Spizzzarko

I had a student on a level-1 ( a real space case). This dude got into the caravan door alittle funky (really bent forward at the waist). On the exit count he raised his back up and hit the main container on the top of the door. This of course popped the main pin, and I and the main side were looking across the students back at 4 open flaps in freefall. The bag was going no where, but I held it down with my hand until the MJM zapped out the pilot chute. Now I had a student pulled out at 10,000. In that situation you are supposed to pull too to guide the student in. Like I said earlier this dude was a real space case. He ended up landing out. When debriefing him, this guy had no real idea what had happened. Students are fun.

TRy your 135 up at your new dz. You may find that the altitude gives you the speed you want. More airspeed up at the higher altitude doesn't equal more lift. If you are having problems shutting your 135 down then land it into the wind. Doing downwinders is probably not a really good habit to get into. You end up being one of those assholes that the rest of the jumpers doesn't like, but they don't say anything to your face. Doing downwinders at a higher dz altitude is doubly not smart. If landing into the wind isn't helping you out then get your canopy relined. A fresh lineset will do wonders for a canopy. ZP can last upwards to 3,000+ jumps if well taken care of. Line sets usually start wearing out around 500+ jumps. When people say that you need to downsize to get a good landing, it is about the most assignine thing I have ever heard. Also I think the stilletto's optimal wingloading for distacne is about 1.7 or less, so if you downsize to the 120 it will almost bring you up to that. Now add the higher elevation, and it will act as if you have gone beyond that wing loading. Think about these things. That is all.

T.S.A. should stand for The Security Abortion.

Thank you.

Well hell, We might as well all sell our rigs and such and just get hanggliders. Imagine swooping ultra fast and long over the ground with your knuckles only an inch or so off the dirt. It would be the ultimate superman!!!!

I figured we would just use one of those old bicycle foot pumps, that would always fall over to one side or the other just as you were stepping on it. We could just hold it in our hands and pump with a clapping motion durring inflation. Of course we would have to install FXC's on our main because our hands would be full so we couldn't pull the Pilot chute. We would also need spring loaded pilot chutes.

I have been told by several different people, who are near PD, that there is a new High Performance PD canopy that is being tested that will outswoop the velocity. I have been thinking last night about what the future may bring for canopy's. I think maybee rigidity is the way of the future. This can be done maybee with some sort of inflatable air locked inner spar. More inner ribs and cross braces. Maybee cross braces that just don't attach to the top skin, but CB's that attach to the bottom skin too. Maybee a thinner airfoil. This draw back of these idea's will be pack volume, but that may solve the problems of rig sizing. If the main packs up bigger than you can have a bigger reserve container.

I have been told by several different people, who are near PD, that there is a new High Performance PD canopy that is being tested that will outswoop the velocity. I have been thinking last night about what the future may bring for canopy's. I think maybee rigidity is the way of the future. This can be done maybee with some sort of inflatable air locked inner spar. More inner ribs and cross braces. Maybee cross braces that just don't attach to the top skin, but CB's that attach to the bottom skin too. Maybee a thinner airfoil. This draw back of these idea's will be pack volume, but that may solve the problems of rig sizing. If the main packs up bigger than you can have a bigger reserve container.

Dude, I've used mine at 18,000 msl. It works fine. I have a 30gig IPOD. I bought it over a year ago. It's the shizzznite. I've even used it in Freefall. It's a little hard to hear in freefall, but it works fine.

You can Doooo eeeeettt Mang...

