WEBVTT
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Welcome to Speed Vector, the podcast dedicated
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to the art, risk, and obsession of speed flying.
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I'm your host, Victor Garcia, speed flyer, skydiver,
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cinematographer, Navy veteran, and full -time
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gravity junkie. Every week we dive into the lines
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we fly, the gear we trust, and the stories that
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push us past the ridge and into the void. Whether
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you're just learning to launch or chasing the
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perfect line, this is where speed flyers come
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to connect, learn, and stoke the fire. This is
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Speed Vector. what is up everybody welcome back
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to the speed vector podcast this is episode number
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17 and this is full sin friday episode 3 i was
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not sure what i was going to talk about this
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morning when i woke up but i knew i was going
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to do a podcast and thankfully the stars aligned
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and i have a pretty special pretty special show
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for you today so a man by the name of patrick
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hennessey if you don't know you should know He's
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an absolute living legend in the speed flying
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world. Also a really great guy. Posted something
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on his Instagram just about an hour ago that
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I think is worth reading. Not only everybody
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should go read it, but I think it's worth reading
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for the podcast. I actually haven't read the
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whole thing yet and I'm going to right now. So
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just bear with me. So it's a love letter to the
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speed flying community. Please read and share.
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Dear speed flying friends, if you haven't noticed,
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we've had a dramatic increase in injuries and
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deaths lately. I want to talk about it in hopes
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that we can all take a step back and make smarter
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choices. The reason I'm writing this is because
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I care about all of you as well as our reputation
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as pilots. I try to be a positive influence with
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my flying and love watching talented new pilots
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progress, but I want people to realize that I've
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slowly progressed over 14 years, not two. I flew
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a 14 -meter Frazier for four years before I started
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downsizing. I was also skydiving, packing parachutes,
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and learning to paraglide. I wanted to learn
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as much about canopies as I possibly could to
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be able to feel confident in my abilities. I
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see way too many pilots skipping those steps
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and just thinking they can do what they see on
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Instagram in one or two years. I've made mistakes
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as well, and I've had injuries, but I learned
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from them. Most of what I've been seeing lately
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is all very avoidable. If people would slow down
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to think about what they are doing and the consequences,
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if they should do it wrong, I feel like more
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of our friends would be with us today. I want
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everyone to really think about why they do this
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sport and what it means to them. For me, it's
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a form of meditation that allows me to be fully
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focused and connected with nature. to be fully
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focused and to make good decisions i have to
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be aware of what i might be going through in
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life if there is any kind of outside stress creeping
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in or keeping me rather from performing at that
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level then i will keep it chill or not fly at
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all if you are letting your ego or social media
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influence your decision making then you're definitely
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not flying for the right reasons if you've already
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if you are already thinking about how you're
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going to post it before you've even before you've
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even flown you're not doing it for yourself i
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highly suggest leaving the camera at home for
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a bit if that's the case i took a year off of
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using my gopro some years back and it was the
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best decision i've i've made or sorry goodness
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it was the best decision ever i know it's exciting
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and people get stoked on the adrenaline rush
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But letting your hunger for more adrenaline guide
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you is just going to get you in trouble. Ultimately,
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I want people to think about why they fly. If
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that reason helps promote good decision or bad
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decisions. Here are some basic tips on how to
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avoid other common accidents I've been seeing.
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Be meticulous with everything you do and always
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double check your equipment thoroughly before
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flying. I personally recommend getting good at
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looking up at your wing to check. that it looks
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proper before committing to launch. You can always
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stop and fix a problem before launching, but
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you can't always fix it in the air. Make a plan
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in your head before flying a line. Think about
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what could go wrong and what your backup plan
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would be if it does. Be really aware of the weather.
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Check for obstacles like cables or power lines,
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and if you don't like it, don't fly it. Know
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your abilities and stay well within them. It's
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better to be less confident. then you are capable
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versus being overly confident when you still
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have lots to learn. Lastly, don't let yourself
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feel like you're not cool because you didn't
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fly a line as deep as someone else or didn't
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get that swoop on the landing. You're fucking
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flying and that's cool enough without making
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it more dangerous. So please, friends, take your
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time with your progression. Maybe upsize your
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wing if you're feeling sketchy. Do it for yourself
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and not for anyone else. Think about your friends
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and loved ones and do your best to make good
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decisions. This sport can be done sustainably.
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In the end, it's up to you whether you want to
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make it dangerous or not. Much love and fly safe.
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Sincerely, Patrick Hennessy. Wow. Wow. That just
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gave me goosebumps like 10 times while I read
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that. And that was the first time I read it through.
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I read the first half of the first. slide basically
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and i stopped and i'm like you know what i'm
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gonna i'm gonna go set up the recording equipment
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real quick and and get this out because honestly
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like he's right and coming from that guy who
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is like at the top of the sport and has been
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i mean he said it himself he's been doing it
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for 14 years like the frazier 14 meter frazier
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are you kidding me for four years man he's talking
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to me He's talking to you. He's talking to everybody.
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And the post itself is interesting because he
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tags a lot of people, a lot of people that are
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at the top of the sport. I mean, he tags Jamie
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Lee. He tags a pro fleet pro speed fly school,
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which, you know, if you're not, I forget their
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names, I apologize. But if you're not familiar
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with them, I mean, they're also living legends.
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It's a husband, wife, I believe, or at least
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they're, you know, partners. I don't know. Um,
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and they're doing some awesome work. to get good
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information out there online, never in place
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of, you know, proper instruction in person. Right.
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I mean, you can only learn so much on YouTube,
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but it's not like how it used to be where, you
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know, if you wanted to teach yourself how to
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like forward launch, you would just try to find
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a clip of someone forward launching and then
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mimic it. I was that guy, you know, it's, it's
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easy to let ego get in the way. Of this stuff,
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because it's a very ego driven sport. All of
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these sports are. I mean, think about it like.
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You're willingly throwing yourself off a mountain
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with a tiny even in the bigger size is a tiny
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piece of nylon over your head, a bed sheet, essentially
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with some thin lines onto a backpack that reverses
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into a harness. And. were flying down these mountains
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and hooting and hollering the whole way. And
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it's awesome. But like, it takes some ego. And
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I am fully guilty of allowing ego to push me
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forward in a manner that maybe was irresponsible.
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And I fully take the blame for that. I've always
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prided myself in not allowing social media to
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be the driver for me. I'm also 33 years old,
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so I'm not old by any stretch. But compared to
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generations after mine, where social media was
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present from as early as they can remember, that's
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not the case for me. I remember when MySpace
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came out. I remember when Facebook came out.
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I was in high school. And it was cool. And then
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YouTube. you know, came out and it used to be
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totally different than it is now. I would say
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not even the same kind of platform. And now it
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is what it is. And I post my flights. And I've
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said on the podcast before that I post them as
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a way to look back on them in the future because
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it's easy to lose stuff in your camera roll.
