Joyner

I put six jumps on my 107 this weekend!!!!

I agree, it all about common sense. But one person's common sense might differ from someone else'. A low turn might be conceived as completely safe by one instructor, and as completely mad by another. With a regulation you can expect the same treatment from everyone. NO hook turns with less than 500 jumps. No room for personal interpretation there! And I think there really shouldn't be any room for it. As soon as you leave that crack in the door open, people will get hurt!

You are making me blush! Actually my GF gave them to me, and she seems to like them that way. Maybe I should show you the front of my tight jeans?

The definition of a hook turn is that is an intentional maneuver. It's usually pretty easy to detect patterns in someone's behavior. If someone claims "did it to avoid...." over and over again he will eventually get warned, get warned again, and if the pattern doesn't change (or he breaks him self), he will be grounded for life yes. If someone biffs on their first "incident of a low turn", I think it is likely to be written off as "unintentional" as long as it wasn't obviously intentional (no trafic, no wind, no obstacles and so on). As I said, it's a brand new rule, and I think it is a good one. If it'll work or not we will soon find out. At least we are doing SOMETHING, trying to come to grips with the situation. It might turn out to be a bad rule, if it is, we can always change it back!

NO!!!! I didn't vote on any! Since you didn't include the option that Europeans are safer... Some countries in Europe (including Sweden) have regulations for what type / size of canopy you can jump at your current jump numbers. In Sweden you are not allowed to jump an elliptical with less than 300 jumps (I think), not over a 1.4 WL with less than 500 jumps, and recently a new regulation was passed that states that you are not allowed to hook turn in any way with less than 500 jumps. So I can say that at least Sweden is MORE on the cautious side than the US. I wont say safe, but at least we have taken action were we see it is needed, and we are not only talking about education anymore. Stats have improved since these rules came along.

It's funny how fast a canopy can change from high performance to intermediate. It's only been two weeks since the launch of the Katana and already the Stiletto and XF2 are considered "intermediate". They are NOT!!! They are still HIGH performing parachutes!

Oohhh, OOhh, can we??? Thanks for everyone's input. But the rig is actually at the point now that I can't lift it off the ground anymore. So I think I'll be fine. I guess there is some truth to that cordura stretches

Do you know what is really cheeseball? I've heard they charge an EXTRA 500$ for the logo in the canopy!!! Definitely worth it right?

That was for the rig. It was done in the beginning of January, but I couldn't have it picked up until last week. The fact that they released the Katana that same week, was just blind luck. If they hadn't, I'd be jumping a worn Vengeance 107 until I could get a Katana.

Thanks! That is some valuable information to say the least. Too bad they haven't put it in their manual yet! If they tell the Golden Knights not to rotate. Why not tell the rest of the world? I will start packing it grommet up from now on, and see how that works out!

I've been packing and unpacking it 3 times tonight to to see if there was some truth to the stretching theory. The last time, the bag actually came loose before the rig left the ground. So I guess that would come to less than 20 lbs of force. I will try it a few more times before I jump it on Saturday, to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

Thanks for the input! Mine is a 27". And I don't think that gives me much margin. I will hook it up at work tomorrow and see how much force is needed. The gear is brand new, so I'm hoping that everything is in trim (even if it is a rig from your competition ). I am hoping that a company like Sun Path has QA good enough to determine if the size of the container is out of spec. Is it true about the 10% stretch of the cordura fabric? If so, I don't think it'll be a problem in a few jumps. I'm just amazed that a new rig, with a canopy within the manufacturers recomendations can be so tight that it raises the question if 56lbs of force is enough to pull the bag out of the container.

At my home DZ of course!!! We are located about 1 hour from Stockholm airport. In august we operate on weekends only. We have a Single Otter. Not the fastest plane around, about 20 minutes to 4000m (about 13k). It's a really nice DZ with a HUGE landing area, less than a mile to "the beach", bunkhouse, sauna, indoor packing, you name it.

Smaller d-bag? No thanks! I still have to get the same size main in there. There is not much room to spare in the d-bag as it is. It's fresh out of Sun Path, and I am within specs, I'm just curious to see if they are all like this. I didn't expect it to be this tight since I put a 150 in my TJNK on several occasions and even then it wasn't as tight as this is, and that is one size too big if you trust Sun Path's numbers. IMHO generally you can put one size larger in the Odyssey than Sun Path say you can. But I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work on this one.

