DanG

Relax, relax, relax. Try some relazation exercises in the plane on the way to altitude. As you walk to the door, ask yourself if you are at the same relaxation level you were at on the way to altitude. You will probably be more tense. Try to laugh at yourself for being tense for no reason, remember that skydiving is supposed to be fun, and get youself back into your most relaxed state. When you are relaxed and happy, your exits will be better and you will be able to fly right out the door. Your memory of the exit will also improve. If an exit goes badly, smile, laugh, and enjoy it. Removing the tension from the situation will make the next exit much better. - Dan G

Don't put your feet on your butt. Keep your feet neutral, but put your hands out and push down on the air. This will keep your head up and prevent you from flipping, but it will also keep you from backsliding away from the formation on the hill. Feet on your butt works, but it is a less efficient solution. Don't forget to smile and breathe. Flipping over also comes from being too tense. Have fun, it is why you are there to begin with. - Dan G

Hi Leon. Won't be making LP this year, hopefully next. - Dan G (usually found in RW and Swoop forum, but sometimes I slum)

I made seven wingsuit jumps this weekend (my first seven, beer on the way) under a Stiletto 135 @ 1.6. I had line twist on jump #2, but was able to kick out after releasing the arm wings. I had serious line twist on jump #7, released the arm wings, cutaway the leg, and ended up chopping at 2k. Jari and Yuri both agreed that my body position, unmodified container and bridle, and lack of wingsuit experience contributed to the twists, but I still think the Stiletto might not be the best choice. I wish I still had my Spectre, and would probably use one for Birdman flights in the future. - Dan G - Dan G

Thanks again for coming to the big O to both Jari and Yuri. The weekend was awesome. I figured I would make one jump on a suit just to check it out. It was like my first jump all over again, but just the good parts. I got in seven Birdman flights with only one cut away. Thanks for helping me find my main, Ostrich, I got it out of the tree yesterday. Now I know the Stiletto is not the best Birdman canopy out there. - Dan G - Dan G

The second pass is even worse than the first pass. I got out on a second pass recently filming a tandem. I spotted the pass, so I have no excuse, and I certainly screwed up big time. I knew where we were, and the spot turned out to be perfect, but it also turned out to be directly on top of a tandem that had exited on the first pass. After filming my tandem's opening, I flipped over to find myself directly above an open canopy. Don't "spot" though clouds. I have learned my lesson. - Dan G

Break off higher on a 10-way is one solution. USPA recommends at least 1500 feet from break-off to deployment, and additional altitude for special jumps, including larger groups. My 4-way team breaks off at 4000. On a 10-way, especially with people who need work on their break-off technique, I would break off at 5000 if I planned on pulling at 3000. - Dan G

I have to disagree that people with forty jumps should be learning how to do high performance landings with front riser turns. This type of maneuver takes hundreds of jumps to learn correctly, and is extremely dangerous. I also don't see the need for someone who is not going to land their canopy aggressively to learn how to do it. I certainly think everyone should be familiar with all the control inputs on their canopy, but you don't need to learn how to land using front risers in order to learn how to turn with front risers. I can't see a scenario where a beginning skydiver is going to accidently find themselves with a front riser in their hand at 200 feet and knowing how to swoop might save their life. Otherwise, I agree that these skills should be learned under proper supervision. - Dan G

When I posted this thread I wasn't saying that all advice you will get is good, so listen to it. I was trying to remind people that if everyone who talks to you says the same thing, then just maybe you should listen. Too often I see people who keep doing stupid stuff, no matter how many people tell them to stop. It is not a matter or sifting through all the different advice to find the good stuff. I was talking about those people who keep getting the same advice over and over from different people. It is highly unlikely that this is 'bad' advice. On a final note, I tend to trust any advice which is more conservative in nature. It is the advice to the effect of, "Try it, you probably won't get hurt," that should be viewed with more scrutiny. - Dan G

Within the past two weeks, three people I know have seriously injured themselves landing. All three had been counseled numerous times by friends, instructors, and just about everyone else, that they were making poor choices in equipment, technique, etc. All three chose to ignore that advice. One broke a tibia, one broke a femur and a tibia, and the outcome for the third is still in the air. If you find yourself hearing people tell you that you are making mistakes, bad choices, cutting it close, pushing the envelope, whatever, please listen to them. People don't say things like that to make you feel bad. They don't say things like that because they are jealous of your incredible talent. They say things like that because they don't want you to kill yourself. We all need to realize that our actions are often seen much more clearly by others than by ourselves. If people are telling you to stop doing whatever you are doing, at least take the time to listen to them, and seriously consider what they are saying. Swallowing your pride may be tough, but it might keep you alive. - Dan G

You asked for the safest way to land? Like jdhill said, preplanned downwind, base, and final legs with a straight in approach and well coordinated flare. (In an open field with a fully functioning parachute.) And, at 85 jumps, it is the only way you should be landing. If you want to move on to high performance landings some day, first learn to land well without inducing speed. And get competent, individual instruction. You can teach someone how to fly a parachute over the Internet about as well as you can teach someone to drive a car over the Internet. - Dan G (geting tired of friends planting themselves)

Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth will greatly reduce fogging problems. - Dan G

I used to stow my excess line like you do, but I discovered a problem and have a different method now. If there is enough tension on the excess loop, when you unstow the toggle it is possible to pull some of the excess through the cat's eye. This will result it a hung toggle. Although you can easily work this out by releasing pressure on the "knot" by pulling down a little on the brake line above the cat's eye, that is not very obvious while turning fast at 2000ft. I ended up landing mine since I didn't unstow the brakes until I was fairly low, and was able to steer and land with one toggle and one riser (tough, but doable under a Spectre 150 at 1.4). Once the canopy was on the ground with no tension in the brake line, the "knot" undid itself! Just be aware of this possible problem if you choose to stow your excess line like this. - Dan G

