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I make electronic swoop gates and I have a set for sale in the misc section of the classifieds. I have a demo video on youtube:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANHEiqkURL0 and here is a video of me swooping them in Empuria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEyO0TqjfY&feature=related if you forward to the end and pause you can see them set up. As you swoop through them you break the sensor beam and a 112db siren goes off for up to 10 seconds to let you know you made them (or not). p.s. What Dragon2 says is correct, you can technically go under the beam and the sensor will miss you. Although IMO this is very rare. Brian Vacher uses a set of my gates to train on and I've had no reports of misses from him going under in the last 3 years. IMO, I believe a lot of misses attributed to "going under" are actually down to the response time of the sensor being too slow and it actually missing a very fast swooper. You need a sensor with a response time faster than approx 5 milli seconds to avoid this. (My gates have a very fast response time, 500 micro seconds). Also I don't believe there is any sensor available in the world today that will trigger on the canopy lines only. So if you do actually go under the beam then it will miss. At least some part of the swooper has to go through.

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Good catch on the Lillo pond, forgot they promise to fill it up but some how the pumps always broken when you get there! Still, some coaching from Pablo is always invaluable! Has Nethers got it's pond yet? And if you want a set of my gates, tough, you can't afford them! Actually, Facebook me as i've recently made a new spare set which are available. Anyway, sorry to hijack this thread but a lots been said already and our OP seems to have gone quiet.

You've got the right man! You'll meet him out in Empuria, he's a legend!

I've been to Empuria many, many times but not recently so maybe this is now new. Put a post up on UKSkydiver.co.uk and there'll be plenty of people there willing to help you. Some posters are actually based at Empuria!

I've e-mailed the DZO with new proposals. I've set up a meeting and I've written a presentation addressing ALL jumpers, ALL Swoopers and ALL JM's. See attachment. We have two 4 day holidays coming up and I plan to implement this. As a BPA CP Coach I plan to up my game as the Canopy Cop. Good Cop = Help others with CP and Bad Cop = Enforce the rules! They can decide.... Remember my proposals are specific to my DZ. But steal any good ideas from it if you so wish to.

Haydn, I'm a UK jumper aged 36 and I've jumped all over Spain. My girlfriend Karen did her AFF in Spain although it was many years ago. I've never heard of this requirement. If you are jumping under the BPA system then you complete a self declaration and no medicals are required until you are over 40. http://www.bpa.org.uk/forms/docs/form%20114%20-%20declaration%20of%20fitness[2].pdf Are you jumping under USPA rules? I don't believe they are different except you may want to reconsider and go BPA so it's easier to jump back in the UK when you get home. Which Spanish DZ are we talking about? I can do some digging around for you if you need me too, but in the meantime contact the BPA offices before they close. http://www.bpa.org.uk/contact-us Let me know how you get on as I can help you out further with names of people and contacts who you can speak to to sort this out.

I agree, it is not all about gates and competition.... But it is about making sure you've got everything out of your current canopy before moving on. I'll bet money no jumper in the UK with less than 1000 jumps can truly say they have their 270 perfect, so there's nothing left to do now except downsize, add weight or increase their turn. I think not. Let's wait and see as to where the OP thinks he currently is. You are right though, MOST people would now downsize to a 90. Take that wingloading up to 2 and hit the sweet spot. Doesn't make it right though. But no-one has seen this guy fly so only his local coaches can suggest or discourage that. Can I ask the OP what your turn height is for your 270?

Have you been training your current 270 on gates? Have you done any training on a pond yet? Have you taken your current 270 to competition yet? I take it that it's a no for competition as the BPA requires you to have 1000 jumps. Are you CP2 yet then? Sorry for all the questions but there's so much you can do first before downsizing, adding weight or increasing your turn. All of the above will really show you whether or not your turn is as sorted as you think. Go to Nethers and use Team Heats electronic gates (which I made) or go to Empuria and train on Brians electronic gates, (did I mention I made them as well?) Then go to Lillo and train on their pond under Pablo. Then go to RAPA and do the UK CP National competition. Being on the Swoop circuit will open your eyes so much!!