Probably not that simple! I can put my full body weight on squeezing the darn thing in there. The question is if the PC has enough power to pull it out of there.

Forecast is pretty good for the weekend here. I'm hopeful!

My dad James came from the US. Atlanta to be more precise. I still have my uncle (Robert) and grandmother (Thelma) in Atlanta. Any relation? A long shot I know, but still interesting. I don't know how many Joyner's there are in the US. In sweden there are only two. My sister and me.

I'll tell you on sunday (weather willing).

Swedish airforce, Was a 1:st Lt when I left. Was a flight engineer. Spent 6 years in the service total.

Make a post like this, but now that the time has come I can't resist! Here's my new toy. An Odyssey RSK.5 with a Katana 107. Got it all tuesday, after ordering it i July last year! Buying beer this weekend!!!

It's not the closing loop that's stuck! The container opens before the rig lifts off the floor, but with the container open, the bag is stuck so hard in the container that I can lift it off the ground. Since the container is already open, I don't think lengthening the loop would make a difference, would it? I've heard that a PC in terminal velocity pulls at about 160lbs force. If that is the case, I don't think there is a problem.

Hey there! To start off with I must attach a picture of my brand new Odyssey RSK.5, with a Katana 107 inside. First jump planned for this weekend. **Jumping up and down with excitement!!** The rig is an RSK.5 able to hold a 107 ZP-main according to Sun Path. With the cordura fabric I've heard it will "stretch" up 10% with use, so I guess this is a passing problem. When I put the bag in the container (fairly neat packjob getting the canopy in the bag), the bag still feels really big in the container. It is a TIGHT squeeze to flip the bag from the "lines towards the backpad", to the lines towards the bottom of the container position. I have found that closing the container it is just much easier to leave the bag in the "lines towards the backpad" position. The container closes just as neat, and I can use the same length of closing loop. I feel that getting the bag out of the container pulling on the bridle, it takes more force when I don't flip it over, than when I do. And I'm talking a massive amount of force compared to what I'm used to. The difference between fliping it and not isn't that big, but there is some difference. So my question really is, is there a possibility of a too tight fit between the bag and the container, causing a PC in tow. The bag is the original RSK.5 bag and both the main and reserve (PD-113) are within Sun Path specs. My previous rig was an Odyssey TJNK with a Stiletto 135 and a PD-126 reserve. That was also a rig with the largest recomended main in it, but it wasn't at all as tight as this is! It might not be a problem. But you sort of adapt to what your previous gear was like to the "standard" and anything that deviates from that is just weird and makes you wonder if it's right or not.

I get your irony!

A 1.6 wingloading IS NOT a conservative loading by any standards!! I've jumped a Stiletto 135 @ 1.35 from jump 400-600 and then a Vengeance 107 from 600-650. Now I just got my Katana 107 at 1.77 WL. I'm telling you that a A-license graduate does not have ANY business at all jumping a Katana at 1.6. I consider my own wingloading 1.77 at 650 jumps to be to the aggressive side. The Katana is not an elliptical starter canopy at 1.6 wingloading. I am glad I put my time in on a larger Stiletto, and then a Vengeance 107 before starting on the Katana. From what I've heard the Katana is a step up in performance from both of them!! (Haven't had the chance to try it yet!) If the Katana is your first elliptical, they recommend a LIGHT wingloading. A 1.6 loading is not light, nor conservative as you say. Furthermore I think that if you can't jump a lot or regularly, he should have a really docile and larger canopy. Flying an elliptical at 1.6 loading, requires that you stay current in your skills. Or it will bite!!! An interesting piece of information might be, that in Sweden you aren't allowed to jump at higher than 1.4 with less than 500 jumps. Do you think there is a reason for those rules? I can tell you there are reasons, and all of them are writen in blood. My advice to you would be to stay on the rental for a few hundred jumps!! Edited to change from 3:rd to 1:st person after reading the whole thread.

Well I don't have that much money any more after paying for my new toys!