westcoastSD

No, but it means you can have fun in relative safety with such equipment, as long as you act in a relatively safe manner, avoid hazards and play within your capabilities. I did the hard yards with kiting on the flat and watching others and keeping within my skill set. Starting on mellow hills that were too mellow to take off but enough to practice launching in various wind strengths, I have also (knock on wood) never injured myself on the hundreds of flights I have done. I am also quite conservative but not an asshole that needs to have the latest and greatest to perform an activity. I started before there was any such thing as a speed wing, let alone the term. I suppose I should have waited for it to be invented by others that also used parachutes before trying? I never said a stiletto is a the best tool for the job. If you want some serious air time get a 20m paraglider. There is a lot of options between a full blown paraglider and a comp velocity to 'ground launch' with. Choose your own budget.

I have had a 100% success rate. I was probably flying an appropriate hill also...

It is an all sail JVX with not attachment point and an open nose. Only recently have they put the open nose on them. I agree they are for advanced only. I believe you are wrong. Nil wind launches are for experts, these are a little more difficult with a parachute bt as soon as you have a few knots on the nose a stiletto is fine. A 135 stiletto glides very well and very similar to a 12.5 and it is a 12.5 square metre wing. it reall depends on the terrain you have which glide ratio is best. Stiletto has the flattest glide and shortest line set out of all coomon parachutes these days. I am not a PD guy but I recommend a stiletto as being probably the mos appropriate parachute to speed fly with. I have experience doing so, in all conditions and on moderate to steep terrain. Saying someone needs to go and drop another few grand on gear before start int learn speed fly is ridiculous. Of course many sponsored instructors will suggest that is the case so they can offload gear onto new unsuspecting customers. when I first started there were not such thing as speed wings, we all flew just fine. yes there were some accidents but you are not immune to accidents on a speed wing. If you say that you should not speed fly on a parachute at all, you should not be speed flying as this is how the sport developed, and the designs are getting more and more parachute like every day. a 3:1 ratio is great, many mountains and hill have this. Mys suggestion for the OP is to use your stiletto, practice kiting first, use only mellow hills with no hazards to practice launching and move slowly and safely to higher hills. you will find you own limits. I find 5 knots on the nose is best for an easy take off... Be safe and if there is doubt with the condition go home and wait another day. I have hundreds of flights with parachutes from falcon 175 to JVX 84... they are fine to use, just don't be an idiot. idiot kills.

mine is an XL and I am medium to large usually...Probably because they are made in china..lol

You cannot jump a GLX you are correct, they do not have the binding tape and reinforced attachment points but apart from the open nose (which a stiletto has) a GLX is in every way a JVX. From airfoil to line trim. This was clarified to me by the nice fellows at NZAerosports, ask them yourself if you do not believe me. so yes my example does work and like in the skydiving scene I would not recommend someone to use a GLX first time or for their hundredth time unless they are already a seasoned canopy pilot. A speed wing does fly different, very different. That in itself brings it's own peril. If you fly any wing be it a paraglider or a parachute on the lee side you are looking to get spanked. I have witnessed a very close friend (quite experienced) do this on his paraglider in light winds. He is lucky to be alive. And that said, paragliding and speed flying wings would not exist without skydivers foot launching parachutes. Stilettos are more than appropriate than a JVX but you can still launch a JVX, I have done that too, simply do not turn yourself into the ground, just like you should never steer your car/mountain bike/skis off a cliff!

LOL nope. and for the dousches saying that ground launching a parachute is not appropriate... what do you think of the GLX? Is that apropriate?

Saffire 2

Why get a semi stow less bag when there are great stow less bags out there. The Axe from downward trend is the best out there. I have done hundreds with mine now, most from full height full terminal and have the best openings clean deployments and no rubber bands.

Hi have launched a stiletto 120 quite a few times and even on advanced hills flying with buddies that have dedicated speed wings... I have also used crossfire and various others. ST120 is like an 11.5 or so 135 is like a 14 or so. They glide similar but dive (much) more than a speed wing... if you are not giving big inputs you can use one just fine. I even launched with very little wind. I have always used parachutes for speed flying and speed riding, but have also used only steep hills. Stiletto is about as close to a speed wing as you can get by using a parachute. Short lines and short recovery arc, quite elliptical. be safe and have fun.

Hi, No I have the complete finding which at this point is private and confidential. I have had conformation from a master rigger that a strong rig with master reserve and cypres2 using a hop 330 (heavy for their size apparently) weighs... 24.8 kg and the pax harness 3.7kg total rig weight 28.5kg. 13.5 kg per rig heaver than stated on W&B 4 pax on board. cheers for all the input.

Hi Thanks for the input. 53lbs/24 kg for the entire system seems a little light from my experience. Though this is from the horses mouth. Are the student harnesses not around 5KG in themselves? Can anyone clarify this with an actual rig? Cheers. The finding I have is in relation to a fatal crash. The rigs were logged as weighing 15kg each... this tells me the W&B chart was bogus and this is more than an accident.

