monkeyKam

Brian has been installing what he calls, "Slocks" (Slider Locks). They're very simple little reinforced do-dads made of Dacron line pulled through itself and then bartacked (to stiffen), then bartacked on the inside of the front risers, just above the attachment points. As for the measurements and specifics, feel free to call us at Big Air: 813.788.4444. I've been using them for quite a while now and they work perfectly. After opening, I cinch up the slider, pull it down past the toggles and such, and the rear slider grommets are held in place below the front grommets, which are pulled and locked below the stiffened Dacron thingy. So simple and much easier than the loop things on the rigs, methinks. Velcro loop thingies on the neck of your suit are a bad idea, in case of a cut away. Besides, it's really annoying when people pull and stick the Velcro in the plane on the way to altitude. Hope that was helpful. Andy www.bigairsportz.com "I drank what?" --Sophocles

>> Short risers = shorter lines (Not shorter lines, but shorter distance from jumper to canopy) >> = faster turns, longer dives This is incorrect. The principles in the following examples are true regardless of canopy size and pilot size. They just may not be as noticable with certain combinations of wingloading. The LONGER the distance between that imaginary point in your body where the risers would meet if they continued down from the attachment points to the bottom of the canopy, the longer the recovery arc (the amount of altitude required to swing the pilot back under the canopy after a dive). Take it to an extreme: Imagine having 50 ft. lines on your canopy. It will take much longer for you to swing back under your canopy from a dive with the ludicrous-long lines. On the other end of the spectrum, imagine having 3 foot lines: You would swing back under your canopy very quickly with ridiculously short lines. Brian Germain lengthened the lines on the Sensei to allow a longer recovery arc specifically for swooping. The Samurai has shorter than normal lines (compared to other canopies in its class) to make it more peppy and agile in turns (more fun). Sorry that was so long.

Brian Germain does canopy flight and control seminars, which cover everything from the terminology used in canopy and wing design to concepts in parachute aerodynamics and swooping. He recently wrote a quick article on swooping (a little note about his thoughts on fine tuning the swoop for maximum power): http://www.bigairsportz.com/article.php?filename=swoop-thoughts.php We're working on a full dictation of one of his seminars, which will be posted on the Big Air web site soon. Regardless, be careful. Swoop safely and blue skies! Andy "I drank what?" --Sophocles

Oh... Also, also... The picture page on the web site is coming. In all the whirlwind of building and designing, I kinda forgot it. I have to convert some code from another site I did last year for the photo gallery. Email me if you have questions or comments or ideas for the new web site: andy@bigairsportz.com. Please come to our tent at Rantoul. We'll answer all your questions there. "I drank what?" --Sophocles

First of all, thank you guys so much for the great kudos on our canopies! You guys rock and if it weren't for you, we would all have real jobs. Ha! Also, thanks for the kudos on the web site! I hope it serves everyone well. There's more coming (Flash-based canopy coloring thingy, on-line demo requests, on-line service request forms, etc.), but I wanted to get the old one outta there as quickly as possible. You know, now that I think about it, when you talk about the web site, every feature is "on-line." Duh. I've been working late. Sorry. Just to be certain... There isn't really a for-certain release date on the Sensei or Shogun (other canopies will be coming, too). So, nobody soil your armor, just yet. If you guys don't mind, I'll address the questions I see here (if I find them all) and do my best. Brian is in Europe, right now, so if I can't answer it properly, I won't and I will defer to him for Rantoul. About the colors on the Sensei... Makes sense, right? Besides, adding custom colors to a canopy that is already by far the most complex canopy to build... I think those who need it will understand. You'll still look good, too! The market may be full of crossbraces, but there aren't any like this one, yet. Oh, yeah, Baby! We will be building the Sensei in-house. Let me re-phrase that: BRIAN will be personally building Senseis until we get more sewers up-to-speed on the manufacturing process. Price on the Sensei: $1,995. $650 deposit. The orders are first-come, first-served. The list is already forming. I can't tell you how quickly these will be delivered, just that we will build them as quickly as is humanly possible. Sizes on the Sensei: That's a Brian question. What I can tell you is that Brian's exit weight is around 190 and he prefers the 91. Why? Not sure, but his swoops and shutdowns are amazing. Why is 71 the smallest size? Because 71.4 sounded too snooty and too technical. Scott C: (Hi, by the way!

