ramon

hmmm. only one I have ever personally seen was a lightly loaded monarch (1.1) in straight level flight, half the canopy colapsed then reinflated a second later (the girl was scared to death afterwards). ramon

After seeing some lightly loaded canopies colapse in straight flight, and hearing of the unfortunate incident at the Ranch (poor girl), I am thinking about Airlocks again (I did just purchase a Vengeance and I jump my friends Samurai all the time). I bought the vengeance cuz it dives steep, not cus of the airlocks. Does anyone think an airlocked canopy is really that much safer if turbulence is encountered during a med/high G dive? Could it have some sort of mal different from a collapse (spin?). Could a cross braced canopy (loaded 1.8 or higher) colapse due to turbulence (typical turbulence, not blustery or violent wind)? BSBD ramon

you need to get off student status so we can drag you to the dark side.

Slappie, Good deal dude, SDD is pretty cool. Glad you got to make some jumps at Spaceland too. Good thing you missed the first couple of takeoffs that morning, they were scary (thick mud long trip down the runway to the telphone poles ). How many jumps till your off student status? bloo ones ramon

beer. just buy it be done with it and when you are discussing your day with the other jumpers and they say beer, you already have it. ramon

Couple of my buddies went up there and are there now (though I heard the Otter broke today {Sunday}). Let's play pin the tail on the DZ. try to get to one that has the most sucker holes.

I actually went out there to buy gear (Vector micron woo hoo). Deguello was practicing in the hanger during the rain. hard core! Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow.

Glad you had fun. Sounds like a cool boogie.....but a Safire main? Jeeze Loueeze (oh well no safire bashing this time). I'm dying to go jump mullins plane. I hate those small doors, but, I usually do 2-3 way freeflying so it probably won't matter. I'm going to try and go to Coolidge, (where he keeps his plane in the winter), this fall and jump it. bloo skies ramon

Rumor has it per Chuck Blue and other eyewitnesses, that there were rotors off the trees, that there are often rotors off the specific trees. It is very dangerous to hook in turbulence, it will plant you quickly. The poor girl was loaded at 1.4 (per Brummits web page), which is an ok loading for straight flight in turbulence, but in a hook I beleive current thought has it that 1.8 and hihgher is a more stable platform. Maybe there is somehting wrong with a crossfire trying to be hooked at tha loading, but it is always dangerous if thre is turbulence, and lower wingloadings make it more so. peace BSBD ramon

that sucks. could be line dump. My Space/Alpha used to opne beautifully before I chopped/lost it. bloo skies ramon

HA HA HA HA that's the same reason the Chevrolet of the same name was not popular in Mexico. yuk yuk ramon

Sort of like a statement question. FXs can slam you sometimes and Velocities seem to open softer....as per claims at my DZ....I have only ever jumped an FX109...and it has always opened very briskly (not hard). bloo skies ramon

Very Cool! ramon

I wonder if the Onyx will be tricky to dial in like a VX or will it be easier like the cobalt. From what I understand it will have a very high aspect ratio (openings?) I am very anxious to see another parachute as top dog, Xaos is getting some recognition from some limited initial success, but the Icarus pilots are some of the best in the world and will be hard to beat even with a slightly technologically superior design. good luck

Mike Brown (the gear guy there) told me 8 rigs were stolen. If they were tandem rigs that ould be a heavy blow because I don't think they had much more than that. that was my first DZ too. bloo skies ramon

peace ramon

If you are looking for an intermediate canopy in between stilleto class performance and a cross braced, I think this is it. Hooking high is much safer than hooking low and this canopy is capable of hooking almost as high as some cross braced canopies and certainly much higher than a typical eliptical. I have put about 40 jumps on a Vengeance 135 (loaded 1.67). The only other canopies I can think of that might be able to do a snap 180 hook followed by double front in the dive from 350-400 feet and have a nice surf would be an Alpha/Cobalt or a crossfire (at this wing loading). but with the vengeance you get the benefit of a negative recovery arc incase you hook at 500 or you let off your double fronts too early. This canopy is more fun in the toggles than a samurai and seems to be much easier to flare and surf (although the samurai can probably surf as far). The flare seems like an Alpha, sure, crisp and in control less spongy than a crossfire. This canopy also seems to have a pretty low stall speed for this loading, I was taking a few more steps on a crossfire. It is not really versatile, it seems to want to come down pretty fast, however you can pull the brakes deeper than when they are stowed and slow your descent to make way for traffic or get back from a long spot (althouh pulling rear risers is probably better). The rumors about size are right if you jump a 135 try a 120. The 135 will seem like a dog (but it will dive). Basically the canopy flies and stops like a bigger canopy but it surfs like a smaller/faster one. Oh yeah, it has airlocks if your into that and it is supposed to be more stable in turbulence, but that is not why I bought it

I think the new design is called a crossfire........ BWAHAHAHA. sorry, I hate Safires...although I have heard from a friend that called Icarus about how bad his Safire sucked ass (he has a crossfire now), i think they told him they were making an adjustment of some sort. If you don't know Icarus, they make a change and keep on selling. probably did make the change already and there will be old Safires and new Safires. they did that with the FX. bloo ones ramon

Maybe. If only the Xaos opens as well as a velocity (FX doesn't) sabre....Monarch stilleto...Batwing (aka splatwing)

Precision's website has been updated with details about the XAOS21 canopy. Looks really interesting especially the new lines. one note: His 'stabilirib' technology, I beleive Brian Germain has been using a design like that on all of his samurais. peace ramon

You so crazy ramon

Did you go to Spaceland after and party? I don't rememeber seing you before I left? ramon

That is very very uncool. . You need to sit with your buddies and learn how not to ever do that again. 1. If you get out of sight of the outside video guy, look for him, because he is not paying attention to you, he is filming the base. 2. The outside video guy should be very alert when another freeflier has their back to him as they could suddenly backslide/track in to him. He should also be very alert and clear the shit out of his airspace when everyone that is supposed to be with the base is not. My friend Levin and I had a collision once because we entered a situation we had never thought of. Luckily all it did was surprise us. We now break off from a tube jump differently. be careful peace ramon

you do not have enough experience for optimal loading on Crossfire which is in fact 1.8. But it opens beautifully at any loading and flies better than a stilleto at 1.5-1.6 and it flies big and is forgiving. peace ramon

very very sad, dude. sorry for Andy and her family. BSBD ramon