I'm sure the technology, and the designs exist currently. It's a simple matter of aeronautical design. The problems I see is as follows: The general skydiving public is not ready for more advanced designs. I would venture to guess that the highspeed low drag designs of today (IE VX, Velocity, Xaos-27, JVX) that you see the professionals winning the swoop comps with, only make up about 3%-5% of a manufacturers overall sales. With that being said, what incentive is it for a manufacturer to spend all of this money for research and developement of a new and improved design? Having your name out there with cutting edge designs is one thing, but when you think of all time greatest canopy's what comes to mind? Lets take the Stilletto or Sabre for example. These designs have been out since the late 1980's and very early 1990's. Now that's some pretty old technology by todays standards, but I'm sure PD will tell you that they have been their all time best sellers (with exception to the PD Reserve), and that they are still being sold today, even though there are more performance oriented designs out there. Now lets focus on the performance aspect of this issue. It is my opinion that few people in this sport are really good canopy pilots. I also believe that your typical weekend sky jumper doesn't even really want to become a canopy skygod. I'm sure they are just as happy using their canopy as a device to slow them down from freefall before they impact the earth, so they can go up and do it all again. We still need to face the unpleasant fact that we are still killing ourselves by doing stupid things under perfectly good canopy's. Swooping may be fun and all, but it is an inherrently dangerous business, so why should PD build something else for a bunch of people to get killed on? The newer designs that I mentioned earlier (IE VX, Velocity, Xaos-27, JVX) are still setting new records. 5 years ago it was JC Colclasure going 340' on an FX. 2 years ago it was Shanon Pilcher going 418' on a Velocity. Currently it's JC Colclasure going 430+' on a VX (Please excuse me if you held a record and I didn't mention you). I really don't forsee people all of a sudden making a giant leep in distance, but I think they will contiue to edge the mark up over time. I don't think we as general canopy pilots are anywhere near as close to reaching the performance limits of our current canopy's as the professionals. Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to see some no name dude come from some little backwoods 182 dropzone and just smoke all of the pro's in a competition, but the odds of that happening are few and far between. As far as the future of canopy design holds, I really can't say. I'm sure there are new and different designs forthcoming, maybee even a new technology, but I really don't hear about it to often up here in Colorado. Colorado is about 5 to 10 years behind the mainstream skydiving industry. SWOOPOLOGY there I said it with out permision... Let me say it again SWOOPOLOGY!!!! hahahahahah

Dude, That's a pretty big jump from a 150 to a 120, and a pretty big jump in wing loading numbers. I put a jump on the Katana at the WFFC, and I found it to be a fairly nice canopy, but I jump a velocity. I found the katana to be quite a bit like the velocity, and the velocity is by far the least forgiving canopy I have ever jumped. I would suggest finding yourself a stilletto 135, or sticking with a sabre 2 but getting a 135. If you think you need a hi performance canopy to turf surf then you are sadly mistaken. You may not want to hear this, but moving to the katana now would just be a vanity purchase for you. I have seen people do some amazing things on Stillettos, and Sabre 2's. Don't discount then just yet because they are not the newest thing out there.

A little front riser pressure can help to pressurize a canopy in turbulance. As an AFF I I feel it is imperative for a student to not only know what a front riser can do but to actually experience, the speed and altitude loss when one is using the fronts. Rear riser stalls are usually very smooth on the onset, and do not usually spin up. I also feel everyone should perform rear riser stalls up high too. The easiest way is to get some speed up and then jam on the rears. This will demonstrate a high speed stall. (IE I'm low and I have a broken steering line or have lost a toggle.) If you are not prepared for this situation then what are you going to do when it happens to you? I'm not advocating that people land on their rears untill they are ready, but know what your canopy will do in every situation is a very helpfull thing. "Knowing is half the battle!"

Motron 800MG. every 6-8 hours. Trust me.

I have seen some velocity's out there with HMA. Icarus has been experementing with it, but they are not selling it.

A flight suit is the shit for skyjumping! It also really really comfortable when you freeball in one! Did I just go over the top? Some times I just can't tell...

If you are not properly motivated to do the right thing, then you will do the wrong thing.

The 150 size will go faster as there is less drag on that canopy. I really don't see what all the fuss is about this chart. It's just that... A chart. Somebody sat down with a 6 pack of beers and a buddy and decided to make this thing up. Use it if you want to. A wise man once told me "Regulations are written for the blind followance of idiots, and as a guidance to the truley smart." Can all of you wrap your mind around that one? There are arguments to be made for both sides on this one here guys and gals. Only you are going to decide what you want to fly, and no one is going to talk you out of it once your mind is made up. Only you can decide if you have made a poor choice in canopy size, and need to upsize. If you look at some of the more experienced people here on DZ.com with thousands of jumps, we have a recurring trend in what we post. It will usually sound like this "I don't think the stilletto 135 loaded at 1.3 is a wise choice for someone with 100 jumps". I bet Mr. Blue, Mr. Drennan, Mr. Germain, and countless other people who follow this forum will agree with me on this one. Please don't buy a canopy that deep down inside you know is to advanced for you, but one of your buddies (maybee an instructor) has told you you can get away with. With experience (IE more jumps) comes a sort of sub consciouse ability to fly your canopy. So what seems blatantly odvious to me with 2000 jumps, may not be at all apparant to someone with 200 jumps. That is all.

don't roll the tail as much if you pro pack.

