tylorayre

I hear you but the main characters that teach today the swoop curse to the new generation, learned how to swoop from trial and errors. Check with the swooping history video. So, there's still a bit of trial-and-error left in their teaching methods. Me, I surfed today 5 full seconds from double fronts on a Sabre2 190 WL 1:1. 5 sec of surf can cover some ground if I'm in a downwinner. BTW since I've begin working on double fronts I've focus on how much time I'm spending surfing rather than the distance I've surfed. I've figured that time spent parallel with the ground is less influenced by the weather conditions, WL and it might reflect better if I've made any improvements. Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls! (This post was edited by d123 on Jun 30, 2012, 4:06 PM) _____________________________________________ First of all there is a big difference between using double fronts and doing a HP turn. I agree with what other people are saying on this post. Use the best available resources such as coaching and stack the odds in your favor. Swooping is very dangerous and should not be taken lightly. This is the whole purpose of my original post. I have learned the hard way and shattered my foot/ calcaneous and tore my MCL before I committed to doing things the right way. Another additional tool I highly recommend is a book by Brain Germain, "The Parachute and it's Pilot.” If anyone that frequents this forum has other books or videos they suggest, please let me know. I think these tools used in conjunction with canopy coaching are great and will absolutely increase your chances of success and survival in an extremely dangerous sport. Again, I am just a rookie merely making a suggestion based on my personal experience. Blues Skies, Ty

Thanks. I went to a canopy course approximately five years ago and learned a lot of great things. However, I never practiced them on a regular basis. Although the stuff I recently got coaching on may not help you much, hopefully it may open some eyes for people new to swooping. I am kind of starting at the ground level again. Below are a couple of things that I really learned I have to work on. After having some friends involved in life altering accidents and die within the last year I am comfortable starting from scratch. Sorry if I am long winded, as I doubt I will mention anything new to most of you. 1) Have a flight plan including canopy drills and be self disciplined enough to follow it. I have an ADHD personality and this can be difficult for me. I have been jumping at a small DZ with a “HUGE” landing area. I would generally fly a pattern focusing more on my setup point than individual checkpoints. By doing this, quite frequently I wouldn’t make my turn initiation point at the desired altitude. My setup altitudes are generally 500’ for a 180 and 300’ for a 90. Usually being the 1st canopy down, I had the opportunity to initiate my turn higher or lower than planned and let my canopy recover where I could maximize my swoop verses focusing on my pre-planned dive, accuracy, and heading. Note- these are stupid things, which I never did in traffic at large DZ’s, nor do I recommend it in no traffic situations because it builds bad habits. 2) I initially scheduled some one on one coaching to work on my turns and dive techniques. I figured I could dial in my accuracy later, which is ass backwards. Since I was doing Hop and pops, we worked on both. Previously, I had been flying in half brakes prior to initiating a single front riser turn. My approach speeds seemed way faster and steeper. My recovery seemed quicker as well, probably because I was a little quicker on my toggles due to a faster sight picture??? My coach had me raise my turns by 100 ft, flying base leg in 3/4 brakes, going to double fronts for 3-5 seconds and then letting up on my opposite riser to initiate my turn. This did feel awkward, however, my swoops were longer. I believe it’s due to a flatter carving turn??? It definitely felt slower, but smoother and safer. 3) Some other drills we worked on "Up high" was flying/ steering my canopy within 1-2 inches of stalling Quoteit. I never realized how slow and controlled a highly wing loaded canopy could fly. Rear risers landings/ approaches. Any feedback is appreciated. I will be pursuing more coaching in the near future. Ty

I have read many books on canopy piloting, watched some of the best swoopers in the world from the sidelines, got advice from them, and read virtually every post on these forums. I am very stubborn and thought I can learn to SWOOP on my own. I was sick of hearing people say, " HIRE A CANOPY COACH." Fuck that...I have 800 jumps and its not rocket science! Well, I was 100 % wrong! I hired an expert canopy coach last weekend and found out I was doing many things wrong. Yes, I can do HP turns and swoops. However, my technique sucks and I learned that I could get as good of swoop from a 90 as I can from the 270's I was doing. This was a very humbling experience and now I have to go back to the basics. 200+ jumps down the drain???NOT, I am proud to say that I opened my eyes and I am willing to start from scratch. I just wanted to share my personal experience. When you get tired of hearing the professional canopy pilots posting on here suggesting you hire a coach.....TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! Its a small investment in the long term and may save your LIFE! Blue Skies and safe swooping, Ty

I probably jump about 20 times per month and yes i I want to focus on my canopy piloting skills. Although some may argue this, the Stilletto is not a fun canopy to learn to swoop on. I have even been told to get rid of it before I develop bad habits. Tylor

OK, my 1st post on here so let's here some good honest opinions. I am looking to downsize to a CF 2 139 from a Stiletto 150. I know the flight characteristics are way different between these canopies. I was origionally gonna downsize to a CF 129, but after some thought I decided to go with the 139. What are your thoughts?