TALONSKY

I agree you should not jump reserves highly loaded but I think there are some other factors beyond the jumpers wanting to look cool with a small rig. When I was downsizing, I found that most containers out there are made to have similar sized main and reserves. I think only Mirage and maybe Wings will really build a container for a large reserve and a small main. In my case I found after placing my order for the container that I had to downsize my reserve in order to have the rig built for my main. I would love it if most cotainer manufactures would allow you to have a small main and a larger reserve. Kirk

I bought my Infinity last September with all options including Stainless Steel Hardware with a dealer discount I paid $1595.00 Kirk

I agree with what veryone is saying about Infinity rigs. They are GREAT!. Kelly really goes out of his way for everyone. I find the rig fit real comfortably and I have never had any problems with the rig. Plus they look great too. Kirk

I currently have a GTI and a Skyflyer3. I have a new Infinity container that I jump with the Skyflyer3 with a birdman pilot chute (100” bridle), and I have had no problems and no other mods done to my rig( I have had line twist twice but each time I had a really weak throw of the pilot chute). I have jumped my B rig an Eclipse container with my GTI and had no problems but I really would not recommend using an Eclipse container without having the corners on the rig modified( when I jumped with it I would colapse all wings and lose as much forward speed as possible before deploying). I also have jumped an old Javelin container and a Talon container with my GTI with no mods to either container and just a standard pilot chute bridle length and each container worked just fine. Kirk

Thanks Ron I have heard people use the term sink their canopy in and have always wondered what they meant. Kirk

OK, I realize by this point in my skydiving career and progression in canopies that I really should know the answer to this question. However, How does one sink a canopy in? Thanks Kirk

When I get a new canopy I pull high to get familiar with it. I have pulled at 11000 on the first three jumps with each of my canopies and I have had 4 canopies Kirk

I personally love Mirage velcorless mini risers. The design that Mirage uses for the tabs on the toggles seems to me to be impossible to have the slider slid down and dislodge a toggle. The Mirage risers might be a few dollars more but if they are they are well worth it Kirk

On the warning label located on the middle of the top skin of the tail. The warning label will have the size max weight and in a white box on the lower left hand corner of the label there will be a stamp. That stamp is where it was made if it is a parachute symbol similar to the USPA symbol it was made in Spain, I have also seen an I believe a EUR for Europe. If it was made in the USA, I believe it will state USA or maybe PA for Precision Aerodynamics. Kirk I e-mailed Icarus and explained that this had been talked about here and if they could give me a reply that I could post so here is Icarus's reply The Safire-1 and the Omega are measured differently to PD canopies. As a rough guide a Safire-1 or Omega is about the same size as the next size down - eg A Safire 149 is about a 135. A Safire 119 is about a 109. Use an equation of 8%. The Safire-2 and Omni (Omni supercedes Omega) are measured the same as PD. All other Icarus Canopies are measured the same as PD. The reason for the difference is due to Precision measuring their canopies differently. Icarus have always measured the same as PD however when we originally commenced in the USA, Precision were building parachutes for us under license and were doing it using their size equations and not Icarus/PD's. We have therefore had to wait to supercede these models to change the size equation. Only the Safire and Omega were affected. Blue skies Simon Icarus Canopies USA: 1S671 Bender Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, USA Ph. (630) 562-2735, Fax (630) 231-4430 Europe: P.I. El Ramassar, c/ Vallés, s/n O8520, Les Franqueses, Barcelona, SPAIN. Ph. (34) 938 496 432, Fax (34) 938 497 971 www.icaruscanopies.com

I have never bought a new canopy from Icarus but I have owned a Safire and currently own a Crossfire 129 & Crossfire 2 130. I have called up Icarus countless times over the last three years and have always received the help I asked for even when it is inquiring on info to buy a used canopy. About a year ago I e-mailed Simon and asked for some information I could post on dropzone.com about the sizing issue the original Safire’s and Omega’s had, with in a week I got a letter from Simon apologizing for the delay stating he was of vacation along with the information I had requested. I also sent my Safire in for a reline just before selling it I believe it was a total of two weeks from the time I shipped it out to the time I received it back. Oh just a side note when I first called Icarus and was inquiring about buying a Safire (2 some years ago) the very first thing they informed me about was the sizing issue. I personally think Icarus is a great company. Kirk

In the price range you laid out there are not a whole lot of options if you buy new. 1) Protec- Probably one of the best protecting helmets however probably one of the worst looking 2) Gath- Better looking than the Protec, no internal audible pockets and very little real protection 3) EVO- by Parasports Italy, good looking, internal audible pockets and sadly not a lot of real protection Prices I believe are Protec around $40.00, Gath $99.00 and EVO $149.00 I have not checked out all the helmets but from what I have seen most all of them could be crushed by hand. Which in my mind does not offer a whole lot of real protection. I personally own a Z1 full faced and now an EVO open face both made by Parasports Italy Kirk

