How to Swoop a Parachute

These are only general instructions for swooping a parachute. You need to be a experienced skydiver/parachuting before trying to swoop a parachute.

Parachute swooping is a activity where parachutists fly high performance parachutes across the ground at high speed during the landing.

"Swooping is like combining NASCAR with Aviation, It's like being a Blue Angels jet pilot but with a parachute"...

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ram air parachute
• Parachuting harness
• Digital altimeter(s)
• Helmet
• Nerves of steel
• Guts

1. Jump out of the aircraft in a controlled manner and once your stable in the air deploy your parachute. Check to make sure your parachute has deployed correctly and stow your slider. Reposition yourself in the harness so it is sensitive to your body inputs and check your altitude with your altimeter. You need to constantly check your altimeter while flying the parachute and a digital altimeter is recommended. In fact, I recommended you wear TWO visible digital altimeters while swooping parachutes.

2. With your toggles (the controls) securely in your hands reach up and grasp your front risers. Start a turn with the parachute by leaning in the harness and after it begins to rotate slowly pull down one of the front risers in the same direction of the turn. Once you are at least halfway through the turn you then pull down the other front riser which will increase your angle of attack and help you control your "rate of turn".
   
   You can control your rate of turn by either pulling down both front risers which will cause you to lose more altitude with a slower rotation or you can let one of the front risers back up so you rotate faster. Toward the end of the rotation you need to line yourself up for landing using both front risers. At about the same time Shortly after lining yourself up you need to start slowly releasing both front risers using a "controlled release". If you notice you are losing too much altitude during the turn or your getting too "low" to the ground you will need to STOP THE ROTATION & QUICKLY RELEASE THE FRONT RISERS!
   
   *You need to practice your "set up" and the timing of your turn several times before attempting a parachute swoop landing*
   
   As the parachute gains speed from the turn it will create "lift" (upwards) so you will feel pressure building in the front risers. During each turn you must evaluate how long it takes for your parachute to reach the desired speed and how much altitude you lose in the process. You need to do several practice turns up high to get your "set up" for landing just right.

3. Using the information you learned while practicing you now need to determine your landing pattern and fly the parachute to your "initiation point". Once you reach your initiation point you need to start the sequence...
   
   *Double check your altitude at the initiation point
   
   *With your toggles securely in your hands reach up and and grasp the front risers.
   
   *Start leaning in the harness towards the direction you want to turn.
   
   *After the parachute starts to turn, slowly pull down a single front riser on the same side as the direction of the turn.
   
   *Halfway through the turn you should pull down the other front riser which will increase your angle of attack and allow you can control your rate of turn. Use both front risers to steer yourself out of the turn and onto the proper heading for landing.
   
   *After the rotation you need to start slowly releasing (a controlled release) both front risers to bring yourself out of the dive. If at anytime during the sequence you feel yourself too low to the ground then stop the rotation and release the front risers immediately!
   
   *Once the parachute is on final approach put your feet and knees together and place them under your buttocks or to the side.
   
   *As you come in for landing the parachute will have allot of extra speed (which you want) so prepare to "swoop" by keeping the parachute level with the ground as long as possible.
   
   *After you start to slow down you will no longer have enough speed to sustain level flight so you must pull down on the controls (toggles or rear risers) to continue to swoop. At the end of the swoop you will need to pull both toggles down near your hip and buttocks area before landing.
   
   *Enjoy your swoop across the ground and give only subtle inputs with the controls along the way. No sudden or jerky inputs on any of the controls at anytime!

Tips & Warnings

• The idea is to swoop as far and as fast as you can across the ground before landing.
• During the swoop you should only give as little input as necessary with the controls (rear risers or toggles).
• As the parachute losses speed (and lift) it will sink during the swoop.
• The more you sink from level flight is the more input you should give with the controls (rear risers or toggles).
• If your timing is off and you "flare" your toggles to early then you may sky rocket back up into the air which could cause a long hard drop back onto the ground.
• If your timing is off and you wait to long before flaring you may slide in on your buttocks or tumble end over end.
• If you start reaching for the ground with your feet to early and make contact with the surface you may be forced to land much earlier causing you to have to run very fast to stay on your feet.
• If you don't understand any of the terms used in this article then don't try this!
• You should be an experienced skydiver or parachutist to try this!
• Even if you are a experienced and a licensed parachutist you should still seek professional advice or one on one coaching.
• There is not one "set up" that is ideal for every approach and landing. The parameters are different for everyone all the time.
• Things that effect the set up for parachute pilots include (but are not limited to) their wing loading, parachute type, parachute size, wind speed, density altitude and more.
• You should practice this exercise up high dozens of times, if not hundreds of times, before attempting to parachute swoop.
• If you miss judge your approach, not turn high enough, over rotate your turn, let go of your controls or don't recover from the dive early enough you could impact the ground and kill yourself!
• Parachute swooping is the most dangerous form of skydiving/Parachuting known to man.
• The United States parachuting Association reports that more skydivers die each year from parachute landings than any other part of the sport.
• Modern parachute are shaped like wings. These wings are designed so air flows faster over the top than the bottom. As the velocity of air increases the pressure decreases and a low pressure system builds over the top of the wing "lifting" it upwards.
• If you are a parachutist and want to learn to swoop or this article has made you want to skydive then seek professional advice.
• Please check out www.canopypilotingschool.com for swoop training.
• PARACHUTE SWOOPING CAN BE ONE OF THE COOLEST, FUNNIEST AND MOST REWARDING ACTIVITIES TO DO BUT LIKE ALL OTHER FORMS OF AVIATION SPORTS ITS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS!

[wwvv2]

on 5/14/2009 Hey does anyone know who owns this video? I�m interested in licensing it for a TV show. Please email me at [e-mail] if you can help. Thanks! http://www.killsometime.com/video/video.asp?ID=386

[johngalt310]

on 3/25/2009 That's a lot of detail! I'll keep all of this in mind next time I'm in this situation. There's a first time for everything. Cool website in your profile too.