chachi

after reading the now locked thread of the jumper wishing to gain information on the difference between his old stilletto and his new xfire i wonder what most people think the benefit to the forums are. i personally think most use it to display there poor knowledge of canopies while inflating their need to police the populace because his original question was right on the money for what he should be asking. "Moving from a Stiletto 150 to a Crossfire 1 139. Anyone made this transition? Any thoughts on what to expect for major differences? Any neat excercises to practice on the new canopy?" in fact after i bought my new jvx i asked stu the same question as i know he spent time on a vx, the same canopy i was transitioning from. sticking to our current example we have one jumper passing on useful characteristical information while passing on suspect to say the least judgemental information. on the other side we have mostly opinions and statements on the ability of the canopy pilot to stay safe or lack of ability. how does this benefit the pilot needing information. how would have i handled it? i would have told the jumper all the charateristic differences that i could, as i have jumped both. i would have given an honest no shit advice on the need to get as much coaching as possible, talk to the best examples of consistent swoopers at his dz, do the hop 'n pops / high pulls, and to now consider that everything is going to happen MUCH faster and he will need to be aware of that. i would also tell him that high performace canopies will kill you no matter how lightly loaded or whether or not they stay away from the front riser or not. i mean really, he is buying this canopy to pull on the fronts. what more can you do on the internet? let's be honest with ourselves. the people coming in with these questions have already made their decisions. decisions that are going to be public knowledge by his dz (and probably S&TA), their friends, and their past instructors. who do you think you are going to accomplish coming in and telling someone they are not competent in this adult sport over the internet. very little i would imagine. so what would most benefit the jumper? information. pure and simple. my last piece of advice to anyone that reads this is that the swooping game is best not dabbled in. you will notice that all the best canopy pilots are total canopy pigs on most of their non working jumps. if you want to light up those landings i don't think you can "play" around and think you will stay safe, get consistant, and not potentially be a danger to yourself and others. people think because they use the canopy on every jump that it is the same as dedicating yourself to learning to freefly / wingsuit, RW, and the skill will just come. the ground will eventually catch up. while all the best pilots were canopy downsizing mavericks (including myself, a maverick not the best) i think the dedication is what kept these guys from becoming pancakes. would love to read any constructive criticism. trolls be gone.

my opinion is that if you don't want a "twitchy" canopy then don't get into xbrace or highly loaded wings. "twitchy" is a term used for responsive to weight shift and control change and that is the benefit of having the canopy when you are able to keep a handle on it.

ps. it's you're. you spell like you're 6, good thing you can swoop.... pps. cd is burned and in an envelope with your address, next step getting a stamp....

keep your eyes on where you're going to land and not where you want to put a foot down. you need to use your peripheral vision for touch down while flying your canopy to a landing. fixating on the water will cause you to fly into it. don't be afraid of getting wet, as everyone has said you need to setup further back than you initially think. if you don't you will be diving to steep to make the entry (gate) onto the pond.

then you would be throwing your money away so you might as well keep chipping on the internet.

like everyone didn't know who i was refering to in this post? wow....

If you're going to bitch at someone... It's really important to reply to the right person. t

forget removing your bag for now but an rds is a great solution vs. stowing it. it improves vision and takes no time at all to learn how to remove and stow. i concur with getting a pocket so you don't look like you have tits.

hey Ian, things are going good here, I did make a run that was 665ft. According to the gate siren I missed the gate, from someones eye they said it was within one inch, All morning during the speed event the siren did not sound for three or more peoples runs, They said it was to be fixed for the distance but I am not a believer. I thought I was in and upset to find out differently accordinbg to just a gate siren. There was lack of a video camera even with the gate for further verificaiton, and as you see in the video all the camera shots are from well 300-400 feet into the course. Its still not the world record, and wouldnt be even if I made it past that huge feat of 678. No chief judges or anything Hope this helps, see you boys soon this post of yours nick really conflicts with this... http://canopypiloting.tempwebpage.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=5463;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread great swoop, but didn't score the gate?

using the beeps as a warning of your altitude or using your neptunes visual component as a warning to your altitude are the same things. who the eff swoops by one alone anyhow. neptunes provide accurate height knowledge so that you can use all of your tools to make the gates. wether you hear the beep or see the altitude you are going to make the same decisions. either one should be considered standard equipment in a serious swoopers gear bag. fyi - jay mo swoops with beeps...