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It's easy to lose stuff, you know, in the GoPro
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app or the Insta360 app. And it's just like a
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bulletin board. That's partly true. Sure. That's
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what I tell myself. But is that the truth? Maybe
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not. Maybe I want people to see that like, I'm
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cool. Or like, hey, look what I'm doing. I'm
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rad. Or even I'm way radder than you because
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this is what I'm doing. That's not how I feel,
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right? But what's the intention? It's a good
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question. Something to reflect on. Something
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I'm going to reflect on for sure. And does that
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mean that I'm going to stop posting stuff on
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my Instagram? No. Of course not. I'm going to,
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because like I said, like the main reason I do
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it is so I can go back and look at it in a year
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or next week or whatever. And I'm stoked on it
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because it's cool. It's a way to show yourself
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that you're progressing. It's a way to show your
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peers that you're progressing. I talked about
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this a little bit with Josh the other day on
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the last episode. And it's this, it's this. thing
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that humans do where we seek our peers approval
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and that's like ingrained in us it's not it's
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not something that you decide to do it's not
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like a choice it's like no that's just like human
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nature and it's it's okay right but you have
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to keep that in check you have to be mindful
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of that you have to be aware that you are seeking
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your peers approval Who are our peers? Our peers
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are our friends. Our peers are our family. Our
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peers are fellow pilots. Our peers are Instagram,
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TikTok, YouTube, maybe Facebook. I don't know.
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Maybe not anymore. So just be aware that your
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ego and your desire, your innate desire to be
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accepted by your peers is present. And do not
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ever find yourself on a launch where we're coming
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into swoop or flying a line where you are doing
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it for that. Just be aware of it, right? Because
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it's there. It's ever present. You're never going
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to get rid of that. It's ingrained in every single
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human being, being accepted by your peers. I
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don't know where I read it or where I heard it,
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and it could just be like hearsay, but I'm almost
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certain that it is like. one of the X amount
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of essential basic needs, right? Food, water,
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shelter, accepted by your peers. I don't know
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how accurate that is, but I honestly, like I
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wholeheartedly believe that like, of course,
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you know, and I came, I'm going to transition
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here a little bit, just through my head, trying
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to, there were some points that he made that
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I wanted to touch on. without going back and
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reading it again um and having not taken any
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notes having not read it prior to i'm just gonna
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kind of go for it here but sorry the dogs are
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probably barking at the mailman anyway um downsizing
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so i came from skydiving where i was flying a
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fairly small canopy close to 100 square feet
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um and i was doing small turns to swoop So 90s,
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sometimes 180s, working on 270s. I would say
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200 maybe, you know, 200 degree turns was pretty
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much like where I stopped and then started speed
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flying. And predominantly I was doing 90s and
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getting a decent swoop, right? And when I came
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to speed flying, I was swooping a 15 meter Spitfire
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further with the same turn. And then I was like,
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well, this is boring. Cause I want to fly faster.
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I want to swoop farther. I've exceeded the limitations
00:13:08.009 --> 00:13:11.509
of this wing. So I went from a 15 meter down
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to an 11 meter and that 11 meter was perfect.
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I felt like it wasn't, it wasn't hard to launch.
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It wasn't too fast, but it was way faster. And
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it wasn't like, I didn't, I never felt like I
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was behind the curve with that wing. I flew that
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probably like 150 flights. And then I took four
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months off for ski season, did a couple of speed
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ride days, but, but really I was skiing with
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a wing over my head. I was like working on just
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making turns with a wing over my head and not
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necessarily flying. So different, right? I mean,
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you're getting time under your wing, but totally
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different. And then I came back, um, ski season
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ended like mid April, at least for work. I kept
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skiing, but I wasn't going there every day for
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work. So I had more time to fly. I took. a month
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and a half off before i started working again
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and i did about a hundred flights on that 11
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and then i got a nine meter and i did about a
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hundred flights on that and then i started flying
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the line i did just under 50 flights on the line
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and broke my leg now i've reflected on this quite
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a bit over the last four months because and you
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guys have heard about it at nauseam if you've
00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:29.870
been listening since the beginning or if you've
00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:31.450
gone back and listened to previous podcasts,
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I blame it on the airbag for rolling me forward.
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But with that being said, had I been flying the
00:14:43.210 --> 00:14:49.789
11 meter, it would not have happened. So is it
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the wing's fault? No. At the end of the day,
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I take full responsibility. for mistakes that
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I make and for victories that I have when it
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comes to this sport. And I try to do that across
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my entire life because obviously, you know, taking
00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:13.659
responsibility for your actions is important.
00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:18.919
You know, you can't blame other things, but it
00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.080
is also important to reflect on why things happen
00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:25.860
or how, how they happened. One factor in my accident
00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:28.940
is that I was wearing a piece of gear that I'm
00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:32.600
not used to, and it rolled me forward as I was
00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:37.399
approaching coming to a stop. And so, yeah, that's
00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.340
a factor. But let's unpack that just a little
00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.659
bit further. What if it wasn't the airbag? What
00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:51.559
if it was my lack of appreciation or my lack
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.259
of understanding, my lack of knowledge, what
00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:59.039
that airbag would do? If I happen to try to like
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:04.299
slide on my butt, right? So it's my fault. That's
00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:06.580
what I'm saying. If I didn't have the airbag
00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.519
on, would that have happened? No. Had I been
00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.059
flying a bigger wing, would that have happened?
00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.899
No. Had I chosen to not fly anymore that day
00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:15.580
because it was getting thermic, which is what
00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:17.659
I should have done because it was getting thermic.
00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:18.980
The answer is no, it wouldn't have happened.
00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:23.340
But would something worse have happened down
00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:27.419
the line because I would have, continued on that
00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:32.019
progression path that rushed path it doesn't
00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:35.820
matter it truly doesn't matter you could be a
00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:38.820
sky god in the skydiving world doing you know
00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:43.820
eight twenties or whatever huge turns and swooping
00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.460
at a hundred miles per hour speed flying is different
00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:52.340
now that's obviously at the top end of skydiving
00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:57.129
you know swooping right So maybe it's maybe that
00:16:57.129 --> 00:17:02.049
person, you know, could potentially fly a small
00:17:02.049 --> 00:17:04.470
wing right out the gate. And I respect it. But
00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:09.369
for me, it was too quick. It was way too fast.
