danielcroft

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4716466 I've since done a few more jumps on a VK79 with full RDS, really makes a difference to the wing but can't see myself making it my standard unless I'm swoop "training" but then I'm only training to be better at my every day canopy configuration so probably just from time to time for lols. My VK79 should be here this week.

I've seen several injuries that required a tunnel be shut down and I'm not an instructor. As mentioned before, broken bones, concussion, dislocations, etc. If you don't count the fans falling through the tunnel, I think the chances of death are pretty low but certainly not 0. Dude, relax, some people actually don't understand. At least they're here asking.

The IBA progression is an effort to mitigate the risks of law suits and injuries to customers IMO. I think it's also a good way to make people learn a wider set of skills. At non-iFly and non-corporate iFly tunnels, the franchisee or owners are allowed to mitigate the risks how they choose to. For example, if you go to a non-corporate iFly tunnel, you may just be asked to demonstrate that you can be stable on your back whereas, iFly will require you to show that you can actually back fly. This can be very frustrating to skydivers because we don't generally back fly in the sky, nor is it easy to actually back fly properly in the sky. Being stable on your back in the tunnel is very important just as it is in the sky. If you bail uncontrolled form a freefly jump, you shouldn't be on that jump. I can't fault iFly for requiring a progression that they feel keeps people safe and mitigates risks to all parties. Please recognize that there is a lot of risks flying at free fly speeds in a wind tunnel.

Answer of the month? This is an eternal truism. I suppose I'll offer suggestions on the issue at hand. Pack carefully. Make sure your gear's in order. If you have microline on your KA (which was a thing at one point), make sure it's in trim or, better yet, get it replaced. Good body position means a lot but so does not putting unintentional inputs as your parachute opens. This is a practice thing which the ST should have prepared you for at least somewhat. Main bullet point is to go with the wing, don't fight it too much. There's a fine line between flying your apparently awkward openings and fighting them. One will likely result in twists, the other in an off heading opening. I personally never had issues with the way the KA opens, along with a lot of peeps here so, it's either you or the wing. Given your lack of experience, it's likely you but worth making sure the wing is in order. If you can, have someone else with more experience jump it to see what they think about the openings. Also, https://www.facebook.com/groups/sofpidarf.

I have a c-mode cypres, let's me choose Pro for normal jumps, have Speed mode for when I get to larger turns and I can always leave it off. Not that I'm anywhere close to having that much speed in a dive, just trying to think about where I might be with it.

I've had days like that, sometimes I attribute it to air density/humidity but to be honest, I think mine generally come when my wing packs smaller so I try to be pretty diligent with closing loop when humidity changes have the wing packing differently. IDK, could just be throwing salt over my shoulder here.

Interesting, thanks for posting. I have a couple of openings with full RDS on a VK75 where the slider happily sits just above the risers, no problem. I should put those in a video somewhere... at some point.

This is my understanding as well; PD's RDS sliders are generally smaller than their drawstring counterparts which speeds up openings.

http://performancedesigns.com/docs/linetrims/VC-071-111-Line-Trim-Chart.pdf http://performancedesigns.com/docs/linetrims/VK_LTC.pdf The slider for the VC103 and VK96 are the same according to their respective line trim charts.

Yep, been a computer guy for ~20 years. I figured it out but just wanted to let you know.

Command+Q | gSwoop application menu and "Quit gSwoop" | right clicking the application icon and clicking "Quit" None of these close the application.

My RDS slider doesn't bounce but it does hover higher up on the risers on both the VK79 and VK75 demo wings I've jumped. Luckily I have long arms to go with my 25" risers but, it definitely sits higher than my VC84 (or friend's VC79) on the same risers.

Thanks for everyone's feedback, it's appreciated. I've ordered the cookie mount and hope to find a good spot on my helmet for it. If not, a friend suggested putting it on a mudflap altimeter mount which might work but I guess I'll have to just try to figure it out.

Not a good color, I have to match. My camera is back there, I guess I'll try it in my helmet and see if it works there and then worry about a mount.

I know a bunch of people use a FlySight for training purposes and, since I just got one, I wanted to know where people mount theirs for swooping. I run a full face and want to continue to do so. I've seen the cookie mount and also the one on the gSwoop page. I also bought gSwoop. Any other suggestions? I think I remember hearing someone say they could mount the FlySight inside their G3 but wasn't sure if that was a thing and how much (if at all) it'd affect signal. Thanks in advance.

Demo VK75 full RDS.

