CKSCUBA

Posted a new skydive video. i hope it is worth the time to watch and is entertaining hopefully its entertaining and a bit artistic. trying to convay the experience of skydiving. please dont laugh at my swoops they are not that impressive but hopefully its a fun video to watch i am flying a crossfire2 in these videos. the camera swooping footage is mine. edited in vegas and premiere pro 2 amazing what you can do with the home studio. one day when i am good enough to fly xbraced ill do another video. lol Chris http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6067

hopefully its entertaining and a bit artistic. trying to convay the experience of skydiving. please dont laugh at my swoops they are not that impressive but hopefully its a fun video to watch i am flying a crossfire2 in these videos. the camera swooping footage is mine. edited in vegas and premiere pro 2 amazing what you can do with the home studio. one day when i am good enough to fly xbraced ill do another video. lol Chris http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6067

I flew a crossfire 2 109 also i have my own world record swoop on the 109. i was told if i was going to load a crossfire out to 1.8 to 2 i would be better to fly crossbraced. oh the xaos 27 i was late with the flare alot and when in deep flare the canopy got real touchy like a mamba or something. maybe i need the break lines shorten for me. so shutting it down was fully was an issue for me the more i flared the more squirly it got. i didnt have this problem with the xaos 21. i was told my dumb ass had to get used to it and how to shut it down in the end also. is a xaos easier to flare and land then a velocity?? and what about the neos is that a logical step up for me? thanks chris

It is an amazing canopy. i wanted to load lighter like 120 or 111. 96 to small for me. i am sure it has sentimental value so you cant sell it right? Chris

I am comming up on 1000 jumps. 5 years in the sport. i have been swooping for a year. I fly a crossfire-2 139 and a crossfire119. i am 6ft and 205 with gear. i currently do 270's around 500 - 600 ft and 180's at 400 if I am out of my lane. I am a good canopy pilot for my jump numbers nothing special and my swoops are doing well and safe. I have for the hell of it flew or demo a Velocity 96, a FX-99, a xaos 21 108 and i put about 25 jumps on a xaos 27 -118. over the last 12 months. I am spoiled under the crossfire with the openings and easy of flight. My question is what is a good direction from a crossfire loaded 1.8? What canopy would be the easiest to transition to. I have been told that the Velocity is easy to fly and get used to. When i flew it i found it a bit reactive for my taste. the xaos didnt turn as sensative but the flare was harder to figure out. I am 39 i want to shut down the canopy and not slide or sprint on every landing is that possible? I would like something as close to a crossfire2 loaded 1.8 and want to load a xbraced at around 1.8. I would like the easy flare the openings are not as important to me. predictable flight and ease of transistion. Skydive tampa where i jump is a super small dz so i have to make it back. do the xbraced have different trim or are they close to the same?? I know these few canopies xbraced all flew different. I would be looking toward Christmas time for getting the xbraced. Could anyone give me a bit of direction. i also flown mamba and katana. i dont like diablo spinning canopies if thats anything thats avoidable. thank you very much Chris

aerodyne carl guy is really knowledgable and he takes care of you as far as demos. i like the pilot a lot from aerodyne, i also like the sabre2 also so either one of them are great canopies. i think the pilot has a little better openings but i think thats opinion. i fly crossfire's and the safire2 is a good canopy too. i also understand the fusion is good but i have never jumped it. i think the pilot and the sabre2 stand out in their own class i would demo each one a bunch and then choose. i like the pilot for openings and i thinks it has a slightly bit better flare and openings but the sabre2 will stay in a dive more and seems to be a bit faster. i think the pilot and sabre2 are awesome. chris

thank you mel and i am 39 but a kid in the sport i have been at it only 4 years and my progression has brought me to the Crossfire2. if i had been in longer then i may be flying an older canopy also. thanks chris

ian this is why i put it in the swoop area. also. i dont get any help here. alot of swoopers know the batwing and whos baby it is. can you put it back? chris

i fly a crossfire2 and a crossfire 1 but my friend flys a bat wing 134. my break lines are bowed in a huge arch at full flight. i have demod many canopies and xbraced ones and they were also bowed in full flight. my friends bat wing at full flight the break lines are tight no bow at all. my guess ( and i dont know much ) is that this isnt correct. does anyone have the the specs for the break lines ?? from say the cascade to the loop on the toggle that you set your break? and the length of the toggle line to that loop also. he is doing 90 front risers but the canopy recovers so darn quickly. can anyone help? thanks Chris

