Last training day canceled due to high winds..

There is not much to tell about today i woke up this morning at 04:30 and could hear how the wind was pounding on the windows at the hotel. After 2 stand downs we agreed to quit for the day due to the forecast. So we had some dinner and went to the hotel where i stayed until about 17:00 where i decided to go to the airport in time so here i am now waiting for the plane to LAX where Mette and Benny is picking me up. I am flying with Frontier airlines and the plane have a big eagle on the tail so i guess that’s good karma for the rest of the trip.

Day 4 in perfect weather

Today we had great weather all day but unfortunately we also had a few accidents.

First the good thing  The weather was perfect  no wind, sun, 25 c and lots of swoops we started out with 4 speed rounds from the Cessna after that we went for accuracy from  the beach 90 and got 3 jumps before that plane broke down too. Then we went for the Otter and got 4 more jumps in, At the debriefing i got told that if it was a competition I would have won for to day. And i actually had some pretty nice runs in my VC 96 today. Getting all the water points landing in zone 3-4 and on some of them sliding into penalty cone 6wich is not the best but still ok. We had as mentioned a few incidents today first there was a few swoopers touching the water a little harder than expected. On jump no 8 one of the Ukraine's dipped he’s knees into the water and splashed pretty hard turned 180 up side down so he’s foot got stuck in the risers and he landed upside down with he’s head first. So he was taken to the hospital foe a safety check… He got back a few hours later pretty bruised but ok. On the last jump Matt had a reserve ride and the canopy flew pretty far away and landed in a lake so he had to swim for it. So all in all a really good day.

Tomorrow is my last day here in Colorado after that i will be in California flying my wingsuit over Lake Elsinore…

And here is a really good reason to wearing a helmet for swooping

Celebrating a good   day with SUSHI

Training day 3

Today was cold in the morning -1 but after 4 jumps we were able to jump only one layer of clothing i w0uld guess 10-15c

Training today went very well we were doing speed all day and i think i was improving on most of the jumps i only had 2 jumps of 12 with a zero score so i am pretty happy about this.

Nick Batch came to visit today and i guess that gave Jay a little extra inspiration to be more sharp on the coaching so that was a bonus too.

  

2nd Training day

Due to pavement work on the landing strip at the airport we had to go to Boulder airport to take off and then jump off at Mile high. so today was a bit slow only 9 jumps and we had a slow start due to fog in the pond area and low temperature in the pond area –1C.

But after the weather cleared we got to jump and it was only the 2 first jumps where we had to wear warm clothing.

my setups is still not in the closet still need to work a little on those. But some of the jumps i got a good speed like one of the first jumps this morning were i flew around 140 kmt vertical.

But there is nothing much to talk about the jumps, need to get the turn dialed in before anything is getting better.. so that’s the goal for tomorrow..

Over and out…………………….

1st training day in Longmont

We started early today up at 5:30  getting dressed and met at the airport at about 06:30. First load at 7 after a quick warm up.

I got my new canopy from PD at about 6:50 and 7:12 it was ready to jump mounted on risers and good to go.. First jump was just a jump to get used to the new altitude (5000 ft). it was ok but but great the 2 next jumps was also ok but getting used to the new setup and the location.. the 2 last jumps was quit different don’t know how i got the canopy to fly THAT slow on the 4th jump but that was no anything to write more about. The last jump was pretty good and saved the day.  unfortunately the clouds closed up un us just before midday so we haven’t been doing much this afternoon.

Tomorrow we start at 6:20 hope the weather is getting a little better.

USA again! I am on my way

So this time the US trip goes to Mile high in Colorado for 60 jumps in 5 days, with coaching of Jay Moldesky from the PD team. the 6th i am flying to LAX where Mette and Benny is picking me up after that the trip is Lake Elsinore in California where we is going to try and set a new world record in Wingsuit formation.

the 14th we are headed for Las Vegas where we are going to spend a few days on the strip just playing tourists…

Right now i am sitting in the BA lounge in London Heathrow waiting for the plane to Denver.

BA.com is so kind to sponsor my tickets again this year so its no problem travelling business class for free.

 

BA lounge In Copenhagen

BA Lounge London ;o)

And last a picture of Canada from 10.000 km

Canopy Piloting course with Scott Roberts.

Last week I was attending a Canopy course with Scott Roberts from Team Fastrax. Scott just got married in Iceland with Kolla and choose to hold he’s honeymoon vacation here in Aars teaching Danish skydivers how to swoop.

