AndyMan

Not that I'm going to encourage you to jump the Stileto, I absolutely love the way that it opens. Soft and gentle every time. You need to remember historical context - when the Stileto came out everyone was still jumping square canopies. The eliptical canopy was brand new. At this time, a lot of people were still jumping ripcords, too. Going for the ripcord made people unstable at pull time. People were still being taught to look over their shoulder to make themselves untstable at deployment time. All of these added up to a situation that people were not even in their harness through the opening, and spinning malfunctions were common. The Stiletto got branded the "spinetto". We don't teach people to look over their shoulders during opening any more. We don't teach "Look, Reach, Pull", at pull time. People are more cautious of being stable in the harness, but more importantly people have jumped modern canopies their entire lives. Being even in the harness is natural to todays jumpers. I don't think the Stileto is much more prone to a spinning malfunction then a sabre2, safire, or any other modernly designed canopy. I've chopped my triathlon from spinning line twists. I haven't chopped my stiletto. Now, Stiletos are known for having consistently good openings. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Well, they're just not that old. You're forgetting historical context. Rounds, especially para-commanders where cutting edge high tech in the 60's and 70's. PC's were for a long time objects of desire, things that people longed to get but couldn't afford. In their historical concept, they were the shit. They were not things that people begrudgingly accepted because they couldn't afford anything better. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A lot of skydivers seem to have a strong misconception that skydiving is safe, and other things are dangerous. I'm not really sure why this is the case, but I suspect delusion. Skydivers think driving to the DZ is more dangerous then jumping. Skydivers think landing in an airplane is more dangerous then jumping. Both make very little sense. That said, I've taken off in planes probably about 550 times. I've landed in planes probably 20 times, including those times I've flown commercially. I suspect the ratio of takeoffs to landings is probably similar for most skydivers. It's natural that we'd feel uncomfortable landing because we so rarely actually do it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Because it's fun. No matter how much you read from gas-bags like me, you'll only really understand it when you experience it yourself. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The zippiest turning canopy I've ever jumped was an Aerodyne Diablo - an eliptical 7-cell - not THAT different then a triathlon. Nor that different from a Stileto. It's what you'd get if a Stileto mated with a Triathlon. First of all, if we're going to talk about canopies - let's rule out size. Lets assume that that the canopies we're talking about are all the exact same size - which is actually an innacurate assumption, because even those that're labeled the same are measured differently. You're jumping a spectre, which is a mostly square seven cell. I said square even though it's clearly more rectangular, that's just the way things are. It's got some curve to the leading and trailing edges, but not a lot so its generally considered to be perfectly rectangular. Similar canopies are the Aerodyne Triathlon and Icarus Omega. All three canopies are generally considered relatively good allround canopies, relatively docile. The seven cell design gives them a bit of a steeper glide then nine cells. This makes them popular for people who value accuracy, which is not so popular in the fields of Illinois, but if you jump somewhere where landing in sombody's backyard is a realistic possibility, it's a good thing. Most seven cells are square. An exception is the Aerodyne Diablo - which offers a fully eliptical seven cell. The eliptical shape of the wing gives it very fast diving turns, making it a half decent swoop monster. Definately high performance. Because it's still a seven cell, it's got a steep dive. Nine cell canopies generally have a better glide then seven cells ones. For years, the defacto nine cell was the PD Saber. Again, perfectly rectangular (square), it got a nice glide and powerful flare. Again, they're relatively stable in their turns and similar to your seven cell in how it handles turns. The only knock off I've seen is the Monarch. Once you start to add some curvature to the leading and/or trailing edge of the Square nine cell, you get the "tapered" nine cell. These include the Safire, Saber2, and PISA's Hornet. All three canopies are generally the same but with different manufacturer specific tweaks. The curvature of the leading and trailing edge makes the canopies more egg-shaped, and this shape results in very rapid turns which lose altitude quickly. They're "medium" performance canopies that a lot of people use to hone their high performance landings before going to something fully eliptical. At a light wingloading, they can be good beginner canopies. At a heavy wingloading, they can be high performance monsters. Stiletto/Crossfire/Cobalt/PISA Heatwave. These are fully eliptical nine cell canopies, which are clealry high performance canopies. Their egg-shape is more pronounced then the previous group, which makes them turn even that much more faster, and dive at the ground that much quicker. The last group is the cross-braced canopies, which include Icarus VX/FX, Precisions XOAS, PD's Velocity. These canopies have modified noses which help them maintain truely ludicrous wingloadings. They dive like a mo-fo, turn on a dime and break a whole lot of femurs. They're only made in small sizes - I've yet to find one I've been willing to jump. I've left out air-locked canopies, like the PD-vengence, and Big Air Sports Lotus and Samurai. The air-locks help the canopy maintain inflation through turbulence. Otherwise, the Lotus is like a Saber2, and the Vengence and Samuari are like Stiletos. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

