freeflyguy

I load my safire at 1.5. My impression of the canopy is good. Some complain about a funny flair on it. The one thing I might be able to say about that, is I think that it may lose lift just a little quicker at the end of the flair. I only say that, because it seems the the stilleto pilots, even if loaded higher than me, don't have to run it out as much. If you load it to 1.5, be athletic, because if you don't have a little wind, you will be running. I like it a lot though, no complaints. Nice openings, and flys nice, swoops good too.

Andy Ferrington at our home DZ will be the precision factory pilot at the Perris swoop contest (June 6-8th or something). Thing is, even he hasn't jumped the chute yet, and he doesn't know anybody that has. He was supposed to get his 84 XOAS, or whatever, yesterday though. He doesn't know a lot about it either, except to say that the guy that designed it worked on the Icarus project, and I think owns part of Icarus. The guy just said, 'don't worry, you love the canopy'. I figure it will be like a tweaked FX extreme. Either way, Andy will be able to smoke with it. Well, as long as it doesn't fold into a ball when he risers it. (<

I can't say I have done what you are talking about, but I have read everything on www.icaruscanopies.com and it seems like that 119 would fit in there just about right. Go check out the site, and read on the fx. Very cool info. Or just call icarus, or the container manufacture I am sure they know somebody that has done exactly what you are talking about. Not much help for you, but something.

Tron is cool. I remember when it was new. Cool. Must watch again

I did my first tandem the other day. I had extra handles, so the master could have slept through the free fall and deployment. Glad he didn't but I think that is more of a passenger than a student. And Nah, I don't think you could be called a whuffo anymore. You know the feeling.

Just about any tso 23 chute will do. If I where you, I would be more concerned with makeing sure your harness/container system didn't allow you to be in a situation that deployed at 160mph (Buy a very good freefly rig). That and dual audibles, and whatever else you need to be able to deploy, at the proper altitude and speed. Your DZ altitude does add a bit to the problem. Have fun.

I suppose I could drivel some about this. I went from 170 Sabre to a 139 Safire. I agree with those that say you should master a canopy and be able to fly it to it's max, before moving to a higher performance, or smaller canopy. I don't think you would have to go to a crossfire class canopy to have a ball, and get into something that will challenge your skill, for a long time. I love my Saf, and am still learning it's dive and turn charactaristics, after 70 jumps on it. I believe I will still easily be enjoying it a couple hundred jumps from now. If you where to get into a wild a canopy, one that turned with the slightest harness movement, or whatever. It could take away from you enjoyment of the sport, and reduce your safety factor. There is always time for those kind of canopies later. If you are around to use them. My thoughts.

I would say, don't worry much about a 1.1 wing loading, if you have a fair number of jumps off your student rig. It is a loading that can hurt you, but it will also be able to lift you up more than you are used too and be a better choice in wind. I preach accuracy and proper flair. So if you are careful with that, you will have a ball. Infinity is a great choice. I suppose I am predjudice, I fly a denim infinity. Way cool rig, and one off. If you have any trouble at all, tell me, and I will walk upstairs and make sure Kelly and Mikey get it right. Not that I could tell them something they don't allready know...

I don't fly camera, but am concerned about the issues with them. Especially when I see people with what looks like elk horn protusions on their head I like the one post that tells you to be willing to cut away your helmet/camera. Sounds responsible to me.

I'll add my two cents. As I have before. I had about 150 jumps on a 170. If you have forward speed when you deploy, you will get wacked. That is a biggy. with most canopies, but especially the sabre. Also that tip about quartering and pulling the slider forward is very important. I rolled each side of the nose a couple of times, and "nuzzled" it into the pack as someone said, not too far though.

ya, that icarus website explains in detail with pictures. I pyscho my safire, and get grief from the hardcore propackers. But that is tough. If I deploy right, and fly the harness, it is always acceptable smooth and on heading. I know icarus says don't pyscho the crossfire, and I think, the fx. Not sure on that. I think that has to do with how well or slow the canopy opens inherantly. I have my opinions on sabres, in that if they are packed AND deployed properly, they are fine. I know people disagree. But whatever. It all depends on what you have.

Emma and Joolee, nice posts. That is what I was talking about. Surreal and indescribeable. I did do my first tandem the other day (passenger). Kind of uncomfortable, but the floating above the forest and lakes would give a nice feeling to a newbie. I can see how it would be a nice first experience. BTW crashing through wind blades into the pond does have it's merits :) But it wasn't the feeling I was originally talking about. Lee, I tried to do one up on Tim yesterday, but I only stripped the flag off the pole, not breaking it. Landed feet up (in 3 feet of water). Not like his, one end cell in the water for 5 feet before his body touched down. Ya he won. j

"...can really throw your depth-perception off." I learned a bit about depth perception this weekend myself. Over water. heh heh. One flip through the risers, then walked right out of it. No pain, but a good reminder of what a femur breaker on dry land would be. And one just a bit low, It would have been fine, but the wind blade caught my end cell, and didn't help things much. Water is a friend and so cool. It is nice to have the pond, to learn with. The good toe draggers are a kick too. But I need to go look for shoes that dry quicker, or aren't bad to wear wet.

