hookit

They were talking specifically about transitioning from a semi-elliptical to a fully elliptical main. NOT about canopy training in general. Blues, Trey

Unfortunately it will vary widely depending upon the canopy and the wing-loading so there's no single correct answer IMO. It's something that you'll just have to get a feel for. Some people pick it up more quickly than others so don't be discouraged if you don't perfect your landing technique right away. That's why they start everyone big canopies...best to make your mistakes with lots of canopy above you! I sure hope not! Actually I believe ground rush tends to come from focusing too much on one spot on the ground (usually where you're going to land). A friend of mine who's a flight instructor said that he tells new pilots to keep their eyes moving from one end of the runway to the other during the landing approach to help improve their depth perception by keeping them from fixating on one spot. Basically it's the same thing Lolie posted earlier in this thread. I used this technique (when I could remember to do it!) when I was a newbie and I believe it helped me. Good luck. Blue Skies and Soft Landings! -Trey

This past weekend the winds were low and I actually commented to a friend at the fact that many of the students were flaring too high and were subsequently dropping the last 5 or 6 feet to the ground rather roughly. I would be very careful with advising any student or novice to flare higher on a no-wind day. Usually their urge is to flare too high because their ground speed is higher than they're used to and it freaks them out a bit. If you think of the first part of the flare as scrubbing off downward speed while the latter part of the flare scrubs off forward speed then the flare should begin at the same altitude regardless of how low or high the winds are. The goal is to level off just above the ground. The only difference in the flare on a windy day will be that you don't need to finish it as completely because you won't have as much forward ground speed to scrub off. The first part of the flare (the part which slows your descent) will take just as much altitude to complete whether the winds are high or low. If a canopy pilot begins the flare higher on a no-wind day then they will plane out higher above the ground and end up dropping the last few feet which is a fairly common cause of sprained and even broken ankles. Blues, Trey

I fly a Xaos 104 loaded around 1.9. I downsized from a 120 sq. ft. canopy to the Xaos and originally had issues with linetwists. I found I had a tendency to sit unevenly in the harness (I sat heavier on my left hip than my right) which was causing the canopy to spin while opening. Since correcting this I've had VERY few linetwists in about 250 jumps on the canopy. I would be curious to know if the Xaos you're now flying is smaller than your previous canopy. If so then it could very well be that any poor body-position habits you have are just now coming to light because you're under a more highly loaded canopy. Also do all of your linetwists tend to be in the same direction? For me the canopy always spun up in the same direction and that, IMO, was evidence of consistently poor body position. (Although, I'm sure some would argue that it could be evidence of consistently poor packing.) Good luck! -Trey

Or you could choose not to land in the main landing area. If you don't like the pattern that everyone's flying then don't land where they're landing. Most dz's have either an alternate landing area or a landing area that's large enough that you can land way out from the crowd if you don't mind the walk back. Blues, Trey

You may not want to be so hard on yourself. Your question is a subjective one to which there is no absolute correct answer. Josh and Chuck are certainly right in that your swoop wouldn't have scored points in a competition. You, however, were swooping for fun. Did you commit to the water and risk dousing yourself and your gear as well as making a spectacle of yourself? It sure sounds like it. Chuck said it wouldn't count as a pond swoop in his world. That is a world of factory sponsorship and pro-level competition. Very few canopy pilots (relatively speaking) are in that world. I agree wholeheartedly with Chuck in that if you are going to swoop a pond or ditch then you should go for the glory points and drag the toe. Just don't count yourself completely out if you don't get your foot wet. -Trey See my latest ditch swoop (by any definition ) here: home.swbell.net/trey94/vids.html

You swooped. You were over a pond. Hence, you pond-swooped. It's about being safe and having fun. Sounds like you did both. Congrats. -Trey

I fly a Xaos loaded at 2.0 and I have never come close to losing 1200 feet on a 90 degree turn of any kind. I'd be curious to know the wing-loading, the aggressiveness of the turn and the altitude of the dz at which it was done if possible. Thanks and Blue Skies! -Trey

