TALONSKY

I agree, now by no means am I saying a Crossfire 2 can swoop like a VX just dive close to it or as close as possible for a non crossbraced. Hey Dan, not that it would be a totally accurate comparison but if you fly a 120 Xaos 21, I have a 130 Crossfire 2 maybe sometime when you do not have anything better to do you could fly it and give your impression of the dive of Crossfire 2. Kirk

I will keep that in mind and start working on it. I did at first try that but it just did not seem to work that well for me. I find that after a little hip input the front riser pressure is more managable so that's what I have started to do. Thanks for the tip I find it interesting even though I may not be getting the most dive out of each canopy the data from Diveout and Beavdog seem to also show that the Crossfire 2 has a close to same recovery arch as a VX. As Dan stated 500-550 for the VX and Beavdog stated 500 on the Crossfire 2. Kirk

You could call Skydive Oregon 503-829-4036. Jennifer is a great rigger. If you have not already, you should come out and check us out, we have an incredible DZ. (www.skydiveoregon.com) Not sure where you are coming from but if you get on I-205 headed from Portland to Salem take the Park place exit which drops you on Hwy 213 take if for about 18 miles till you come to a stop light with a Safeway on the left (this street is hwy 211) turn right and about 1/2 a mile on the left is the DZ. Welcome to Portland ! Kirk

Well there is no doubt that I am not wringing my VX out totally since I only have 50 jumps on it (And I don’t even try to pretend to be one of the hot shot swoopers). However starting with a harness turn and adding front risers it take approx. 430 feet to plan out. The same 180° done on my Crossfire 2 with just front risers takes approx. 410-420 feet to plan out. My heights are taken over at least 10 jumps checking off of my Sunnto Vector watch which I feel is about as accurate as any aliti will ever be that low to the ground(oh I do not use it soully just to back up what I see visually) I have talked to others that went from a Crossfire to a Velocity and said the recovery arcs were almost the same. Kirk

Hey Kim ,I really wanted to get out a fly with you and manbird but the timing did not workout. Anyway I am really glad you got some wing suit jumps in. I look forward to flocking with you in the future. Now that you been up here don’t be a stranger. Kirk

Hey Jeff, have you ever compared a Veng. to a Crossfire 2. I only have a few jumps on a Veng. but it was my impression that the Crossfire 2 dove more. I personally do not have a wide range of comparisons of canopies but I can say my Crossfire 2 loaded at 1.7 dive almost as much as my VX loaded at 2 that is atleast in a 180° turn. Kirk

I am just curious, are you asking about velocity openings because your are interested in jumping a velocity with a wingsuit? If so I would seriously caution you that at 285 jumps you even if you are the best natural talent ever you should not be jumping a Velocity until you are more seasoned and should not consider jumping a Velocity with a wingsuit. On the other hand, if you are only asking out of curiosity than I apologize for the above comment Kirk

I am sure this will not help you, but a year and a half ago I bought a suit from them. I did finally get the suit two weeks after they said I would get it. They feel that it should only take a couple of days to ship from there but it takes a lot longer. When I did receive it, it was not even close to what I had ordered the color swatch I ordered showed a blue and white mix of color, when I got it the suit was violet with blue and white flowers hand painted on it. The suit looked so gay there is no way I would ever wear it. I tried a couple of times to get a hold of them with no luck. I ended it finding someone at my DZ who liked it and sold it a $50 loss but atleast I got some of my money back. I personally now will only buy for local ( in the US) companies that have a great rep. Good Luck Kirk

The simplest solution that I have heard of is to have a rigger put a pocket on the slider. I hear that this works great and is pretty cheap to have done. Kirk

Would you be referring to a DZ near Las Vegas. If so I have heard about the only tandems there from a few skydivers Kirk

I would suggest that any rig is packed the way the manufacturer designed the rig to be closed. If you are having a constant problem with line twist you may want to look at your body position at pull time. It could also be unwanted hip input at deployment time. Kirk