Pretty expensive. The face shield is flimsy, and doesn't hold up to abuse very long, and is kind of difficult to replace. I use a factory diver, as I never used the flip up on the Oxygen when I jumped one. Other than that they are good helmets.

check it.

There are no "real" purple BDU's. Dude, That's Gucciflage man. hahahahaaaaaa

You speak of a 1 staged or a 2 staged flare. I posted something about this a long time ago. Please read and head: I think when people are talking about staged flares they are just passing on bad information! Think of it this way. in it's simplist form there are 3 areas to a landing. 1. Approach 2. Plane out 3. stopping To transition from your approach to plane out you need to give input to the canopy wether it be toggles or rears. Now do you stop from there? NO. You have to give more input to the canopy to transition from plane out to stopping correct? Now I'm going to introduce a little bit more of a radical concept here, so everyone take a second and catch your breath..... Let's first of all get rid of this concept of a two or three staged flare. You don't come in flare halfway, stop, and then flare the rest of the way do you? If so you are doing it wrong. Does that method work? Yes, sometimes, but we are a little more advanced than that, aren't we? I believed this concept was brought about by the ld timers who were transitioning from F-111 to ZEPO canopy's. They used this when their canopy's would ballon up when they flared all the way like they were used to with their F-111's. Let's take the three area's that I spoke of earlier and make them into just one. 1. Landing You need to start thinking this way because, when you are transitioning to smaller faster canopy's, landing doesn't just happen when your altitude reaches zero. Many of the high speed low drag dudes here will probably agree with me that landing for them starts just after they get everything stowed away after opening. Watch them, and talk to them, and you will soon see that every manuever they make is to set up for landing. There's really no more "Playing Around" when you get to small canopy's. Now let's get back to Landing. Your approach flare and stopping should all be one smooth movement. Only flare as much as you need to, to maintain the altitude above the ground that you want. Try looking at the horizon during this part of you landing. I want you to standup right now and look at a far door knob or something out your window on the horizon. Now stand on your toes, and then back on your flat feet. Do you see the difference in your sight picture? Now how much have you actually moved? 3 to 4 inches if that. Now that you have that mastered, think about continuing your flare only as much as you need to, so that your sight picture doesn't change! I told you it was going to get radicle! Now that we are flying flat and level over the gound we eventuall need to stop. Well just keep flaring, and maintaining your sight picture. Eventually you will have flared so much that your canopy will no longer beable to produce the amount of lift required to hold your body in the air. This is usually when you put your feet down on the ground. I can't tell you how many people I see that don't fly their canopy to it's full potential, and then complain that their canopy doesn't have enough flare to support their fat ass's, and that they need to get a Velocity because it has a more powerfull flare Learn to flare your canopy all of the way. You should not have to run out your landings very much if you are flaring it correctly, even on low wind to no wind days. If you change your thought process, and learn to fly your canopy to it's fullest then you will be unstopable! Think about this when you are flying your safire 2. Good luck and dont do anything stupid like, killing yourself under it.

When I was in the Military we had a guy take his smoke bracket off and toss it mindlesly. Well he ended up tossing it into someone elses canopy. It melted it's way through the entire canopy. There were about 6 holes in the canopy about the size off a football. That spectre 170 was a write off. Smoke is nothing to sneeze at!!! We had another guy who had either a canester blow up on him in freefall, or hes was back sliding like a mother fucker, because when he got down from the demo jump his entire rig was just covered in slag and pencil eraser sized holes, and his demo jump suit was burned off below the knee. His boot was fried too! It didn't do any damage to the canopy's but the Vector three was a write off, and so was his jump suit. He didn't get hurt though.

Besides, You probably didn't want to get smoke slag on your reserve!!!