Metekanya

While body position is important, its worth nothing if you are stiff. So it is more important to relax (in a certain position of course, not to fall asleep) and let the wind create symmetry, and not your muscles. After that, the real position of your arms is not important any more, and you could fly perfectly with your hands on your back. Actually altitude awareness is far more important.

I am sure most of the pilots in the video were really convinced they actually could swoop quite well and could not understand what had happened to them. I think this is a perfect example of how a comp is something COMPLETELY different than swooping in a wide open landing area. These guys found out only when their butts where on land. What the hell, in the videos it looks so easy!!! We cannot just say "its only them, that are bad". I guess that I am not too wrong when I say that good swooping is not enough to enter comps safely. Preparation is necessary, and avoiding the attitude of trying to hit the entry gate at any cost. Its a message to all of us who are little by little learning the art of swooping. On the other hand I must reccon that after seeing that all of them end up all right, it's a good laugh!Quote

I have done 3 1/2 hours in the tunnel. IMO the best way to progress is doing 1/2 hour and thereafter watching the video of the session for weeks before doing another session, at least before you are at a very high level, where a lot of practice is the only way to progress further. Even with the best coach, there are many things you miss in every session or not fully understand, and you only fully realise after watching the video (sometimes after watching it a lot). If you start another session without getting all the juice out from the previous one, you might be doing exactly the same errors again, getting habits you later have to get rid of, wasting money and.. (everything needs to be said) having lots of fun! but your progresion will not be as good. It is only my opinion.

No comments of the freefly comp in the world games. Is it because the freefly community has lost interest in the international freefly comps or because there were no surprises on the podium and there is simply nothing to comment? The jumps these guys are performing are simply incredible and they are really pushing forward the human capacity of flying. Is there really no interest? Has the interest turned to counting points in only 2 established flying positions (can arguably be called "free"fly)?

I think it is pretty arrogant to say that a velo under 2.0 is useless. It might not be the best tool to win a competition but without doubt a velo at 1.8 is a LOT of fun and is the perfect tool to train in order to step up to a velo at 2.0 if that is what you want. Or would you rather recommend someone to train on a Katana at 2.2 in order to fly a velo at 2.0? It seems quite stupid to me to do this on purpose

The one leg down is easy to fly and very stable I find. Its only that when trying to go forward in this position, the tendency is to carve, and if docked at not too softly, it is easy to fall from it. Do any of you use this position usually to do freefly moves? Should I work more on the more "solid" sit with arms up? I find the "pushing more with legs" position more wobling and more dependant on arms. Though it would be good for my swooping, I really do not want to depend on weights to perform. I consider myself a good head down flyer. It is frustrating to struggle with the head up when people with less than 200 jumps fly better than me

I totally agree with skreamer, it's just that I want to do more of the good stuff in each jump like grips, transitions over-under, etc instead of just flying together and I want it NOW! Last jumps were with hands up and I am getting pretty close to flying it stable all the time, still a couple of legs up and slight backwards slide in each jump. I guess this position will let me much more freedom of movement of my hands once learned well. Thank You for input

We are trying this exit and are about to nail it soon. One hand grip, one jumper is out the door looking in, the other is inside looking out, at exit both roll sideways almost 90 degrees, but definitely more than 45 degrees into the relative wind. The jumper outside must jump out and up to avoid pulling down on the other jumper and spinning. The jumper inside must get both his feet out the plane before his torso catches air or he will spin out of control. Hold firmly on the grip and use it as a handle to hold the position. Remember that you have to fly sideways for at least 5-6 seconds. We flipped over many times until we realised this because we wanted to fly vertical too soon and catched air from the side. We went out all right and after 2-3 seconds, where both pulled to the same side. Remember as well that if you both turn a little, then you no longer have to fly sideways but on your back/front for a little time, following the relative wind. When you nail this, you have much better chances of doing it dock free.

After a couple of tunnel hours it is very comfortable to fly around on the back, and then you think that it will be dead easy on a skydive and start dreaming about how you will freak out with your belly fly friends. The frustration after the first jump and the repeated “what the F…’s” are a terrible sensation. After around 25 more jumps I am doing much better but very far from the precision of the moves in the tunnel. I am sure it is not only the rig, there is much more wind pressure in the sky. Any tips? Why is it so different?

Maybe some of you can give me some advice. I am very light, and in a normal sit with other sit flyers I am always too slow, worse yet when they go head down. My head down speed is super comfortable with them in a sit. If I go to a stand up it is too fast for comfortable playing together, so I need to adopt a position in between. Stand up with spread legs is unstable and still a little too fast. Sit with arms up with palms facing inwards is fast but hard to do as I only fly my legs, and often I go a little backwards. Stand up with one leg in a sit position is OK with speed, but when I go forward I tend to carve and it is unstable when being docked at. Should I try to fly on my knees? Any one in my situation has worked it out? I am spending a lot of jumps in figuring out how to do instead of getting proficient in one position. Thanks

When flying in deep - mid brakes prior to starting with double fronts, how do you adjust your set up? if you are going to oversoot, do you go to full flight to get to altitude sooner or do you do turns in full brakes to loose altitude?

Do you change the altitude of start of the turn from winter to summer? Talking about how the plane has a harder time to get to altitude in summer due to air density, I thought that one surely dives longer on a hot summer day compared to a cold winter day. I was wondering how much difference there could really be since it is very noticeable for the plane. Searching in internet I have learned that the air density changes around 3% for every 3º Celsius. Where I mostly jump now, the change in temperature from winter to summer can be up to 30º (more than 50º F) meaning a difference in air density of around 10%. This can lead to a difference in the altitude of start of my dive of 25 metres or 75 ft which really is considerable, specially now that most of us are using digital devices. I have never noticed because I used to jump at a place in summer which is 1.500 ft higher than were I jumped in winter and had to adapt every time. Any thoughts?