Assuming you're talking about BirdMan-style suits, not camera suits with wings... Does the wingsuit induce unwanted or uncontrollable harness shift? If so, then I guess any higher performance canopy that is sensitive to harness inputs would not be an ideal choice. If the wingsuit isn't a factor at all in making harness inputs during opening, then I would say airlocks or crossbraces on the right canopy design are an excellent idea. If there is technology available to make your wing more rigid and less prone to distortion, why wouldn't you use it? Seriously. But what is the answer to the question above? I'm curious, as I've never use a wing suit. Thanks 2,000 lbs.! (a ton, get it?) (sorry) Andy "I drank what?" --Sophocles

Just as another aside (if I may): For official reference: http://www.bigairsportz.com/germain-airlocks.pdf Fun note: The actual patent certificate issued to Brian is hanging in our shop in Z-Hills.

Yeah, you're right, Sporto... "Pleasantly Wingloaded" is better than "fat." "I drank what?" --Sophocles

Hey Kelly! Yep, flying a 105 Sam. The optimum loading for a Sam is about 1.8. My fat ass is well suited for a 105. Also yep, I'm the Marketing Director at Big Air. It's a dream job, for sure. As for the Sensei, I'll keep you all informed, believe me. I just chimed in here to stop any rumors or run away stories. Later! Andy "I drank what?" --Sophocles

- The Sensei is still in testing stages. - Brian Germain and Mike Swanson are THE test jumpers. - There have been 4 prototypes to date (by my count; don't quote me). Brian built a new prototype just before the Red Bull swooping thing at Z-Hills a week or two ago. - We have not published an OFFICIAL release date or even mentioned how soon it might be released, yet (stay tuned). Brian is VERY particular about releasing canopies or calling a canopy ready for production. - We are working very hard to get the Sensei ready for release and production, so bear with us.

