purely mental block - do 'em up high- lots -and the problem will fade. I agree keep using your left to land till the issue is gone. you dont want distracting thoughts running thru your head as you thunder groundwards. Mental issues can be tricky. approach this thing patiently calmly and without expectation of a result. It'll dissolve in time. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

How deep is this pond...? looking at digging one at our dz here in SA so info welcome. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

(and to Oozee ) ... thanx and F@*^ 'n AYE . to the rest, c'mon guys... " perspective!!! use it or lose it" People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I am not a tandem master but do a lot of camera for one in particular - We have taken his son twice - he's 4. I have filmed a number of 9/ 10 /11 / 12 year olds. "Welcome to africa - we hope you survive your stay" People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

anytime stay safe

A blind man enters a lesbian bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a drink. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender in a loud voice, "Hey bartender, you wanna hear a dumb blonde joke?" The bar immediately falls deathly quiet. In a deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is just fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things... One: The bartender is a blonde woman Two: The bouncer is a blonde woman. Three: The woman sitting next to me is blonde and is a professional boxer Four: The lady to your right is a blonde and is a professional wrestler. Five: I am a 6-foot, 200 pound blonde woman with a Ph.D., a black belt in karate, and a very bad attitude! Now, think about it seriously, mister. Do you still want to tell that joke?" The blind man thinks for a second and then shakes his head and says: "Nah. Not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times." People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Dragging of course. its a new style move . Think I'll call it 'Donkey' thanx spizz People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

When I started skydiving, I was under the impression I was gonna need a lot of balls so I had mine replaced with titanium ones .They're rigged with a cutaway system controlled by my sphincter : Now everytime I start on the rears the G's build and If i get it just right - POP!!!! I drop a nut , level out and Yehaa! ! ! I can clench a little and drop the other one as I go to toggles, but thats really top secret stuff and I had to have my scrote radically modified. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

How we approach things is often the key: there may be a better way of looking at it. You are looking for an absolute , difinitive answer but it really depends on too many variables to say : how are you loaded / how much speed did your turn generate. how much input did you need after the dive / how much energy did that cost you / are you jumping 9 cell or 7 cell / how old is you canopy / do you have a removable deployment system / density altitude / humidity / what are you wearing / how are you built / heavy on top, light on the bottom or are you legs like tree stumps / how heavy are you shoes really Ok I'm getting stupid but you get the idea. your biggest asset is your awareness/ experience/ training/ openess and willingness to keep learning. Do dedicated canopy jumps from altitude and learn to truly fly your parachute everywhich way possible. there is no secret miracle swoop recipe out there. hope this helps. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

***"so MAYBE a top competitor goes ALL THE WAY on rears," Neg. Take a look at tagles dist. record and you will see an early transition to toggles. My personal 2cents: use the risers at first to conserve speed then the toggles to make! it! float! Also re: the "popping" ...that's just the sound of an agressive transition from riser to toggle. It really doesn't have to be that way. If this sounds a little airy fairy then I'm sorry but : Your canopy is moving thru a fluid. There is a 'flow' (airflow) and that flow has a 'rythm'. Smooth, consistent flying requires an understanding of the airflow over your wing AS WELL AS a feel for the rythm of that flow. feel the rythm doood

cool

Hey Drew its not a diss, i just think its difficult to compare riser pressure an stuff of crossbraced canopies with that of regular non crossbraced nine cell canopies. First time i jumped my fx i tried to do a big slow 180 and I remember thinking "hOLy sH*t !!!! either this thing is broken or you need to be a flyng steroid to make it work !!!!!" Once you get it though its no problem. Really just a matter of 'feel'. Afterwards my 9 cell feels kind of like a dinky toy. wierd but true---- and i love my hurricane... "makeitfloatmakeitfloatmakeitfloataand-umph!" -SwooopaFrica- People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Hey all - thanx so much for the input. and hey if any of you maufacturers ever read this : GET SOME DEMO's DOWN HERE PLEEEEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!! the market may be small but we're supacool dedicated freakazoid nutjobs thru and thru! "makeitfloatmakeitfloatmakeitfloataand-umph!!!!" -SwooopaFrica- People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I'm jumping at JSC(johannesburg skydiving club). 5000 ft ASL sounds like u have jumped many different canopies. i have a 105 hurricane that i use if i need a back to back rig but mostly i use my fx. i find the openings managable but hey .... i have nothing to really compare to. you said the xaos is 'fun' - so it sounds to me that you consider the velo a more serious swoop machine ......maybe you can explain...? maybe a comparison of what distances are you getting on the two canopies. thanx People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Ohhhh Boy I can see it now : can- open - worms everywhere !!!!!!!!!! I'm jumping a 93 fx loaded different for different events maxing at 2.25 . just finished our SA nationals with silver overall and quite pleased with me-self. The canopy has plenty jumps on it and to be quite honest its about as zp as a tennis racket! Oh what to dooo? Icarus, Xaos or Velooo jumped a 88 xaos but not enough to say yay or nay... a VX seems a no go - i do camera and from what i hear of openings... better the xaos (what about the JVX tho ) never jumped a velo??????? real curious tho... The velo's seem to be such a dominant force: are the PD guys flying a superior wing or are they just outflying everyone (due to their talent, 'PD's budget' and just sheer damn time and effort) My brain says Velo, but guys have said to me that PD leads because there is more money to keep the guys practicing . I Dunno!!!??? N E Way- not many X braced wings in SA and laying out big cash without testing all the products really sux so I'm looking for advice here .opinions. food for thought -please and thanx. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I'm workin on it The guy who has been video'ing me didnt get this on but im gonna do some more for video for sure.

Negative - this is not a rear riser manouevre. Your aim is to bleed off as much speed as possible- as quickly as possible and this is best done with the brakes. Brakes =drag & drag =slow down. I'm sure there are a number of threads on this forum that will point out in detail how this can be achieved. Its essentially an aggresive carving type move that you slide-out instead of stand-up. Be carefull to practice up high before trying at deck level - ALSO I recommend everyone reads brians book. Not only is the theory absolutely necessary to understand but he has managed to put things very clearly indeed. be safe - go slow & have fun People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I'm using one of the windsocks at our club as an entry gate. it stands about 8ft maybe a little more. We are about to start our first "swoop tour" type competition here in S.A. and we'll be using 10ft gates to start with. People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Practice that hockey stop

Get video. You will more than likely see that your hands arent as deep in the flare stroke as you think. X-braced has sooo much at the bottom it should be one of the things that blows you away about your canopy. a bit off the point - dont want to offend you but you may be flying too small a wing. think about it seriously. it is possible to land a 120 so fast that it screams in like a 105- can you? or are you thinking that you'll just take it easy and get into this little rocket slowly... Where is the learning curve greater ( assuming the learning curve relates to canopy piloting and not an education in uses for titanium ) Good luck Be safe People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Very interesting post. Thanx for the link too. check out these two martial arts : Tai chi and chi-kung. Dont have any links for you but have been involved and practicing for close on twenty years. (certainly chi-kung). Loads of valuable info on how to optimise the breathing technique you are touching on. good luck and enjoy People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care.