Origin of the term "Sweet spot" as used with flaring

[peek 21]

Does anyone know the origin of the expression "sweet-spot" as used in skydiving to describe the amount of flare required to make a canopy level out and stop/reduce its descent?

It is used in the USPA SIM, ISP Category E section but is not in the glossary.

[riggerrob 643]

The term "sweet spot" probably originated with the sports of golf and tennis when the perfect swing meets the ball at the perfect time, the perfect speed, the perfect timing, the perfect angle, and the perfect contact point in the bat/racket.
Or perhaps the term comes from aviation, where a stabilized approach ends with the pilot pulling the control stick (the perfect distance) to the "sweet spot" to flare for a soft landing.
The "sweet spot" (perfect toggle position relative to hips) of a parachute varies with canopy type, canopy size, line wear, length of steering lines, length of risers, harness fit, weight of jumper, density altitude, humidity, surface winds, etc.

[mark 107]

Does this help? It's a kind of generic sports idiom. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01wwln-safire.t.html

Mark

[peek 21]

I know what the tern means in other sports. I was wanting to know who coined it "as used in skydiving".

Skydive U? One of the other instructional organizations?

[jackwallace 3]

I did. One day I set up a swoop and happen to have a candy cane in my mouth. Just as I got max life off the swoop, I bit into the cane and got the sweet spot.
Happy now?

U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

[Skydivesg 7]

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Does anyone know the origin of the expression "sweet-spot" as used in skydiving to describe the amount of flare required to make a canopy level out and stop/reduce its descent?

It is used in the USPA SIM, ISP Category E section but is not in the glossary.

Many of us have used it since the late 80s early 90s when describing how to flair the ZP 9 cells.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[peek 21]

Skydivesg

Many of us have used it since the late 80s early 90s when describing how to flair the ZP 9 cells.

That's interesting, because I don't recall hearing it used until a couple years ago, and that was in relation to a canopy course.

[Skydivesg 7]

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***Many of us have used it since the late 80s early 90s when describing how to flair the ZP 9 cells.

That's interesting, because I don't recall hearing it used until a couple years ago, and that was in relation to a canopy course.

I have been using the term in my canopy course since I started teaching them in 2004.

Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be.

[Bealio 0]

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I was wanting to know who coined it "as used in skydiving".

It's not coined for skydiving. How else would you describe the sweet spot? When I make love to my boyfriend and he makes weird grunt, I know I've hit that "sweet spot". This doesn't mean the term is coined for gay sex.

[GoHuskers 0]

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I know what the tern means in other sports. I was wanting to know who coined it "as used in skydiving".

I would assume that since it is so widely used in general that it was widely adopted as soon as Ram Air Canopies came out and it fits so nicely in defining the perfect timing of a flair.

Good Luck tracing it down, I think its really cool how jumpers preserve the history of the sport.

[pchapman 279]

Skydivesg

Many of us have used it since the late 80s early 90s when describing how to flair the ZP 9 cells.

I wasn't really in the sport at the time, but it may well be true that the generic term "sweet spot" got used pretty early when people were getting into the first small canopies (some in F-111) and then especially when ZP canopies started appearing.


I did some googling, including of the Google Groups rec.skydiving archive. What I found in some short searches only covers what people wrote down and put on the web, not what people may have been talking about at the DZ.

The term was used online relatively little, and not until the late 1990s for a 2 stage flare.

The earliest reference to a flare of any type I saw online is from June 1997:

Quote

Once I discovered the "sweet spot" the Falcon flared nicely. Maybe it is a little less forgiving than a PD, but I wouldn't want to split hairs.

[Ben Chea 19/06/1997 rec.skydiving]

But there the term was applied to what is more of a one stage flare canopy, an F-111 style canopy.

Sweet spot shows up in "The Canopy Pilot's Handbook", Bryan Burke, Skydive Arizona July 1997, but while many must have read that booklet, the term was in reference to flaring the right amount at the right time in different wind conditions -- not about 2 stage flares.