180 feet is a tad low to be making decisions! Seriously though you'll more than likely learn to love soft subterminal openings as you do more hop-n-pops. They just take some getting used to. You're right in that being stable is the key. There's no need to feel rushed because you actually have plenty of time (relatively speaking) to pull. Your first thousand feet of freefall will take ten seconds because you'll be accelerating towards the ground. Ten seconds is an eternity in freefall. Blues, Trey

Hey, DJ! Welcome to the forums. You did an awesome job on video this weekend! Blues, Trey

Ouch! I may be a slacker but try not to let EVERYONE know! I actually didn't get up all that late (for me at least). I was up and around by 9:30 or 10 at the latest. I didn't miss much of the freefly load organizing and managed to be part of the head down record jump that afternoon! SWEET!

You're on the right track at least! Unfortunately the down side of this is that you may end up spending more on the beer than you do on your first rig! Good luck, Trey

It all depends on how long of a surf I want to claim! If I want to claim that I swooped the entire length of the beer line then I usually have to start calling it a swoop at about 30 to 40 feet off the ground!

Apparently they were lost during the forum upgrade. Here they are again. I'd hate for someone to miss out on them!

Here you go, Trent! For everyone else: I'm on the left, Trent is on the right geeking the camera and Breanne is the hottie we're docked on!

Wait a minute...you're in that one! The foot on the FAR left is yours, is it not?

Actually the other pic that I wanted to put up is the one where you and I are docked on Breanne while she's in a sit. It's a decent pic and you definitely have the glory shot b/c you're facing the camera while Breanne and I are facing away from it. So....quit your whining!!!!

I have another pic from later in the same jump but it's too big to post and I don't have the software here at work to crop it or resize it. Bummer...I'll try and do it from home sometime.

Got a couple of decent pics from this past weekend I thought I'd share. Here's the first one. TJ, Breanne (sp?...from Skydive San Marcos), Trent and I launched a 4 person tube from the Casa. Much fun!!! This is a frame grab from TJ's video with me on bottom smiling and Breanne peeking through with a smile also! If someone could either let Breanne know about the pic or PM me her contact info I'd appreciate it.

It's a sweet canopy. The Velocity seems to respond better to harness input than my Xaos so I think the Velocity might be a better canopy choice for someone who likes to carve during the surf. I don't like the higher front riser pressure of the Velocity though because I can't hook it quite as high as I can on the Xaos. I've heard the Velocity is ground hungry compared to the Xaos but I didn't get that impression. I've still got it for another weekend though so I should have more thoughts on it next week! PS- Did you get my response to your PM, Josh? I got an error when responding.

This pic was taken by Ramon this past weekend. Nothing spectacular but a decent shot of me nearing the end of a swoop. PS - At least I had the decency to credit the person who actually TOOK the photo, Ramon!!!

Tom, Here are some links to several recent threads on just this topic. These should get you well on your way: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=forumphoto&Number=164571&page=1&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&part=all http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=forumphoto&Number=162390&page=1&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&part= http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=forumphoto&Number=161215&page=1&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&part= Good luck! -Trey

Eric Butts showed up Sunday (not sure if he was there Saturday) and did some pond swooping. The spectator area was right by the pond so they really got a kick out of watching people swoop the pond and ditch. He had a couple of really nice surfs.

Another thing you can do as well as collapsing the slider (which you definitely want to do) is to lower the slider all the way down the risers (if you can get it over the links). Then when you loosen your chest strap you'll get a better glide. If you can't get the slider all the way down the risers then it won't do you much good to loosen the chest strap IMO since the slider will likely be the limiting factor on how far apart the risers are. Also, when making it back from a long, upwind spot, in addition to leaving the brakes stowed I push the rear risers apart. This makes a very noticeable difference in flattening out the glide on my canopy. Your results may vary. -Trey

[Homer Simpson voice] Woohoo!!!!! [/Homer Simpson Voice] Thanks Levin! I'll call off the goon squad I had heading for your place to 'straighten things out'.