00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:14.930
Like, I enjoy so much the act of doing the sport
00:17:14.930 --> 00:17:20.150
of speed flying that it shouldn't matter if I'm
00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:27.410
flying a 15 meter or an 11. Or a 13 versus a
00:17:27.410 --> 00:17:31.089
nine, you know, or a line, which is significantly
00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:33.670
faster than a nine meter. Like, to be honest,
00:17:33.789 --> 00:17:35.769
I mean, it's, it's outrageously fast. It's super
00:17:35.769 --> 00:17:39.849
fun, but like outrageously fast. Like what's
00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:44.289
the rush? What is the rush? And I learned a huge
00:17:44.289 --> 00:17:48.910
lesson. And that is that you might think you're
00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:54.299
dialed. You might be current. But if you don't
00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:58.880
have thousands of reps and if you haven't like
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.380
nerded out over this stuff, which I have, right?
00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:03.519
But what I'm missing is the thousands of reps
00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.680
part. I'm approaching a thousand. Okay. Total
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:12.079
between skydiving and speed flying. But approaching
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.500
a thousand is not the same as thousands, right?
00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.880
I'm talking like plural, multiple thousands.
00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:24.470
Is it not cool to swoop 30 meters? versus 130
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:27.289
meters. Like, I'll tell you what, like the feeling
00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:30.029
of sweeping a line is insane. It is amazing.
00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:37.730
But at what cost? At what cost? I mean, it's
00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:41.470
nice putting a small wing into your stash bag
00:18:41.470 --> 00:18:45.549
after a flight. It's nice laying out a wing where
00:18:45.549 --> 00:18:47.529
it's so small that the lines don't touch the
00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:49.970
ground. Like, I love it, right? It's an awesome
00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:53.970
feeling. It's just easier. on the ground but
00:18:53.970 --> 00:18:57.950
as soon as you leave the ground you better know
00:18:57.950 --> 00:19:01.049
damn well what you're doing and you better be
00:19:01.049 --> 00:19:03.289
really freaking good at it and really second
00:19:03.289 --> 00:19:06.009
nature because i'll tell you right now i only
00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:08.789
broke my leg and i've been out for four months
00:19:08.789 --> 00:19:11.029
and it has been a very difficult four months
00:19:11.029 --> 00:19:13.549
in at times like i've had good moments right
00:19:13.549 --> 00:19:19.440
but my entire life stopped i mean Not my entire
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.500
life. My entire physical life stopped. I was
00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:26.059
on the couch with an above -knee cast in a crap
00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:29.559
ton of pain, by the way, for nine and a half
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:35.920
weeks. And then here I am four months later,
00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:40.339
you know, since injury, just learning how to
00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:43.500
walk, trying to build strength back up in my
00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.680
entire body, not just my leg. And I'm not saying
00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:49.559
it's not worth it. It is. It's totally worth
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:56.660
it. But I just broke my leg. It's just a leg.
00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:02.079
I didn't break my back. I didn't die. And what
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.480
I'm saying is that, what I'm trying to say is
00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.700
that I rushed my progression, which is what Patrick
00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:14.759
was talking about. It's not about, I think numbers
00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:19.480
matter in speed flying. But I think time matters
00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:24.660
more. And because we're so limited on time, what
00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:29.279
do I mean by that? I mean, like, how long is
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.859
your average speed flight? A minute, minute and
00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:34.500
a half. Big flight, minute and a half. It's huge.
00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.680
My average flight is probably 45 seconds. And
00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.299
I'm ripping. Like, in the terrain, carving turns,
00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.910
around obstacles. Swooping 100 meters, going
00:20:48.910 --> 00:20:53.670
70 miles per hour. My hair's on fire. My feet,
00:20:53.750 --> 00:20:58.230
my shoes are smoking. I wish. Maybe not, actually.
00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.250
That's not a lot of time. It really isn't. Just
00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:05.470
add it up, man. Look at your logbook. Think back.
00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:11.089
How many flights do you have? Times it by 45
00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:14.630
seconds. Divide by 60. Whatever the math is.
00:21:14.769 --> 00:21:18.140
It's not a lot of time. So one to two years of
00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:20.220
flying, one to two years is not a lot of time.
00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:24.619
I'm a baby in this sport. I'm young. And I'd
00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:27.680
like to do this for the next 20 years at least.
00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:34.799
So what's the move? Upsize. Take a step back,
00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.859
right? Reflect. Be intentional about what you're
00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:44.099
doing. Double, triple check that all of your
00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:47.009
gear is good before you leave the ground. Like
00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:49.269
Patrick said, get used to looking up at your
00:21:49.269 --> 00:21:51.269
wing and making sure it's good before you launch.
00:21:51.349 --> 00:21:53.549
You can do that. You can do that on a zero launch
00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:57.250
or zero wind launch. You could potentially do
00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:58.809
it on a cliff launch. I wouldn't recommend doing
00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:00.809
it. I wouldn't recommend cliff launching, but
00:22:00.809 --> 00:22:06.589
you could glance up. Get your eyes used to looking
00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:10.690
up at your wing and making sure that your lines
00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:12.769
are good. Making sure you don't have a stick
00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:17.690
caught in, you know. Your lines. Make sure you
00:22:17.690 --> 00:22:19.470
don't have a tension knot. You can see all of
00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:21.789
this. It's very obvious. And you can feel it,
00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:23.470
but normally you don't feel it until you're in
00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:27.630
the air. Make sure your trim is equal before
00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:30.289
you leave the ground. Before you even start your
00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:33.549
launch. Make sure that your carabiners are locked
00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:37.309
and correctly oriented. Make sure you don't have
00:22:37.309 --> 00:22:40.710
a twist in your risers. Make sure you don't have
00:22:40.710 --> 00:22:47.079
a twist in your lines. Lay your wing out. Even
00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:50.180
if it's windy and it keeps blowing around, lay
00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:53.299
it out perfectly. Does it take an extra two minutes?
00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:59.839
Just be diligent because it can all change in
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.700
an instant. And I'm telling you, it's not fun
00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:06.160
when it happens. And I just broke my leg. There
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.900
have been a lot of accidents this summer. A lot.
00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:14.589
Across the world. Obviously a lot in Europe because
00:23:14.589 --> 00:23:16.829
it's a hotbed. There's a lot of pilots there,
00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:18.130
a lot of people flying there, a lot of people
00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:21.289
traveling to fly there. There's been a lot of
00:23:21.289 --> 00:23:25.069
accidents in the U .S. There have been deaths.
00:23:26.910 --> 00:23:34.369
Don't be a statistic. Listen to Pat. Take my
00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:37.930
advice for what it's worth. Understand that I'm
00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:41.680
young in this sport. I'm young in... skydiving.
00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.700
I've only been at it for five years and I haven't
00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:45.740
even jumped in the last year. So like I've only
00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.660
been doing canopy sports technically since 2015,
00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:50.720
which would be 10 years, but I took like a four
00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.599
year gap. So, uh, I just count from 2020. So
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.680
young understand who is passing this information
00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.019
to you and understand that I'm not pulling this
00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:04.400
stuff out of my butt. That's why I don't get
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:08.859
on here and preach. Like I'm the bees knees.