The skill level of the jumpers have been from 150 jumps to 3000 jumps but Scott have managed to keep everybody including him self busy all day. The jumpers that really have moved there skill level is Morten leth, Mads Jensen, Kim Larsen.Seeing what they were doing before the course and how they land now is a big improvement. Morten and Kim is now making a 270 turn and Mads is getting a really good 90 with lots of speed and a sweet flare.

Webber, Basse, Claus and me have all been changing setups initiating turns and and getting lots of speed in our canopies. I was only harness turning before and now i have changed to front riser then harness and my speed is so much better now.  My only problem is just to get the gate right due to the new setup and getting used to the new recovery arch and the sight picture that now is a lot lower than it used to be.

I like the way Scott teaches he sees it all but only points out the important stuff but still remembers what you also did wrong and that’s in my opinion a good skill. There is always something new to learn and Scott is for sure having both the  skill level and the competition experience to give us a lot of hints and good tips for competing. 

Skt. Hans Display: Fire, skydiving and free jumps this is not getting any better.

Tuesday we made another display this time in front of 500 people or more.  A RW site was arranging the local Skt. Hans fire with parachute and gymnastic display.

 

The display was also a raffle  the landing area was divided into squares with numbers so the spectators could buy tickets and where ever we landed the lucky spectators would win a cash money price.

We let off 2 jumpers with slow canopies in 3500 ft while they were flying down, Basse and me climbed to 8000 ft and made a hop’n pop.  After that we flew formation and made a nice spiral down over the landing area.

And just to show how PERFECT the Comp Velocity opens  look at this opening.

Perfect opening on a Comp velo 90

 

in 3000 ft Basse went on brakes and I went in for my setup and made a very nice 450 turn and a 90 carve into the landing area and the comments from the spectators was priceless. Lots of nice comments and applause.

Bo Landing

After me Basse was ready to land and he also made a nice turn but didn’t calculate with the slight downwind and only stopped ½ a meter in front of the crowd so the canopy landed among the spectators.. I guess he owns beer for that one.

Basse Landing

After we all landed we all packed the canopies and answered all the questions from the exited spectators. Especially 4 of the spectators was happy they all won 1000 Dkr. As usual there was a beer and some goodies for us after the display. Just after we landed the gymnastic display went on and of cause the bonfire was lid after the last display. Its just so much more fun to make a demo in this perfect conditions, and ending the day with a cold beer and a big fire.. Over and out……. :0)

Display jumping in Randers “RUN for Life” arranged by The Danish Cancer association.

We just made a display jump in the middle  of Randers city today. We were supposed to be 5 jumpers but because of the high wind, the 2 jumpers in Para foil choose to stay on the ground. The wind was 16 knots gusting 22. There was no obstacles in the landing direction so there was  no turbulence.

The landing area is the green area with the little white dot.

There was a lot of people and a orchestra playing in the background. The jump it self went pretty good I jumped first and after opening i flew a little together with Kim ”Turbo” Jensen i broke off first and was also the first to land. Marianne was the last to land and got a big applause from the audience.

Here is my landing recorded on a mobile phone..

Lots of AFF jumping and Tandems ;-)

The last  few weeks i have been jumping a lot of  Tandems and AFF to date i have 34 AFF jumps since i got my License and this weekend i graduated my first 2 students at level 1 to 7.

Sine Lysdahl

         

       

 

Jannie Houmann

They both did really well but i don’t know why they both got so surprised flying alone on level 4 that they forgot to do there 90 degree turns. but one thing is for sure they were very good at smiling, so i let them pass the level…  There have also been some students that wasn't that skilled tumbling on the back and generally just not being this nice. But the good training in Perris with Peter and Kim was very good so i can handle almost everything now .

I brought home a GoPro cam from Perris. This is a great invention a small camera in 5 mega pixel that comes standard with a 54 degree wide angle lens. I am using it for tandem stills and it is making some incredible good pictures.

Here is a link to my Facebook tandem album

GoPro tandem pictures

 

My new canopy: Comp Velo from PD

My Sponsor deal with Performance designs finally went through and i just received my brand new Comp Velocity 90 sq’ft. it is more than a year ago since i send the sponsorship application i got a positive answer from Kolla right away but it took a year to get the canopy. Actually i am glad it took so long or else i would be flying a velocity now and not the comp velo..

The Canopy is a very positive step up from the regular velo the openings so far is very nice and predictable even without using the  snappers that connect the slider to the canopy.

The speed on ½ brakes is like a normally velo but when you releases the toggles you can hear that the speed is accelerating and feel the steep trim on the canopy. Its flying and feels like a velocity except from its very ground hungry in the turns.