If you have done 100 jumps on it and are confortable don't go for bigger. Just be careful.

Recommendations on removable sliders for Velocity?

Shoul I then assume that by preparing for a 270 there will hardly be any risk of having someone behind you (or behind and below, which is worse) that could be bothered or caught by surprise? Why is this risk higher while preparing for a 180? My intention is not to insist, but to be wiser.

I think hparrish is quite right in his statements and I am not going to discuss them, but MY experience asks me to send a couple of comments. Truly the altitude required for a 360 gives you more field of vision, but even when I always land at the edge of the landing area to avoid congestion I find now that many other jumpers, because they do not see me (I am much higher) they fly their patern directly under me, or behind me or close at the sides below me while I am preparing my set up. I have in the last time had to bail from several 360s because of this, while in years of doing 180s I hardly ever had to bail. You see, being in front of everyone else and only a bit higher made me visible to everyone and I then had my "space" in the air. Someone behind me about to do same thing would have me perfectly in sight and would move to a side. Now with 360s I am more nervous about what is happening "down there" than I was before. I am not saying that 180s are better than 270s, but just that I do not find them to be so, so, so dangerous compared to 270s, and as they are a logical progression, I do not think anyone should go from 90s to 270s because of thinking that 180s are suicidal maneuvers.

To bail out from a 180 you simply let go of the riser before, and flare turn the rest until the desired direction. It has worked fine whenever it was necessary. If I am too low I land somewhere else. With a few jumps it is not so difficult to predict how far you will be able to fly before you have to set up for landing. If someone is on level with me and I have not seen him its because he is directly behind me (one has to look there as well). Then when I do the turn I am down and away from him. A student could watch me down wind and most surely the rest of the jumpers on the load upwind. Why would he follow me and not the others? What happens if he watches another jumper flying crosswind to do a 270? Is it much better? I am doing 360s now and I find that a set up for a 270 and a 360 has more blind angles than a 180. Maybe it is only my impression.

***You meant that as joke, yes? It is not any joke. I was doing 180s with my paraglider before I started skydiving. I was aware that it was not the same, but very soon felt confortable with doing it with the risers. I feel that I have everybody else more in sight when doing a 180. I think that someone hidden from my sight at my back will be less likely to give me problems (or rather I give him/her problems) on my landing. I find the set up much easier than the 270. The only issue is that you do not gain as much speed as with a 270. Am I wrong?

I agree skyshimas, why do 50 jumps doing it wrong when you could start, trying at least, to do it right, and thereby learn far more and safer? guys, please, share your knowledge.

I have been jumping a ka 97 loaded at 1.7 for around 250 jumps. First doing 180s. Now I am doing 360s with the first like 50 of these starting deliverately a little bit high (Neptune wave) in order to mentally get used to the loss of altitude and practising different angles of steepnes of the carving turn, which is started with double fronts. On the last 10 landings aprox I have gone down on my starting alt a little so I now plane out with little riser input . According to what all of you are writing I feel that I am doing it allright. But I cannot get more swoop than showed on "the sarge"'s video on a no wind day. Does loading the KA up to 2.0 (progresively of course) make such a big difference? I freefly and do not want to jump full of lead or fly a 70 sqf canopy (my weight out the plane is 167 lb) Should I start considering a Velo 190 (ld 1.85) for more swoop (with patience and demoing first)? I do around 150 jumps a year.

I suppose it is quite normal to feel the folowing cicle: First the excitement is larger than the fear so it is easy to overcome, later there is a period of asking yourself "do I really enjoy this that much so it is worth the money and the fear?" some people do not pass from this phase, but if you do, you will just want go up again and again and again, and will love new planes, new places, new people, new disciplines, etc. You will stop thinking of JUMPING and will start thinking of FLYING. I am not right, experienced guys?

Base283, have you never had a rigging doubt at home? Or is it that you know everything? This guy is just asking to be sure that what he is doing is right. Give him an answer to his question or just shut up. He is probably not interested at all in your thoughts about who should know what. You could open a new post on that issue which surely would be very succesful. Most skydivers really do not have any clue of how their PCs are connected to the bridle of their rig and do not die of it. Of course they should know but they dont.

NickDG, I cannot see what your answer has to do with my post. Are you sure you have not replyed in the wrong one?

(quote) Count me as one then. Years ago I had a spinning mal on my 80VX, and when I chopped it I spun like a frisbie. My RSL pulled my reserve and it had about 6 line twists on it and started to dive just as my main did. I was able to kick out at about 100ft before it augered me into the ground. This is exactly why I am concerned. Ive had several cutaways and handled them well. I already have a fairly small canopy and will soon downsize, and I do not want the RSL to give me more problems in case of a malfunction. If I could install the skyhook on my Voodoo, I would do without doubt, but it is not approved. I can see many advantages of the RSL but there are apparently some disadvantages as well. Do you have more practical examples? What about my question on two canopies out? Does anyone know if it is true?

I have never used RSL in a rig I have owned, fearing mostly being thrown tumbling from a spinning mal and having my reserve opening in any direction but the desired. Specially now with smaller canopies. I have read about it and apparently the odds of the above happening are not as high as I thought. I have heard that the RSL should be disconnected in case of wanting to cut away from a downplane because it would not work properly. Is it worth spending time on that? What are your thoughts?