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:11.980
Like I'm the the savior of speed flying. Like
00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:15.420
I know my place in this sport. My intention with
00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:17.900
this podcast is to have guys on like Patrick
00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:22.740
that and Todd and Josh and like these people
00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:25.599
that like have been doing this stuff for a long
00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.059
time that have seen a lot and that beat the odds,
00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.759
right? Because they did it right. And Patrick
00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.599
even said in the, in his post, like he's been
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.700
hurt. He's been injured. He's been on the receiving
00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:41.079
end of this, but he learned from him. So learn
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:43.279
from your mistakes, even if they're small mistakes,
00:24:43.579 --> 00:24:46.940
even if you get away with it, even if you don't
00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:50.559
even get a bruise. Learn from your mistakes.
00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:55.319
Don't make them twice. Be diligent. And remember,
00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.920
like, this is for fun. We do this because it's
00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:05.059
fun. So don't make it not fun. That's super deep,
00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:07.700
right? We do it for fun. Don't make it not fun.
00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:12.200
It's true, though, right? Like don't, don't take
00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.980
an awesome day and make it the worst day of your
00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:18.099
life or your friends and family's lives. Because
00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:20.880
at that point you've crossed the line of it being
00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:26.740
fun to it being stupid and not worth it. He said
00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:29.839
this sport can be done sustainably. And I wholeheartedly
00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.119
agree with that. And what he means is it can
00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:35.839
be done safely. It can be done properly. But
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.240
when you make bad decisions. When you hastily
00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:43.859
downsize, when you get in over your head, that's
00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:48.640
when it becomes super dangerous. And my hope
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:55.519
is that you, the listeners and me, that we are
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.420
never in a position where we're backed into a
00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:00.400
corner and we have to do something that we've
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:02.720
never done before to get out of it alive or in
00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:10.789
one piece. Yeah. Strong words. I was going to
00:26:10.789 --> 00:26:12.410
talk about some other stuff today, but I honestly
00:26:12.410 --> 00:26:15.029
think I'm just going to leave it at that. Let
00:26:15.029 --> 00:26:17.130
that resonate a little bit. I'm going to reflect
00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:18.849
on it. I'm going to go back and read it again
00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:25.849
and do some reflecting. And I can promise you
00:26:25.849 --> 00:26:29.430
that you won't see me flying a small wing for
00:26:29.430 --> 00:26:34.450
a while. I'm going to try to pull some strings,
00:26:34.569 --> 00:26:37.490
maybe do some big. bargaining and pleading for
00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:40.410
a bigger wing. And, and I'm going to have a damn
00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:43.710
good time because it's going to be within my
00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:47.809
ability level, my experience level, and it doesn't
00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:50.170
eliminate all risk, but it does slow it down
00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:54.130
a little, which I think it just gives you more
00:26:54.130 --> 00:27:00.529
time to correct mistakes and to have fun. And
00:27:00.529 --> 00:27:02.809
remember that's, like I said, that's what this
00:27:02.809 --> 00:27:05.170
is all about. That's why we do this. It's fun.
00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:10.160
It's awesome. It's an amazing feeling. And my
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:14.599
hope is that you never lose that. And that the
00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:18.119
reason that you do this sport is that reason.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:21.839
Because you love it. And you can't imagine not
00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:26.799
doing it. That's where I'm at. All right, guys.
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.000
Until next time. Thanks so much for being here.
00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.480
Welcome to Speed Vector, the podcast dedicated
00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.679
to the art, risk, and obsession of speed flying.
00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:12.160
I'm your host, Victor Garcia, speed flyer, skydiver,
00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:15.320
cinematographer, Navy veteran, and full -time
00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:18.359
gravity junkie. Every week we dive into the lines
00:00:18.359 --> 00:00:21.420
we fly, the gear we trust, and the stories that
00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.500
push us past the ridge and into the void. Whether
00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:26.640
you're just learning to launch or chasing the
00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.940
perfect line, this is where speed flyers come
00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:32.659
to connect, learn, and stoke the fire. This is
00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:54.429
Speed Vector. what is up everybody welcome back
00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:57.329
to the speed vector podcast this is episode number
00:00:57.329 --> 00:01:02.369
17 and this is full sin friday episode 3 i was
00:01:02.369 --> 00:01:04.469
not sure what i was going to talk about this
00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:06.209
morning when i woke up but i knew i was going
00:01:06.209 --> 00:01:08.790
to do a podcast and thankfully the stars aligned
00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:13.810
and i have a pretty special pretty special show
00:01:13.810 --> 00:01:18.109
for you today so a man by the name of patrick
00:01:18.109 --> 00:01:21.640
hennessey if you don't know you should know He's
00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:23.700
an absolute living legend in the speed flying
00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.939
world. Also a really great guy. Posted something
00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:30.799
on his Instagram just about an hour ago that
00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.500
I think is worth reading. Not only everybody
00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:37.939
should go read it, but I think it's worth reading
00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:40.379
for the podcast. I actually haven't read the
00:01:40.379 --> 00:01:43.980
whole thing yet and I'm going to right now. So
00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:46.900
just bear with me. So it's a love letter to the
00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.000
speed flying community. Please read and share.
00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:53.060
Dear speed flying friends, if you haven't noticed,
00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.200
we've had a dramatic increase in injuries and
00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.819
deaths lately. I want to talk about it in hopes
00:01:57.819 --> 00:02:00.879
that we can all take a step back and make smarter
00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:03.959
choices. The reason I'm writing this is because
00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:07.579
I care about all of you as well as our reputation
00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:10.939
as pilots. I try to be a positive influence with
00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.599
my flying and love watching talented new pilots
00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:16.319
progress, but I want people to realize that I've
00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:20.340
slowly progressed over 14 years, not two. I flew
00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:23.780
a 14 -meter Frazier for four years before I started
00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:27.159
downsizing. I was also skydiving, packing parachutes,
00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:29.659
and learning to paraglide. I wanted to learn
00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:33.139
as much about canopies as I possibly could to
00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:36.120
be able to feel confident in my abilities. I
00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.180
see way too many pilots skipping those steps
00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:42.199
and just thinking they can do what they see on
00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:44.960
Instagram in one or two years. I've made mistakes
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.680
as well, and I've had injuries, but I learned
00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.740
from them. Most of what I've been seeing lately
00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:54.180
is all very avoidable. If people would slow down
00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:57.099
to think about what they are doing and the consequences,
00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:59.919
if they should do it wrong, I feel like more
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.159
of our friends would be with us today. I want
00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.800
everyone to really think about why they do this
00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.479
sport and what it means to them. For me, it's
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:10.479
a form of meditation that allows me to be fully
00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.069
focused and connected with nature. to be fully
00:03:13.069 --> 00:03:15.710
focused and to make good decisions i have to
00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:18.370
be aware of what i might be going through in
00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:21.750
life if there is any kind of outside stress creeping
00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:25.729
in or keeping me rather from performing at that
00:03:25.729 --> 00:03:29.009
level then i will keep it chill or not fly at
00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:32.590
all if you are letting your ego or social media
00:03:32.590 --> 00:03:35.409
influence your decision making then you're definitely
00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:39.599
not flying for the right reasons if you've already
00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.080
if you are already thinking about how you're
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.759
going to post it before you've even before you've
00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:47.599
even flown you're not doing it for yourself i
00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.419
highly suggest leaving the camera at home for
00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:52.759
a bit if that's the case i took a year off of
00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.740
using my gopro some years back and it was the
00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:58.780
best decision i've i've made or sorry goodness
00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:02.099
it was the best decision ever i know it's exciting
00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:04.560
and people get stoked on the adrenaline rush
00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:06.900
But letting your hunger for more adrenaline guide
00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:09.860
you is just going to get you in trouble. Ultimately,
00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:13.580
I want people to think about why they fly. If
00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:15.800
that reason helps promote good decision or bad
00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:19.660
decisions. Here are some basic tips on how to
00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.660
avoid other common accidents I've been seeing.