I have a Sidewinder 2 helmet with a PC105 in it and have not noticed any differance in my fall rate. I have at times I been paying more attention to the camera shot than my body position. Kirk

As far as fall rate, I think you are right about the audible computers. Also it is hard to find clean air to get an accurate reading. I actually lost my Pro Track on a jumps a while back. Now I use my video camera to time my freefall. Oh, I forgot to add to my original post my weights 220lbs and 190lbs are without gear so add 20lbs for gear. Kirk

When I started flying birdman I weighed 220 LBS @ 6 foot 3 inches tall. Our exit alititude is 13000 AGL. When I started flying wingsuit I had just over 430 jumps. GTI 1-6 jumps 90-80 MPH GTI 6-20 jumps 80-70 MPH GTI 20-30 jumps 70-60 MPH Skyflyer3 1-10 jumps 60 MPH Skyflyer3 20-40 jumps 55 – 50 MPH @ 220Lbs I only had 2 flight that went over 2 minutes I had one jump that I registered under 40MPH for just a second or two. Lost weight 190LBS Skyflyer3 40-50 55-45 MPh Skyflyer3 50-60 Jumps 55-45 MPH. I now have over 2 minute freefall on all jumps and last jump flying a little conservatively at first (flocking) I got 2 minute 20 seconds. Kirk

It was my understanding that the lowering of the AFFI standard, was in response to AFFI canadates complaints that the course was too hard and too expensive. It also was my understanding that the falure rate was quite high in the old AFFI course. Kirk

I would pretty much agree with your riggers price. This would be my educated guess at value Reflex container $ 400 Main 170 Sabre $ 500 Cypress $ 700 Reserve PD176 $ 600 Even though main has few jumps it is an old model, with hard opennings. I would also check that the riser covers stay closed, I have seen some that have problems with that. Also the pop top generally needs to be tightened a few times after a repack in the following months(milage may vary depending on how good the rigger knows the tricks to the Reflex container) Kirk

Now as Lou and Steve have stated you should if at all possible switch to a correct style of PC. However, if you do not want to, you can collapse your wings totally about 500 to 800 feet before pulling. By collapsing your wings you are slowing your forward speed and increase your fall rate. That will put you closer to belly to earth speeds. I do not suggest this be done on a regular bases and once again you should get it change. I had found myself at one time having a rig that I believed to be very unfriendly for wingsuit flying. The rigs bottom corners are sewn up about 2”inches toward the reserve container. Which creates a pocket at the bottom by doing what I described I had no problem wingsuit flying. I have now a container that is wingsuit friendly and if wingsuit flying is in your future make sure you get the proper equipment. Kirk

Actually there are drivers that do pay attention to the rear view mirror to avoid a collision from behind. If I have to make a sudden stop that is exactly what I do. Just because it means that it would be the other guys fault for rearending someone does not mean the person in front shouldn't make an attempt to avoid a collision if at all possible. This comparison you have made is invalid. A skydiver on the ground can easily move (or at least make the attempt to) out of the way of in coming traffic providing they are looking out for canopies landing. It is really quite simple, if you are in the LZ your head needs to be on a swivel, you do not have the right to ignore incoming canopies. We should not be trying to pass off responsibilty to "the other guy". Jeff Quote Your right we should not try to pass off responsibilty to "other guy". Jumper #2 was not paying any attention to where he was as he was coming in for a landing, " it is totally his fault". Yes, jumper #1 could have been more heads up and looked for incoming canopies, but it is grossly negligent of jumper #2 to not be paying attention at all to where he is landing. I guess you are right that it is an invalid analogy with the cars Kirk

