Amigos! Had a great season with most of you guys in Yosemite this summer/fall, it was great seeing all you climbers out there! But- The Yosemite season is winding down, so I am once again back in Bishop. Flying and climbing over here is unreal. The best anywhere! (the third and last vid in this TR is the reason for the report. Can skip the text and first two vids if you wish)

Less than a year ago, I hurt myself flying in the Sierra. I became over confident and started to do acro maneuvers with my speed wing before I was ready to. It started with snap rolls, which led me to multiple broken bones, which then in turn led me to a proper learning curve. Ha!



I used to do the snap rolls when I was extremely stupid and under experienced. Spun the canopy while executing one, was broken for two months, nearly died. Spun it while upside down, the helmet cam footage is sickening, have not posted it yet. Here is a vid of these super-sketchy rolls, remember I have less than thirty flights at this time, and had never flown a PG as well-


http://vimeo.com/20180350


OK. So after the accident, I did not go over the top of the wing for over 200 additional flights. Started flying PGs mid summer in the Owens alone, got pretty good pretty quick. Multiple 40+ mile flights over the crest of the Sierra. Got mentored by a few great speed wing and PG pilots (thanks Chris I., Stephan H., and Armond D.!) Now have my P3, and fly every day.

The point is this- I did not know how dangerous I was being, as I did not have the experience and background to be flying so close to terrain and flying inverted aerials! Do not be as stupid as I was! It hurts!

When I felt ready again (be conservative!) I started by tightening my spirals and 360's. I soon started to see my shadow on the wing, I knew I was getting above it. This vid has an example of this-

http://vimeo.com/31030606

So I continued to tighten my spirals, and slow them down to get the SAT out of the rotation (no more flick rolls with this big of a canopy).


Now in this video, you can see the progression of the three maneuvers. The first maneuver seems to be a 360 spiral with lots of altitude lost. The second is a bit tighter with less loss of altitude. The final loop is quite close to the ground (look at the tree tips before the loop) and is very quick, and it felt that I was once again directly above the canopy.

http://vimeo.com/32263958

What do you think? Are these rolls or just tight spirals? I guess it does not matter sh#t, as the smile on my face is priceless, and most importantly- I feel safe again! Well- safe enough considering I am flying upside down at 60 mph!


-Dave Turner
Bishop, CA