00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.699
Be meticulous with everything you do and always
00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:27.399
double check your equipment thoroughly before
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:31.519
flying. I personally recommend getting good at
00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.449
looking up at your wing to check. that it looks
00:04:34.449 --> 00:04:38.490
proper before committing to launch. You can always
00:04:38.490 --> 00:04:40.790
stop and fix a problem before launching, but
00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:43.389
you can't always fix it in the air. Make a plan
00:04:43.389 --> 00:04:45.870
in your head before flying a line. Think about
00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:48.189
what could go wrong and what your backup plan
00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:51.449
would be if it does. Be really aware of the weather.
00:04:51.769 --> 00:04:54.769
Check for obstacles like cables or power lines,
00:04:54.970 --> 00:04:57.990
and if you don't like it, don't fly it. Know
00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:00.730
your abilities and stay well within them. It's
00:05:00.730 --> 00:05:04.529
better to be less confident. then you are capable
00:05:04.529 --> 00:05:07.009
versus being overly confident when you still
00:05:07.009 --> 00:05:11.389
have lots to learn. Lastly, don't let yourself
00:05:11.389 --> 00:05:13.709
feel like you're not cool because you didn't
00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:16.610
fly a line as deep as someone else or didn't
00:05:16.610 --> 00:05:19.189
get that swoop on the landing. You're fucking
00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:21.410
flying and that's cool enough without making
00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:24.490
it more dangerous. So please, friends, take your
00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:26.889
time with your progression. Maybe upsize your
00:05:26.889 --> 00:05:29.290
wing if you're feeling sketchy. Do it for yourself
00:05:29.290 --> 00:05:32.110
and not for anyone else. Think about your friends
00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:34.610
and loved ones and do your best to make good
00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.269
decisions. This sport can be done sustainably.
00:05:37.670 --> 00:05:40.310
In the end, it's up to you whether you want to
00:05:40.310 --> 00:05:43.709
make it dangerous or not. Much love and fly safe.
00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:51.610
Sincerely, Patrick Hennessy. Wow. Wow. That just
00:05:51.610 --> 00:05:54.850
gave me goosebumps like 10 times while I read
00:05:54.850 --> 00:05:56.870
that. And that was the first time I read it through.
00:05:56.930 --> 00:06:00.879
I read the first half of the first. slide basically
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.220
and i stopped and i'm like you know what i'm
00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:05.839
gonna i'm gonna go set up the recording equipment
00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.220
real quick and and get this out because honestly
00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:13.920
like he's right and coming from that guy who
00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.740
is like at the top of the sport and has been
00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:19.139
i mean he said it himself he's been doing it
00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:23.680
for 14 years like the frazier 14 meter frazier
00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:28.379
are you kidding me for four years man he's talking
00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:31.629
to me He's talking to you. He's talking to everybody.
00:06:33.069 --> 00:06:35.069
And the post itself is interesting because he
00:06:35.069 --> 00:06:37.610
tags a lot of people, a lot of people that are
00:06:37.610 --> 00:06:40.129
at the top of the sport. I mean, he tags Jamie
00:06:40.129 --> 00:06:43.310
Lee. He tags a pro fleet pro speed fly school,
00:06:43.449 --> 00:06:45.329
which, you know, if you're not, I forget their
00:06:45.329 --> 00:06:47.529
names, I apologize. But if you're not familiar
00:06:47.529 --> 00:06:51.589
with them, I mean, they're also living legends.
00:06:52.129 --> 00:06:54.170
It's a husband, wife, I believe, or at least
00:06:54.170 --> 00:06:56.009
they're, you know, partners. I don't know. Um,
00:06:56.089 --> 00:06:59.899
and they're doing some awesome work. to get good
00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:02.740
information out there online, never in place
00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:05.379
of, you know, proper instruction in person. Right.
00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:07.000
I mean, you can only learn so much on YouTube,
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.779
but it's not like how it used to be where, you
00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:14.639
know, if you wanted to teach yourself how to
00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.040
like forward launch, you would just try to find
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:18.480
a clip of someone forward launching and then
00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:25.860
mimic it. I was that guy, you know, it's, it's
00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:28.670
easy to let ego get in the way. Of this stuff,
00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:32.990
because it's a very ego driven sport. All of
00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:35.550
these sports are. I mean, think about it like.
00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:39.870
You're willingly throwing yourself off a mountain
00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:43.490
with a tiny even in the bigger size is a tiny
00:07:43.490 --> 00:07:47.490
piece of nylon over your head, a bed sheet, essentially
00:07:47.490 --> 00:07:52.649
with some thin lines onto a backpack that reverses
00:07:52.649 --> 00:07:58.069
into a harness. And. were flying down these mountains
00:07:58.069 --> 00:08:01.050
and hooting and hollering the whole way. And
00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:06.509
it's awesome. But like, it takes some ego. And
00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:13.990
I am fully guilty of allowing ego to push me
00:08:13.990 --> 00:08:20.050
forward in a manner that maybe was irresponsible.
00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:25.189
And I fully take the blame for that. I've always
00:08:25.189 --> 00:08:27.649
prided myself in not allowing social media to
00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:31.329
be the driver for me. I'm also 33 years old,
00:08:31.389 --> 00:08:34.909
so I'm not old by any stretch. But compared to
00:08:34.909 --> 00:08:39.610
generations after mine, where social media was
00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:43.090
present from as early as they can remember, that's
00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:46.090
not the case for me. I remember when MySpace
00:08:46.090 --> 00:08:49.289
came out. I remember when Facebook came out.
