johnny1488

My first new canopy was an white Safire2 169 with red ribs and 2 offset black cells. I will never again get a white canopy. It looked great in the air if you could see it. I know get the brightest most standout dont kill me colors I can. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Seem to be for javelin or infinities, not vector or mirages Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I am gonna call Shananagins on this one too. Maybe on older canopy designs ( I dont know why) but I have jumped the same canopy with and without line stows (except the grommets of course ) and have felt no diference. The snatch force is a characteristic of the canopy, not the line stows. As long as the lines are deployed evenly, the canopy should open the same. You can do this via rubberbands, line pocket or coil of death. I like packing the coil of death for people while they are looking on in horror!!! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

If you are talking about the main flaps SunPath now sews the stiffener. I think it is a huge improvement. Look at an older Javelin and fold the tuck tab under the flaps. The binding tape almost always rolls under. I have seen a lot of flaps come open this way and a lot of unnecessary wear. Not to mention its really ugly. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

The best turn is the one where you dont kill yourself or anyone else. I think the "best" turn would probably be a 90 givin that your blind spot is the smallest (if you have to make a turn that is). What is the best as far as performance? Thats up to wing type, pilot preference and experience. Whatever you do you should be super proficient before you consider moving up in rotation. Personally I prefer a right 270 in a left hand pattern. But again I dont think you should try 270's until you mastered 180s. Land away from the high traffic areas if at all possible. And never hook if something isn't perfect with traffic/your head. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Nothing against the cpc but you dont need to be in the cpc. You could do a canopy leage on your own. Or not even a league. Get a few expierienced jumpers to donate half a day to doing a bit of coaching, maybe 2 or 3 hop n pops. The possibilities are endless. The slightest motivation could cause a lot of good. We did a league at the ranch in 2004 that worked out awesome. No one getting payed, no one having to pay. Just jumpers exchanging information and newbies gaining experience. I also agree with Dave about changing the sytem at the source (student training) not putting a band aid on it. I am all for canopy coaching, but I think students need to be tought better first. I have been charged by a national director to put my thoughts together the best I can for something physical for the board to look at. He said they get too many ideas and no plans. Talk to your DZO about organizing a league/group/whatever. I have to imagine the knowledge is spread around enough that we can touch almost every DZ. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

No one knows the whole story but what we do know is that other active sports in the area dealing with the same people don't receive the same treatment we do. And it is not a one time deal. We have several EMT's and a paramedic who jump at our DZ. But to have someone who is supposed to be working in the patients best intrest basically calling them "stupid" while working on them is pretty shitty. And why would working in a trauma/er change her judgment? Again no one seems to tell the rock climber " what the hell were you doing that for?" As far as the helicopter, if it wasn't equipped to handle the situation, I dont think it would have idled on the runway for over an hour and then left with the jumper if it wasn't equipped. People who have been hurt far worse were denied a helicopter. I am not saying this happens all over or even anywhere else. But I think she was asking what people would do if it happened to them. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

All I have ever jumped is micro lined canopies. I use large rubber bands and double stow them all. I have never had a problem. I also must have about 5-6000 pack jobs for other people and do the same. Again no problems. Scott Miller got me on the double stow train a few years ago. Said he had never seen a problem from regular rubberbands being to tight on microline. But he had seen a lot of problems from sloppy or loose stows. Whatever you do, be concsistant. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Duofold are awesome. Just one layer over tem should be enough to keep you warm. And they dont get you hot when you arent in the cold. My gf has a silk duofold shirt. its super thin and she says is warmer than her regular one. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I know it's hard, but you might have to expand your request beyond Safire2's. I know, I know its tough. But just think, it would make you appreciate your canopy that much more when it gets here. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Whats better, chocolate or vanilla? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

OK move me to the definetly column! Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

she wanted to by a javelin from me yesterday. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I had Lasik and waited about 2 months before jumping. My doctor wasnt exactly sure how long to wait, I think he said about 4-6 weeks. I wanted to ,make sure I waited long enough. I also wore regular goggles for a while too (I usually wear sunglasses). Now 1.5 years later, I have made plenty of jumps w/o goggles or glasses. I have never had a problem. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

