nicolesheridan

You can learn to hanglide at Dockweiler State Beach (they have training hills). After that, you go to Sylmar. Or you can just start in Sylmar, but they make you do a tandem first. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Johnny, Astrid, Greg, Thys, and Karen made us feel at home the second we arrived. The views from altitude were breathtaking and landing on the beach in bare feet is something that had always been a dream of mine. I would highly recommend Skydive El Sol to experienced jumpers and to anyone looking to do a tandem in paradise!

Cool...thanks everyone. Looks like we will be bringing our gear. Hopefully Skydive El Sol can get a couple of loads up on a Friday!

brought /brɔt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[brawt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –verb pt. and pp. of bring. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. Usage Note: In most dialects of American English bring is used to denote motion toward the place of speaking or the place from which the action is regarded: Bring it over here. The prime minister brought a large retinue to Washington with her. Take is used to denote motion away from such a place: Take it over there. The President will take several advisers with him when he goes to Moscow. SO THERE! "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Has anyone ever brought their rig with them on a cruise ship? My husband and I are going on a Mexican Riviera cruise at the end of April and one of the stops is Cabo San Lucas. I know there is a DZ there and it would be awesome to get in a few jumps! I'm just not sure if there are any regulations for carrying gear onto the ship (are they the same as if you are flying?). I am assuming the screeners at the port will probably be alot less familiar with gear than a TSA screener at the airport might be and really don't need someone pulling handles or asking me to open my reserve tray. Any experiences????? _________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Good luck! I searched for 6 months. Even went as far as to call the suppliers of all the major rig manufacturers and found the only way to get some was to have an entire run custom made. I finally settled for white with black marble tie dye (Mirage) and it looks great with the urban camo accents on my suit. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

I have one. I love the lok, the fit, and the functionality. It makes it so easy to angle the box up for belly flying and down or straight for freeflying. You can also mount your still on the side for vertical shots! I got my custom painted by the guy that Giovanni uses and I am super impresed with his skill. The only negative I would have to say at all is that the box did not come as a perfect fit for a PC 1000 like a RAWA or Cookie would. You have to pad it like you do with most bonehead boxes. really a small nuisance though considering. _________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Recently, myself and 5 others at my DZ got Deepseed Freefly suits. We all love them! The quality and workmanship is comparable to US made suits and their customer service is fantastic. The attached pic is myself and one of our other jumpers wearing Deepseed freefly suits with the normal drag option selected with a little more drag asked for in the legs. There is an option for a tighter fitting suit if you wish as well as a looser one. My husband got the multispeed suit and found that he can fly camera with his arms and legs opened up (no more need for wings), freefly with everything zipped up, and do tandems either way. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

He is currently selling that canopy. Just to verify....it is accurate to tell any prospective buyer that his Radical (manufactured in 2006) is the same as the Cobalt? Thank you for clarifying and I'm glad that I can point anyone who is unsure to your post. __________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

I can land it straight in fine. All of my landings on it on Sunday were straight in because the winds were a bit different than is usual for my DZ and I was flying a different pattern. __________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

I can do 90 front riser dives on the 105 and shut it down completely. On the 135, I can't pull the fronts down at all, but don't feel like I need to build up any speed to give myself a tiptoe landing. On the 120, I feel like I need more speed to maximize my flare, but the riser pressure is too much to be able to do this. After reading the responses so far, I am definitely going to have my rigger check the line trim on the 120 I've been jumping (400 jumps on canopy - original line set). I do have a bow when I look up at them, but now that I think of it, I don't think it is as much of a bow as the 105 (400 jumps - original lineset). I'll post on Monday what I discovered and if my experience with the new 120 (220 jumps - original lineset) I got is any different. _________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Not to get too off topic here, but when my husband ordered a brand new 135 Cobalt and received a Radical and I called you about it, are you saying you gave me innaccurate info? I explained to you that he ordered the Cobalt 135 to put in his rig that he would be flying wingsuits with and that he didn't want something more aggressive than a Cobalt. You told me it was the "exact same canopy with the exact same specs" and that the only difference was the extra ribs on the end cells and the way it was marketed. In fact, you guaranteed me that it would fly the same as the Cobalt (at the time, I was nervous about him using an elliptical for wingsuit flying...until I started to use mine and saw that the Cobalt will fly straight in line twists). I have to say I am extremely dissapointed to hear you say now tht this is not the case. Either I was given incorrect info by you personally on the phone or you are giving incorrect info in theis thread. Which one is it? I still love Cobalts, but have to say that my trust has been shaken regarding any info put out by Atair. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Sabre 2s have nothing to do with what we are discussing. I only mentioned them in response to a question about what OTHER canopies I had jumped at the 120 size. We are comparing three different sizes of Cobalts. And, a Radical is a Cobalt. Exact same trim, planform, aspect ratio, etc. The ONLY difference is that the end cells on each side have an extra rib, splitting them in three instead of two. My husband has a 135 Radical that he used for wingsuit flying. It flew exactly the same as my Cobalt. Atair marketed them under the name Radical for a while while trying to appeal to the swoop market. If you doubt me, ask cobaltdan. I spoke with him directly on the phone regarding the Cobalt / Radical. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Taft will be next closest to SB. There is a crew that comes out every weekend fro that area. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Just purchased another one for my turn rig....got there today and I'll jump it Friday. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Just to clarify, the 120 is a Cobalt as well. I replied to someone asking if I had flown any other 120s by saying that I had jumped two Sabre 2 120s. The canopy I am having the issue with is a Cobalt, same as the 135 and 105. I did just purchase another Cobalt 120 for my turn rig and will be flying it this weekend. I am extremely curious to see if I have the same issue with it. "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