00:08:49.330 --> 00:08:52.750
I was in high school. And it was cool. And then
00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.990
YouTube. you know, came out and it used to be
00:08:55.990 --> 00:08:59.029
totally different than it is now. I would say
00:08:59.029 --> 00:09:02.750
not even the same kind of platform. And now it
00:09:02.750 --> 00:09:06.289
is what it is. And I post my flights. And I've
00:09:06.289 --> 00:09:08.690
said on the podcast before that I post them as
00:09:08.690 --> 00:09:10.690
a way to look back on them in the future because
00:09:10.690 --> 00:09:12.649
it's easy to lose stuff in your camera roll.
00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:14.429
It's easy to lose stuff, you know, in the GoPro
00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:18.389
app or the Insta360 app. And it's just like a
00:09:18.389 --> 00:09:22.309
bulletin board. That's partly true. Sure. That's
00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:25.830
what I tell myself. But is that the truth? Maybe
00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:29.450
not. Maybe I want people to see that like, I'm
00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:32.049
cool. Or like, hey, look what I'm doing. I'm
00:09:32.049 --> 00:09:35.929
rad. Or even I'm way radder than you because
00:09:35.929 --> 00:09:38.529
this is what I'm doing. That's not how I feel,
00:09:38.570 --> 00:09:41.870
right? But what's the intention? It's a good
00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:43.309
question. Something to reflect on. Something
00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:48.429
I'm going to reflect on for sure. And does that
00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:50.789
mean that I'm going to stop posting stuff on
00:09:50.789 --> 00:09:53.250
my Instagram? No. Of course not. I'm going to,
00:09:53.269 --> 00:09:55.669
because like I said, like the main reason I do
00:09:55.669 --> 00:10:00.289
it is so I can go back and look at it in a year
00:10:00.289 --> 00:10:03.990
or next week or whatever. And I'm stoked on it
00:10:03.990 --> 00:10:06.529
because it's cool. It's a way to show yourself
00:10:06.529 --> 00:10:09.850
that you're progressing. It's a way to show your
00:10:09.850 --> 00:10:12.470
peers that you're progressing. I talked about
00:10:12.470 --> 00:10:16.509
this a little bit with Josh the other day on
00:10:16.509 --> 00:10:21.070
the last episode. And it's this, it's this. thing
00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:25.409
that humans do where we seek our peers approval
00:10:25.409 --> 00:10:29.629
and that's like ingrained in us it's not it's
00:10:29.629 --> 00:10:31.289
not something that you decide to do it's not
00:10:31.289 --> 00:10:33.389
like a choice it's like no that's just like human
00:10:33.389 --> 00:10:37.070
nature and it's it's okay right but you have
00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:38.909
to keep that in check you have to be mindful
00:10:38.909 --> 00:10:43.210
of that you have to be aware that you are seeking
00:10:43.210 --> 00:10:46.580
your peers approval Who are our peers? Our peers
00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:48.440
are our friends. Our peers are our family. Our
00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:50.659
peers are fellow pilots. Our peers are Instagram,
00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:54.940
TikTok, YouTube, maybe Facebook. I don't know.
00:10:55.279 --> 00:11:02.740
Maybe not anymore. So just be aware that your
00:11:02.740 --> 00:11:10.000
ego and your desire, your innate desire to be
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.029
accepted by your peers is present. And do not
00:11:13.029 --> 00:11:17.169
ever find yourself on a launch where we're coming
00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:22.529
into swoop or flying a line where you are doing
00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:26.009
it for that. Just be aware of it, right? Because
00:11:26.009 --> 00:11:28.169
it's there. It's ever present. You're never going
00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:30.690
to get rid of that. It's ingrained in every single
00:11:30.690 --> 00:11:34.750
human being, being accepted by your peers. I
00:11:34.750 --> 00:11:36.330
don't know where I read it or where I heard it,
00:11:36.370 --> 00:11:38.289
and it could just be like hearsay, but I'm almost
00:11:38.289 --> 00:11:42.059
certain that it is like. one of the X amount
00:11:42.059 --> 00:11:45.539
of essential basic needs, right? Food, water,
00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.059
shelter, accepted by your peers. I don't know
00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:51.179
how accurate that is, but I honestly, like I
00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:54.419
wholeheartedly believe that like, of course,
00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:00.000
you know, and I came, I'm going to transition
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.559
here a little bit, just through my head, trying
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.580
to, there were some points that he made that
00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:06.679
I wanted to touch on. without going back and
00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:09.279
reading it again um and having not taken any
00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.940
notes having not read it prior to i'm just gonna
00:12:11.940 --> 00:12:17.019
kind of go for it here but sorry the dogs are
00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:24.200
probably barking at the mailman anyway um downsizing
00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.340
so i came from skydiving where i was flying a
00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:29.899
fairly small canopy close to 100 square feet
00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:35.840
um and i was doing small turns to swoop So 90s,
00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.279
sometimes 180s, working on 270s. I would say
00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:45.740
200 maybe, you know, 200 degree turns was pretty
00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:49.000
much like where I stopped and then started speed
00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:53.139
flying. And predominantly I was doing 90s and
00:12:53.139 --> 00:12:56.080
getting a decent swoop, right? And when I came
00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.559
to speed flying, I was swooping a 15 meter Spitfire
00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.639
further with the same turn. And then I was like,
00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:04.870
well, this is boring. Cause I want to fly faster.
00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:08.009
I want to swoop farther. I've exceeded the limitations
00:13:08.009 --> 00:13:11.509
of this wing. So I went from a 15 meter down
00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:14.690
to an 11 meter and that 11 meter was perfect.
00:13:14.970 --> 00:13:17.950
I felt like it wasn't, it wasn't hard to launch.
00:13:18.269 --> 00:13:22.009
It wasn't too fast, but it was way faster. And
00:13:22.009 --> 00:13:25.009
it wasn't like, I didn't, I never felt like I
00:13:25.009 --> 00:13:29.649
was behind the curve with that wing. I flew that
00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:34.649
probably like 150 flights. And then I took four
00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:37.409
months off for ski season, did a couple of speed
00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:40.309
ride days, but, but really I was skiing with
00:13:40.309 --> 00:13:42.169
a wing over my head. I was like working on just
00:13:42.169 --> 00:13:44.149
making turns with a wing over my head and not
00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:47.230
necessarily flying. So different, right? I mean,
00:13:47.269 --> 00:13:48.889
you're getting time under your wing, but totally
00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:52.909
different. And then I came back, um, ski season
00:13:52.909 --> 00:13:56.529
ended like mid April, at least for work. I kept
00:13:56.529 --> 00:13:58.509
skiing, but I wasn't going there every day for
00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:01.639
work. So I had more time to fly. I took. a month
00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:03.480
and a half off before i started working again
00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:07.820
and i did about a hundred flights on that 11
00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:11.539
and then i got a nine meter and i did about a
00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:13.559
hundred flights on that and then i started flying
00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:19.580
the line i did just under 50 flights on the line
00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:24.580
and broke my leg now i've reflected on this quite
00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:26.480
a bit over the last four months because and you
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:28.120
guys have heard about it at nauseam if you've
00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:29.870
been listening since the beginning or if you've
00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:31.450
gone back and listened to previous podcasts,
00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:37.889
I blame it on the airbag for rolling me forward.
