HUPRA

Yup, get a Katana!

I heard NZ Aerosports are aiming to release the Crossfire-3 in the first quarter of 2017, and the Crossfire-X sometime after that.

I've seen them before but AFAIK one must be a prior military airborne type to be accepted to jump with them. A friend of mine did the "Bridge Too Far" jump with them on the 60th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden and also D-Day (IIRC). He's the one who told me that Pathfinder Group will not accept those who are not prior airborne. Perhaps he was misinformed? Anyway... mh . I'm pretty sure they will take civvies with no prior military service.

I've done a few static line round jumps with the military; they are definitely different to sports freefall jumps. Having done them I wouldn't pay to do more, though I could understand paying once for novelty value. For added realism aim to land in trees..... There is a group based in the UK that does them; the guy who runs it, Roy, is an ex-Para. http://www.pathfindergroupuk.com

I put a TST slider on my VE 90 which seemed to improve the openings a bit. It's a lot easier to put back on then most other removable sliders as well.

So I'm in the process of filling my skydiving calendar for the next 12 months and wondered if there are any events of boogies in Hawaii? I found the funjumpers Facebook page but couldn't find any events. Thanks

Not enough information... I'm planning on jumping my 107 since I feel I have more to learn on it. I was thinking that in next 100 jumps I would look at another canopy Total jumps? 750 Jumps on canopy? 170 and before 200 on a katana 120 Currency? 170 in last 12 months 2 Brian Germain canopy corses, flight 101 and 102 and a local canopy course in last 4 years Proficiency? I could say I hav a natural flying soul coming from other flying sports like pilot full scale ect . I'm not landing 270 on the gound I only practice them up high. I'm comfortable with front riser 90s and have been filmed doing them many times and it's looking good. "Safe" Aspirations? Maybe compete one day on a non serious level meaning I'm fine with last place :) What's the most important to me is going home at the end of the day and not the hospital or morg Depending on the answers to these and other questions, the best advice could vary widely - and might even include up-sizing. I downsized from a Katana 120 @ 1.7 to a Velo 90 @ 2.2 at around the 800 jump point and found it seemed reasonable. Most of my jumps are CP focused hop n pops and I was pretty consistent at hitting gates with a 270 on my Katana before the downsize, also done about 12 canopy courses and did it under the advice of two CP coaches. I'd recommend getting some more coaching and get your 270s squared away on your 107, then try a Velo 90 or similar.

Cheers Gilead1. Hmm, I want to demo one before deciding to order one I think!

Just whats on the NZ Aerosports page at the moment: http://www.nzaerosports.com/news/64/ http://vimeo.com/111820591

What? They are both referring to when the brakes are stowed- so naturally there would be some brake applied on opening and then subsequently doing a rear riser turn. From what they are describing it sounds as though maybe one side of the canopy stalled, similar to when you bury a toggle and hold it there on some canopies. I guess with the brake already partially applied it would increase the AoA of the wing?

Hey Cetti, what sort of approach are you doing? If it is double fronts and you are confident with them maybe speak to your canopy coach about working on 90s? As for different types of canopy, try a Sabre 2 or a Safire 2.

Okay thanks for the replies! The canopy has around 800 jumps on it and had been jumped in a humid area where the topskin was taking a bit of wear from people lying on it packing (the canopy is white)

I am considering buying a second-hand canopy which has had the topskin replaced on its centre cell. I will definitely be test jumping the canopy before buying, however I've never heard of this before and was curious to know if this is very common and if there is anything that I should look out for with a repair such as this? Thanks

Many thanks guys; I'll check them out.

Does anyone use a coccyx protector for canopy piloting? If so, where do you get one? Thanks

My personal opinion is that 1.4 is a bit light for a Crossfire and you'd be better off with the Safire at that loading. I jump a Crossfire 2 129 loaded just under 1.6 which may be a touch on the light side, tried a 119 @ 1.7 and it felt a lot happier loaded a bit more. Edit: Also jumped a 139 @ 1.45 and it had a pretty good flare at that loading.

As rob pointed out. It isn't widely used. As I pointed out it is sometimes used. Not all paratroopers in large formation are getting training on the old (can't believe I just said that) -1 or the MC6/SF10/FS10 variants. However even in the bigger units they are occasionally exposed. In times past they even had to go to school. 99 percent of the time they are jumping a T10D or T11. Cheers. Thanks for the clarification, jumped MC-1 at Ft Bragg and assumed it was widely used....

The MC-1 is steerable; I was under the impression that it is pretty widely used by US Airborne units?

I found 380-400ft was about optimal for 90s on my Sabre II loaded at 1.45. Not sure about holding double fronts for 8 secs as I was under the impression that you'd only be accelerating up to maybe 4-5 secs doing straight double fronts, maybe try a slow carving turn after 3 secs, and then speeding the turn up for the second 45 degrees? Or, better, get coaching from someone qualified.

First 18 jumps on Manta 280/260s@1.7 19-30: Navigator 200@1.0 30-65: Sabre II 190@1.05 65-103: Sabre 170@1.17 103-150: Pulse 150@1.3 150-300: Sabre 150@1.3 300-480: Sabre II 135@1.45 480-present: Crossfire II 129@1.55

Agreed, I recently had two friends injured on the same jump; one with a broken ankle and one with fractured vertebra.

I was on a Nick Batsch canopy camp recently where he mentioned leaning forward in the harness as a method of shortening the recovery arc slightly, not sure of the science behind it though....

I'd stick with the Sabre personally; I found the front risers on a Storm (loaded @ 1.48) to be pretty heavy and my Sabre 2 felt like it went further. The recovery arc felt slightly shorter on the Storm but I didnt put many jumps on it.

What about for Canopy Piloting? Some of the more HP canopies are able to exceed the firing speeds of Speed Cyprus....

Absolutely you can, and if the OP feels content on that canopy then crack on and get one. I would argue though that most jumpers don't stay at a wingloading of 0.85 for long and buying a canopy to put 20 jumps on it may be quite expensive. I'm not an instructor and don't have many jumps so take this advice how you will......