{"id":26235,"date":"2020-06-24T07:58:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T07:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=26235"},"modified":"2021-05-12T14:13:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T14:13:09","slug":"a-safe-return-to-swooping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/a-safe-return-to-swooping\/","title":{"rendered":"A Safe Return to Swooping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a weird situation for me.  I haven\u2019t gone over\na month without at least one skydive since 2010.  When we do get back\njumping this is going to provide me with challenges that I have never had to\ndeal with before. The one that concerns me the most is not being current under\nmy parachute.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Hans van Marrewijk from PD<\/a> leading a canopy flock during the Langar Boogie, 2019
Photo by Chris Cook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most people know what it is like to feel uncurrent at\nsomething \u2013 you can talk about skill-fade or lack of focus, but what do you\nactually lose by being uncurrent?  For most disciplines in skydiving,\ncurrency can be regained simply by doing that thing more \u2013 ie doing a few FS\njumps to blow away the cobwebs.  For landing a parachute in general, and\nspecifically canopy piloting however, being \u2018a bit rusty\u2019 at it comes with the\nextra risks of being in close proximity to the ground.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Seeking Advice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So my aim while making this article was to use my\nexperiences, and more importantly get some advice from some of the most\nexperienced canopy pilots to work out what skills we will have actually lost\nduring this enforced break. With this knowledge we can understand what to do\nbefore we start jumping again, and then on our first jumps back in order to\nregain those skills and make our jumps that much safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way I plan to tackle this is to work out what being\nuncurrent under a parachute actually changes for the pilot, and then how do I\ngo about regaining the skills that may have faded in the time I\u2019ve been out of\nthe air. Hopefully most of these skills will apply to everyone from student to\nHigh Performance pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that end, I have enlisted the help of people who have\nexperience in similar situations:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy Botten Jensen<\/a> <\/strong>\u2013 Norwegian canopy coach and competitor.  Norway\u2019s skydiving is seasonal \u2013 very little skydiving is done over the winter.  This makes the Norwegian skydivers uniquely qualified to give advice on how to safely resume skydiving after long breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tommy in action, photo by Roy Wimmer Jaglom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curt Bartholomew<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 6 time CP World Champion and Alter Ego<\/a> Co Founder\/Coach. Curt coaches skydivers of all experiences and all over the world, including at Skydive Langar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Full focus for Curt, photo from Curt’s Facebook page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First, I asked Curt what skills associated with canopy\npiloting get rusty during time away, and then asked both Curt and Tommy to\noffer ways to address them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curt:<\/strong> \u201cThe biggest skill we lose from not jumping in swooping is going to be sight picture. So the canopy pilot won\u2019t know what height to finish the turn at and it is very dangerous. The pattern and adjusting for winds would definitely be another big one, and just an overall feel for their controls.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Programmes such as FlySight give incredible detail to go along with the video <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Flight Plan \/ Landing Pattern<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The pattern and adjusting for winds is something that we\nbegin learning in our ground school.  We are taught to run through this on\nthe ground beforehand, and practice for different wind scenarios.  When\napplying this methodology to canopy piloting, Tommy has some good advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy: <\/strong> \u201cWalk the turns during off time. Watch the video [of your landings] in the living room and walk the turn, visualizing and trying to \u2018feel\u2019 the harness and risers. Sounds silly, but it\u2019s given me a lot and I\u2019ve spent countless hours on this.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curt:<\/strong> \u201cThey could be running through patterns with Google maps and figuring out adjustments for winds before we even get to the DZs and start jumping.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news! We can help our currency right now! Okay so it\nmight not be the same rush, and your pet might give you odd looks, but we all\nknow from FS teams that visualisation really does work, and swoopers are\nfortunate to have an almost drivers-eye view of their own landings to\nhelp.  Even without a video to watch, Google maps can be used to plan\nlanding patterns, and pictures of the landing area can be used to remind us of\nthe view from under a parachute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dedicate specific jumps to practicing canopy drills <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Canopy Control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have ever driven someone else\u2019s car, you will have\nnoticed that the pedals and steering feel different to what you are used\nto.  Given I haven\u2019t driven my car for over a month now, I expect my car\nto feel a little alien too.  It makes sense that we will react to our\ncanopies in much the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best fix for this? Treat your parachute like it\u2019s brand\nnew again:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy: <\/strong>\u201cHigh pull and get to know the system again. Do the \u201cstandard\u201d tasks:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n