skynole

Dammit man...you had to pick a weekend I wasn't going to be there! It'll be nice to have something going on up here though.

Same thing happened to me a while back... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=563896 I've made the appropriate mods to my D-box and I haven't had any problems since. edit: forgot to make "clicky"

Hey Fortson I heard a rumor that you are trying to get into the hybrid scene Brian

I agree with a lot of what you say, so hopefully the opening of the PD Flight-1 canopy school will lead other qualified pilots/instructors to follow suit and open up schools across the country, making them easily accessible to everyone.

I just wanted to stress this point that Spizzzarko stated because this is probably the most practical training time most of us get. Because of the unique nature of this discipline (outside of doing a tandem, but actually SkyMonkeyOne even made use of this...), no matter what you are doing in the air you can practice your HP canopy piloting on just about every jump...traffic permitting. I have set up an unobstrusive swooping lane that can remain as a permanent fixture so others and I can use it regardless if we are working or playing in the air. Basically it's just practicing hitting 5' gates, along the windblades already in place that are used as windsocks by jumpers for landing.

Sure. I attended the PD swoop camp back in November and I plan on attending the one in February. Plus, I'm the middle of working a deal out with my DZO for hop-n-pop weekends (Cessna prop time or something like that...). I've also done one on one coaching, which is great but the camps are more cost effective and you still get a lot out of them IMO. The reason you probably don't hear much about it is because only a small percentage of skydivers focus on this discipline.

First off, Congrats...awesome flying!! I was thinking the same thing that garyharbird just asked...how ma ny team jumps do you guys have together? If your profile is up-to-date, relatively speaking I wouldn't think you guys would have all that many to be flying at the level your at. Either way, that was some kick ass, smooth flying...Congratulations again! BTW, nice vid...good song choice!

7 days 29 jumps....damn weather holds! Had a great time though and will definitely be back.

Rolling the nose half and half and making sure the slider is nicely quartered and out in front of the nose has made the openings just that much better...helping spare my aching neck!

Thanks hookitt. I was definitely wanting to know the results, but forgot to remind you! I have kept rolling my nose - half and half - and had nothing but great results. If anyone has had bad experiences rolling the nose of a Xbraced, please share.

Hey Mel! You know I'll be coming over to hang with my Gold Coast peeps for MG boogie. I'll let you do the list thing since it looks like you got it covered. Tell JJ and everyone I said hi and I'll see you guys then...if not before.

I had an oppurtunity to work for a major gear manufacturer as a sales rep traveling around to different boogies. At first I was all pumped about the oppurtunity, but after really taking a few days to think about it and talking with friends, I graciously declined. I'm truly passionate about this sport and everything that comes with it. Personally, I thought that working in the industry might take away some of that appeal for me - as I have seen it happen to several people I know and heard of countless others. Going to the DZ and going to boogies and comps is kind of my escape from the "real world", so I think I'm happy for now just coaching and shooting tdm videos to help supplement my jumping...who knows, this could all change though. Now if I could find a way to fun jump everyday all day...that would be a different story!

What's up Chris...sent you a PM about this.

This immediately made me think of a Parachutist cover shot of him a couple of years ago. It's a grainy picture, but I think you'll get the idea.

Obviously, it would be much more pronounced on a X-braced...but wouldn't this hold true for any canopy then?

Why? I have been experimenting with different pack jobs and rolling the nose, half and half, has actually worked out quite well. Is there a reason I shouldn't do this?

Just to follow up...I checked with PD and they do this just for the Velocities because they have very specific brake settings and don't want jumpers changing this. They don't have a window like most other canopies.

Hey Bernhard, This is Brian, "the seller". Like I stated in my email, I bought the main second hand and I didn't receive any docs with it. Just to reiterate what was said in this thread, the main has a label on it with the DOM and a rigger (or yourself if you feel comfortable doing so) can inspect it. These far better signs IMHO to what the condition the canopy is in that some documnets can tell you. With the exception of reserves, any used gear I have bought, I never have received documents (other than maybe some homemade invoice). You shouldn't buy a reserve w/o a pack data card.

Somebody's made a typo...either Parachutists or proswoopingtour.com. If you look at November's issue of Parachutists, it says "Jim Slaton (VX, USA)" in the World Cup article.

Well from all your replies and a couple of PM's of I've got, it seems that PD just does this for Velocities (I haven't checked with PD though...). Maybe they do this to discourage someone from messing with brake settings on Velos???? Anyhow, jumped it this past weekend and the brakes seem to be set just right. No deflection of the tail but plenty of flare.

I woke up to my doorbell ringing this morning and it was the FEDEX guy with my new Velocity. What a way to start the day...I was like a kid on X-mas morning!! Picked up my brand new Mirage from my rigger yesterday with a fresh re-pack...I'm fired up for the weekend now (...and my CC company is gonna by fired up for the next couple of years! ) Anyway, I have a quick question about my brake lines. They came with the toggle loop already finger-trapped and bar-tacked. I was under the impression that they would just provide a factory mark where they feel it should be, but you can set your brakes to how you like them. I've been told that PD tends to set their marks on the high-side (shorter brake lines). Now that they went ahead and finger-trapped and bar-tacked it (which is very convenient as long as it's set right), can this be easily undone in case they aren't set to my liking? Also, anyone out there received a Velo from PD with the brakes already set like this? And if so, were they set right (no deflection of the tail while pulling down the front risers)? Thanks

Back to back standing carve.... f@#KEN SWEET!! Congrats guys...good stuff!!

I was having this same issue...how to slow down but not compromise ease of movement as much as possible. I was taught to do something called the "straddle-daffy". It's somewhere between the standard straddle/X-man position (whatever you want to call it...) and a daffy. To get a feel for it, get in the daffy on the ground. Now spread your legs as far you can while trying to maintain the daffy position. In the air, present the outer-sides of your legs as the surface area to the relative wind (if you have stripes down the sides of your jump suit, just think about presenting that.) You still have a lot movement in this position and you can adjust fall rate fairly easy with some practice. It's become my main comfort position I fly on my head.

Just wondering why you haven't answered my earlier post. I felt it was a valid question because it's definitely one of the issues with Olav's AD Licensing system... Sorry in advance if you were just waiting to answer this in your write-up that you are working on.

I've been using one for almost 2 years and I love it...especially for hot summer days. It's still in excellent shape after a few hundred jumps. It did take over three months to get it made though...