weid14

Can U land that canopy no problem? Then why wait? The crossfire is going to be a lot different and you will want a smaller one (I own both). There are a couple of other "intermediate" canopies out there, the new canopies by precision may be worth a look as well as the cobalt and the new PD offerings. so many choices, so little money!

you can actually get a jump ready C-182 in really good shape fort around 35K (at least you could a couple of years ago)... dont' trash the engine though, cause that will cost another 23K to fix

Why would they not last as long as a set of risers? Has their (riser) durability been proven? The load carrying area of the slinks is greater than that of a mini-riser is it not?

I really think the question ends up being - which will fail first -- the riser or the soft link? I preffer the slinks. I jump mini risers, I think (although I've not researched this) that the riser would fail before the slink so the comparison with the Rapide is moot (in my book anyway) dave Edited by weid14 on 6/8/01 03:50 PM.

FWIW folks, the G3 uses a mil-spec end and it's the best I've seen on any rig (have not taken a close look at the new Javelin). They are less prone to the pull through problem than other designs. Yes, that particular malfunction has happened, but I don't think it was on a Mirage. If you have any concerns, Bill Hallet will (I've found in my dealings with him) have an answer for you.

check it out - a measured difference. Now if you could only do something about slider rebound

I sold a rig to the Guy in the UK, shipped it via FedEx ($125), no problems. Make sure to figure out how to ship it so the recipient doesn't have to pay customs. The guy I sold it to got hammered (didn't really know about the customs part)

My first two rigs were Racers, I've since sold them both - very comfortable, but a pain to pack w/ the Velcro riser covers (needed for free-flight), but I do believe they changed their design on the trough style to incorporate secondary covers. They also did come out recently with non-Velcro over the shoulder "tuck tab" design - pretty slick. I had 4 reserve rides total on the two I owned - I'm still here. Believe it or not, some riggers prefer the Racer. I, however, now jump Mirage. My personal opinion is that it’s the best engineered rig out there right now

some people "tilt" to the right when deploying, could be that you're doing that and it's putting you into a right hand turn wich continues doing opening (maybe you're sitting on teh right side of the harness to much also). pick a point on the horizon, watch it as you deploy -- where is it going. Also try to feel which leg strap has the most pressure.

if you're going to roll the nose: I used to roll one side, hold it between my legs, the roll the other side, grab them both and hold them between my knees. Make sure the slider is against the stops, and is quartered. Pull out the front part to in front of the nose, and then push the rolled nose into the middle (be careful with steering lines) - may have to pull out the slider again. Roll the tail tight to hold everything. don't forget to flake out the stabalizer. Make sure the line stows are looped 2-2.5" and they are tight (should take 12lbs pull force to pull them out). by stuffing the rolls into the center cells, you're putting some abnormal stresses on the various seams and ribs involved. (I actually got away from rolling anything by quarting and pulling the slider out, rolling the crap out of the tail and making the line stows tight). A trick I learned to keep the tail from unrolling was to hold it at the slider with one hand and roll with one hand, when complete, give it a downward tug, that kind of locks the roll in place. dave

PD does NOT recommend stuffing the rolled nose into the center cells. You may get good to weird openings. I'd be careful with it. I found the best way to have consistent (soft)openings was with slider handling and line stowes. then I got even more consistent and soft openings with my Safire, then even more with my crossfire! I did have one slammer on my sabre (not packed by me) that knocked the wind out of me and some other damage that hurt for 6 months. need to be careful!

I've got both a Safire (149) and a crossfire(139)... all things being equal I would hands down buy a Crossfire before anything else right now. Sabres really aren't in this class at all (not the existing model anyway). If you are a competent canopy pilot, check out a crossfire. Much more powerful flare, soft (very long!) opening, and pretty well behaved for a high P canopy. I really enjoy flying mine.

....Not sure exactly how it all works out but you can have any size reserver/main combination..... Are you sure about that? I think Mirage and maybe vector are the only ones out there allowing a fairly significant difference in main tray vs. reserve tray sizing. I could be wrong though.

Just out of curiosity what would the reputation be and based on what?... What is so important about chest rings (i.e. did you ask other manufacturers why they will not use them)

you could have also bumped it in the plane and caused the dial to turn. Be careful with all your equipment. I actually had that happen on a student jump I pulled way high cause the altitude read wrong. must have moved in the plane before exit. Check others altimeters against yours on the climb and before exit. They will all read a little different at different altitudes (new alti's will have how much it is off at various altitudes on a card), but should be in the ballpark. Edited by weid14 on 5/7/01 04:44 PM.

Believe it or not patty-cakes is a pretty good two way drill dive.

Hey, when we're there we want to give the packers as much business as possible! of course my wallet is very light after last weekend. looks like bologna the rest of this week! (eating is over rated anyway) I'd rather jump. Dave (Jetstream -- inside center)

yup, Scott's the pretzle guy, I think he must own part of Rolled Gold :) It was a great weekend (even if I landed at Wawa twice). We'll be training again 5/17-20 with Doug Park. C'ya

hey froggie, which rig are you talking about - Seth's mirage? if so that was me.

just a quick note -- if you come up 295 (vs the NJ turnpike) you don't have to pay any NJ tolls. you still have to pay all the bridge tolls and I-95 Maryland tolls though (I'm assuming you're coming up from from the baltimore area).

If you're looking for a quick fix (and to experiment) try wearing a tee-shirt or (for even slower) a sweatshirt over your jump suit. It should give you a fairly good indication of fall rate potential with different fabric. --make sure it is tucked in good to your leg straps as a safety precaution. People can still get upper arm grips through the fabric also.

I'm about 225 out the door, and downsized to a sabre 170 at around 200 jumps. It worked out pretty good. your mileage may vary. I would, however, be vary cautious (in fact I would recommend against it) with toggle inputs low to the ground. If you must build up speed for landings, use a straight in front riser approach, gradually transitioning it into a turn before landing when you get comforable with that. Toggle turns low to the ground can hurt (well, they all can hurt, but a toggle turn gives less margin for error). There are a couple of good canopy schools out there, check them out (DeLand has one and the Ranch another. XKeys also has some very well educated canopy pilots - but they may want to get all tangled up in your lines at some point - CrW that is). Be careful

How much does your gear weigh?!?!?? 210@1.2 with you weighing 135 give you a 40 lb gear weight. anyway, line twists are caused by two things (OK more, but these are major) - body position and packing (imagine that). If you're in a slight turn when deploying (pick a point on the horizon and dump, see if you turn - some people dip a shoulder putting them in a turn) you're more likely to get a twister. If the lines aren't stowed carefully, or the D-bag launches incorrectly (one side leaves before the other creating a rocking motion) you could also get all twisted up. The twists aren't the bad thing, it's what the canopy is doing during the twist (diving, continuing to twist up, starting to spin) that need to be dealt with. That said, there are some "slightly tapered" canopies that aren't as radical -- a Safire by precision comes to mind, and PD is coming out with some new canopies that probably will fit that description. The Colbalt, although more elliptical in nature, is well behaved at lighter loadings as well as the crossfire. There's plenty to choose from and downsizing will give you much more glide and swoop than what you're currently jumping (even a smaller Sabre will). try a few, read the reviews, buy carefully.

growing up, you could put our family name and town on the enevlope and it would get there no problem. In town you could just write someones name on it and it would proably get delivered. yes, I did live in the sticks.

SkyU is good for learning how to fly your body surfaces, although it's belly to earth it does teach you how to manuver. DeLand, Cross Keys, the Ranch (NY) all also have top rate free-fly schools from what I've seen (not meaning thre aren't more out there, I've just been around these ones)