Hey Mechanic, nice number of jump you gathered such a short time
However... <Capt Killjoy mode on>, did you get coaching before attempting HP landings?
I never tried to swoop myself but I read and talked a lot about it in my skydiving days and I noticed a few things in your vid:
- camera doesn't show you clearing the airspace around you (and mostly behind you) before committing...
- as it is hard to look behind you, it is recommended to make 90° (or 270°) turns to be able to spot other canopies in the landing pattern. Multiple of 180° turns are not recommended because this increase the mid-air risk.
- speaking about the turns, swoop beginners are advised not to exceed 90° turns. You're already doing 360s?
- this is certainly not a incentive to downsize, but large square canopies have a much shorter recovery arc than swoop canopies, forcing you to start your turn much lower and reducing you bail-out options. Not much of a problem for 90s, but when pulling 270+....
Sorry to sound like a boring old fart (I'm almost 46 so I'm feeling somewhat entitled
); and double sorry if you're getting coached by a knowledgeable swooper; but I still remember the young guy on the dropzone forums (Sangi) who wouldn't listen to swoopers with thousands of jumps while posting vids of himself making big turns before yanking barely out of the corner, downsized to a small Katana without being remotely ready for it, recovered some sense and went back to a somewhat bigger Safire but eventually smashed himself into the ground and won a wheelchair ride for the rest of his life...
Take care and have fun responsibly
Cheers!