So far i have been setting my turns up for a 270 as i did before and its working pretty good it defenently feels like there is a lot of extra  speed coming out of the turn. The really big difference is the rear risers power. you need much less input to make the canopy recover and you can ride the rears much longer than on the regular velo. I am going to try some 450 turns next time. but it is for sure a big step up from the Velo and it have been worth the wait..

The picture is from the second jump i made on the canopy a  hop n pop from 6000 ft a GREAT jump

Do i look like i like that canopy??????

 

And look Albert from PD also like the picture and made it Picture of the month on PD web page

Weekend training and celebrating Peters jump no 5000

Saturday we had hired Clint Clawson for swoop coaching. he wanted us to do all the stuff that we normally don’t do. So i was send up to do a right 450 witch i as expected fucked up totally and landed off to the side of the pond. After that we did some 270 to get the different setup patterns right. On the 8th jump peter rounded 5000 jumps so we made a flocking dive making a diamond with a stinger. The jumpers were Peter, Gonzalo, Kim, Clint, me and Niklas Daniels  on camera.

The practice jumping opened up for a lot of new training and thinking. And again it proves that there is no right way to make your turn. Meany of the things that i was taught earlier have been changed during the weekend coaching and actually i feel that i have been set back in my swooping but that’s the way to learn new things and get better no doubt about that..   

We also celebrated Peters 5000 jump with a BIG cake with cream and fresh strawberries and of cause he got creamed i will try and get pictures of that later….

Day 5 AFF examination jumps

Well today we got to prove what our training had learned us.

My first jump was a level 4 jump with Kim H. He made a ok exit only needed a little correction. He’s solo flying was also pretty fine but after he’s first turn he started spinning. My first attempt to stop him failed but i got him perfect the second time. After the spinning he was a little dizzy so i had to tell him to look at he’s altimeter and i also had to pull he’s canopy. The student survived and i got a score of 75 of 100% possible.

My second jump was a level 2 as secondary with Peter P the student Exits WERY unstable and ends up on he’s back i releases my grip and start following the student down. Peter is handling the student fine getting him turned to he’s back and i am back on level but is making too big a turn around the student witch is costing me a lot of points. But i end up where i am supposed to be and start giving the right signals to the student. peter and i have switched side due to the tumble so now i am on the primary side. the student get a altitude signal and a pull signal from peter and i am just waiting for the student to pull but he is having some trouble finding he’s handle so he need some help from me he also doesn’t pull the handle him self so while i smile over the students back to Peter i press he’s hand around the handle while pulling he’s pilot shute for him.  Due to the long turn I made and i didn’t also give pull signal in i only scored 65% in this jump.

 

Third jump was also a level 3 with Thomas as secondary and me as primary. In the exit the examiner told us he was trying to get us unstable but due to the stability of Thomas and me he didn’t have a chance. He was getting perfect signals and when he tried to spin on us there was no room for him to fuck up. All in all this was a very good jump and i got a score of 91% for that jump.

 

The fourth jump was a level 4 with Peter K. I didn’t had any unstable students so far so i was expecting a bad student from the beginning and exactly as planned Peter was jumping directly out on he’s back, falling like fridge…. i almost was in a headdown just trailing in he’s leg strap. But after some tumbling i got him turned just as in the book perfect nice and easy. A few hand signals was thrown a check your altimeter and last my student pulled in 5600 ft so i got a long track opened high and made a sweet swoop on the grass total score of the jump was 80% and i had the required points to pass the flying part of the AFF course.

Day 4 AFF eval jumping

well now I have better time and battery. Wednesday was practice jumping with our examiners but as realistic as possible.

We made 3 jumps with 2 instructors  and and 3 jumps with 1 instructor. We had both students that was flying good but needed a lot of correction and help at pull time, but we also has the opposite with students “PeterK” that was falling like a brick and needed help to get stable.. This was really good practice and actually pretty funny flying. But i must say that it is hard having 6 students a day that need 110 % attention.

I finished off the day with a 4 way hop n pop in 7000 feet and flying some relative flying with Bundy Kim and another canopy flyer here. its a perfect way to end a day and with a 10 knot downwind i got to make a pretty loong superman on the grass here in Perris. After we got home to the house both Thomas and I passed out in our room. Great but tiring day.

AFF Examination day

I will run out of power very soon so this will be short

I just made 4 Examination jumps today and passed with 311% out of 300 in 4 out of 5 jumps. So i am pretty happy we just need to pass theory tomorrow and i can call my self a AFF instructor.