Hi there, I am interested in knowing the total weight of a strong tandem rig. with and without passenger harness. I have searched here and online and only can come up with allowed suspended weights etc... Specifically with a Hop 330 in it? or any 330 would be sufficient. This is in relation to an accident finding that I am dubious about. thanks in advance for any helpful information. cheers

Not True, The Icarus project was under the 'JYRO' brand for several years. Jyro himself said in an early/mid 90's PIA symposium that he was going to make an extreme 69, everybody laughed at him. This was before 'Icarus Canopies' came to be. Icarus was a model of parachute at that point in time, under the Jyro branding... I have flown a 1993 Icarus 'by JYRO' 105 it is a really aggressive square zp 9 cell... Spain came later, I don't know which year.

But realise, 'Fuck Yeah' is a slogan used by NZAerosports only. It is not offensive to most skydivers... NZAerosports had nothing to do with this incident. A good reason to support NZAerosports who developed the Icarus Project 20 years ago... Rather than these Spanish chumps that registered Icarus Canopies as a company in 2010... They can go be Badass on their 'Gayos'...

Well I am not surprised that after being at NZONE you want to get as far away as possible... they do not respect students or fun jumpers, they just want money and that is why they charge what they do... (not speaking about all the instructors just the company in general) If you want to gain good experience in a short period of time and with little financial input... Simple. Go to Lodi. In US$ AFF $1000 Jump tickets $13 (block of 50. Weather perfect all summer. Loads, plenty Experience? 50 years of it... For your 6k you could fullfill the requirements of a D license in a matter of a couple of months, you can camp on the DZ, you can get a job there, and you can come back to NZ with more jumps than the Parachute school kids in half the time for 1/4 of the money... Just saying... Lodi aint no dubai, but 6k won't get you far in Dubai. In Lodi it will get you hundreds of jumps in a couple of months. and you can a-camp-o for free.,, PM me if you want more info.

Sabre 150,,, PFFF. Yes maybe for the first few jumps back hire some gear of that size, but someone suggesting to buy a 150 sabre2 is ridiculous. You have over 1000 jumps. I recommend a crossfire 119 for you. They are a very predictable canopy, great openings, nice mellow glide ratio but can be swooped as well. I also recommend getting a used one as you will likely downsize relatively soon, the information on canopy piloting is massive out there so talk to some proficient swoopers and be prepared to forget everything you learned on your highly elliptical stiletto style canopy... Stilettos and the likes have been found to be the worst canopies for swooping progression as they recover too quickly and leave very little margin for error... Take your time and do some hop n pop's, get some coaching from a good coach. Welcome back!

Would you care to explain why I have been banned? I have not been informed of this information?

? Ok, so I will post in an appropriate thread... It is disturbing how ego allows one to overlook blatant misuse of authority.

As for your Nano-thermite call, take your head out of the sand. The explosive demolition hypothesis is proven beyond reasonable doubt. No matter how much you want to believe Islamists destroyed 3 skyscrapers with a couple of aeroplanes, I suggest you throw and aluminium can at a steel grill and see what happens. Meanwhile 12 years and a few trillion dollars later hundreds of thousands of middle eastern people (including many thousands of children)are dead and you probably think that is fair. You can go back to sleep now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIOC1J44RYw

Get a Crossfire. A much better intermediate canopy than a Katana. Katanas have a seriously step glide. A crossfire will treat you nice and get you back from long spots. No manufacturer has managed to make a canopy that competes in the intermediate market.

Well you and your buddies can think what you like, but in as little as 4 years this phenomenon has grown. Many places accept Bitcoin directly, the number is growing and Bitcoin can be traded for $ Euro$ or commodities. EVERYONE that purchased Bitcoin more than a week ago have made gains... only those that purchased at over $130 lost (but maybe even they will make gains in thehsort future, who knows)... Some bought for $0.20 https://www.spendbitcoins.com/places/ You may be able to say "I told you so" in a week, maybe I will be able to do so... The thing is, nobody knows. Faith in the status quo is dwindling.

What I am saying is, that guessing what the price of something will be in the future, slapping a contract on it and paying that price is gambling. You know this but are trying to avoid it. You my friend are a shill right now. The derivatives market is in a bubble, just like the stock market is in a bubble... or maybe you are in denial? These things burst and when that many people get it that wrong...the effects can be devastating. This puts the figures into perspective; http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/derivatives/bank_exposure.html For the record this is a random website, this chart has been used on several, this was the first I found it on.

Looks like you are caught up in the dogma created by the status quo. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Myths Nobody knows where this is going. These are not tulip bulbs.

I read you post and I am not trying to insult you. All I am saying is that no one can say with absolute confidence what is going to happen here. Central banking 'is' a ponzie scheme, derivatives is gambling. You know this. All these things are subject to failure and success. they will make some rich and others might lose everything. The difference with Bitcoin is it is a pure free market enterprise. The market will decide not some ass-holes in a board meeting. That is what I like about it.

I like the chart that only shows the crash, extend the chart back a couple of months and it paints a different story.