I have a 70’ Cuda non-number matching currently in need of a full restoration. It was the first car I ever owned it started life as a slant 6 car. Since then I bought a crate 1976 360 matched it to a hemi 4 speed (pistol grip) with a velvatouch clutch and scatter shield with a Dana 60 with 3:55 rearend gears. I also bought the rally dash, and dual scooped hood for it and all the accessory chrome needed to make it look authentic. I have been planning a complete restoration of the car prior to starting skydiving that has since been postponed for a while. I have owned this car since 1985 MOPAR’S RULE Kirk

ZZ TOP with Night Ranger openning in 1983 Kirk

Well for adult entertainment a couple of things I liked was the Greek Cuisina in downtown. If you go up to the second floor on weekends, they have music with belly dancing and plate breaking among other things. I also found Boogie Woogies to be fun it is a dueling piano bar (sound weird but it is a blast). If you are just looking for drinks and dinner there is a lot of places in downtown Portland. Of course if you have time the most fun thing to do is go skydiving in Molalla. Kirk

I have had very few problems deploying and none finding the hack on the GTI with over 120 jumps on it, but with the S3 I found it hard to get the wing tip stiffener out of my hand and get my entire hand on the hack. On my first deployment with the S3, I made 2 attempts to get the stiffner out of my hand and ended pulling with it in my hand so my throw was alittle week. I do not know if my body position was bad but I ended with line twist. Since the first jump I have had nothing but great deployments and the only thing I have consciencously change was how hard I throw . Kirk

I currently weigh 240 LBS out the door and on my GTI I have hit the a low of 62 MPH for a complete part of the dive. Meaning I do not have the jump track soft ware so the 62 is an average over 55 seconds. I still am working on fine tuning the S3 but started out at 63 MPH as a low. Kirk

Wing loading 1.85 number of jumps: 580 Kirk

I have about 40 GTI wingsuit jumps using a Crossfire 2 130 wing loaded at 1.8 to 1, and I never have had any line twist. I recently got a Skyflier 3 and( my rig for birdman jumps has a Crossfire 1 129) my first deployment I threw out very lightly(do to different pull technique needed for the S3) and ended with 5 line twist. I unzipped and kick out of them but ever since that jump when it comes pull time I throw the PC as hard as I can. I have another 6 jumps on the suit and so far have had great openings after changing pull techniques and going to a more aggressive throw. Oh, when I bought my S3 I also bought the 9’ bridle PC. Kirk

It was a really fun dive. At one point in the dive Manbird was above and ahead of me and it was a really cool visual to see him do a front flip to get down to me. Kirk

I would have to say that I doubt any company out there skydive related or not backs their product like L & B. When a company will replace the item, when it is lost do to no fault of the companies that is a pretty incredible company. I have heard may times that people have had a riser strike their helmet knocking the Protrack off and L & B replaced them free of charge. Kirk

here they are

OOPPS I have been trying to upload pics and have not got the message till now of file size.

My Skyflier 3 is finally here!!!

Safire's are lightly elliptical canopy. They are a great intermediate canopy that can swoop pretty good (for that kind of canopy). The original Safire(meaning not the Safire 2) has a fairly long recovery arch. Here is also some info that might explain why it seams so fast. I e-mailed Icarus and explained that this had been talked about here and if they could give me a reply that I could post so here is Icarus's reply The Safire-1 and the Omega are measured differently to PD canopies. As a rough guide a Safire-1 or Omega is about the same size as the next size down - eg A Safire 149 is about a 135. A Safire 119 is about a 109. Use an equation of 8%. The Safire-2 and Omni (Omni supercedes Omega) are measured the same as PD. All other Icarus Canopies are measured the same as PD. The reason for the difference is due to Precision measuring their canopies differently. Icarus have always measured the same as PD however when we originally commenced in the USA, Precision were building parachutes for us under license and were doing it using their size equations and not Icarus/PD's. We have therefore had to wait to supercede these models to change the size equation. Only the Safire and Omega were affected. Blue skies Simon Icarus Canopies USA: 1S671 Bender Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, USA Ph. (630) 562-2735, Fax (630) 231-4430 Europe: P.I. El Ramassar, c/ Vallés, s/n O8520, Les Franqueses, Barcelona, SPAIN. Ph. (34) 938 496 432, Fax (34) 938 497 971 www.icaruscanopies.com

Have you ever thought about a Crossfire 2? They are a really great canopy with incredible opennings and awesome flight characteristics. Kirk