I've been jumping a Jedei 136 since 1996, so I'm very familiar with Brian's airlock system. I won't buy canopies without them, now. I've jumped plenty of other high performance canopies (PD, Icarus, Precision) in my 8 years and 2000 jumps. I chose the Samurai based on my experience with my Jedei and my complete trust in Brian Germain's ability to design a great flying canopy. I'm not a radical hook turn kinda guy, nor do I plan on competing in swooping competitions (other than the local pond swoops for fun and money), but I do know how to swoop a canopy well. I understand control input (toggles, risers, and harness) and high performance flight under my canopy. I've also spent many an hour with Brian over the years on the phone and in person in order to improve my skills. So, take all this for what it's worth. :) I load my Samurai 105 at almost 1.9. My Sam 120 is loaded at around 1.6. Both are VERY responsive with rear risers, the front risers are soft and easily held for long turns (unlike my Jedei 136, which tended to pull me up in the harness after it gained enough speed), and the toggles are soft and just slightly mushier than my Jedei. The Sams are very receptive to harness shift. After opening, I typically fly myself around using only harness input while I look around and stow things (slider, camera settings, etc.). I fly camera on all of these canopies and the openings agree with camera very well. The Sams open quickly, but softly and on heading every time. They open very much the same subterminal, too. I've filmed quite a few flag jumps under my Sam 120 and it opened great right out the door. Following canopy formations and flags is a breeze (no pun intended). The easy control inputs make it easy to fly for long periods of time while holding breaks or risers. Under a Sam 105, it's a piece of cake to buzz around someone flying a fat F111 canopy with a gigantic flag flowing behind. I had a great opportunity to fly the Sam 120 side-by-side with a Crossfire 119. The two of us were actually doing CRW this particular day (which is not recommended with microline, by the way, so don't do it if you don't know what you're doing) (hell, you shouldn't do it when you DO know what you're doing!). Dale and I are the same size and weight. We were loading the two canopies almost exactly the same. The forward speed on the Sam 120 in a clean configuration (no brakes, straight ahead) was flatter and considerably faster than a Crossfire 119. On the second jump of the day, we were quite a ways out from the DZ and turned back a bit later than we wanted. With both of us flying rear risers (spread), I was able to cover more ground in a similar configuration. It was very easy to see the difference in forward speed and glide. Swoops are a hoot, too! With a nice carving turn (harness shifting and front riser), the canopy will stay in a slight dive on final until you tap the breaks (ever so slightly) to plane it out for a long, very controllable swoop. The lift is there until the very end and it's normal for me to pop up at the end and tip-toe out of the landing. The harness is a great tool for carving the turn to landing. It's true that the airlocks keep the canopy inflated quite solidly, once you're on the ground (proof that they contain air in the canopy very well). It is very easy to deflate the canopy or keep it lying on the ground, even in high winds. On a windy day, the canopy will lay on its top with the nose facing you and the lines slack over the canopy. My Jedei would drop down in front of me and look like an air mattress with strings attached. They do tend to stay inflated, especially when they're new. But, all you have to do to wrestle up the canopy is slide the slider toward the canopy until you have the slider jammed up against the stops on the canopy. Some call that, "flowering up" the canopy. If the canopy is still inflated, just reach over and grab the tail and stick it between your legs and "bear hug" the canopy from tail to nose to squeeze the remaining air out. It takes only a second or two to deflate the canopy completely. Here's a great story about airlocks and how they saved me from grass stains and possible big ouwies. This story can be substantiated by many on-lookers at Skydive Tecumseh this past summer: I was on my downwind approach, starting my harness shift and front riser input for my final into the landing area. At the same time, I noticed people bouncing off their asses and crash landing under canopy. Canopies were twisting into funny shapes as people landed. As I finished my carve and swooped across the landing area, right near the end of my swoop (I was preparing to touch down), I was suddenly picked up about 10 feet (conservative estimate) and started flying completely sideways toward the parking lot (and very stationary parked cars)! TC, phenomenal rigger from way back and co-owner of the DZ gear store, watched and said he thought for sure I was going to slam into the ground or a van in the parking lot. As it turns out, a completely invisible dust devil was making its way across the landing area toward the parking lot, but nobody could see it because there was no dust to speak of. Some people did mention afterwards that they saw the grass swirling violently. In the mini tornado, I kept flying the canopy to keep it upright and flying straight (even though I was going 90 degrees left of forward!). I was able to set the canopy down after several seconds, still facing the original direction of my landing and touched down on one knee. I had no forward speed during this whole adventure, yet the canopy was able to stay afloat in the swirling turbulent wind. Several people, including TC, couldn't stop talking about the canopy and how it maintained its shape, when all the others were doing the "accordion" thing and end cells were folding. The Jedei hovered in that dust devil without much complaint and I was able to "sink it in" by the end of the ride. A friend in the spectator area said she though I was going to be broken and had started to run toward the scene. I will swear by those airlocks, but I will also say that they will not save your ass if you don't know how to fly a canopy in the first place. The airlocks aren't lifesaving devices. They're there as an added source of prevention. They have no disadvantages whatsoever, so why NOT have them in case you need them? I've watched them work on several occasions and wouldn't be without them. Some argue that there is no real data to support their use. There's no data to prove they don't work, yet thousands of Jedei, Samurai, and Lotus pilots will tell you they're great canopies and would highly recommend them. The stall is something to watch. Normally, without airlocks, when you pull the brakes to the stall point of the canopy (when its forward speed has diminished to the point that the canopy doesn't stay inflated), it pretty much just starts to deflate and flutter (fun, but risky). With the Samurai, since the canopy won't deflate very well, and if you aren't careful, the canopy will attempt to fly one direction or the other, with or without you! Case in point: I was flying camera side-by-side with a tandem in half brakes. I thought it would be cool for the tandem student to see me do a hard turn right there in front of him, so I pulled one of the toggles much farther down. OK, so I forgot the canopy was already in half brakes, so instead of deflating and getting wacky, the canopy made the turn without me and flew 180 degrees ahead of me in the turn. It took a second for my body to catch up! The canopy never lost any pressurization, so it was at the mercy of the wind and that time the wind wanted to take one end of the canopy behind me. :)