tristansdad

Nobody here should be telling you what canopy is best for you unless they've seen you in action. The instructors who have been working with you can best answer that question. There are so many variables involved with purchasing gear that it really cant be answered in this forum. But some real good advice is to find used gear. In case you biff in a ditch full of briars or across a taxi way you wouldnt feel as bad as you would if you had all that shiny new gear. On the other hand if you have money to burn go all out. If you take care of it then you should be able to re-sell it almost for as much as you bought it for. No matter what you buy, I can not stress enough, SPEAK WITH YOUR RIGGER OR INSTRUCTORS before handing over any cash. Not to long ago I spoke with a guy who had 20 something jumps who bought a Blade 120 from a well known gear dealer. He had no idea what he was getting. Lastly RSL's and AAD's Get one of each. You'll always hear arguments against them. Kind of like using a seat belt. They tend to save a lot more lives then they take.

I spent over half my Navy career skydiving. Didnt really care what the Navy's opinion was and they really didnt ask. Depending on your job you my be removed from a certain programs if you get hurt so you may want to reconsider jumping. I've known pilots who gave it up because they didnt want to lose their fight status. Anyway you will fall under the same USPA guidelines as anyone else. When I first started jumping I did a lot of recurrency jumps because my job required frequent travel in and out of the states. All that information is found in the Skydivers Information Manual which can be found at the USPA website. Or you can just speak with an instructor. As for cost, call a local DZ to get their run down. Some places require Tandems as first jumps, some dont. Lastly when you do start jumping try and keep your enthusiasm in check. Their is always that one douche bag who's going to tell you you cant skydive because its to dangerous. Most people in the Navy are about as knowledgeable in skydiving as the average Whuffo off the street. When my girlfriend started jumping her COC tried telling her she needed to fill out an ORM form. I was like just hand them the SIM, that our ORM form.

I don't think Bill Booth would be that stupid to think the prank was real.

Let someone inspect it before buying. Just keep in mind, the gear on your back when leaving the plane is the only thing in the world between you an the almighty.

Anyone have any insight on what other canopy on the market the Aerodyne Zulu can be compared with? Or is it on a whole new level of its own?

Packer packs your main and it malfunctions. Cut it away and use the other parachute. The only issue I can see is a financial one if you chop your shit into a swamp never to be seen again. Then you would have to have video footage that shows beyond a doubt it was packer error. Good luck with that. If someone rides a malfunction to low or takes it all the way down well tough shit. You failed to do what you were trained to do.

Who are you doing this coarse with, Super Dave Osborne? If your skills are that bad you may want to pursue other things because a five jump canopy coarse me not be of any assistance.

I probably know you. I jump at Suffolk. Talk with Tim the master rigger if he's there tomorrow. I have a W13 and alot of the military guys have wings because they were giving great military discounts for a while. Like someone mentioned earlier, talk with the manufacturer about what you should need at 30 jumps.

Not necessarily. F111 material versus ZP means a lot less flare than what one is used to. Friend of mine found this out the hard way and broke her foot after cutting away and landing a good reserve. From what I understand a down plane is very rare because unless some sort of radical input is performed, then a canopy will have a tendency to want to fly directly overhead. That’s why it’s taught to only perform very minor flight corrections when you have two out situation. There was a good article about it in the parachutist a while back. I’m know there are more reliable resources than myself concerning this topic and that’s why he should discuss his gear issues with the manufacturers or some sort of authority on the DZ.

I have a W13 and have had a Sabre 170, a Sabre 2 150 a Stiletto 150 and I currently have a Samurai 136 in it. The container is built for a 170 main. The 136 fits fine because the samurai is an airlock and has more packing bulk than a non airlock of the same size. If you know someone with a 150 7 cell maybe they will let you pack it into your container to see how well it fits. When ever I had a question about my Wings I called Sunrise directly. They were always helpful. Here's the number (813) 788-1910

Don’t ever second guess YOUR decision to cutaway, and don’t let anyone else second guess you. You were flying the canopy, something didn’t feel right and you choose to go to your reserve. If you second guess yourself now what are you going to do the next time you are in the air with a bad main? Second guess yourself into the ground with a good reserve still in the container?

I'm a lifetime member of the USPA. Only I'm on the $55 dollar a year payment plan.

you only fail if you stop trying......period.

The best advice you can get is from those at your DZ, where ever that may be. No one here knows you. Those that have been working with you in person can better guide you in your decision on what gear you should buy. Talk with your AFF instructors, the Master Rigger or even the DZO, because you not getting busted up is good for business. DO NOT buy anything until the rigger looks it over and gives you the go ahead.

It seems cliquey only because there are a lot of foreigners that visit during the winter. They travel in groups and jump together. Most are pretty cool. The Perfect Spot is a good place to get know some of them.

You need FAA approval for that?

Wow, you’re a very emotional person. You know, most of the time I come and read the forums when bidding at work has slowed down. I hardly ever read this stuff on my own time because it’s BORING and I have better things to do, like watching Finding Bigfoot on Netflix, Bobo is awesome. My girl is in Afghanistan so I have to do what I must to past the time without getting in trouble. Anyway, go find something else to do because racking up thousands on top of thousands of post can’t be healthy or constructive. Libraries are filled with books, go to the gym, take up target shooting, or rock climbing and if you’re anywhere but Virginia, where the weather has been complete shit lately, go skydiving.

If you can tell the wind speed by looking at the grass then go bowling.

There isnt a wind tunnel in VA yet. Should be one by summer. An iFly is going up near the water in Virginia Beach.

Go now! I wish I could. Sebastian would be better. Nothing wrong with Zhills, its a great DZ but Sebastian is geared more for FF and Zhills for RW. At least that was my impression when I go there. Hell right now I would love to visit any DZ in Florida.

Without going into specifics, get something used because expect to biff some landings and you don't want to drag a new container through the mud. Talk with your instructors about canopies because no one here can know how you handle certain wings. And an AAD. Make sure you set a little cash aside to buy beer after you make your first jump on your own equipment.

Nerves are normal. Fear is normal. Without either whats the point? When you learn the fine art of getting both under control and relaxing, that's when things really start getting fun.

I jump at Suffolk. I would be more than happy to fly with ya.

I asked someone a while back why they stopped making them and he basically said they were shit canopies. Opinions do very but the forums and the gear reviews give them a pretty favorable report. I guess if the canopy was making PD money they would still be building them.

I've done some research and read the reviews and I found mostly nothing but good things about them. Some people compare them to the Samurai because they're both airlock. I'm flying a Sam now and I would love to have something available to me immediately when I feel ready to downsize. Maybe your Vengeance was a rotten apple. A friend of mine had a bad Sabre 2 that was slamming him and sent it to PD for them to check out. Apparently the opening on it put the test jumper out of commission for a while.