Canuck

The original Voodoos (late 90s vintage) were designed to be packed lines up. The d-bag was even shaped a little differently for that purpose. That design only lasted a year or two. People that have been jumping Voodoos since then sometimes still pack them that way, even if they have a newer one, but there is no reason to. I had a Voodoo built in 2000 that I packed lines up for a while (because someone told me that's what I was supposed to do) and then later packed it lines down when I discovered the truth. It made no difference either way. Canuck

OK, now that's funny. It bothers you that it's "always one guy's way and any other stance is wrong" but you end your last post by telling me that I'm "just plain wrong" Have fun in the tunnel, I'll have fun in freefall, we'll both come out of it better and poorer. Canuck

First of all, hardly anybody actually does 4-way in a tunnel, especially the 12 foot variety. There's just not enough room for any but the most compressed formations. 4-way teams that do tunnel camps spend most of the time doing 2-ways. And yes I realize that 2-ways are excellent for building 4-way skills, but they're still not 4-ways. So there goes the $160 per hour deal, not to mention you're not learning about exits, hill-flying, subterminal air, or any other components of what you have called "freefall skills." Also to consider is the fact that for many of us tunnel time equals airfare and hotel accommodation rather than driving to our local DZ and sleeping in a tent/trailer/bunkhouse. If you're lucky enough to live within driving distance of a tunnel, good for you, but for me travel and accommodation prices have to be factored in. For me, skydiving equals entertainment. What I mean by bang for your buck is max entertainment for my dollar spent. For $200 I get a full day of entertainment at a DZ. For $200 I get (at best) and hour at a tunnel. So I think my tight budget rationalization holds up just fine. Chill... Canuck

Jim Slaton describes it a little in the forums of canopypiloting.com. You can also find some pics if you search a little. It's a 27 cell with no stabalizers and the nose looks slighlty different than a VX. I'm sure there is more to it than that, but that's what you can see clearly in the pics. Also, I believe it comes with HMA lines - at least as an option. The canopy you refer to with only cross bracing in the middle is (I believe) the GLX which is the ground launch specific canopy. Canuck

Question for people using a Suunto. Do you just use the regular altimeter mode, or once in that mode do you use that altitude difference sub-mode? I'm just wondering if one or the other updates faster. Got a vector for Christmas. Can't wait to play with it under canopy. Canuck

Good God man, whatever you do DO NOT add water to it. Don't even put ice in it! Canuck

Yup. My top three affordable single malts, in order, are: Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 year Glenmorangie 10 year Glen Garioch 15 year "Scotch scotch scotch, I love scotch" - The Anchorman Canuck

The irony of this is too funny - the "inventors" of autmonauti in a pissing match with the "inventors" of freefly. The "atmospere dolphins" vs. the "atmosphere navigators." Seriously, as has been said numerous times now in the three or so different threads all on this same topic, ways of distinguishing sub-disciplines is fine, but all this inventing shit is nausiating. "The inventor of autmonautics science" - Hilarious! Can I major in that? Do you need to wear a lab coat? "The inventor of the autmonaut stand-up" - You mean like the Hang 10 Dude Omar position? Let me guess what's next, Autmonauti specific jump suits, a whack of sponsored Autmonauti teams driving up gear prices for average consumers, an Autmonauti atmosphere navigator cash grab licensing system, and the innevitable Autmonauti "tm"... Glad I got that one in before I have to start paying for the word. How much is it going to cost to get my "AN" A license? Canuck

PDR 99, 106, 113 are all placarded at 220 max. The rest of the PD reserves are rated to 254. They are all under the same TSO I believe though, which means they have all survived the same drop test requirements. Canuck

Guilty. According to my profile, I load my 113 reserves at 1.8 something. I think it's actually closer to 1.7 because of the PD measurement thingy. Anyway, I've never thought about reserve wing loading to be honest. When you get this far away from the optimal wingloading of 7 cell F-111 canopies, discussing wingloading becomes kinda pointless. I know I'm within the placarded weight limit, and I know I can land the canopy safely. To me, that's what is important. Canuck

Yes, and perhaps you need to read all the responses you have had - at least three have said that no such chart exists and given reasons for why. I'm tempted to go ahead and try, but like I said earlier, it would only be my opinion, and I know others would step up and tell me I'm wrong (which I'm ok with). More examples: some think the Vengance is a better/higher performing canopy than the Stiletto, others say no. Some think the Cobalt is a better/higher performing canopy than the Nitro, others say no. Some people (OK, only one person) think the Onyx will outperform the VX, Velo, and Xaos 27, everybody else on the planet thinks it's a piece of shit... It can't be done. Canuck