00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:43.210
But with that being said, had I been flying the
00:14:43.210 --> 00:14:49.789
11 meter, it would not have happened. So is it
00:14:49.789 --> 00:14:54.809
the wing's fault? No. At the end of the day,
00:14:54.929 --> 00:15:00.940
I take full responsibility. for mistakes that
00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:05.500
I make and for victories that I have when it
00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:08.240
comes to this sport. And I try to do that across
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:12.059
my entire life because obviously, you know, taking
00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:13.659
responsibility for your actions is important.
00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:18.919
You know, you can't blame other things, but it
00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.080
is also important to reflect on why things happen
00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:25.860
or how, how they happened. One factor in my accident
00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:28.940
is that I was wearing a piece of gear that I'm
00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:32.600
not used to, and it rolled me forward as I was
00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:37.399
approaching coming to a stop. And so, yeah, that's
00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.340
a factor. But let's unpack that just a little
00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.659
bit further. What if it wasn't the airbag? What
00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:51.559
if it was my lack of appreciation or my lack
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.259
of understanding, my lack of knowledge, what
00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:59.039
that airbag would do? If I happen to try to like
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:04.299
slide on my butt, right? So it's my fault. That's
00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:06.580
what I'm saying. If I didn't have the airbag
00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.519
on, would that have happened? No. Had I been
00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.059
flying a bigger wing, would that have happened?
00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.899
No. Had I chosen to not fly anymore that day
00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:15.580
because it was getting thermic, which is what
00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:17.659
I should have done because it was getting thermic.
00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:18.980
The answer is no, it wouldn't have happened.
00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:23.340
But would something worse have happened down
00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:27.419
the line because I would have, continued on that
00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:32.019
progression path that rushed path it doesn't
00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:35.820
matter it truly doesn't matter you could be a
00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:38.820
sky god in the skydiving world doing you know
00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:43.820
eight twenties or whatever huge turns and swooping
00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.460
at a hundred miles per hour speed flying is different
00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:52.340
now that's obviously at the top end of skydiving
00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:57.129
you know swooping right So maybe it's maybe that
00:16:57.129 --> 00:17:02.049
person, you know, could potentially fly a small
00:17:02.049 --> 00:17:04.470
wing right out the gate. And I respect it. But
00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:09.369
for me, it was too quick. It was way too fast.
00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:14.930
Like, I enjoy so much the act of doing the sport
00:17:14.930 --> 00:17:20.150
of speed flying that it shouldn't matter if I'm
00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:27.410
flying a 15 meter or an 11. Or a 13 versus a
00:17:27.410 --> 00:17:31.089
nine, you know, or a line, which is significantly
00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:33.670
faster than a nine meter. Like, to be honest,
00:17:33.789 --> 00:17:35.769
I mean, it's, it's outrageously fast. It's super
00:17:35.769 --> 00:17:39.849
fun, but like outrageously fast. Like what's
00:17:39.849 --> 00:17:44.289
the rush? What is the rush? And I learned a huge
00:17:44.289 --> 00:17:48.910
lesson. And that is that you might think you're
00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:54.299
dialed. You might be current. But if you don't
00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:58.880
have thousands of reps and if you haven't like
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.380
nerded out over this stuff, which I have, right?
00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:03.519
But what I'm missing is the thousands of reps
00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.680
part. I'm approaching a thousand. Okay. Total
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:12.079
between skydiving and speed flying. But approaching
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.500
a thousand is not the same as thousands, right?
00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.880
I'm talking like plural, multiple thousands.
00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:24.470
Is it not cool to swoop 30 meters? versus 130
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:27.289
meters. Like, I'll tell you what, like the feeling
00:18:27.289 --> 00:18:30.029
of sweeping a line is insane. It is amazing.
00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:37.730
But at what cost? At what cost? I mean, it's
00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:41.470
nice putting a small wing into your stash bag
00:18:41.470 --> 00:18:45.549
after a flight. It's nice laying out a wing where
00:18:45.549 --> 00:18:47.529
it's so small that the lines don't touch the
00:18:47.529 --> 00:18:49.970
ground. Like, I love it, right? It's an awesome
00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:53.970
feeling. It's just easier. on the ground but
00:18:53.970 --> 00:18:57.950
as soon as you leave the ground you better know
00:18:57.950 --> 00:19:01.049
damn well what you're doing and you better be
00:19:01.049 --> 00:19:03.289
really freaking good at it and really second
00:19:03.289 --> 00:19:06.009
nature because i'll tell you right now i only
00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:08.789
broke my leg and i've been out for four months
00:19:08.789 --> 00:19:11.029
and it has been a very difficult four months
00:19:11.029 --> 00:19:13.549
in at times like i've had good moments right
00:19:13.549 --> 00:19:19.440
but my entire life stopped i mean Not my entire
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.500
life. My entire physical life stopped. I was
00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:26.059
on the couch with an above -knee cast in a crap
00:19:26.059 --> 00:19:29.559
ton of pain, by the way, for nine and a half
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:35.920
weeks. And then here I am four months later,
00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:40.339
you know, since injury, just learning how to
00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:43.500
walk, trying to build strength back up in my
00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.680
entire body, not just my leg. And I'm not saying
00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:49.559
it's not worth it. It is. It's totally worth
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:56.660
it. But I just broke my leg. It's just a leg.
00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:02.079
I didn't break my back. I didn't die. And what
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.480
I'm saying is that, what I'm trying to say is
00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.700
that I rushed my progression, which is what Patrick
00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:14.759
was talking about. It's not about, I think numbers
00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:19.480
matter in speed flying. But I think time matters
00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:24.660
more. And because we're so limited on time, what
00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:29.279
do I mean by that? I mean, like, how long is
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.859
your average speed flight? A minute, minute and
00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:34.500
a half. Big flight, minute and a half. It's huge.
00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.680
My average flight is probably 45 seconds. And
00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.299
I'm ripping. Like, in the terrain, carving turns,
00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.910
around obstacles. Swooping 100 meters, going
00:20:48.910 --> 00:20:53.670
70 miles per hour. My hair's on fire. My feet,
00:20:53.750 --> 00:20:58.230
my shoes are smoking. I wish. Maybe not, actually.
00:21:00.250 --> 00:21:03.250
That's not a lot of time. It really isn't. Just
00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:05.470
add it up, man. Look at your logbook. Think back.