"Maybe I'll just sit in a louge chair at the DZ and chug em down when I'm down." Nothing like simplicity to cure a difficult problem. (<

I just had to say this. Because most people wouldn't get it. Last weekend, At sunset, I stepped out of what some people would call a 'perfectly good airplane'. I beg to differ on the existance of perfect airplanes, but Here I was hanging out on my head at 170mph with some guy who goes by the name Frog. He has an exzuberant smile on his face, and just beyond his head, I see the 14,000 foot Mt. Rainier, besided it is a full moon, shineing bright. I screamed at frog to look at the mountain. He was clueless and just smiled more. We let loose of the flower, and flew an amazing sunset on my head. Gosh, I wonder if Ally Mcbeal was on that night? Anybody else have any good feeling jumps to tell about?

You might see a Doc. There was a guy on a load talking about this problem on the way up this weekend. He said he "blew out" his sinus the week or so before, on a load. Well, he did it again on that jump. For him, it is a sinus infection, and over the counter stuff won't help. So he quit for the day, and is going back to the Dr. Be careful, you could really blow something up, if you are totally plugged.

let's see... This weekend, 16 otter loads, 4 cessna loads, how much fuel is that? Cloud9 hit the proverbial nail on the head. I burned a hell of a lot of fuel, and all for me. Glorious, but what would the tree huggers say? I say burn baby burn!

I like the airbag analogy. If you rely on it to protect yourself from dumb driving, you're a fool. A cypres fires at about 800 feet. Your reserve opens in about 300, at best. That leaves 500 feet to go. That is about 2.5 to 3 seconds before it would have been to late to pull your own reserve. It is and should be a total last line of defense. I like the last line. Not something I would ever want to use, but if it is there. I will likely walk away, if it isn't there, I will be carried away.

I have 150 jumps on a Sabre 170. Now, I have no issues at all with how they open. I did though, so... The hard openings got so bad that I began to have a phobia about deploying. Not a good thing for skydiving. So I worked on it, and haven't had a bad opening for 75 jumps or so. Here is what I have collected. Pack careful. 4 or 5 rolls on each side of the nose, lightly push them into the center of the pack, not very far. Don't tuck them in the center cell or anything (Potential Mal). The slider is super important. Set it too the stops and quarter it, then pull the back edge back (toward the rig) This actually the leading edge of the slider, over the nose. Just to where the front edge (actually the back of the slider as you are under canopy) is almost even with the lines. Very important, if it doesn't catch air, you will get a spine adjustment. Then wrap and roll the tail good. Get a good firm bite on your stows, to prevent line dump. Here is the kicker that people don't seem to talk about much. You will NEVER get a hard opening if you don't deploy it... Simple, no? What that means is that the way you deploy is as important as the way you pack. Trust me. If you have forward speed, your slider has a chance to catch your burble. Ouch. If you try to get big, to slow down, you have a bigger burble, and the same whack may happen. So body postion on opening needs to be controlled. Slow down your forward speed, or stop and backslide a bit, if you are clear of your mates and have time. Don't get too big, the vertical speed won't kill you, if you let the air catch your slider. Fly your opening on heading with your body in your harness, then your rear risers, and you are good. I have no issues with Sabre openings anymore. Blue ones...

We had about 25 rigs on a plane a while back. NO problem. Just don't try to bring you lead weights. The x-ray folks will tear your stuff apart to look at it.

Arch, LOCATE, Pull. Not look. If you look, you de-arch, or turn. Not good. That is what I was taught. Ya, 'Look', for the reserve, I can't help you there, I don't have any 'obstacles' but that is where the muscle memory should be learned. Whatever you do, pull your string.

Nah, never heard of it. Bummer that happened. Glad you're OK. Regardless, you got a good man on it. Kelly is very concerned with building a good rig. He will fix you up and learn from it, for everybody to come.

Ya, I doubt it would fall two fast if you let go. But we have a lot of trees, and houses near the landing zone. So it would probably make for a problem. That and some nut case drags us into court every other week, trying to shut down the DZ. He doesn't need more ammo. I really don't know how they deploy. Exactly. If it where in your hand in front of you when you threw out stable, it wouldn't be near the deployment. It doesn't seem to be a big deal. They land with it hooked to their feet, and streaming behind. Looks cool. As far as qualifieng to go on the jump. No big deal, as long as you have the control to be in RW or VRW, and the organizer is comfortable with you.

I'm from Kapow. Ya the otter is going and they will stick a couple of us in it. Should be a blast though. That plane can stand on it's tail to altitude. I have my own issues with the border Nazi's up there. One little wheelie in a parking lot makes me a felon in Canada. They said I was out of control. Not so, I was in perfect control.:) So I doubt I will make it.

I was on an 8-way freefly. Two tubes. One in a sit the other headdown. Trippy anc cool. I think the rigger here made them. Dangerous a bit for the guy with the tube. But not too bad. There is not much to tangle. The parachute deploys right past them. Usually. They deployed at 4.5, in case they had 'issues'.