I sent my standard Velo 90 back to PD for a reline last year around early 2010. (I originally purchased that Velo with +3 on the brakelines a few years before after having downsized from a Velo 96 that also had extended brake lines). I changed the brakelines (due to wear) to Vectran a while later after a few swoop comps and kept them at +3. So back to the PD reline, after extensive talks with PD directly and with a PD Factory Team Pilot I had a new line set fitted again, HMA 500 with +3 on the brakelines. I ordered a Comp Velo 84 last month and spoke with PD again regarding brakeline length. PD said to me that they make their Comp Velo with +3 (over the stock Velo) as standard. And I was also told by PD and confirmed by a PD Factory Team Pilot that the PDFT currently run +6 on their Comp Velos. I assumed they meant +6 over a standard Velo. So a Comp Velo which is +3 over a standard Velo and +3 again. Get it? I don't think I've posted this info before but if davelepka is referring to me then I'm definitely not full of shit. tagline:- Everytime I log onto dropzone.com I seem to get automatically redirected to davelepka.com instead.......

Easily done on a Porter but not strictly necessary.... Check out 30 secs into this old vid.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vywMzAOC5gQ As we were flocking and the pilot was doing fly-bys, he was grateful we shut the door as I believe that's usually done when in a steep descent.

I've not seen these negative comments you speak of and I don't know who Phil is. Is there another thread or another article somewhere? (USPA mag) As a learning tool I would like to ask some questions please, I will try not to be negative.... 1. It appears you are using a Suunto as your primary altimeter. These are known for not being able to update quick enough in freefall. Was that the case here? And do you think in hindsight that it's still a good idea to have it as your primary? 2. After breakoff did you wait deliberately and then intentionally pull at 2K? I know what the SIM says but in hindsight do you think waiting to pull at 2K was a good idea? And do you still pull at 2K? What I don't get is once the student left you actually just sat there burning altitude. Why? Is there any merit as a learning tool in discussing breakoff heights and pull heights? Especially when on a coaching jump whether it's really necessary to pull at 2K. It seems once the student was clear, (I take it you watched them track off) you could actually have pulled much higher than 2K. 3. Did the student pull at 2K as well then? 4. Was that the plan all along? For you and the student to work all the way down to pull height at 2K. I value your comments regarding what to do if you need to cutaway low, however the biggest learning to be gained from this incident is surely based around why you found yourself in that situation and how you put a student in that situation, a situation which seems you actually planned. So if it's your wish for us to learn and to save lives then perhaps you could tell us a little bit more about how not to get in that situation in the first place. ie. How to choose a suitable pull height for your experience, your equipment and the type of jump being carried out. Being in the UK I don't get the USPA mag but these negative comments, are they pretty much the same as what I'm asking here? There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding pull heights and whether or not to raise them. I assume that you wanting to pull at 2K that you are not in favour of raising USPA min pull heights. However your video and the situation you found yourself in speaks otherwise. Sorry if this is getting a bit negative but I have less jumps than you and ergo less experience, so I would like to know what "YOU" have learnt from this incident and what "YOU" are doing differently, if anything. And not just around how to handle a low cutaway but how to avoid being there in the first place!

Yah, I finally did it! It took 3 downloads and took 2 computers, don't ask me how cos I did everything the same every time! But now I am fully firmwared up (with P1 photo) and a new LCD screen is on its way!!

Welcome, When I read the thread title I thought you wrote "Stroked and bummed all at once". I wasn't sure FJC's included that..... I can understand high winds being a bummer for you, but being a 'Bummer' or being 'Bummed' in the UK means something completely different.....

Sorry, I've been all over that website and I still don't see it. My Go-Pro now has the new firmware which includes the new features such as One touch record, LCD screen on/off, Live feed out, etc, etc. But when you scroll the camera menu to the required setting its lowest photo is still P2, every 2 seconds. Also the support page says nothing about a 1 second photo. Sorry to be a complete tard but you're gonna have to spell it out for me cos it's just not there!