00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:11.089
How many flights do you have? Times it by 45
00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:14.630
seconds. Divide by 60. Whatever the math is.
00:21:14.769 --> 00:21:18.140
It's not a lot of time. So one to two years of
00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:20.220
flying, one to two years is not a lot of time.
00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:24.619
I'm a baby in this sport. I'm young. And I'd
00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:27.680
like to do this for the next 20 years at least.
00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:34.799
So what's the move? Upsize. Take a step back,
00:21:34.859 --> 00:21:38.859
right? Reflect. Be intentional about what you're
00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:44.099
doing. Double, triple check that all of your
00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:47.009
gear is good before you leave the ground. Like
00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:49.269
Patrick said, get used to looking up at your
00:21:49.269 --> 00:21:51.269
wing and making sure it's good before you launch.
00:21:51.349 --> 00:21:53.549
You can do that. You can do that on a zero launch
00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:57.250
or zero wind launch. You could potentially do
00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:58.809
it on a cliff launch. I wouldn't recommend doing
00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:00.809
it. I wouldn't recommend cliff launching, but
00:22:00.809 --> 00:22:06.589
you could glance up. Get your eyes used to looking
00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:10.690
up at your wing and making sure that your lines
00:22:10.690 --> 00:22:12.769
are good. Making sure you don't have a stick
00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:17.690
caught in, you know. Your lines. Make sure you
00:22:17.690 --> 00:22:19.470
don't have a tension knot. You can see all of
00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:21.789
this. It's very obvious. And you can feel it,
00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:23.470
but normally you don't feel it until you're in
00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:27.630
the air. Make sure your trim is equal before
00:22:27.630 --> 00:22:30.289
you leave the ground. Before you even start your
00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:33.549
launch. Make sure that your carabiners are locked
00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:37.309
and correctly oriented. Make sure you don't have
00:22:37.309 --> 00:22:40.710
a twist in your risers. Make sure you don't have
00:22:40.710 --> 00:22:47.079
a twist in your lines. Lay your wing out. Even
00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:50.180
if it's windy and it keeps blowing around, lay
00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:53.299
it out perfectly. Does it take an extra two minutes?
00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:59.839
Just be diligent because it can all change in
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:01.700
an instant. And I'm telling you, it's not fun
00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:06.160
when it happens. And I just broke my leg. There
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.900
have been a lot of accidents this summer. A lot.
00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:14.589
Across the world. Obviously a lot in Europe because
00:23:14.589 --> 00:23:16.829
it's a hotbed. There's a lot of pilots there,
00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:18.130
a lot of people flying there, a lot of people
00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:21.289
traveling to fly there. There's been a lot of
00:23:21.289 --> 00:23:25.069
accidents in the U .S. There have been deaths.
00:23:26.910 --> 00:23:34.369
Don't be a statistic. Listen to Pat. Take my
00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:37.930
advice for what it's worth. Understand that I'm
00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:41.680
young in this sport. I'm young in... skydiving.
00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.700
I've only been at it for five years and I haven't
00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:45.740
even jumped in the last year. So like I've only
00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.660
been doing canopy sports technically since 2015,
00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:50.720
which would be 10 years, but I took like a four
00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.599
year gap. So, uh, I just count from 2020. So
00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:58.680
young understand who is passing this information
00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.019
to you and understand that I'm not pulling this
00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:04.400
stuff out of my butt. That's why I don't get
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:08.859
on here and preach. Like I'm the bees knees.
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:11.980
Like I'm the the savior of speed flying. Like
00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:15.420
I know my place in this sport. My intention with
00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:17.900
this podcast is to have guys on like Patrick
00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:22.740
that and Todd and Josh and like these people
00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:25.599
that like have been doing this stuff for a long
00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.059
time that have seen a lot and that beat the odds,
00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.759
right? Because they did it right. And Patrick
00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.599
even said in the, in his post, like he's been
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.700
hurt. He's been injured. He's been on the receiving
00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:41.079
end of this, but he learned from him. So learn
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:43.279
from your mistakes, even if they're small mistakes,
00:24:43.579 --> 00:24:46.940
even if you get away with it, even if you don't
00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:50.559
even get a bruise. Learn from your mistakes.
00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:55.319
Don't make them twice. Be diligent. And remember,
00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.920
like, this is for fun. We do this because it's
00:24:58.920 --> 00:25:05.059
fun. So don't make it not fun. That's super deep,
00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:07.700
right? We do it for fun. Don't make it not fun.
00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:12.200
It's true, though, right? Like don't, don't take
00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.980
an awesome day and make it the worst day of your
00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:18.099
life or your friends and family's lives. Because
00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:20.880
at that point you've crossed the line of it being
00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:26.740
fun to it being stupid and not worth it. He said
00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:29.839
this sport can be done sustainably. And I wholeheartedly
00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.119
agree with that. And what he means is it can
00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:35.839
be done safely. It can be done properly. But
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.240
when you make bad decisions. When you hastily
00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:43.859
downsize, when you get in over your head, that's
00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:48.640
when it becomes super dangerous. And my hope
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:55.519
is that you, the listeners and me, that we are
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.420
never in a position where we're backed into a
00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:00.400
corner and we have to do something that we've
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:02.720
never done before to get out of it alive or in
00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:10.789
one piece. Yeah. Strong words. I was going to
00:26:10.789 --> 00:26:12.410
talk about some other stuff today, but I honestly
00:26:12.410 --> 00:26:15.029
think I'm just going to leave it at that. Let
00:26:15.029 --> 00:26:17.130
that resonate a little bit. I'm going to reflect
00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:18.849
on it. I'm going to go back and read it again
00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:25.849
and do some reflecting. And I can promise you
00:26:25.849 --> 00:26:29.430
that you won't see me flying a small wing for
00:26:29.430 --> 00:26:34.450
a while. I'm going to try to pull some strings,
00:26:34.569 --> 00:26:37.490
maybe do some big. bargaining and pleading for
00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:40.410
a bigger wing. And, and I'm going to have a damn
00:26:40.410 --> 00:26:43.710
good time because it's going to be within my
00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:47.809
ability level, my experience level, and it doesn't
00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:50.170
eliminate all risk, but it does slow it down
00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:54.130
a little, which I think it just gives you more
00:26:54.130 --> 00:27:00.529
time to correct mistakes and to have fun. And
00:27:00.529 --> 00:27:02.809
remember that's, like I said, that's what this
00:27:02.809 --> 00:27:05.170
is all about. That's why we do this. It's fun.
00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:10.160
It's awesome. It's an amazing feeling. And my
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:14.599
hope is that you never lose that. And that the
00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:18.119
reason that you do this sport is that reason.
00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:21.839
Because you love it. And you can't imagine not
00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:26.799
doing it. That's where I'm at. All right, guys.
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.000
Until next time. Thanks so much for being here.
