JohanW

Uhm, burble, uhm, very-low-speed-mal. You just don't know. Which works two ways, really. But I know I'd sure like my reserve PC to open those flaps on the ground. Johan. I am. I think.

If I may throw in another opinion, I do have a problem with a hundred jumps and liking to jump something more aggressive than a Springo. Or even as aggressive as, like a Springo. The lack of experience that comes from not having made a lot more than a hundred jumps calls for a canopy with a short recovery arc, and preferably a longer toggle stroke than a Springo (I've jumped one. It's .. interesting). It's easy to make a small mistake followed by an overly large correction and then finding yourself pointed at the ground in a dive that takes longer to recover than altitude allows. If you want to learn skills that will allow you to start learning to swoop later, much later, on, start by upsizing to a more docile canopy and learning to fly that. Practice accuracy, flying through the landing, crosswind landings, build experience, hang at the bar or the campfire, become a rounded skydiver. Take your time. Please. (Somewhere deep down, I still hope this is a troll.) Johan. I am. I think.

Man, I envy you. For the longest time, I could frontriser a canopy, but with harness input, I could only produce a turn rate far less than what I would get with a little bit of frontriser input. But it didn't worry me. And with you 'in the entry stages of [...] a years-long progression' maybe you can work hard at, learn a lot about and have fun doing what works .. for you. People I see, hear and read about flying ultra-high performance canopies have almost as many different techniques as there are pilots. Not all of them fly the same canopy, too. Why do you think that is? It's hard to give advice on an Internet forum, especially to a 320 lbs exit weight guy who'll be loading a student-size canopy at expert wingloading (I looked at the PD Stiletto loading chart for that statement). Canopies do not scale linearly. However, there is no reason to get into bad toggle habits now. Get canopy coaching, don't listen to what someone on duh Innernet says just because it's what you want to hear, and fly the living daylights out of that Safire, like no lighter jumper will ever be able to do. Have fun, be safe, Johan. I am. I think.

Ook ook! I'm not crazy, I can fly! -- Johan.

Just trying to take the original question seriously. The canopy will be overloaded, and it will handle badly. I suspect they'll handle comparably in that respect. Maybe I should have just unrecommended it. Johan. I am. I think.

Not that particular canopy, but I have flown a PD 9-Cell 150, loaded approx. 1.4. I suspect the 7-Cell handles comparably. Technique: pull on the frontriser. Dos: make sure your steering lines do not deflect the rear of the canopy when giving moderate front riser input. Don'ts: swoop. The canopy I flew could handle a little extra speed, which did improve the flare. But it did not cope with aggressive handling very well. It was definitely overloaded, and I always aimed for the gravel pit - better for your ankles. There are better canopies to swoop - lots better. Isn't there any way for you to lay hands on a used Sabre 1 150 or something? Or a Triathlon, if you prefer a 7-Cell? But if it's the only canopy you have, you can fly it, and land it. Carefully, because it is overloaded, and you will notice that. There are better tools for the job, but if all you have is a hammer .. Just don't hammer it in Johan. I am. I think.

Added to the calendar. (Who invented the three day weekend BTW?) Johan. I am. I think.

I had the reline done before I would sell it - to my teammate. Not taking any chances here. Johan. I am. I think.

Actually you can. You'll be thrown away from the canopy, feet into the relative wind. A perfect orientation for deploying a reserve canopy. It's kinda like cutting the string you're swinging a rock around on.....you know?My only cutaway so far has been from spinning twists. For half this thread, I've been wondering why people were referring to unstable reserve pulls in this situation. It's a stable stand-up, and it made for quite a nice reserve opening for me. Maybe there is a point to freeflying Johan. I am. I think.

Some time ago I heard about a two out with both canopies in a twist. While this may not count as fully 'aerodynamically challenged' it was definitely enough to get me to consider two-out scenarios beyond the normal 'flying straight and level.' This developed into either a side-by-side or a biplane, but apparently flew stable. It did, however, turn downwind, and the guy didn't like the speed over the ground, and chopped the main. The canopies entangled at first, then the main got away from the reserve, helped by the fact that there was only a single twisted strand of lines, and he managed to untwist his reserve before landing (downwind). I personally think he was lucky. So, yes, with one or both canopies in a twist, the resulting configuration might be stable. Based on this n=1 unplanned experiment, it would seem that a stable configuration, albeit with a twist, is better left alone. The probability of a stable configuration with either canopy having a line-over however seems astronomical. A line-over normally doesn't fly straight. Johan. I am. I think.

Hi Vibeke, it's 'that guy' again here, and let me clarify a little. No, of course I didn't mean for you to start doing full-contact CReW on your Sabre. You acquire the skills, the awareness, the reactions, the confidence, on a specific CReW-canopy; thereafter you might fly canopy RELATIVE with the Sabre, not necessarily canopy CONTACT. Bumping endcells, or giving center cell docks without having grips taken, should however not be too big of a problem with somebody who also knows what he's doing. Recreative CReW is good fun, reasonably safe, can be done on the bottom end of RW jumps, and will teach you a lot. Of course flying close to other canopies opens you up to certain risks. Discuss these with a CReW coach and manage them. Of course not coming anywhere near other canopies is safer than intentionally bumping into them. But it's not some idiotic risk. You might even buy the Spectre, do the CReW thing and swoop Johan. I am. I think.