You know and understand that people make mistakes when skydiving. You know and understand that sometimes those mistakes cause injury to others. If you don't have the financial resources to support your family should something happen to you... perhaps you should choose not to skydive until such time as you either do have the resources or you no longer have the responsibilities? _________________________________________________ I do not know too many people that have an extra $5000- $10000 laying around just incase someone else makes a mistake and puts them out of work for a while. However, I do know a large amount of people that live pay check to pay check only having a small (somewhere in the area of $100 - $300) amount of extra cash after paying bills. Now are you really sitting there telling me most of the people you know including yourself have that kind of money laying around as backup otherwise you would fall into the same category as I do(not having enough spare cash laying around to pay all your bills for a few months). __________________________________________________ Why wait to be sued? Contact the other party immediately. Talk to them. You may be able to work something out. Why bring lawyers and courts into something that might not require them? __________________________________________________ Once again I like most people I know do not have a spare $5000 to $10000 plus, lying around incase of an emergency. The only thing I could call and do for the other skydiver would call and try to set up a payment plan, which my guess would be not good enough and would end up in lawyers hands anyway. Kirk

To some degree this is similar to a rearender in a car. While if the lead car could be more heads up and make sure the drive behind him has enough room to stop, it is the car that hits the rearend of the car in fronts fault always.

You know, Lisa, I just skimmed through the SIM and Instructors manual and can not find any where it states, after landing your parachute it is your responsibility to keep your eye out for other skydivers who may not be able to control where they land. When I get to work tomorrow I will do a word search in the SIM to see if I missed it ( I am sure if so many people feel it is the responsiblity of the landed jumper to make sure no other jumper hits them while landing, it must be in some literature somewhere). Kirk

Yes, if I was on a big way or know that there are going to be alot of canopies around I would take extra care to look around on the ground. However, common sense would tell me that any competent skydiver can maneuver the canopy through use of those little yellow or red things call toggles to be alble to avoid a stationary object such as me picking up my canopy. Kirk

Really? I remember being told that way back when I first started jumping. Skydive isn't over til you're back in the packing area - and I'm responsible for myself and all risks associated with my skydive. Would you stand in the middle of an aircraft runway and not be looking to see if there was a plane about to take off or land? If you were standing there not looking for traffic and a plane hit you, is it the pilot's fault? I can't understand anyone not looking around for canopies headed their direction when standing in the landing area - ie an active runway for parachutes... ________________________________________________ I said read anywhere, yes you should keep a look out for others. And unless your an idiot, you would look both ways around the runway which is taught in the first jump course. It is the responsiblity of each skydiver to look out for the lower and slower which have the right of way. Now if I am on the ground, I expect that any skydiver above me to be able to land without hitting me. ( or they should not have a license to skydive) _________________________________________________- Ever make a mistake on a skydive that could have hurt someone? The reality of life is most of us are less than one months wages away from losing things. If because of GROSS negligence on a skydivers part, Yes I would sue them(because I will not lose my families home over someone else mistake). To answer your question, of course I have made skydiving mistakes and if I ever did something that put another in the hospital I would expect to be sued. Skydiver loyalty will go out the window in face of losing everything you own because of gross negligence on another skydivers part

OK maybe I missed something but I can not for the life of me remember reading anything anywhere that it is your responsibility to after landing your canopy watch out for others that may not be paying attention and that could possibly hit you. I do remember reading low and slow has the right of way, Ok jumper #1 is on the ground so he is lower that jumper #2 and jumper #1 is stationary lastly jumper #2 is still moving which makes jump #1 have the right of way( yes if jumper #1 was being proactive he would look around for others). If someone hit me after I landed and I had to be hospitalized for a while you bet your ass I would sue them, “IT IS TOTALLY THEIR FAULT”. Oh, just because I sign a waiver that only protects the DZO, Pilot and instructors only does not absolve people from having been soo negligent that they should not be sued. I can not believe people are actually saying it was the jumpers who had landed fault, that is totally ridiculous. Kirk

You might try as I think some one has already sugested and e-mail L&B. It may seem strange to contact them but just explain what happened and ask if there is any thing they could do. Alot of times they will replace them for free. I lost one the same way you did and contacted them explained what had happened and a week later they had shipped me a new one free. L&B really back there products well. Kirk