mx19

I know a lot of people (myself included) use low drag risers for everything. For way more than 500 jumps as well. As with all your gear, Just keep an eye on them and look after them.

I'm happy jumping in 25-26kts (28-30mph) as long as it's clean and no turbulence, but my issue is the gust difference. Nowadays if its more than 9kt (10mph) difference I'm probably staying on the ground. The safety of my passenger and myself is more important than being that "hotshot" that'll jump in anything or getting paid for that jump.

NZA will usually make a canopy in any size you want. Unless something has changed.

Good choice. Maybe not the wingsuit part, those things are dangerous but I'm glad you've made the right canopy choice. I stopped reading after seeing this so apologies if anything has changed. Edited to add: It seems you have the right attitude and listen to those of us that have been there, done that, and seen friends go because of it. Keep that attitude mate, nice one, just maybe ask before you try things in future, for example the 180's, there are other reasons they're not advised over your own safety so there may well be things you overlook. Also think about canopy courses, you'll learn a lot and be way more suited to making a change like this in the future. For what its worth, I did my first 500 jumps on a Safire 170 before working my way onto crossfires, it was a good move as I made mistakes on it that could have been a lot worse on other canopies. I now compete regularly on a Petra 66 with (touch wood) no metal work, slow and steady really pays off! Cheers Max

This too! It's like how the driver of a car never gets car sick...

I haven't read the whole thread but my observations are that the issue comes from incorrectly placed hip junctions. On 90% of passengers if they are in the correct place the belly band does not need adjusting after gearing up to jump. I have seen people that placed them in the wrong place or loosened the belly band before tightening up lower connectors have countless people spew each week, but once they changed this part they haven had one since (hundreds and thousands since). If the hip junctions move during this phase it allows the legstraps to change position and cut flow through the femoral artery causing dizziness and nausea. The hip junctions should be on the front of the hip bones more often than not with a tight belly band so when you tighten the lowers the belly band keeps these in place and the tension comes from the hip junctions on the hip bones allowing the rest of your harnessing job to stay as it was when you put it on. 2000 tandems, 0 people sick.

I wish there was a "like" button.

We have done some experimenting with different size removable sliders on various cross-braced canopies and came to the conclusion that sliders can be too big. If the rings are too far apart it allows the canopy to spread and inflate more quickly before the slider comes down. So in conclusion the proportionally smaller slider on your bigger canopy will be restricting the inflation somewhat more than it will on a smaller canopy.

From a swooper's point of view I think that would be awesome. From the point of view of someone who spent over a year developing and releasing an app I think I would stay well clear! to get it reasonably decent will not be an easy feat and cost a fair bit in development! Great idea if someone else takes it on though

How long do you have for your degree? I'd personally say stick with the degree, work/pack part time to keep around the sport then make your decision when you have a fallback (your degree). This is coming from someone who started working in skydiving full time at 21, I'm now coming up 28 and don't have anything to fall back on so my only options when i decide to stop doing tandems and video full-time are to coach, go back to an entry level job as a 17 year old would get, or start a business, the latter is the direction I will probably take with coaching and tandems to help the pay initially. I do wish I had more options and qualifications though. That being said, I worked for a law firm for a year as a paralegal/"trainee lawyer". It was the most stressful year of my life!!

You mentioned Tonfly. We mainly use the 2x here in Dubai and it works great for filming tandems with a GoPro and Canon SLR. Max

To make it simple: After completing AFF you are still a student and will be treated like a student (Wind limits etc) Once you have your A licence you will be a certified skydiver with a lot more freedom.

This is not the right progression and is very bad advice. The VK's and Leias are not suitable as a first crossbraced canopy! You should still fly a Velo/JVX for a long time before moving to these new wings and be very current when you do! Have a look at the NZA website, They have these requirements to fly a Leia: "1500+ jumps 500+ jumps on a crossbraced canopy at a 2.0wl or above 250+ jumps (minimum) in the last 12 months A reference from a coach or experienced competitive swooper" And from Pd on the Valkyrie: "The Valkyrie was designed for expert skydivers who are already experienced and highly competent on high performance, cross braced canopies. If you’re jumping a Velocity or Comp Velocity and want to take it to the next level, this is the canopy for you." Too many people are already going to these wings before they should and it is going to end in tears/coffins (It already has for a few people) I don't mean to jump on your comment but it is a very worrying one. Edited to add PD's view on the matter aswell.