I think in theory the straight dive is great, but not everyone jumps a canopy that can hold a double front approach with any speed. I jump a Stiletto, and don't get nearly the speed out of a double front on final as a do with a carve. On the other hand, eames jumps a Xaos and can pretty much go straight down in double fronts at the end of his dive. I endeavor to land away from people as much as I can. The only time I go for the peas is the sunset load, but that's just to kick beer (Skydive Orange tradition). I also do what someone else said and leave myself an out. If carving left would have me going past the hangar, and carving right would give an out, I'll set up to carve right. Having an out is not only good if you misjudge the approach, but also nice if someone else gets in the way unexpectedly. - Dan G

If you are trying to toggle turn for speed on final you are already playing a dangerous game. At 70 jumps you should not, in my opinion, be inducing extra speed for landing with either toggle or riser. You don't have enough experience to know what you don't know. You have to whole rest of your life to kill yourself under a tiny canopy. Sorry if this comes off as harsh, but the rush to downsize and /or whip out a monster swoop these days is getting out of control. - Dan G

Because most reserves don't have d-bag attachment points. - Dan G

I think the Spectre is an excellent canopy to learn on. No, it will not swoop as far as some, but for a beginner, it will be fine. Also, keep in mind that the person asking these questions is not looking to enter swoop competitions, but just wants to learn a basic foundation of canopy skills. Spectre will do the trick. And the control range on the Spectre is fairly short, just like on any other PD canopy. Not quite as short as others, but nothing like the way too long (in my opinion) range of Icarus canopies. - Dan G

15:17:0 Great weekend. We had a skills camp (just like everyone else, apparently) with Stephan Lipp from Arizona Vengence. My team, Event Horizon, had some excellent jumps and really started to develop a good team vibe. The weekend was exhausting, but a ton of fun. I think everyone involved with the camp learned a lot, and I'm incredibly stoked right now about my team. One of the best weekends I've had in a long time. - Dan G

For skills camps in the past we have tried to put people together who have about the same skill level. That way they can all work on the same goals together. Since we have dedicated coachs for our camps, the coach can focus on teaching one area/skill for each group. On the other hand, for scrambles meets, we try to vary the experience levels as much as possible, so that the more experienced folks can help out the less experienced. It is more fun that way, and really the only way to do it to level the playing field. - Dan G

Skydive Orange in Orange, Virginia is hosting an RW Skills Camp for all skill levels this weekend, April 26-28. Whether you just want to work on level control, or you want to improve your efficiency in block moves, this camp will help you achieve your goals. The camp is being run by Stephan Lipp from Eloy. He is a fantastic coach with over 4000 coaching dives to his credit. This year marks the third year in a row we have brought Stephan out for a camp, and the skill level of our whole drop zone improves each time as a result. If you want information or directions, please e-mail me at [email protected]. Thanks, - Dan G

I agree that one of the most common mistakes students make on landing is flaring too high. It can certainly be argued that an 'eliptical' canopy will be more forgiving in this case than a 'square'. However, it has been my (limited) experience that the most common mistake students make on landing is uneven flaring. It is almost ubiqitous. Even relatively experienced jumpers make this mistake every day. In that case, even a lightly loading eliptical is going to turn into the ground much faster than a similarly loaded square. I'd also like to reply to your post about the two choices being 1) giving people big canopies and not teaching them how to fly, and 2) giving them small canopies and teaching them. I submit that there are two other options, both of which happen, and only one of which is good. That is, giving people big canopies AND teaching them how to fly. To quote Kevin Gibson's Safety Day presentation, "You Are Already Flying a High Performance Canopy". You don't need to go small to learn to fly. Instead the opposite is true. Learn to fly big, than go small intelligently. (The other option, which seems to be the trend among 100 jump wonders, is to get a small canopy and not learn how to fly it. Not good.) - Dan G

He means to say that a new jumper should not jump a PD-126R at X-pounds, while an experienced jumper can get away with it at that weight. They are really giving wingloading guidelines, but giving people a weight for each canopy size is easier to understand. - Dan G

I've had a visual fail. I banged it on exit from a 182, and it didn't move the whole jump. I was very new to the sport, and doing a solo. After a few double takes on the altimeter, and a lot of head scratching, I looked down, but couldn't tell how high I was. I pulled at probably about 6000. I knew I was high, but figured it was better than being low. After that, I made a much more serious effort to figure out what different altitudes look like. Even though one failed on me, I still wear one on every jump. - Dan G

In my opinion, if your canopy is giving you gear fear, then get another one. It will negatively impact your entire skydive if the back of your mind is dreading deployment and landing. I personnaly like my Stiletto very much. It took me six jumps to decide to buy it. It only took me two or three on a Safire to decide I never wanted to jump one again. I think 40 jumps on a canopy is plenty to decide one way or the other. I'm sure you can find someone to take it off your hands, since they are still very popular canopies, and have good resale value. - Dan G

I have to agree that there is no really good reason not to wear a visual. If you choose not to, however, I think it very wise to carry two audibles, in case one fails. My 4-way team's coach does not wear a visual, and I have talked to him about this. He says the same thing that weid says. He doesn't check it anyway, and that he always has two audibles (of two different makes and models), and also has 6000 jumps. As we discussed it more, he admitted that there is one situation where having a visual is extremely important. That is a canopy wrap. It such a situation your eyes and audibles are both useless, and knowing your altitude may change your emergency procedures. I wear a visual because, at only about 900 jumps, I'm not accurate to within 500 feet unless I am right over the DZ. That and checking my visual during a 4-way dive (which I'll admit I don't do often) is faster than looking at the ground. - Dan G