weid14

Hey, Kelly, what did you do with Froggie? Glad to see you finally made it out of your PJ's on Sunday.

I know that (bucking), that's why I called them. They re-lined and now there are NO A/B cascades. I can bury the front riser no issue now.

Icarus is making all the new crossfires non cascaded on A/B lines. The only time it was an issue (for me) was an aggressive front riser approach. Mine was totally re-lined - it flies excellent.

So did you buy beer for being th first to jump the Van? Those are some noisy aircraft. -- I still say it should be painted to look like a bummble bee.

wow, that is underhanded (sewing the labels on).... bet "ouch" is the same in all languages though.

10 people in an otter is a beautiful thing.... I'm sure you will decorate accordingly (nice frou frou colors) :) Looking forward to the playoffs... looks like parts of Magic may show up, too!

I've seen more than one Sabre fold in on itself, then re-inflate. Heard one do it once, didn't even have to look up, asked the guy if he liked the canopy ride - he was not a happy camper. saw one fold in half from above, guy dropped about 30 feet, he was not real happy either (still had altitude to make a good landing). (my -- at the time -- seven cell had a pretty good accordian effect going on, too). These were not to lightly loaded.

sorry,. my bad, thought it was Z-hills.

there actually is a "motivational" skydiving one - I think it's called success or something similar -- it's one of the color coordinated big ways.

wear a full face if U R concerned. The flaps actually heal up almost overnight.... FYI Dr Joel Shugar is a Lasik surgeon and he has his own laser. He's in Northern Florida I think, he is also a skydiver - he's on the four-way team Optic Nerve (guess how they got that name?) he has a web site, I'm sure he'd be happy to answer any questions (there is a link to his site at www.skyleague.com). I bet he'd even be happy to have you fly there and have the surgery.

any wing, rigid or otherwise will collapse and/or lose it's ability to maintain flight given certain wind conditions. John Matthew's airlocked canopy collapsed in a weird wind condition at Z-hills and he got pretty broken up. The X-braced canopies typically are flown at higher wing loadings, which by default lead to higher pressurization, which makes it more stable in turbulence. Airlocks -- my opinion, if you need them, you probably shouldnt' be jumping in those conditions anyway.

I don't disagree with safety. I disagree with posting a "rumor" with no basis. I've seen canopies collapse and re-inflate on a straight in approach, too. Stuff happens, was he jumping near buildings? tall trees? remember, objects cause turbulence 8 to 10 times their height downwind (so a 20 foot tall hanger will affect 160-200 feet downwind). It may be bumpy, no big deal, or it may be a significant wind shear that causes more than a little problem --I've seen both.

How is this a good debate? Dave has started/spread a rumor with no factual basis. Until the correct people review any evidence, everything is pure speculation and conjecture. As for the cross fire, I do agressive front riser manuvers (double front, single, one direction then the other - some all at once even) on mine to check it out up high, no problems at all. I do a front riser approach for landing also, have not noticed any problems.

What a most excellent weekend we had at CK's! Weather was super, Casa, Otter, Caravan, Stearman on flight line. What a blast. John and Dale are great DZO's - best around. oh, and rumor has it a skyvan full time starting in the very near future.

got mine done over the winter -- got the surgery on a Wed, was skiing on Saturday... A friend of mine just got his done, was jumping within 5 days. Follow doctors orders for post op care, it's great to not have to worry about contacts or glasses in freefall!

there's actually an article about that in Skydive mag this month

Well, I really don't agree with the subject line, but FWIW I had mods done on my Crossfire (totaly re-lined) to get it "tweaked" and they turned it around in a week (including delivery) and didnt charge. IMO their customer service is very good. plus you've got teh 30 day money back offer from them. I also jump a Safire, it doesn't land nearly anywhere close to as nice as the Crossfire, but it's still an OK canopy. If people are used to a PD product, the flare will be different (deeper), not that it's a bad thing, it's just different (for some that's OK, for others, not so)

Problem: got my corssfire, loved the openings and bottom end flare - aggressive front riser manuvers started the canopy bucking, however. Had the brake lines lengthened - didn't help. Happened to talk to Tim from Monkey Claw who had the same issue. He said to call Icarus and ask for the "B-line trim mod". Apparently all new crossfires are coming out with this mod. So I called and they hooked me up. Sent the canopy to the service center and they turned it around in a week (total re-line). It has no A/B cascade -- my impressions: openings still nice and soft, although I have noticed a the canopy is more twitchy (twitchier?) now than previous to the mod during the opening sequence. The front riser pressure is more (a lot more) than with the cascades. Landings are even better, seems to have even more flare. No hint of bucking -- solid as a rock in front riser manuvers. had a bunch of no-wind landings and it stopped without having to run anything out (with a couple of pretty nice swoops). FWIW I load my 139 about 1.62

The Ranch is a great place, and the Pond swoop nationals is the best event of that type around... I was really bummed I was missing it this year until I heard the news. Now I'm bummed for the community -- not only jumpers, but others who were there to watch truely excellent canopy flyers strut their stuff. Dawn is a first rate trauma nurse who I would want to have around when the stuff really hits the fan. I feel for the family of Lisa.. what a bummer

http://www.ranchskydive.com/

Hey, I might just go to that... although I can't freefly (on purpose anyway)

An airspeed event will definately help, no matter what your ability level, especially in the tunnel. Alternatives do, exitst, however and offer equally as good a coaching (Doug Park and Joey Jones come to mind -- they actually pioneered a lot of the tunnel coaching before it became really hot). Airspeed will take you through prep work, and an extensive de-brief of your flying. You'll also spend a fair chunk of change. I just spent 5 hours in teh tunnel this past weekend, with Doug, and it cost me a lot less (made 9 jumps, too) -- I'm WAY sore!

what canopy are you jumping? what type of line? how many jumps on those lines (it may be way out of trim)

dive loops are part of the risers, and as such come from the container manufacturer. typically they are not found on student rigs. They are standard from some manufacturers. If you don't have dive loops grab above the riser connection to the lines. Talk to your jumpmasters about riser turns and ask their advice. Riser pressure depends on how the canopy is trimmed and where the suspended weight is centered and wing loading.

You are very welcome... I told you that if you wouldn't believe me...