hodges

We don't turn off the AAD on our student rigs - we just tell the pilot to descend slow enough. I don't see the point of chopping the main. It just creates opportunity for someone to forget about the RSL and deploy their reserve accidentally. Main thing is that it doesn't go out of the door! Edit: I suppose an aircraft emergency could develop and it'd be easier to get out not holding your main in your hands. If you're ever in freefall holding your d-bag, you're having a bad day...

Meaningless number really. Given everything else is the same (density altitude, heat etc), it depends on what you mean by "starting your turn" and what your turn looks like. My initiation point is Xft with a brake surge from full flight but I have no idea what altitude I actually start pulling on my fronts. I just make sure I do the same thing every time. Also depends whether you're turning efficiently or allowing the canopy to recover during the turn. I could stay on double-fronts for too long for example and my turn altitude might change but my max speeds would be lower. I know from FlySight data that I can't start higher than 840ft on a VE84 at 2.3 without dragging it out of the sky. I'll always prefer being a touch lower than higher (guarantee the first jump of the day when conditions are unknown and then creep it up as the day goes on).

Totally agree. Find a coach for ongoing mentorship (not just a one-off course). Everyone always asks "what height do you start your turn" but you can drag any canopy out of the sky from 2000ft, it doesn't mean you did a good swoop. If you're doing a 90degree turn over 6s, you're almost certainly staying on double-fronts for too long. What happens is that you will initially dive for 0.5-2seconds (depending on how you initiate), then the canopy will start to recover and flatten out, THEN you start your rotation. You will no longer be diving much so you essentially skate it around the corner. The danger here is that you're learning a dirty low sight picture. The day you get a good dive, you'll go in. The other thing to consider is what is the purpose of doing a 90 degree turn? If you want a little carve to land, fine. If you want to progress to 270s, then the real benefit is learning the sight picture of the final part of the 270. You want to get the canopy out in front of you, diving as vertically as you can, to get a feel for what the end of a 270 will be like. You don't have the degree of rotation to slowly build speed so you really just have to throw it. You'll have to be bang-on to get anything out of an XF2 at 1.5. What you should be focusing on right now is setups (being at the right altitude, in the right place, and in the right flight mode) and the mechanism of the turn (doing the same thing consistently every time). There's loads to learn before you need to worry about how high you're rolling out. Make sure you can always count 3+ seconds from when you finish your turn to when you touch the ground. You won't be bringing much speed to the ground but you'll be making safe progress.

I can think of ALTERnative courses. Flight-1 being the only provider is nEGOtiable.

I've attached my eventual solution using a cage and one of those trunk-style mounts. I've since added a little bungee to limit any vibration and I'll be replacing the thumb screw with a normal machine screw before it gets jumped. It sits tons flusher than the J mount did. I appreciate what you're saying. However, I've got a gopping great stills camera screwed on top. Maybe I should attach that with a dab of adhesive (or, more seriously, replace it with a mirrorless!)

Looking for the same thing myself at the moment. I lost a GoPros after a riser strike across the front of a flat top. It was fixed with the standard plastic J-mount which broke at the plastic arm. I've picked up one of those little snug metal cages which look good but it has a thumb screw on the bottom and no easy way to rear mount it. I could do with a low profile L-bracket of some kind but I'm not keen on anything that might be sharp and take off a finger if a riser slaps my hand into my head or something ;). Been meaning to take a dremel to a standard bracket or something but I haven't got round to it.

Awesome for anyone getting into CP... KAs and VEs will be even cheaper!

Had good results with the SJCAM series. Not dirt cheap but still significantly cheaper than a GoPro. I only use mine for backup and personal debriefing so sinking 400 quid on a GoPro would have been stupid. Edit: The camera Alex posted looks like a knock-off of the sjcam sj5000x. It's like knock-off inception.

Have you let anyone else jump it to see whether they experience the same problem? The openings look OK to me. Try and stop looking at it. Focus on the horizon, relax and try and just stay level in your harness. When the canopy is sniveling and thrashing you about, it's really hard _not_ to try and correct it with your harness. If you do, the odds are you'll over correct and send it off heading. Just stay neutral. Be a shame if you bought a new canopy and it still happened

I persevered with the velo when I should have stuck with the katana and, after about 100 jumps on it, I damaged the bottom of my bicep / the tendon at the elbow from the front riser pressure. No idea what was actually wrong with it but it was pretty much "swoopers elbow". It would get better after a few weeks but, after one jump, it was fucked again. Took the best part of the season to heal. Don't be that guy (me).

I just bought a cheap track saw instead :D.

General consensus is sabre 2's are great but there's not much point in changing at the moment. Start learning on whatever wing you're currently jumping as you'll be the most current on it. You'll be focusing on your pattern, hitting set-up points, planning, consistently timing a turn etc. Changing wing won't help you with any of that. At some point, you'll want to move away from the super short recovery of the ST but cross that bridge when you come to it.

KAs are awesome if swooping is your focus. I personally enjoyed the KA much more than the VE at that loading (KA107 vs VE103). The VE riser pressure was insane and it was hard work making it do what I wanted. Enjoy!

The first I've heard of this. Is it supposed to be a competition-only type wing? Great to see these guys pumping out new stuff...!

Oooooooh!