frost

as far as "best ever", have you seen Arizona Arsenal videos? As far as "clockwork"... see, this is not really freeflying. This is Vertical Relative Work. it's competition flying. It has to be fast and precise.

Appreciated. But please try to understand that i am not bitching about Slaton - those who know me and heard me speak about the PST and CPC and canopy piloting know that I have utmost respect for Jim Slaton's organizational abilities, his efforts to promote canopy piloting and achievements in the sport. I am also not complaining about PST/CPC fees and costs, trust me - i flew for 5 FL CPC comps last year from NY and to the finals to Colorado. Each comp cost me a LOT of money and i never regretted spending it. However, as a competing pilot, someone who went through the ranks to earn the right to compete at the Pro level with the best pilots in the world i do feel that the value of that effort was cheapened by the way he decided to go out with this final PST event. I think quite a few people on the circuit share my opinion to a degree. And as someone who has done it, who did invest a lot of his own money and did try to organize things and to promote canopy piloting (to briefly answer some of your questions), who has earned that right to compete at the PST i feel that i am entitled to have an educated and respected opinion. You may not agree with it - but nonetheless - it's a valid one.

That's correct. Paul has been very helpful to me with all my early questions about JVX and wingloadings, the info he gave me was excellent! His answers were always good and very informative. Thanks for that, Paul, and for speaking in this thread. The discussion we had at the PST last year about the fabric did end in me being convinced it was just a bad batch of fabric... But later that year at the USPA Nationals i had a chance to look at Team X canopies personally and speak to them also. Their red JVXs weren't nearly as bad as mine, but they had some signs of wear. Paul also said that one of his canopies was showing sings and reduced porosity at about 500 jumps, but definitely not nearly as bad as mine. Dealing with Attila was pretty easy and the replacement canopy was made without extra hassle and fuss. I dont feel that it was something extraordinary on Daedalus part or unreasonable to expect - a faulty product was replaced at manufacturers expense.

ah, you missed the points completely... as expected Does every one of your question need to be answered with a "Yes" and "This much/this many" in order to have an educated opinion? If so - then 99.9% of canopy pilots, freeflyers and RW people have no business expressing their opinions. But fine - send me a PM i will lay it all out for you.

Nobody is taking that away from him. but if it wasnt him, it'd be someone else. In fact there are respected people that claim the idea was not his or his alone Why? Why not just run your own, like Chris kinda did and now Al is doing with FLCPA? Forget his rules and fees and all of that. This is a time for a change - PST is dead for a reason. Lets see what the new age brings. Simple. Arrogance. Have you ever heard anyone say anything about other top free flyers, pilots and organizers? You're right. That "piece of paper" means nothing, it's the effort, money and time that went into getting it that matters. And in the end those who have became better. But try to understand what Ian said about feeling that the value of the work you've done was cheapened by this announcement. The only thing his announcement means to me is yet another poorly handled situation. Just like he did with Kevin Love. or perhaps it's yet another way to make a few quick bucks? ***Why don't folks just thank Jim Slaton for his contributions to the CPC and PST and quit bitching. There is far to much complaining in this sport. Thank him and work on continuing the discipline if you have what it takes to do so. Yes, yes. Thank you, oh Lord Slaton for allowing me to pay you fees for CPC and spend a year on the amateur circuit, then big money to travel to finals to try to get to the Pro level and compete with the best. And then finding out that i didnt really need to - all i had to do was hit the gates three times out of five and not even in order

Not sure about newer cams, bit that feature on CX7 is useless: only three pics per video and a huge delay when taking them.

i don't know. I am sure they do. But I doubt any company out there tests their stuff as extensively as PD does. There are rumors (and these are just rumors!) that most of the testing for JVX and sail stuff was done on the GL hills, not in the sky on actual jumps. It's easy to calculate the time in the sun on a hill and translate it to time under canopy on a jump and claim that after so many hours sail had stood up to UV rays and flying better then ZP material. And I guess that would be true. But that is not the testing we want to see or as applicable to what we do - we need to see how a canopy/material performs on actual jumps. Now the question i'd be asking is: will they test their new sail material to avoid another fiasco? Or will they just rely on what the paper figures say?

CJ, i am glad that your sail JVX is problem free! Lets hope it stays that way. Keep an eye on it. I am reluctant to compare these two though, as i hadnt had a chance to really dial the 87 in... and I am just starting to get the feel for the 92. But if i had to say - i think if there was a difference in performance for ZP vs Sail it was negligible, at least for me. Flight characteristics seemed the same. I'd say sail holds a higher wing loading better, so you can get more speed with all resulting benefits - lift, distance, etc. On the 92 (ZP) I am @ 2.6. I was @ 2.8 on your 87 (sidenote for others reading this: it was a one of a kind hybrid - top and bottom sail) and it still flew great. But even if we disregard all the sail issues, I'd still choose ZP. I'd rather have a small rig and easier pack jobs then a marginally better performance on a sail JVX

I'd like to hope so!