I wouldn't put he XF2 in the middle of the ST and KA anyway, it's too short a recovery IMO. As far as being higher performance than the KA, I guess the roll rates could be much higher, like the VK over the VC. Stiletto 2 would be awesome. :D

Ha ha, fair enough, mate. Well, many of the attributes you've listed could be attributed to the Katana so, not sure if they're aiming to replicate that. I've always felt that there was a gap in PD's canopy lineup between the Sabre 2, Stiletto and, Katana. John LeBlank describes the KA and ST on different branches (it's was a BPA presentation where I saw him describe it that way) but, for me, the step from Sabre 2 to KA is pretty big and, unless you're mostly swooping, I think a KA isn't a great wing (even though I like it). The ST (which I also like) has such a short recovery arc, someone who'd like to swoop occasionally doesn't have a good option there, either. I'm hoping that the new wing is a KA replacement that's a little less ridiculous than the KA. If they're talking about multiple projects like someone suggested, I'd like to see the ST updated but keep the same basic idea. When I call the KA ridiculous, I mean that it has a long recovery arc, a negative recovery cycle and requires pilot attention and, as such isn't a great option for someone who's not dedicated to their canopy. As far as the Crossfire 3, I feel like the XF2 is a little short on the recovery arc as well, so, we don't actually have a nice, middle of the road canopy that has a reasonable recovery arc but is also fun to fly. I've been told by a lot of people that the XF2 is actually pretty close to the Sabre 2 in terms of recovery arc although, with about 200 jumps on an XF2, I didn't think it was that bad. NZA is talking about 3 different, new wings. I'd like to see a XF3 with a longer recovery arc, a Safire 3 that's just a bit more efficient (loved jumping the Safire 2 169 I had for a while) and maybe the second version of the XF3 be the successor to the XF2. Ideally, we'd end up with 3 different wings from both PD and NZA all, more or less, competing with each other. That gives us all options. Ideally, the high performance versions of the KA2 (or whatever) and XF3 HP would be shorter recoveries than the KA, the ST2 and XF3 (regular) would just make those platforms more efficient and the Safire3 will do the same there. You'd have to imagine that PD will come with a Sabre3 at that point but who knows? As far as the Valkyrie goes compared to the Comp Velo, I've had a couple of MUCH more experienced canopy pilots tell me that the VK actually is a little shorter recovering because it's more efficient. They felt pretty similar to me, to be honest but I'm not pushing to the ragged edge.

I'm not sure that the new designs are meant to fly like cross braced wings, I think they're applying lessons learnt in the development of Shuemann-y planform wings (Petra, Peregrine, Leia, Valkyrie). I read Schuemann's paper on the benefits of the design (can't remember which article it was linked on) but they apply to all wings (as far as I could gather) making the wing more efficient over all. Cross bracing, is meant to reduce distortion of parachutes (ok, simplified) which makes them more efficient as well. Maybe you meant some other characteristic? Higher roll rate or something?

I just love that every discussion on wings degenerates into tribalism. Hey, anyone seen video or pictures of the Fluid Helix/HK yet? Did they copy PD or NZA? The Schuemann-y* planform has been used in speed flying and sail planes and paragliding for literally YEARS if you want to make the case that someone copied someone, maybe try making a better case than something you could learn on Sesame Street? /rant As to the subject at hand, NZA already said they were working on a couple of different versions of the Crossfire 3 and they've released info about the Safire 3 as well. Sounds like maybe PD is revamping more than just the KA if they're talking about multiple projects? I kind of assumed it was the KA they were working on but, who knows. I'm stoked that we're all able to take advantage of the competition between two great companies. With Fluid coming onto the market, we may really get to see some epic competition and you know what? WE win. * There's been some discussion about whether or not a wing needs to have 100% of its taper on the leading edge to be considered a Schuemann planform. I look at it like a continuum but that's not necessarily accurate.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4684445;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread I posted here a while ago so, there's a bit more conversation here about it but I haven't seen any other information released about it yet.

Just in case anyone's interested, I've had the chance to jump a VK75 3 more times, twice with full RDS and, did 2 more on a Hybrid Leia 74 (also jumped the Optimum Main 126 which is always fun). I'd say that the Hybrid Leia seems to be a higher performance wing as the loading goes up (I'm ~2.3 on the 75 & 74) but the VK still shuts down better. Had a lot of fun with both of these wings. The openings of the VK75 with the full RDS were super super nice and it was really interesting to see how much the full RDS changes the feel of the wing. I'm not maxing anything out by any means but definitely felt the difference. With a bit of help, I've been able to isolate some issues with my swoop technique that I need to sort out which is great as well. Still happy to have the VK79 on order and really looking forward to having my own. Until then, I'm back on the VC84.

Best bet would be getting a flysight and do some testing on what actually happens when different turns are performed. You'd probably want to average in a statistically significant way to figure out if one was "better" than the other. You could see in each swoop whether the turn decelerates and if the switch in direction has an effect. I've been wanting to get one for myself so that I can see what I'm doing and where my technique can change and improve.

I'd argue that, any person who'd be willing to jump your AAD (at first), would be willing to go without modes as they'd need to buy into the concept you're going for in order to justify buying it over one of the existing units. I think it'll be difficult to demonstrate the ability of your AAD to do a better job than the competitors in a way that will convince the masses unless you're planning on having it masquerade as a "standard" AAD at first which, I think, would remove the main benefit. I'd suggest videoing every single test jump you do...

I own a vigil 2 and have just ordered a c-mode cypres. I like the idea of being able to switch between modes myself based on the type of skydive I'm doing. If the basic operation of my AAD is not to fire unless I'm going to die then, clearly, modes aren't necessary. All of the modes in AADs are to work around problems with the basic operation of the AAD so, they're not necessary if the AAD truly knows what's going on which I get is the point of your new AAD but I think you'll need to clear a VERY high bar to prove that to people.