{"id":42271,"date":"2022-06-17T06:12:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T06:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=42271"},"modified":"2022-07-07T09:46:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T09:46:40","slug":"canopy-piloting-8-principles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/canopy-piloting-8-principles\/","title":{"rendered":"Canopy Piloting \u2013\u00a08 Principles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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We’d all like to be ace canopy pilots… but what do we have to do to get there?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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There is no just shortcut to learn CP
Photo: Christian Cody, landing like a Boss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Paul Dorward describes his sobering experiences watching his hero come to grief, and what he learned about Canopy Piloting as a result…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Way back in 1999 I had been skydiving for a year and was on my way to be about as cool as you can imagine! By now I owned my own alti and a battered old Pro-Tec open-face helmet. I was seriously cool. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I was nowhere near as cool as Steve, my Instructor. Steve was the guy at a small DZ with just over a thousand jumps \u2013 which may as well have been 10,000 as in my mind it seemed no-one could possibly do that many jumps. Steve used to fling his Stiletto 150 all over the place and it sure looked cool to a younger version of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you thought I could swoop, wait till you see this!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One fateful day there I was standing by DZ control as Steve was jumping one of the first Performance Designs Velocities in the country. I\u2019ll never forget his last words to me the day before. \u201cIf you thought I could swoop, wait till you see this!\u201d Steve made an incredibly low turn on that very first jump and I watched him bounce along the ground like a rag doll. In that moment he paralysed himself from the neck down and changed my entire opinion. I felt sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Consistency, control and calmness are key to quality CP
Photo: Benoit Lemay by Raphae\u0308l Le\u0301vesque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Perfect Flight Plan <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My next experience was very different, I was introduced to a guy called Dave Mitchell, he started jumping at my DZ. This guy had around 4,000 jumps and was at \u2018god level\u2019 to me, with about 100 jumps. Dave flew a Stiletto 120 and, wow, he could land it on a 2-penny piece. He was swopping it and carving it around the place and looked so slick. This guy really knew what he was doing and was inspiring to watch. I asked him a couple of times what he was doing and how he was doing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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recognised the red-blooded young lad that I was \u2013 full of testosterone and a fool!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dave was very cagey about passing on what he was doing as he fully understood how dangerous it was and no doubt recognised the red-blooded young lad that I was  \u2013 full of testosterone and a fool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching Dave fly, I immediately recognised how consistent he was. How perfect his flight plan was, and how he always landed inches away from, if not on, the spot. His party piece being, throw a football on the DZ and he would swoop it! This guy was seriously inspiring to me and I think countless others.  I spent many jumps trying to emulate what Dave was doing but without really any experience and was, quite frankly, putting myself in grave danger even though I thought I was doing ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t doing okay at all. Around this time, I pulled off a swoop landing in front of a taxiing plane!  My one mistake, I\u2019m humbled again every time I\u2019m reminded of this by Brynn Chaffe! I think the saying goes, \u201cyou shag one little sheep\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving on I found myself jumping more and more in other countries, mainly the USA. I soon found myself hanging around some of the world\u2019s best canopy pilots and pumping them for information advice and posing the magic, \u201cwhat height do you turn?\u201d question. (Which, incidentally has no one answer) What became very apparent very quickly to me was the need to plan! It doesn\u2019t just happen. You can\u2019t always be lucky. Looking back, I sure had been lucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is just no shortcut<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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There is just no shortcut \u2013 learn the skills at every level
Photo by Griffin Hernandez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Back in 2006 I bought my first Velocity Canopy. It was a 96 Square foot beast! My first jump in Zephryhills Florida, I was very happy to jump it, but all I could think of was Steve and what happened to him. I landed so smoothly on a straight-in approach and was seriously pleased with one thing; how restrained and disciplined I had become. I did 30 straight-in approaches in 3 days. I knew I was more than capable on the canopy, but I also knew what I had to do. I spent the next few hundred jumps measuring turn heights in brakes and in risers on every jump. I recorded some information and learnt more and more. I quickly realised that it was an endless task, a task that today is still ongoing. I also do this with every new canopy. I spend the time and effort. There is no shortcut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning how to learn is vital to your survival<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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That was in the old days, when canopy education was mostly limited to your AFF course and what you could learn in the bar. The joy today is that there are so many brilliant canopy schools, coaches and seminars out there, but they still rely on one major factor: YOU. Learning how to learn is vital to your survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have found it\u2019s possible to offer the best coaching; I can now draw a path direct from start-to-end goal and map it out. What I have no control over is what you are thinking, and how you approach the path; that is only available to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you want to learn to swoop like this, you have to do the work
Image by Flight-1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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PD Learning Principles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let me introduce the PD (Paul Dorward) learning principles. When I coach canopy pilots, I like to get them to understand the learning principles. The first principle is; stop what you are doing now and slow down. This is only a pre-requisite to actually jumping, so this is not the be-all-and-end-all. If the canopy pilot won\u2019t adopt these principles, I do not work with them because it\u2019s pointless. It\u2019s a simple equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning principles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. Slow down<\/li>
  2. Use reliable digital instrumentation (audibles, visuals and eyeballs)<\/li>
  3. Record what you do in detail<\/li>
  4. Pre Plan every flight using maps and technology (google maps etc)<\/li>
  5. Understand wing loading and its effects<\/li>
  6. Learn about red mist<\/li>
  7. Learn to say NO<\/li>
  8. ALWAYS have a reputable coach. You simply do not try this alone.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let’s look at these in more detail…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1 Slow Down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    One of the greatest pieces of information I can give to any canopy pilot, and I don\u2019t just mean swoopers or aspiring swoopers, I mean everyone. SLOW DOWN!! You simply cannot learn how to go fast until you know how to go slowly. How to fly and land your canopy in half brakes, deep brakes, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Slow down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    It is now ludicrous to attempt any form of landing just eyeballing it<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    2 Use reliable digital instrumentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    It is now ludicrous to attempt any form of landing just eyeballing it. Whilst it may have been acceptable in the past, there is just no need to not use digital visual altimeters and audibles with canopy alarms. Your eyeballs also play a huge part in this process. My advice is, if any part of that chain is not working, you say NO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3 Record what you do in detail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    It is absolutely vital that you make notes. If you are doing high altitude drills learning about your canopy, I\u2019d say you can only really remember three bits of information accurately each jump. So, write it down, in your logbook, keep accurate notes of what you did and what the effects were, paying attention to height loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4 Pre-Plan every flight using maps and technology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s now very easy to load in your DZ or landing area and work out your flight plan<\/a> using the winds chart. You can very easily identify a flight plan that is predictable and easy to read for other pilots, not just yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5 Understand wing loading and its effects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Wing loading is not just a number. Consider this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n