My son's viso face fell of in the plane no abuse or anything. first of all the viso is great and he loves it and so do i. it broke with the face falling of. i emailed the viso company and they said they are mailing me a new one. wow i have a ditter, optima, and my son has a viso. they support their product!!!!!!!!!! just to let everyone know this. Chris

i have 2 .5 lens from kenco and one from tiffen one is small and one is very big. they both are .5 lenses. i want to know what is the differnece and the advantages of each. they both need adapter rings to mate with my camera.; right now i use the smaller one the tiffen it says 37 mm super wide angle converter 0.5x the kenko is a about 57mm and it says video wide converterkvc-05 0.5x would the biger lens bring in more light and give a brighter picture>??? i am not hapy with my video quality any suggestions thank you chris

i have a crossfire 2 and a crossfire 1 i have never been slamed under either canopy they open very soft and sweet. katana is a strange opening canopy very inconsistant and loves to search and shakes you up. crossfires opening are awesome i actually pack mine to open a bit faster since they can snival a long time. and the glide to get back under canopy is awesome. i have a nerological disaesse that effects my neck CHris

I have done this for 4 years and i have bought 4 hc 40 and none of them work right at all and gave me trouble. the image is ok. sony tech support sucks terrible and its the firmwhere thats the problem. i have one sony hc 42 and thats a little better. i have seen the hc3 and the hc5 and thy look great and i have a friend with a hc 96 and that 96 is awesome. i cant recomend anything i dont know much i am letting you know what i have ran into and the 3 cameras that were really good from my friends Chris

oh i know dave i wasnt pointing fingers or implying anything. just a generizatiion. Not wanting to sing kom-by-ya ( spelling ?) just love the forums and love constructive, respectful, debate and sharing of ideas, knowledge and experience. Just hate wheen people get mad at each other and people are offended and people are harsh and all that. the forums have been an enormous benifit to my 18 year old son and myself. Chris

In Defence of the same old question and not to offend anyone who moderates or runs the forums but for me, it is hard for me to search for the question on my mind. I make an effort to find the answer in the forums before I ask. I sometimes cant find it and then i get answers and some times i get refered to a previous post. I am like wow i didnt see that or find that. i dont think people Trol here they seem to be asking very earnest questions. I dont think there is to much of the nazi answers either. But the guys who answer shouldnt be so synical just becuase they have answered the same question before. The question is not meant to offend it is an honest question that deserves an answer and who ever answers should answer in a way not to offend, at least try. It is better someone throw around an idea or a question here then go at it alone and get hurt. Maybe if the answer were not so unnescesary harsh but still to the point and truthful. Harsh is ok but maybe not rude and then said like you were talking face to face. i think the poster would be alot more receptive. But still this orginal poster should respect the honesty and experience of the swooper who answers and take it to heart and not get mad because the said poster didnt get the answer they wanted. I am not saying island man got mad for that reasons its a genrilazation. Chris

Hi a Velo is very ground hungry and it is a bunch of steps up from where your at as in experience. Just the other day a swooper at deland had, from what I understand , a perfect run at the gates then his hand placement on his riser sliped or a toggle slip, from what people say, and he carved right into the ground and died. The velo isnt a Katana. As far as corssbraced go i have jumped the velocity, fx, xaos 27 and xaos 21. the velo was the most hand ful of them all. I mean your going to trade in your katana for a velo and on windy days and other conditions its such a different canopy margin of error so much less. I want to go crossbraced one day too but right now i am stuck on the crossfire2 till i fly the heck out of it then i will hopefully down size and down size, till maybe i get a crossbraced. If you have a Katana 135 cant you go down to like a katana 105 or something. i think that would be a better bridge before going to crossbraced. I think that katana's and Crossfire2's are the fastest non-crossbraced canopies but I am not sure of the Blade. I was told by a CPC Swooper that the Blade is a great transitional Canopy. I would say go smartly, get some caoching and good evaluation, down size to a smaller katana if the wing loading doesnt exceed the limits for it, find out about the blade also. I think the last thing you want to do is get a Crossbraced until you have completly used up all your transitional options and completed and conquered each transitional step option. Then when over 1000 jumps and you have nothing left to down size into then i say go crossbraced. thats assuming your flying the heck out of everrything. Your a fast learner so you would do well i am a very slow learner myself. See then you will have the 1000 jump range and you will be so much better then you are now and so much more ready. just my opinion. they say crossbraced is like dating a stripper, it may be worst then that. Chris

My God is Norman Kent reading from a script???? Like in his head. The guy is so well spoken and makes it easy to understand. thats amazing to me he doesnt stop talking he flows with it. i wish i could speak like that. I would say that this DVD would be a huge investment i will buy one and ill promote it to my friends and ill have my son buy one. I love this stuff i have the backfly and sitfly dvd's they are incredible. dont you just love technology imagine if you had these resources 20 years ago. DSE thanks for telling us about it and thatnks for answering my questions.