The first time I can find a reference to the sweet spot of a 2 stage flare is on 20/08/1998, about a test jump on an Icarus Omega 175. The author is just shown as "Al" and "big...@ernest.phys.cmu.edu"

Quote

On my last jump with the canopy, I came in with about 2 inches of front
riser to pick up speed which helped, and was stable all the way down, but
still didn't give me much of a surf. I did get the feeling I had to work at
the landing, which bothered me. I am probably used to the Tri where the
flare is so natural and you almost have to work to screw it up. Also, there
may be a "trick" to the flare (like how far do you pull down to plane out…
perhaps I just didn't find the sweet spot.)

"Sweet spot" was used in earlier years as a generic term that could be applied to different things in skydiving -- for the crazy idea of a skyboarder landing on a ski slope [Daniel Briggs 1992], for a good spot [Darin Ninness 1996], for the right brake line slack on a Stiletto [Nick from the Perris ghetto, 1997], and best wing loading [Bill von Novak 1998].

[peek 21]

Peter, you have outdone yourself again! Excellent research.

[pchapman 279]

I do sometimes run with an idea almost too far.

It's certainly not the final answer -- after all, people like skydivesg experienced that time in skydiving when I didn't -- but it is interesting to dig into how terms were used at different times.

(Heck I've had a newer jumper ask me what an older jumper was talking about when he mentioned 'swooping' in freefall. He only knew it as something you did when landing.)

[johnmatrix 21]

First heard it learning to play tennis as a kid.
If the ball hits the racquet towards the rim it makes a weak noise and doesn't feel like a good hit.

The sweet spot is pretty much in the middle of the racquet, as kids we had each had a big circle spray painted on the racquet to help learning.

http://sweetspottertennis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rhss.jpg

[kaiser 19]

John Leblanc,fly like a pro,that's where I heard the sweet spot expression for part of a flair the first time.

[Bob_Church 7]

pchapman

I do sometimes run with an idea almost too far.

It's certainly not the final answer -- after all, people like skydivesg experienced that time in skydiving when I didn't -- but it is interesting to dig into how terms were used at different times.

(Heck I've had a newer jumper ask me what an older jumper was talking about when he mentioned 'swooping' in freefall. He only knew it as something you did when landing.)

I remember being corrected about that long long ago on rec. skydiving. I would refer to hp landings as swoop landings and inevitably be told that swoop only applies to freefall.
Speaking of rec.skydiving, I think there are compilations out there. They might be a very good way to hunt down early uses of terms.

[Bob_Church 7]

This looks like a good place to start, but I haven't used it.

https://users.cs.fiu.edu/~esj/Archives.html

Edit: Nope, sorry. The pages didn't open. I'll check for some other archives.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Does anyone know the origin of the expression "sweet-spot" as used in skydiving to describe the amount of flare required to make a canopy level out and stop/reduce its descent?

It is used in the USPA SIM, ISP Category E section but is not in the glossary.

Maybe we should just stop using that expression and simply say "pull down both toggles until the canopy levels off." That's what I do but I'm not a canopy coach, just an average AFF-I.

[peek 21]

JohnMitchell

Maybe we should just stop using that expression and simply say "pull down both toggles until the canopy levels off." That's what I do but I'm not a canopy coach, just an average AFF-I.

Well, that would be too easy! Yes, that is what I say too. I don't like buzzwords. Skydivers already have to remember so many technical terms.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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Well, that would be too easy!

[JohnyCrawford 0]

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Does anyone know the origin of the expression "sweet-spot" as used in skydiving to describe the amount of flare required to make a canopy level out and stop/reduce its descent? It is used in the USPA SIM, ISP Category E section but is not in the glossary.

The term "sweet spot" originated with a young lady named Goldilocks, who was quite beautiful, and named for her long blonde hair. One day she was searching for the perfect bowl of porridge. The first one she tried was too hot, the second one was too cold, and the third one was finally just right. Goldilocks exclaimed; "This really hits my sweet spot". And every since that day, the "sweet spot" became known as the Goldilocks Principle. So when you get that landing flare just right, you can thank Goldilocks for giving you a good way to describe it. This is why skydivers are so infatuated with young beautiful blonde ladies to this day. True story!