I am fairly sure you can do it. I was working on some harness stuff yesterday and we were discussing it. The maximum loading / deployment speeds were high. I imagine a slider for a VX and a RDS would be all you would need. It would fly to big to be fun for me so I doubt I will try it. My JVX 87 is way more fun out of the airplane.

well i know she lives in oregon and stu schoenfeld also lives there. she may be able to work out a good rate for some private camp. i know stu is really a whore....... one that knows his shit though.

if i was you at my current level i would try and work out how much it would cost to have stu join you somewhere warm for a few days.

while racing may have engine limiters the factory boys ALWAYS get the upgraded suspension, tires, and team to assist them in winning the day. while racing cars may not be the best comparison to canopy piloting there should be advantages to being a factory pilot. HMA was really the only difference in the stock velocity to the one the factory pilots were using and to be honest i can't believe someone just didn't measure their lines and go make an HMA set way before PD started selling them. or add length, or change the trim. there are no equipment checks so you have all the power to do what you will to make your canopy fly better. that said most of my comments were about marketing and how to sit in your arm chair and think you know the marketing of a canopy manufacturer and when is the right time to release a new canopy is silly.

no offense but it always amazes me when some average dude questions a companies marketing strategy when they well and truly have no clue. what you hear and what is the truth will forever be different and trying to pretend to understand the canopy market as an average skydiver is pretty far fetched to begin with. the reality is that as much as the velocity is the smallest part of their market share the spin off from having their pilots win is what they are after. all the katana's being sold, all the higer loaded sabre2's, that is the true market. pump people up to transition from their regular line to the top notch. if PD feels even for a second they are losing any momentum it is in their companies best interest to release the hounds so to speak. how do you think they can justify the tremendous cash outlay for the factory team? it is simple, because swooping is the most visible coolest thing in the sport and it drives parachute sales. i would also want to know how why you feel that if they have their competition pilots using them in competition how it constitutes an unfair advantage? the average guy can go buy a gsx1000 and compete in ama super bike but he would not have the same advantages of the factory bike. is he at an unfair advantage? yes but that's what becoming the best and factory sponsored allows you.

you should also do what you feel that you can do after a good self assesment. you are the pilot. lots of people went smaller and more aggresive than others and handled it fine. they are usually people that really understood what they were doing, got continuous coaching, and put real effort into it. if you feel your flying style could benefit from both a downsize and platform change to gain benefits in two different ares then do it.

no one on the internet is able to access whether you are ready for a new canopy or not. i will say that if you have satisfied billvon's downsizing checklist found here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=47 then you are probably better off than most. my advice will come if you do. before you go start hucking turns in a field ensure you have done suitable performace drills up high. go do hop 'n pop at full altitude and spend a couple skydives refining the same turn you do for swooping and figure out your altitude loss. then a hundred feet higher and start and work down. the crossfire is a progressive swooping canopy at any loading and you are already in the performance envelope that has the ability to really get yourself hurt. ask a couple af good pilots that you trust the opinion of and see if you're ready for the platform change, as well as a downsize.

I don't think that gender is a handicap, but my size definately does not play in my favour at all. Even with weights on, I am still loading a cross braced canopy at 1.65. Pathetic in the bigger scheme of things. I cannot keep up the guys under canopy and I cannot swoop as far (Just yet), so I would like the opportunity to see how I fare like against like. I am not super keen to add too many more weights, that can just get dangerous and I am not keen to put on weight (as a human) to increase my performance. Rock and a hard place - or rather a Featherweight division vs Heavyweight from jim slaton.. "Since 1999 I have been saying that the future of swooping (Canopy Piloting) will include weight classes and multiple wings. I am still saying this today and if it were entirely up to me there would have been weight classes this year (2006). The WSA voted and all agreed that there were not yet enough swoopers yet to justify "weight classes". I do not believe this but either way it is going to happen in the future." i think you will get your fair competitions soon as it seems others agree with your assesment.

aggie - wake up to the fact that there are differences to women and men in this sport and not all girls are a kaz sheeky, or a brit.

fuck, why don't you guys let Nick answer. or at least offer your opinion without the sarcasm. i think it is a relevant one as a lot of people believe in the value of new jumpers systematically reading the list to ensure they realize what they are getting into and more so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. fyi - people specifically stay off these boards because people can't not be " ____ " fill in your own word.

Sure, but why segregate? A swoop comp implies that they are inviting women who are currently swoopers. Thus its purely a segregation event with no other value. swoop competitions can come in a variety of formats and many women all over the world are swooping the gates but not wanting to get into the competitions the males are holding because they are so serious, lots are flying highly loaded x-brace canopies and maybe they aren't, and again i repeat women are generally intimidated. to hold a friendly competition where women, who are probably mostly friends at the dz can come out and compete in a comfortable environment may give them the confidence to join the nxt one the boys are having.

and while i have reservations about segregating competitions in this sport i am already planning a local womens only canopy competition at pacific skydivers next year for just these reasons.

Huh, Kat and Brit did really damned well in the TX CPC year before last. This past year Kat had movied and Brit was injured so they didn't compete. They're coming back and there's a few other women that have started swooping in TX so they can compete in the CPC. while it is nice that there are 2 women on the CPC many women in this sport are very intimidated by canopy flight and swooping in general. note, i said some in my original post and in truth it is many.