thank you very much!! for all the info you know your stuff chris

I am sorry to ask this question: what is the difference between a wide angle lens and a converter lens. I am using a kenko .5 lens on my hc42 camera. It works ok but when i take the lens off the camera image is brighter and nicer. put the lens on it darkens a bit colors are not as crisp and the image is blurred around the edges. I have it focus to infinity and the subject looks ok but there is a bluring on the out from the center. it doesnt have much of a vingnate. ok way cool lens and diamond lens are awesome right? but why? when i zoom in too much it will go out of focus with the kenko. soi way cool or stealth in the .5 range or what would a better lens be? also would i have to adjust my flying ? thank you and i have searched the forums but i am still confused. Chris

the Demo program is really good, demo a 139 or a 149 they fly big. its $65 for two weeks thats a good deal. give it a try. i really thought the icuras people were great. the crossfire2 dives harder and will feel a little faster on straight flight. with the less drag nose and your ability to flare all day long. I dont think it is as reactive as the nitro but for swoop speed i really think the Crossfire 2 or the katansa are the leaders of the pack of non crossbraced. i think you will love it and the openings are like ahhhh easy. the nitro is a great canopy but i think the crossfire2 is a step up but it is very manageable. The demo program is great, unless you have a friend with one then the friend demo program for beer is the best demo program. I have flown many canopies and people are like ya go ahead. Chris

I understand, was the Dr. and nurse practitioner present that day? Its good you have folks like that there. I assume they skydive. Little DZ? isnt deland a huge dropzone? I wasnt implying you guys dont know what to do i was just sharing a thoughts of briefing the ems about the sport. I am telling you I never even heard of swooping when i was a AFF student and when i saw it and found these guys were going 60-90 mph wow its incredible. I am sure most ems people neve are briefed about swooping as a normal sprting event like nscar and motcross. Thats why i was saying give them a briefing on everything that can happen. didnt mean to imply anything at all Chris

Ok no swoop pond sorry i didnt know. I guess i assumed a pond. I was a medic and worked ambulance we never sat around like that. Its usally automatic air way first, then imibolaize, bleeding, you know. central lines all that. no matter what you saw or what you think you have to go all out. I imagine what the ems people saw they had never seen and they knew this would be a multiple trauma, where to start i am sure it was overwealming for them. I am sure it wouldnt happen a second time. many times people die and you cant beleive it, you say no way they were ok and others ill tell you you just know they wont make it and then they do, it is amazing. One thing at the future events If Ems is there for the day. Get the ems people together and give them a briefing. Tell them the history of swooping and what has gone wrong or what can go wrong with canopies, hitting the ground, hitting obstacles, and what speed you guys are going. Tell them the injuries and fatalities and maybe they can get themselves geared up and know what to expect. these ems guys are most likely watching in awwhh of whats going on. They probubly havent seen this type of activity and may think it is safer then it is. I am just suggesting, the first time i ever saw anyone swoop when i was an aff guy i was like wow!!!!!!! funny i didnt think of the danger more then the skill of the canopy pilot. then i saw videos on the internet of swoop crashes and chows it brings in the reality of wat can happen I guess give the ems guys a briefing and maybe where they should set up, best way to leave and closest hospital, what they should do and respond to ect... I dont think it would insult them but it would prepare them. just a thought Chris

sorry i never seen the swoop course set up i know the pond gives alot of protection right? i was curious why didnt the swooper hit the pond? does the pond extend past the gates? or are the gates at one end of the pond. So when he was diving down did he hit the ground before the pond?? Also wondering if anyone knows a location of the video of the accident? Chris

be nice to have an ambulance there just in case. Minutes and seconds could mean a life. i dont think it would attach any stigma too this. I guess at competitions participants would push harder becuase its for all the marbles. Sorry to his family, friends and skydiving buds. it is very sad. I think swooping is part of the sport just another disipline and has its own unique dangers. I wonder if setting up some type of protection in frot of the gates would help. example of the extreme motocross guys do flips into a special foam area like 10 ft thick. has anyone ever seen that ? or the hollywood stunt inflatable matresses that are large that the stunt men fall like 60 ft and more into. i guess its not practical. Is there a video of the accident?? anywhere on the web? i saw the orlando sentinal video but it doesnt show the impact. I hate to see it but i would like to see what happend to learn from it. i hate seeing those videos but thy can be a strong learning tool. again i hope asking to see the video isnt out of line. again sorry for the loss to all who knew him. Chris

plenty of outs, there is no turn and pray. the set up always affords outs and at 450 ft is high enough to see where you are going. I guess you assume that i do not watch the ground. i can let go of the riser at anytime and flat out of it. I fly with my eyes and have not busted anything nor have i come close at all. the 139 crossfire2 in the video is loaded only at 1.52 at that wing laoding it doesnt stay in a dive like the other crossfire i load at 1.8. thanks for you concearn as i am bumbing my alti up more and more i am grabbing both risers and slowing my turn down week by week.