Swooping coach

[ParaShoot 0]

As Canopy Piloting is official IPC now we'll get a test event on our Dutch Nationals (mid August) for the part "Distance".

A lot of guys are training for this event but the progress is not fast enough. Therefore we would like to have a professional coach to help us to get the best out of it before the competition. We're thinking about a (long) weekend end of July or begin August.

Does this fit you please contact Henny at the Dutch National Skydiving Centre Teuge in The Netherlands at Henny@parashoot.nl

** Know what you say but don't say all you know. **

[Enano 0]

Contac Scott Miler at http://www.freedomofflight.tv/ he is and excellent canopy Coach.

Blues Skies,
Enano

42 and don't forget your towell

[tribalflyer 0]

I have to agree big time. Scott runs a professional outfit, very knowledgable and great canopy pilot.

[proswoopingtour 0]

The Pro Swooping Tour is currently fielding coaches for a variety of countries around the world. As soon as the PST got Canopy Piloting passed at this year IPC meeting the tour went to work on a coaching package for the masses. The PST coaches are current instructors and the top ranked pilots of the tour. If you would like to find out more about individual or team canopy coaching please contact us at news@proswoopingtour.com or check us out online at www.proswoopingtour.com

SlatonAirSports.com
CanopyPiloting.com

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Or anyone of the other pro rated pilots with every single other rating there is, like myself. Until there is a FAI or USPA rating system for canopy coaches, then you must choose a person with both a true instructional background as well as the requisite canopy skills. There are more than a few canopy pilots in the top ten who do not meet these criteria. One must not only be able to perform the task; they must also be able to pass the knowledge onto others in an intelligible manner. That said, there are plenty of people out there who are not in the top ten, nor ranked at all for that matter, who do in fact have the requisite skill-set to both instruct at the highest level and judge canopy piloting, much like pretty much every golf pro in the world.

Chuck Blue
D-12501

[Malfunction 0]

Then a question to all the swoop coaches and would be swoop-coaches out there. Since buying my Stilletto 135 last summer, I have come to the realization that the Stilletto is obsolete. I thought the flight characteristics were optimal for swooping. I know that technology continues to improve and new ideas are being manifested, smaller canopies can now hold heavier weights and travel faster, there are now cross-braced, air-locked and reports of a completely enclosed ram-air nose. Is the Stilletto still a good swoop canopy or is it to be tossed like yesterday's newspaper?

I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire

[Spizzzarko 0]

No it's not! (Outdated that is). I think by far the stilletto 135 is one of the best all around canopy's out there. The stilletto is about 11 years old, and it's still by far one of PD's best sellers. You need to learn your technique on a stilletto, and when you can land it cross wind, down wind, with a 50% braked approach and stand up, carve it, and finally, go the distance with it, then maybee you can think about trying a different canopy. There are plenty of idiots out there that will tell you that you have to have a small cross braced canopy to swoop. I have seen some amazing things done on a stilletto 135. IT'S THE PILOT NOT THE CANOPY!!!

[Malfunction 0]

Spizzarko, I don't doubt that there are many amazing things that can be done with a Stilletto; what I am seeing is a trend away from the Stilletto and into Icarus, XAOS, Diablo, and anything by Brian Germain. I am still learning on the Stilletto, but my bretheren that once jumped a Stilletto and persuaded me to invest in one have jumped ship to the smaller, faster, more swoopable canopies.

I think it is an interesting trend. But back to the thread at hand... is there a coach out there that can provide hints on how to get the best performance from the Stilletto?

I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

The ST is still a fine "swooping" canopy, it's just not competitive in "modern" events. There are some incredibly bad-ass Stilletto pilots out there who just plain rip it. Craig Girrard, Matt Davidson, Raff, etc. If you are making over 1000 jumps a year, then ST's are still a great. They are a nice, predictable, performance canopy. I owned two and jumped them for six years.

Chuck

[Remster 30]

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If you are making over 1000 jumps a year, then ST's are still a great.

Chuckie, what do you mean by that ?

Remster

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I mean that the majority of full-time RW teams who make a LOT of jumps per year all jump Stillettos. The GK competition teams jump 107's and 120 mostly, with a couple of 135's thrown in. Airspeed does the same. Airspeed toyed with V-Lo's one year, but switched back to ST's when they found the other canopy more than they needed for their application. That said, these guys MURDER it under ST's. I am serious. Rear risering to a complete stop, dragging end cells, very tall turns, just outstanding. Some jump V-Lo's for their fun jumping, but the great majority of their skydiving is under the "old standby". I have a 107 in my staff rig and I can rear riser the piss out of that thing. It is very forgiving due to it's quite-larger-than-my-Velocity 79 size.

Chuck

[Remster 30]

cool... your post kinda sounded like ST were ok IF you were puting 1000 jumps / year on em..... didnt make sense! lol

Remster

[Malfunction 0]

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That said, these guys MURDER it under ST's. I am serious. Rear risering to a complete stop, dragging end cells, very tall turns, just outstanding***

Maybe I need to get to a good jump climate. Iowa sees more Vengance, Velocity, Icarus. If someone has a Stilletto, chances are they have it just to do camera work. I know that time and training allows someone to become a good canopy pilot, but out here where jumping only happens during spring and summer, there is nobody to watch and learn from. At least, I haven't found many that are willing to teach it.

That being said, I did a rear riser stop on a 150 Spectre while flying a US FLAG. My ass hurt for a while, since I dropped about 10 feet flat onto it. The flag was fine, the ground crew caught it, but moved out of my way. Nice of them, I thought.

I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire

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