My canopy goals do include learning to swoop. My planned progression was to stay on a Cobalt for another 300 jumps (whether it be a 120 or 105) and then get something with a longer recovery arc...probably a Katana (107). The canopy I feel the most comfortable flying right now is the 105. I definitely feel that I would want to do some intentional downwinders and braked approaches before I would feel confortable taking it to an unfamiliar DZ, but I feel more in tune with it than I do with my 120. Jonathan said that you should be at a 1.7 wingloading before thinking about serious swooping. That would put me on a 95 which wouldn't happen for at least another 600 jumps (or more). I don't plan on doing anything more than a 90 until I get to that point, and I really enjoy doing them on the 105 (early morning Cessna Hop & Pops have become something I look forward to for that reason), but they are impossible for me on the 120 I think that my big internal debate comes down to this: I always felt that you should "conquer" a canopy before downsizing. I feel I did that with the 135, and acheived all of my goals except one with the 120. However, the one thing that I felt I couldn't master on the 120 is not a problem for me at all on the 105. And, I feel that by sticking with the 105, I'm "giving up" on the 120, but by sticking with the 120, I'm taking away front riser control. Good advice on the video. I will have my landings filmed on both the 120 and the 105 this week and try to figure out the difference. I have been receiving informal coaching, but will look into a more structured course as well. THANKS! ________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Only 2 different Sabre 2 120s. Landings were fine, but hated the openings and liked the way the Cobalt flew much better. ________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Is it possible to be at an "in-between" size on a canopy? Some background: -My canopy progression -Sabre 2 170 -Sabre 2 150 -Cobalt 135 -Cobalt 120 -Cobalt 105 (currently loaded at 1.47) When I purchased my first Cobalt (a 135), I fell in love with the canopy. I flew it in every jumpable condition, landed it crosswind, downwind, in brakes, on rears, etc. The front riser pressure was too much for me to do any sort of experimentation with it up high though. My landings were great and I could surf it for a short distance or set it down on my tiptoes if I wanted. When I downsized to the 120, I found myself having to surf out or run out my landings. I thought that this was just the nature of the downsize and that as I learned more about the canopy, that would change. Again, I landed and flew it in every condition, but found myself having to run or surf out landings. I kept one of my 135s for wingsuit jumps for that reason. I found that if I really shifted in my harness and pulled as hard as I could on my front riser, I could do about a 45 degree turn before the pressure got too heavy. Getting extremely frustrated with my landings and after putting about 150 jumps on the 120, someone suggested that maybe I wasn't building up enough speed to maximize my flare. I decided to try my husband's 105 on a calm day for a hop & pop from altitude. I immediately fell in love with the way it flew. I really felt I was flying the canopy, not the other way around. I was able to do full 360s up high on front risers. I decided to do a 45 on landing, went to rears and then toggles and had a beautiful little "mini swoop" followed by a landing where I only had to take one step. Thinking it was a fluke, I continued to jump his canopy on calm days and built up to front riser 90s. I am at the point now where I can do a nice 90 and go straight to toggles or to rears and then toggles and set it down beautifully at the end on target. Why can I do this with a 135 and a 105, but not a 120? I just decided to get rid of my 135...not doing enough wingsuit jumps to justify keeping it... and purchased another 120. Now, I am thinking that maybe I made a mistake and should have gotten a 105. I do not want to downsize too quickly, but am frustrated with the landings on the 120. I have put about 30 jumps on the 105. I have NOT landed it downwind yet and have not attempted to land it on rears only. Has anyone else ever had an issue like this? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. I jump at least two days a week, sometimes three and am anxious to learn everything I can and want to be as safe as possible. THANKS! _________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Mine would stop eating for about 3 months out of every year. Be careful about increasing the size of it's food too quickly. When I switched mine from mice to rats, he got a bowel obstruction. Luckily, with me massaging him every few hours for two days, it worked itself out, but it was scary to see him dragging half his body behind him with no control over it Also, I would recommend NOT feeding it in it's home. I had a separate feeding box for mine. As soon as I would put him in it, he would assume striking position and he never once bit anyone picking him up out of his cage (even when my hands smelled like mice). My final word of advice would be, when the little kid at Petco asks you what you are going to name your new "pet" mouse, DON'T tell him that you are going to feed it to your snake! ________________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Wow...that sucks! I only jumped at Cal City one time, but it seemed like a great DZ. I would like to welcome all Cal City jumpers to come to Taft. I think you will find the same small DZ atmosphere with a big plane

I live right off of Hasley Canyon in Castaic. The top of our neighborhood was evacuated at 6 AM this morning and we are waiting to hear if we will be told to leave. Cross your fingers for us! _______________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

My husband had the exact same problem with his Cobalt which was brand new from the factory. Our riger had to add 6 inches to the lower brakelines in order to get it not to buck on front riser dives. ----------------------------------------------------------- "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Good news! I just got word from Vigil that they are going to have to send the unit back to the factory in Belgium which will take a few weeks so they are sending me a replacement. I have been dealing with Candice and she has been great! _______________________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz

Thanks for the info and all the PMs. I will be sending the unit back to Vigil as soon as I get the serial # (the guy who I bought the rig from has to get it from his dealer who is out of town until Friday). Side note: Why aren't the sn's on the units themselves (same with my other one)? Anyway, I'll post my experience with Vigil here. Thanks again!___________________________________ "People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But, the self is not something that one finds. It is something that one creates"- Thomas Szasz