My low swoop of today

[piisfish 140]

if you want to see the video of todays last jump...click here and after go on the "clique ici" to see a better version of the video.

I am open to constructive critics.

Oh by the way I didn't get hurt, just the ego is bruised a bit and my pants got muddy.

it was a 180 degree front riser turn, then double front which I let go slightly too late, and then going to rear risers.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[freeflydrew 0]

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it was a 180 degree front riser turn, then double front which I let go slightly too late, and then going to rear risers.

An honest attempt to being constructive...

Obviously going to your rear risers when you're low was the wrong thing to do, as was going to double front when you think you are too high, so the mistake was more likely made before you even started to dive the canopy...

Here's my advice: Go back to square one and figure out the right altitude to make a 90-180 degree turn and plain out at the right altitude... This means that when you are a little too high, you don't pull on both front risers, and instead learn to deal with the canopy and the way it flies when you are a little too high, and if you are a little too low, you react to it by giving a little toggle input further away from the planet so you don't go horizontal on it. You can still pull out a nice swoop if you deal with your error high enough. You will soon realize where that ideal altitude is, and the more effecient technique for you to fly from it.

Second, don't fly your rear risers until you are totally dialed in on the right altitude to start your dive from. Using Rear risers is just one more thing to think about, and should be neglected when your not 100% without them.

Third, Don't aim for the person with the camera... I'm assuming that it wasn't a coincidence that you landed right in front of the person videoing on the ground, and maybe that was a major part of the problem. If someone is going to video you to help your technique, then they should zoom in and out and let you land in a comfortable spot. If your going to try to showboat and be in the shot, then you're asking for trouble. There's a fine line between making people ask, how'd you do that?, and oh my go, are you ok?.

Get totally dialed in first, and be a hot shot second.

[piisfish 140]

first thing, thank you for this nice text. And yes, I'm OK.

So, my 90's were going fine for around 200 jumps, and getting into a bigger angle and increasing the altitude, I was quite often too high (well, better too high than too low). Also on this jump I wasn't wearing a helmet, which changes the perception of speed IMO.

Wasn't aiming to the cameras, they were there because the planned thing was some accuracy, but I thought it was better for me to fly further away from the cameras and "forget about the accuracy".

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There's a fine line between making people ask, how'd you do that?, and oh my go, are you ok?.

trying not to cross the line... Thanks for the precious advice.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[jdfreefly 1]

First off, things you did correct! The best thing I saw here was that you didn't stop flying. I have seen landings like this be a lot worse because the skydiver stopped flying after the first point of contact. Good job on recovering things after your first mistakes! Also, your aproach was not very radical. If it had been a more radical aproach, you might have been hurt. Keep your aproach conservative for at least a couple of hundred more jumps.

Now the bad things! Judging from this aproach, you don't yet know what the "right picutre" is. If you did, you wouldn't have been where you were. Being at a stage where you are going to make mistakes is what learning is all about. But while you are learning, WEAR A HELMET AT ALL TIMES. And once you think you know what you are doing, keep waring it, because chances are, you aren't out of the woods yet.

Keep it safe.

Methane Freefly - got stink?

[ccowden 0]

This is a serious red flag, in my opinion. The turn was obviously intiated too low, it wasn't recognized because you didn't drop the risers and flare with toggles, and you never dropped the rears at all.

3 major issues that need to be thought over and corrected.

1- Starting turn too low.
2- Not recognizing the turn was too low much, much earlier, if at all.
3- Flaring with rears when the turn is too low.

The rear risers should have never been in your hands on this swoop. And if they were, they should have been quickly dropped and you should have flared with toggles. Not only did you use the rears all the way to impact, but you actually still had them in your hands after you hit and landed.

IMO, you need to take a big step back and master some basics before you attempt any more rear riser landings. I think you are ahead of yourself here. This video shows a couple of major problems and things that can seriously hurt someone or kill them. You are adding too many things before you have mastered the basics. Don't be in a hurry.

Thank you for posting and wanting to learn what went wrong. I hope you take this as "learning the easy way" and take a step back. Glad you are ok and that you did get away with this one.

[GravityGirl 0]

Good points.

I think the first survival skill to learning high performance turns is recognizing when you are too low.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[ianmdrennan 2]

Nice Chris,

I was just about to post this

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2- Not recognizing the turn was too low much, much earlier, if at all.

Is the most critical error IMO. EVERY pilot WILL turn low at some point, realizing you're low and trying to do something about it (toggle flare, etc) early enough is the key to keeping the damage minimal to zero.

Piish, glad you're ok. Forget about rears for now - I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with using them now anyway. Most people using them have terrible toggle technique so why they think rears are gonna be any better is beyond me. I shitty rear riser swoop is not nearly as good as a decent toggle swoop (not saying you have shitty toggle swoops btw, just a general observation
Stay safe out there. Learn from it, don't beat yourself up too much and focus on staying ahead of the curve. Staying ahead of the curve will allow you to recognize these situations as they develop, instead of after they've already developed. Don't get stuck in a "must do X" (be it rears, turn type, etc) no matter what. Every turn is different. It's dynamic, so you must be as well.

Stay safe.

Blues,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team