DocPop

Thanks - that's very clear and useful. Do you use the fronts at all now, or do the whole rotation with harness? "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I am about to make this move. What technique differences did you make to adjust to the Velocity? "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Goo Gone is great stuff and very effective. However I do not want it anywhere near my parachute. Acetone, Methanol and tuolene. Attached is the MSDS. http://www.lakeland.edu/AboutUs/MSDS/PDFs/517/GooGone%20(Homax).pdf Yeah - I can speak to efficacy, but not safety! "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I have used Goo Gone to remove chewing gum from a cordura bag and it worked well. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Yes - make more jumps! Seriously, this is not a skill that comes naturally. You have to practice it. Practice your flare up high several times every jump. Get someone to coach your landings - preferably with video. Attend a canopy course. Plan your pattern before you board the plane and try to fly your plan. The more consistent you are the more accurate you will be. If you're concerned about the speed of landing in no wind, either sit out those jumps or ask for a bigger parachute. Finally, remember that you are not alone in finding landings difficult. There are many people with hundreds of jumps who can't fly a canopy properly. It takes work to get good - just like anything worthwhile! Good luck. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I don't know for sure, and maybe Ian or someone similarly experienced could comment, but I suspect that the percentage change would be similar but not the absolute number of feet difference. It is so difficult to know because the variables don't all change in a linear fashion as you downsize. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

A good point, and the same could be made about running a retractable gear airplane as well. The maintenance procedure of the aircraft needs to be adjusted for the use. The gear on ours gets inspected and lubed significantly more frequently than the standard guidelines. Mental image of the NTSB investigator looking at the wreckage saying well at least the flap motors were not worn out. -Michael The same problem absolutely exists with retractable gear, although of course that is not affected by an additional H&P jump run. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I haven't and I likely never will. So what happens when two or more people think like you suggest and nobody pulls? Keep tracking and hope for a big pile of cardboard boxes?! "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Fair enough. You make a good point and I'll acknowledge it. Provided your kicks (or mine) don't interfere with anyone else's - have at it. Thanks for a reasoned argument. If I pull high and you pull low then we have no problem as long as we communicate and stay apart horizontally. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Agree with more than 1 HnP, but I used the term "performance enveloping" to mean don't just do the turn you usually do. In addition do the snappiest single front riser turn a few times and the slowest, most divey turn you can from deep brakes a few times. This gives you a min and max altitude in which you can complete your turn. A useful dataset to have if, like me, you don't always hit your initiation point dead nuts on the planned altitude. An example of using these numbers for me is that my lowest 270 altitude overlaps my highest 90 altitude so if I am too low for my left hand 270 I'll switch to a right hand 90 to hopefully still hit the gates. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

If you're using vertical separation to create canopy separation then you are part of the problem. Horizontal separation is what you should be aiming for. And you get more of it if you track longer. You could track longer from the top (ie. start higher) rather than adding it onto the bottom end where you have less altitude to deal with bad spots, hard pulls, mals etc. as well as leaving yourself fewer options for slotting into the pattern. The lower you start your canopy flight the fewer options you have - and that goes for main or reserve. This pulling as low as you can get away with thing is just a symptom of the same disease that is killing people under good canopies; a dislike/disrespect for canopy flight. People dirt dive their freefall, but very few off student status do so for their canopy flight. Pulling at 2,000, in the saddle by 1,200-1,500 is eating into altitude that you might need to save your life. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

If you're using vertical separation to create canopy separation then you are part of the problem. Horizontal separation is what you should be aiming for. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I would be wary of using someone else's numbers when you don;t know their turn, their density altitude etc IMO the right answer is to do a high pull and some performance enveloping. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

That's a very good point, Dave. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Yeah, you're right I have not seen any swoop comps this year... I know they are using some rears, but much less than the beer line swoopers. Just look at the degree of deflection on the rears that the pro's use. Minimal input makes for bigger, faster, longer swoops. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

One whose username is "dribbus" and the other who signed their post "Cameron Dribbus"? I suspect your check-up system (IP addresses?) is failing you. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

The real issue is people performing the wrong actions (eg. pulling and cutting away) too low. IMO there is no need to be pulling at anywhere below 3,000. The risk is too great to get a few more seconds of freefall or another point. I think they should have set container opening at 3,000. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Really? So remind me "DocPop", at what DZ you are on every jump you do - doing this, so I can avoid you/it, accordingly. C'mon then...let's hear it. What reason do you have to want to avoid someone making predictable turns? Let me guess - I am going to cause a backlog in traffic? Nope. Doesn't happen. I am not flying the entire pattern in deep brakes. I am just making the turns flat. Skydive Midwest, Wisconsin but I have also jumped in Dubai, Eloy, SDC, CSC, South Africa and Europe so you had better stick to some small Cessna DZs and even then I might find ya! "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

You posted this in "General" under another user name. Why? "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

One of the reasons to consider not using flaps for HnP's is that it is another cycle on the flap motors etc. Planes aren't designed to be undergoing 20 flaps cycles in a day, and if there are HnP's on every load that doubles the wear and tear. Having said that I think the risk of no flaps/no cut exits is too great. There are just so many jumpers who don't have much of a clue what they are doing on anything other than a simple belly zoo jump and don't think about how introducing different variable affects what they need to do. I'd be perfectly happy exiting in that configuration, but it wouldn't be a poised exit. I'd probably roll out and then bang into an arch when I was clear (a la wingsuits). "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

The only sensible response to this type of question is go an d fly them. Nobody can tell you what you will prefer. If you're ready for a 150, then fly a bunch of them - Safire2, Sabre2, Pilot, Storm, Spectre etc, etc and see what you want. If you know the flight characteristics you want then narrow the list down a bit. These "which is a better canopy" threads are essentially pointless. I really didn't like the Crossfire2, but loved the Katana - but many people would disagree with me. Each to their own. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

Actually the top swoopers may have their hands on their rears but they are mostly using very little input to plane out. In the Speed competition they are carving on their rears because it's a curved course and rears produce less drag than toggles. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I don't believe that is a valid reason to abandon the cause of making skydiving safer. Paraplegia punishes jumpers pretty badly - both financially and in numerous other ways. Do you honestly think people won't pad their liebook to save hundreds of dollars? Education is the answer, as usual, not regulation. Right, but you have to regulate (ie. mandate) that education otherwise those people that need it most won't get it. I believe that the people who currently sign up for a Flight-1 or other canopy course are the most forward-thinking, heads-up people. They value the education. It's the wild-card dumbasses who think they are awesome or too experienced to do a canopy course who are the danger. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I like that idea, but you have to make it a "cool" thing to have, otherwise people will just ignore it. In fact, if you can make having the merit badge more of a goal than having a smaller canopy for the jumpers who care about their image, you'll be onto a winner. To do that, I believe you have to get the big names (FLCPA & CRCPL competitors, Alter Ego, PDFT, Skydive Dubai CP guys etc) to vocally endorse it. That being the case, it may be better to have it issued by a body other than the USPA (which has no cool factor attached to it!) "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA

I don't believe that is a valid reason to abandon the cause of making skydiving safer. Paraplegia punishes jumpers pretty badly - both financially and in numerous other ways. "The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls." ~ CanuckInUSA