Hey bro, I haven't read the whole thread as i assume it will be much of the same answers that you find on all these posts. What I will say is this: You have coaching with Nick next month, don't change anything you're doing now until you get him to look at and pick apart your turn. He will, more than likely, change it entirely and you will be back to square one but with a shit ton more advice, knowledge, and experience helping you. Have fun with the coaching mate, it will be worth every penny and more. Max

the oldest set of shoes i have... rotate them down as necessary

Yes. You are never too old/experienced for a canopy control course, they can and will help people of all experience levels, especially if you have never taken one before. I used to sit in on as many basic courses as I could while getting swoop coaching and found I learnt new things at every one. Do it, you will not regret it!

I have about 15/20 Jumps on a VK75 and about 200 on a hybrid Leia74 My wingloading is around 2.7 on these. Openings: Vk-positive but not hard by any means, Consistent. Leia- Longer snivel, Softer, still pretty consistent. Flight characteristics and landings: They are both a step above your velos/jvx and should only be flown by people with a lot of x-brace experience. They are definitely not a canopy for someones first x-brace. That being said I find the Leia to fly like a higher performance canopy to the VK. The Leia will over rotate more if you are not onto it during your turn and definitely dives more, and dare i say it flies further (for my turn/technique) I found the Leia to be a lot closer to the Petra than the VK and it also seemed faster. The Vk has slightly higher front riser pressure and slightly weaker rears but seems to have a lot bore bottom end shut down on the toggles. Sorry for my lacking descriptions but I'm in a rush. To sum it up in my experience they are both Awesome canopies and I'd be happy to fly either one but in my eyes the Leia is a higher performance canopy and along with that you also need to be a bit more heads up while flying it as I feel it may bite you a little easier than the VK. Edit to add for clarity: I'm not sponsored or a diehard fanboy of either company. I love flying canopies and will fly what I like regardless of who it is made by. My favourite canopy before my Leia and Petra was my Comp Velo.

Maybe as a one off for obstacle avoidance but whenever I see someone that has a habit of them I find a bit of education on flying predictable patterns (how to, and why it is safer) goes a long way. Edited to add: S turns are a danger to other people because they will not know, and have no way to work out, what you are doing, below around 1500 feet everyone should be flying a predictable pattern and not spiraling etc. there is just no need for it. I almost grounded someone a few months back for constant s turning on finals and cutting other people up. For those that are wondering each leg of your landing pattern (downwind, Base, and Final) should be flown using straight lines. If you need to adjust you can change the angle slightly. A lot of people really need to start concentrating more on their canopy flights and learning how to land accurately without endangering others. Canopy courses are worth every penny you spend on them and then some.

Thank you everyone for your valuable input! We have spent a bit of time going back and forth over it all aswell as the Input from multiple other sources and have finally settled on a variation of the first one with hopefully a more realistic Hammer! Thanks again everyone for your time! signup.recruitmeapp.com

Hi everyone! I was wondering if you could spare a minute of your time to look at the logos below for my new app below and vote for your favourite. The app is aimed at temporary recruitment for "blue collar" workers and labour. Thank you in advance! Any input is greatly appreciated! signup.recruitmeapp.com

Palm is still 300 jumps and c license as long as you have completed Flight 101 and 102

Can anyone tell me which DZ's in Canada have swoop ponds?

Is there any Orthopaedic Doctors on here that could give me some advice? I fractured my medial malleolus on the 27th may. It is not displaced so no surgery needed. Basically I'm trying to find out from someone who knows skydiving aswell if im clutching on to false hope! My problem is i have a summer of swoop competitions coming up with the first starting 17th of july immediately followed by one on the 21st but obviously i would need to get current again so looking to start swooping again 15th July. The last comp ill be training from 10th August. Is it possible or should i accept being a spectator? I'm not planning on rushing into anything if im not upto it though. Thanks

For a start, working abroad you will most likely not have a bpa examiner on hand to renew your ratings, membership for uspa is cheaper, and a lot of dropzones you work for will require a uspa rating but not a BPA. Edit to add: I'm from England but only have a USPA, NZ and UAE rating and do not hold a BPA rating.

Good choice bro, but can i make one suggestion? Make upsizing the very next thing you do before you jump again, honestly you never know but the next jump could be the one you turn low on and it'll be a lot better if you have upsized. Nice to see someone take the critisism on board. In the long run you will be a much better canopy pilot for it (and not hobble as much, chicks don't dig it as much as we'd like to think ) Take it slow, enjoy the ride, learn to fly the shitout of the canopy you get.