You have some nice contradictions in your requirements. You want high performance but not high performance. No less-than-high performance canopy is going to have a long recovery arc. In my opinion, you do not want a Stiletto, Safire2 or Pilot because of the (short) recovery arc. You do not want a Sabre1 because of the (un)responsiveness. You also do not want any 7-cell, like the Spectre. Further suggestions include Katana, Samurai, Lotus and Sabre2. I'd add the Aerodyne Vision because I have not flown it, and not the PdF Springo because I have. A Crossfire2 may or may not be to your liking, it swoops but it might be higher performance than you like. You might also try a Paratec Faqtor, about which I know absolutely nothing. I say demo, demo, demo. I would also suggest not clinging to the longest recovery arc you can find to the exclusion of all other characteristics, because with a carving frontriserturn you can allow for enough margin even with a shorter recovery arc. You can of course hook it (too) low, but there are other options. It's always the pilot, remember? Oh, and do not buy anything now. Make those 100 jumps that would allow you to have more choice in canopies - on your current canopy, and learn to *really* fly it - do CReW, swoop it harder (yes, you can), fly it on all risers, work on your accuracy - and make as many of those jumps as possible on demo canopies, which will keep you from being bored. Lend, hire and steal as many different ones as you can, even designs that do not appeal to you and sizes that you think are too big, and find the good points of them. Every canopy has its niche - find it. It may not be your niche, but you'll learn tons. Johan. I am. I think.

Deployed a Techno 155, after cutting away from a spinning mal, in a feet-to-relative-wind position. Exit weight approx. 100 kg. (Subterminal) opening was good, not too hard, not too slow, no line twists, presumably on-heading. Handling was easy, flare was good. Stand up landing on the DZ, next to my freebag and chopped main. I'm keeping it. Johan. I am. I think.

Swooping as in inducing speed by frontrisering to final: Silhouette 170, W/L 1.25, approx. 150 jumps (yes, I did some toggle whips. yes, I knew better soon.) Surfing with the speed I had: probably the Balance 230 or the Navigator 220 I jumped before I had 100 jumps. W/L - you do the math. These days, I could probably get some mild surf out of a Manta 280, but I didn't have the technique then. (Edit: see my avatar for above mentioned Silhouette ) Johan. I am. I think.

Deploying in a huge burble - does this seem like an increased risk to anyone else? Sure, the video is way cool if everything goes well, but I seem to remember a video of a raft dive where one of the riders pulls (or is pulled), and the pilot chute is dancing around the raft for bloody AGES before miraculously finding clean air unsnagged and leaving. Can't be bothered to look it up, but it's out there somewhere. Johan. I am. I think.

And the DST uses 5' for the pros and the same 5' for everyone else. (This was a DST meet.) Johan. I am. I think.

When you say "almost" does that mean somewhere between downwind and crosswind or does that mean somewhere between upwind and crosswind? There was somewhere between downwind and crosswind. Johan. I am. I think.

See you there Jarno. Leaving tomorrow morning as early as we can make it. Which will be 'round ten Johan. I am. I think.

This is where the horseriding comes in. Riders know how to hold on with their knees, and might not need to hold on to the rig. No comment Johan. I am. I think.

I don't have any hard and fast number of jumps to take people along either. But it surely helps if they can ride a horse (a real one!), dragon2 (yes, that's her riding me in the avatar) tells me, and being cute, female and not too heavy helps as well. Johan. I am. I think.

The body position isn't all that bad, really. But I've seen that arm position somewhere before .. on a 2000 jump wonder just starting Birdman that got unrelaxed flying formation, and went back to his basic position - boxman. Flying anvil. Looks like you can't point your toes more really because the booties aren't any longer; there's nothing wrong with a slight dearch (or a even a whole lot sometimes) to increase fallrate and keep up with the big heavy guys, the scenery is also nice BTW, and the smile says enough, doesn't it? Formation flying is different from being the speck in the video, indeed. Johan. I am. I think.

Yep, that would be Mike. He's in Holland for the time being. Johan. I am. I think.

Entering YES makes you a BMI? Hey, I can be a BMI! Johan. I am. I think.

in the forum lists of posts, the Subject and Author are links. In the HTML source, the author has double identical opening tags before it, even though there is only one closing tag. (I noticed this because it used to take two s to go from post to post, and suddenly, since between now and appr. 12 hours ago, it's taking three.) Johan. I am. I think.

Buzz them? One sec, hold your breath while I make a few hundred more Birdmanjumps .. Frankly, I'm quite content to stand on the ground and gaze skywards