If you want to jump a high performance round, then do. A P.C. was considered a very high performance canopy when it came out, and you had to have a certain number of "standard" round jumps before jumping a PC. Historical context is key. A Stringray wouldn't stand up very well against a sportscar of today, either. Or, what if I offered you a 62 Cadillac convertable? Would you turn that down? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Try a different insurance company. I'm currently with Blue Cross Blue Sheild of Illinois PPO and they have no problems with skydiving. I previously had been with AETNA PPO and HMO and they also didn't have any problems. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Cute, and funny... bute fake. Damn! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I quite about a year ago, and had a few setbacks early on. I haven't had a craving in over six monthes, a setback since the early spring. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I missed the 'overtaking the lask person' one. 3 outta 4 aint bad... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

So... if you were given the chance to drive a 1962 Stingray Corvette, you'd turn it down because it doesn't have airbags and ABS? Something to think about. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I made my 500th jump under a para-commander. I look forward to doing more. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Why are you asking? I hope you're not planning on using one without profesional training. That will not have a positive outcome. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Don't hold your breath. I'm pretty sure this guy is on crack. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Smoking increases risk of MS. It seems like finding a way to allow people to keep smoking is the wrong answer... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Michele, you've been in our thoughts all week. Craichead and I both send vibes. Heal quickly! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yeah, the spotted Otter (223AL) is my weekend office. The long floater bar is new, the week before the nationals they just had a small handle. I do like the new additions. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't because I value the rigidity of my reserve tuck tabs. Modern reserve flaps are not designed to be constantly opened and closed. If you're that concerned about your reserve pin, then on many rigs you can have the manufacturer install a clear plastic reserve flap that you can see through. Generally these are only found on student gear, though. Alternately, if you do want to visually inspect your pin after every jump and pack-job, be sure to regularly ask your rigger about your tuck tabs. They will likely need frequent replacing. Myself, I check my gear at the start of every day, I then am careful of not disturbing the pin throughout the day. I do pin checks, or request them only if I have reason to. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I did something similar, hell I jumped the week after I broke my ankle. I didn't jump the biggest canopy I could find, but it certainly was large. I jumped the biggest canopy I needed to be able to comfortably butt-slide every landing. I'm sure the whuffos got a kick out of people carrying crutches out to the landing area so I could get back. Also, the picture of me getting lifted into the otter must've been humurous. In hindsight, it wasn't smart. That said, the preasure to jump when you're grounded is strong, and I certainly understand where you are. My advice to you is that if you choose to jump, don't even attempt stand-up landings for a while. Personally, I did not attempt stand-up landings until I was able to run a light jog AND jump off a 12 inch high ledge on only the bad leg. When you consult with your doctors, don't just ask "can I jump?", but think of comparable forces you put on yourself in daily life - like running and jumping, and ask about those. When the doc ok's those other activities, then think about standing up your landings. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Javelin has been making their one inch chest straps like that since at least 99, which is when mine was made. I don't believe there's ever been a case of a properly secured chest strap coming off. The key is stowing the excess on the left side of the friction adapter, I'm told. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Please don't lose hope. The world is covered in students who've been touched by teachers who give a damn. Most teachers don't even know who the ones they've touched are. Never give up. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's awesome. PLEASE post pics! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yeah, we had the fortune to be able to see video of our DZO playing air-guitar as a 10 year old a few weeks ago. Egads, it was priceless! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I forgot to mention the Spotted Otters little sister, the Polka Porter: http://www.skydivecsc.com/images/porter.jpg Sweet dash-27 goodness. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This is a very good question. I've posted many times of my strong dislike for the Z1, and I often repeat that I do not recomend them to anyone. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.