It's not that the brake lines are uneven or even causing the turn. A turn was caused with the brakes set. The brakes and harness can be totally even. From the best that I can find, the inertia of the turn is overcoming the canopies ability to return to straight and level flight because of the lower airspeed and less area of the canopy creating lift. (Perhaps its from a higher angle of attack from the brakes/flaps being pulled down, but I don't know) Releasing the brakes increases the airspeed and allows the canopy overcome the inertia of the turn. Know that this is not causing a turn, it is keeping the canopy from straight and level flight because some outside factor caused a turn. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

I would get the serial number and contact SunPath. SunPath does not include the lenght of the lateral (the webbing that conects the main lift web to the container) in the harness size. That measurement can have a very big effect on whether the rig fits you or not. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Sorry about your friend, but I dont really see why you would think there is anything wrong with my statement. I don't know anything about your friends accident, but there is usually more than one factor in an accident. People who jump very light wing loadings have to pay very close aqttention to the winds and weather. Conditions that are good for some canopies might be dangerous for others. And a square f-111 canopy is very differnt than an all zp elliptical one. It's a pretty vague and random statement to make to say a light wingloading on a crossfire is dangerous. With the way skydiving accidents are going today, I would say jumping at light wingloadings would be considered far from a problem. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

What are you saying, that PD's R+D department knows more than I do?! I don't think I would have ever come to that conclusion if I had not had it happen to me a couple of times. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Well I spoke with someone from PD's R+D department today. He said he has heard and felt the phenomenon that I was refering to, though he said PD has never done any full testing on canopy flight characteristics with the brakes stowed. He said it is most likely due to the reduced airspeed and the increased turn rate of an elliptical canopy that will keep it in a turn when all available inputs have been returned to neutral. He also said popping the brakes increases the air speed and allows the canopy to return to its normal flight range and recover from any previous turns that may or may not still be affecting the canopy. But I still want to go up this weekend and do some tests with the brakes set. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

The Safire2 is marketed as a "lightly and truly elliptical wing" and also is described as a Mid-range performance canopy. The Crossfire2 is marketed as a "highly and truly elliptical wing" and is described as a High performance wing. When the original Safire and Crossfire were released, not many canopies were fully elliptical (ie every cell a different shape). Most were squares with the 2 or 3 end cells tapered on the leading and/or trailing edge. Since then many other companies have thrown their own idea of "elliptical" into the mix. Better to look at who the company is marketing their canopy to rather than the shape (or what they call the shape) of it. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

At a light wingloading, you probaly aren't going to notice much of a difference between the Safire2 and Crossfire2, but the Crossfire2 will turn a bit faster and dive a bit more, characteristics you might not want for a newer jumper. A Safire2 is going to open just as good(great) and give you a lot of performance to begin learning on while still giving you a bit of a larger safety margin my maintaining a shorter recovery arc (not staying in the turn as long and coming out of a dive quicker.) All this is relative, though. A Safire2 will not keep you from planting yourself in the ground if you start making radical manuevers close to the ground, but it wil give you a better chance at pulling out of a bad situation than a similarly loaded Crossfire2. You really wont see the performance difference between the 2 canopies until you hit around the 1.4:1 loading mark. At about 1.6 or so you will start to feel the Safire2 performance drop off a bit and the Crossfire2 performace take off. The Crossfire2 isn't dangerous at a light loading, but probably isn't the best choice when you look at the big picture.

Well I'll do it again this weekend and see if I can prove myself wrong. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

It sounds like it could work, sure. But let me know what happens when you try it on your next jump. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

how (in real word scenarios) can you have more weight on one than the other and still have them be level. Am I correct in assuming that making the 3 rings uneven would provide a greater change in heading than weight difference with them equal? I can imagine a weight difference in theory but cant put it into real world practice. Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome

Isnt the weight on the riser related to the level of the three rings? If the 3 rings are even is there any influence on the canopy shape? The way I understood it (or thought I did) was putting weight on one or the other legstrap made the harness (and in turn the front and rear riser on one side) lower than the other. Am I mistaken? Johnny --"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!" Mike Rome