Canopy piloting (also known as swooping) encompasses several disciplines, all involving the flight of a

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, w ...

. "Swooping" is a form of canopy piloting associated with advanced skydiving. Given the close proximity to the ground during the various maneuvers, as an exhibition swooping is spectator friendly.

Records

World records that have been recorded and verified include{{cite web , url=http://www.fai.org/record-parachuting , title=Parachuting , publisher=Fai.org , accessdate=17 May 2013 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629231803/http://www.fai.org/record-parachuting , archivedate=29 June 2015 : :G-1-f1 : Distance - General - Canopy Piloting Records : 151.95m :Date of : 15 June 2012 :Parachutist(s): Nick Batsch (USA) :Canopy type: Daedalus JPX Petra :Course/place: Rockmart, GA (USA) :G-1-f2 : Speed over a 70m course - General - Canopy Piloting Records : 2.404 sec :Date of : 15 June 2012 :Parachutist(s): Greg Windmiller (USA) :Canopy type: PD Velocity :Course/place: Rockmart, GA (USA)

Contests

Pro Swooping Tour Professional competition

courses Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

mark the entry gates with wind blades stretching five feet tall, where some part of the pilot's body must break the imaginary line across the top of the entry gate pair, often only 30 feet apart. These types of landings are inherently more dangerous than normal landings. For competitors' safety, this is usually done over a "swoop pond", a shallow, artificial pond around three feet deep, that can be narrow and long. The goal of the canopy piloting competition is to negotiate courses that challenge different performance characteristics of both canopy flight and pilot skill.

Speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quant ...

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

and

accuracy Accuracy and precision are two measures of '' observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements ( observations or readings) are to their '' true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each o ...

are just three of the basic courses used at most competitions. On a freestyle course, competitors drag through a large body of water, or touch the surface with different body parts and in different positions while maintaining nearly constant contact with the water. Gaining popularity both with competitors and spectators, freestyle puts the canopy pilot in contact with water at high speeds, increasing the risk of a violent

impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

. Ground-launching and speed-flying are other forms of canopy piloting. These disciplines differ from swooping in that the canopy pilot flies his canopy in close proximity to the ground, descending a mountainside or other gradient or, in certain conditions, hovering several meters above the ground, much like a

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

pilot. These types of descents are longer in duration.

References

External links

Swoop Challenge - the first professional freestyle swooping competition in the world organized in the heart of a major city

The 2nd FAI World Championships in Canopy Piloting - 2008 at Pretoria Skydiving Club South Africa

www.canopypiloting.com Global Swooping Community

CanopyPiloting.net Air Sports of the third millennium

Pro Swooping Tour

PD Factory Team

Account of canopy piloting student
Parachuting

Records

Contests

See also

References

External links