I believe what he means is that an atmonauti dive increases your freefall time as compared to a vertical freefly dive due to the differences in fall rate, in the same way a flat fly jump increases your freefall time over a sitfly. Without the aid of a wingsuit, the best use of altitude is a tracking dive. I've been on a few (leading ) that were protracked and Neptuned in the low 80 mph range. Canuck

Canopy comparisons are so subjective and bias that they are useless. 999 out of 1000, whatever somebody has they will tell you is the best. I remember an ad the Precision ran last year that did exactly that - compared their canopies to others out there. According to that comparison, the Xaso 21 is a far superior canopy to the Velocity in every way. Take that for what you will. You can broadly categorize canopies, but even doing that you will have naysayers. For example, I would put the Crossfire in a category different (above) the Stiletto, but I guarantee you will find Stiletto pilots who will say the Stiletto is a higher performing canopy than the Crossfire. Rhino thinks his Crossfire2 out performs a Xaos 21, etc. Short answer - no, you will not find an objective comparison. Canuck

Flocking is a skydive, usually done in a head down position, but I have seen them lead in a sit/stand position, where a bunch of jumpers follow a leader on a diagnol trajectory across the sky. Sounds A LOT like atmonauti, but I guess it's not seeing how atmonauti was only "invented" a couple years ago, and flocking has been happening for 10+ years. I'm with you on this one Quade. And yes, I've done them... Canuck

Very cool. Question - Where would the videographer be? Over the formation as in belly RW? Under? At the side, as in artistic freefly, really wouldn't always show grips well. Challenging methinks... Canuck

ummm, PD doesn't make a 109 reserve, they make a 106. Now lots of poeple get this wrong, but you're SPONSORED BY THEM!! I'm suprised the 106 fits in the 000. I thought it was only for the sub 100 reserves. Canuck

Ever seen a Voodoo 000? That shit is tiny! Canuck

If the jumper actually "bounced off his chest" he had bigger problems than simply landing downwind. Sounds like a low turn too. I had a landing this Spring that comes to mind; an intentional downwinder that went on forever. I crossed the landing area completely and ended up landing on a chunky plowed downhill slope still carrying plenty of speed. Running would have been the wrong idea - it surely would have resulted in something broken or a face full of dirt! Instead, I piked my legs out in front of me and slid in on my ass. A PLF would have worked too, but I hate getting dirty. I disagree with the statement that sliding is an advanced manouver. Tandem passenger do it all the time on their first jump. Making it look good - now that takes practice. Canuck

I wont comment on the Racer vs. Jav. because I've never owned either one. As for the Stiletto, the design is around 12 years old, and people are still buying them new. That says something. You will rarely find somebody who says Stillettos open hard. I've jumped 107s, 120s, 135s, and 150s and always had nice openings. Most people that complain about them spinning up are on an out of trim lineset, or have shitty body position. Canuck

I laughed when I saw it was an Odyssey flapping away. I see Jav and Jav Odyssey flaps open more than any other rig out there. Love the way they look, hate the way they blow open. If a rig can't handle the climbout there is something wrong with it. No jumpships have exit speeds the like of freeflying, and unless you are doing some particularly funky exit, there should be no more strain on the rig than there is doing a front loop or roll. As a cameraman, if I see shit like this on climbout, I make sure to keep my horizontal distance in freefall. Canuck

To a point. Eventually though the extra drag produced by the much larger wing will counter the benefits. I doubt very much that we will be seeing people compete under 150s with shit buckets of lead on. Proof is in the pudding though. Current distance record was under a 111. Previous distance record on a 103. The pilots MAY have had something to do with it too. Canuck

That's how I use to shoot (manual focus set for about 4-6 ft.) and was happy with about half my pictures. I often found the money shots (face close-up) not totally crisp, and exit shots were hit and miss. The full body shots were always decent. On auto focus, everything comes back looking nice and I have no problem blasting an entire roll on tandems from 11,000. This is only for tandems. I don't often take my still on fun jumps. I use shutter priority also. 500 on sunny days, 250 if it's cloudy, 350 if it's somewhere in between. I shoot on 100 or 200 iso film. Works for me. Canuck

Nicely framed shot - but their faces are a little fuzzy, and their legs are perfectly in focus. I bet you are using manual focus set just past infinity... Try using auto. I do with the exact same camera/lens set-up and it works great. Could be a depth of field thing too. Are you shooting shutter priority or aperture priority? What settings on a bright clear day like this? Don't mean to be nit-picky - I'm just curious. Canuck

HA HA!! Yeah I remember that thread. It started dumb and only got worse once my man Bruno started talking about flying backwards and aerobatic planes and shit. Too funny! Seriously though, didn't this kid hurt himself a while ago and have some sort of epiphany? I seem to remember some other recent thread where he changed his tune - a good thing. Canuck Canuck

This is kind of a dumb post, but, I think all the bold shit is quoting other people, and the bottom part is him saying that those people are Canuck