I meant the certificate

How pathetic is this? http://www.canopypiloting.com/home.asp?ItemID=711&rcid=82&pcid=81&cid=82 All i have to say is: "Cocaine is a hell of a drug" SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Key areas to keep your eye on is the ones that have the most friction - inspect carefully the whole middle section from bridal attachment point to tail (top and bottom). First sign was the fabric started to feel odd, microfiber or silk like... not sure how to describe it best. The old suction test worked best. nope, none. I really think it's due to the nature of sail material itself - it just doesnt react too well to openings, folding, packing... But i could be wrong. I hope i am.

I was the first one who saw that issue and raised some stink about it. That was last year, after about 150 jumps on my new JVX (well, practically new - less then ten jumps). Certain high friction areas, like the tail/label section and bridal attachment area, started to deteriorate to the point of being able to see the threads of the fabric and being able to suck air through it like it was a cotton t-shirt... Mark S. and Ian and other guys saw it at the Farm last year. After I posted about it on Jim Slaton's site, he asked me to send the canopy for inspection to him. I did. After some time i saw his reply on the forum that he saw no issues with the canopy and that it was a user error, or something like that. Surprised, I had to call him to see what the hell was up. He obviously didnt even look at the canopy. During the conversation he gave me an excuse that the canopy was made inside out, with the sail coating being on the outside. That made no sense for several reasons. AFAIK, there is no "side" of coating - the sail and ZP fabric is created through heat roller treatment and there are no "coated sides". And even if there were - whats the difference where it's facing - inside or out? So it would peel on the inside?. Anyway. A bit later the reason for this defect became a bad batch of material. And the thread about it disappeared from the forum... I also talked to other sponsored JVX pilots and actually looked at the Team X canopies a couple of months later at the Nats last year... they all said the same thing... after 400-500 jumps their sail canopies were becoming very porous. Not as bad as mine, but still ... It was becoming clear to me that the promotion claims of sail canopies with thousands of jumps having less porosity then a brand new ZP wing were slightly exaggerated. I requested that Icarus NZ made me a free replacement - a ZP JVX, which they did. Now I am very happy with a ZP JVX - it is definitely a great wing. But I would not recommend a sail JVX to anyone, even with all of its great flight characteristics. Somehow, I think The Rep is the LAST person you should listen to Pleas note: what i said above was based on personal experience only. Your results may vary.

Last year pond wasnt used at all, we had it all set up over the ground... Dont recall if it was because of downwind conditions or that big tree being a hazard...

After nearly a three year break, i want to come back to wing suit flying. I used to fly a GTi and it was custom made for me. This time around i am looking at other suits, mostly at the V2. If I want to buy a used wingsuit, but cannot try it on, how much of a window do i have in measurements? I figure the most important ones are: height, chest, body, shoulders, hips and arms, right? With everything else falling within a few cm of my actual sizes, these ones have to be pretty close. So how much of slack can i afford in those areas to make it not just a comfortable, but a good aerodynamic fit? Thank you in advance

Ever had a whiplash? :) Some of the best advice someone gave me - keep your chin on your chest. Also, as you know, looking up may cause asymmetrical body position and add unwanted input, not too good on smaller canopies. With so many jumps you'd FEEL what's coming as soon as the dbag leaves the containder and the first stow is released, no? ;) If it feels like there is a problem, then it's time to look. But that's just me As far as the jumper in the video... I wonder what kind of canopy and his experience level? It looked like from 2:24 do 2:32 he was flying fairly straight, not spinning much... Thats more then enough time to try to release the other toggle and attempt to even out the risers...

Well, looks like the CX7 is officially discontinued :)

why create a separate topic if there is one ten posts below it??

HDMI port on my CX7 seems to be loose - i have to press the cable in and hold it in order to get the signal going. I tried it with a HDMI mini cable and with a regular HDMI and mini adapter. Same thing with both... Is anyone having cable connection issues with their HDMI mini port on CX7?

Thank you for taking the time to make another excellent product for us

It's out. I got mine yesterday. It's good. Now trying to fit it to the CX7 in a cookie box... will require some drilling

I'd like to second that I went through different techniques in the last 4 years, from deep brakes/single front riser, then to single front riser/harness, then to "from full flight"/single riser + harness, then to full flight double fronts + harness. Now after some coaching with Bobo - back to "from brakes"/double fronts + harness

Hint hint. Please, try to avoid learning to swoop on the internet.

Perfect! Exactly what my buddies and i did to our low pulling friend, who was also scary in freefall - we told him we wont jump with him anymore. It hurt his feelings, yes, but he corrected himself. To OP: if that works, watch him closely though - they tend to slip back to their old ways in a while :)

I think Ian was saying pretty much the same thing... and I agree. But for experienced pilots - yes we can adjust and control our turn to compensate, for someone with less experience controlling the turn to compensate for a slightly high/low situation may be a more difficult task... I pretty much dont use my digital visual aid (Neptune) after i turn onto base leg... may be a glance sometimes, but mostly judge by eyes and audible. I decide if i am too low based on my visual picture, backed by Optima flatline beep. If it looks low, chances are the Optima has already flatlined. If i am where i need too be - I'll adjust the turn, if i still have 2-3 seconds to my turn point, i will execute a smaller turn liike a 90 or do a straight-in landing.