More details will follow when i get more battery power on my laptop…  ;o)

Day 4 Spinning students and recovering of students on their back.

Today we are handling the BAD students and our instructors have started being not so nice.. The first 3 jumps have been with students spinning out of control. Peter also mend he was going to exit the plane on he’s back so both of us were in a bad freefall position but i recovered as planned and got him back into the right body position. the 4th and last jump for me today was students spinning or unstable on there back. It was a good feeling being able to be in the right place  and be able to turn the student 3 times after  him always turning on he’s back 3 seconds after releasing the student….

Time is now 22:00 and we are watching the British AFF instructors video of the day and I just been told that we are better instructors than the experienced ones on that video.  So our confidence on the team of Danish newcomers is pretty high..

SORRY still no pic we are simply too busy to take pictures but some will come later…..

Day 2 and 3 in Perris Aff training.

Day 2 : Sunday i made 5 AFF jumps With Thomas trying different exits and bad students its was fun flying being student and instructor. After the training we had ½ an hour in the tunnel with Kenneth Gadja coaching 15 min of basic flying and 15 min of AFF specific flying.

Day 3 : Monday first day of the AFF course we started out with level 3 jumps 2 instructors and the student.. it went pretty good and today i got the medal for best progression so i guess the tunnel really helped yesterday… after 4 jumps we finished jumping and some went to the tunnel to get more coaching.. I just wanted to relax  and jumped in my swoop pantz and went for a down winder on the grass. It was my best swoop here in my 90 velo ever and swooped all of the grass area. It actually was so good my hands was shaking after the jump “and THAT is what swooping is all about “

tomorrow we are going to jump more one on one to get the more difficult students on the right course…

If i wont write tomorrow it will be because we are pretty busy here and there is limited internet access…

1. day in Perris

ahh started out early and was on the first 7 loads getting the DZ and elevation dialed in again. The pond is nice and Bundy filled it up because he knew we were arriving..

After a short break i went on 7 jumps more with Peter and Kim its so easy to see none of us have been jumping much the last few days. but we are now back in the rhythm….

after the 14 swoops i went on 2 tracking jumps with Lasse who was going to fly the Birdman Impact tracking suit for the first time he also just went on he’s jump nr  100. Nicely done Lasse..

Tomorrow will be training for the AFF course and ½ an hour of tunnel with Kenneth as Coach…

California here I come again.

Its been a while since i Blogged last time but nothing really happened weather’s been bad and i only got around 20 jumps since Africa.

But now i am sitting here in a Boeing 747-400  again on my way to Los Angeles (Perris valley) again. The plan this time is to get settled in tonight, Get a full day of swooping tomorrow and then start with the AFFi training. I also Booked Kenneth Gadja to give me some tunnel training Sunday night, so i hopefully will be fit for fight, When Peter and Kim is going to mess around with us Monday to Friday and hope fully make the next 4 Danish AFF instructors out of us.

I am also really hoping for Performance engineering to get my RDS slider brought here to CA. I ordered it about 3 month ago but some mishaps happened and i still haven’t seen anything of it. Hopefully i will get some Pic to add tomorrow but for now this is it.

GPS setup a new way of swooping

The weather is getting more and more crazy here in Europe. That was also the case in the time after Christmas here in Denmark. We wanted the last jumps of the year and the pond was frozen so we really wanted to skydive and swoop the pond.

This day the clouds was a thick layer from 900 ft to 2000 ft, and above there was beautiful blue sky all the way up. So we got up and made a GPS spot and jumped out 500 m from the pond. Wearing a Foretrex 201 I was able to do my setup like I use to but still I was not able to see the pond until 5-7 sec before starting my turn in 750 ft. so it was pretty exiting. On the first jump I was a little too close on my setup point so didn't get the right angle to the pond but made a nice Lacy boy

On my second jump the pilot was a little late on the exit so got out on the wrong side of the pond so had to morrow the setup but its still pretty easy on the GPS its showing the direction to the pond on a Compass rose, the distance to the pond "waypoint" and the time with my current speed is also shown so its actually possible to calculate a pretty good setup. I have used it before but not under this real conditions. Normally I have been able to cheat because I could see the pond.

Of cause its not recommended to jump these conditions but sometimes you just got to jump and then its nice to know that the technology is there to help us. The most important thing!!! We got to swoop the frozen pond.

And just for those that don't have a GPS you can always just jump out below the clouds. (With a T-10)