There is new firmware available, however I don't believe it includes a 1 second photo mode. I've just updated mine and that feature is not there, nor is it mentioned in the newest Go-Pro manual. I asked them to do this a while back and had no response from them. I've been waiting a while for this. Please let me know where that update is or where you got your info from, thanks

Virgin Burner, You said in an earlier post :- "and just to be an ass, his courses have the reputation that 2 or 3 out of 20 end up hurting themselves" Just to be clear you are talking absolute crap. That comment is so much bull it's offensive to skydiving. You'd better apologise immediately. I will be reporting your post to the mods and forwarding it for Brain Vachers attention.

That's one of the best posts I've ever read on DZ.com! Very nicely said. That would be a good place to leave things. We could go round in circles here and talk this over to the death. What's perceived, what's not, what's real and what's BS. But you know what the simple answer is? Well, that's easy..... If you haven't tried it yet, then just have a go and see for yourself.

Thanks, that's another good answer, always with the good answers! However, I'm not just "looking" at it and then just comparing swoopers to the lower time guys. I've been there, the guy with his rig too tight and my canopy doing funky stuff. Yet to me the simple act of loosening the chest strap made my canopy (and subsequent canopies) handle better on those hot turbulent days. I'm gonna stick with that and let others carry on discussing their thoughts and quit hogging the thread. I will add that I don't know what I don't know, so maybe in a few more jumps that opinion will change....

Good catch, thanks for pointing that out. I personally don't do it on my Velo and was unsure whether others on more intermediate canopies were doing it with toggles in hand. (Millertime did post that he does it without toggles in hand). oh, and Amazon, I move my leg straps forward after opening, cos the boys wanna be free also!

DSE, Millertimes main point was to ensure that you had done a controllability check before loosening your chest strap to ensure that if you had to cutaway then you would not have to do it with a loose rig and possible handle location issues. Whilst the point you made to ensure that you are still going slow when checking for traffic is 100% correct, the order you posted misses out Millertimes point which is equally valid. p.s. Man, I am on fire today! I'm having full on discussions with Dave and now also DSE!! Now where is Diablopilot????

OK, so what do you think to the proposed case that the canopy will handle better in turbulence then? I'm not talking about severe turbulence but those hot days when the cinched down canopies are "breathing" and doing slightly funky stuff? I will say that if you are too tight in your rig and your slider is up then you can definitely see and feel that canopy handle worse. And not just a perceptial thing either.... ie. If Skymama were do to nothing different on her next jump except to open her chest strap right up (she will obviously have to stow her slider). I would say that she will experience an improvement in the canopy, which could well indeed be perceptial as you have explained. But I would also add that if she went through some turbulence she would definitely feel an improvement to how that canopy handles its effects. She will see it in how the canopy itself reacts and looks. And that cannot just be perceptial.

Dave, I'm gonna disagree with you a little here I'm afraid. (Never thought I'd be doing that!) If you take the opposite example, ie. I have seen skydivers on the flightline that are so petrified of not being tightened down that they have got their rig chest strap tightened down so much they can hardly breathe. And I'm not talking about just tight, way more tight. These Canopies can clearly be seen in flight to be very cinched down and also seen to be handling far worse in the same conditions than other comparable canopies. Yes, perhaps the whole rig is way too tight, leg straps and all which will also contribute to the problem, along with a slider left up. However, saying that loosening off you chest strap has no effect at all is wrong. No-one, well for sure not me, has said spreading the canopy out is a "design feature". I'll agree with you there, it's not a design feature. But the canopy certainly does fly better a little more spread out. And not just from the effect of being in the harness more. But, as I have previously stated, also a noticeabley better handling canopy in turbulance. Which is my main argument anyway.

All the way to the stop. Always. I use an extension now on my Velo. Someone stated earlier that they were not all that convinced it would make a difference on larger more lightly loaded canopies. (Is 1.2 -1.5 really lightly loaded anyway?) I would certainly disagree on that one. Have you ever watched these larger, lightly loaded canopies land on hot days? You can see them breathing. They flex in and out. Meaning that they are more dynamic, and right when you need them not to be at flare time. Well I would certainly add that loosening the chest strap off will help minimise that effect a lot. That's what I noticed anyway. On my Sabre 2 150 and when I was on a Sabre 2 135 at 1.4.