craigbey

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Everything posted by craigbey

  1. craigbey
    Then it sounds like you have learned something.
  2. craigbey
    Demo and make the decision for yourself.
  3. craigbey
    +1 Enough said.
  4. craigbey
    OK, so you're an airplane pilot. What does that have to do with flying a canopy? You did all of that in the few jumps that you put on each of your canopies? http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3917927#3917927 Have you 'passed a canopy piloting course prior to each downsize and durring swoop progression'?
  5. craigbey
    +1 The V319 is excellent.
  6. craigbey
    Thanks Pops. As the saying goes, "Teach a man to fish..." The notion of simply staying on the ground when the more experienced jumpers sit down is like an old record. People keep spinning it and it's getting very worn out. Explaining it as you do is far more important so new jumpers can learn to start making the call for themselves.
  7. craigbey
    Do you take the time to explain to the youngsters WHY you're sitting and watching? If so, what do you tell them?
  8. craigbey
    I respect that you do try to find clean air and that you have your own personal limts, but... What would you teach to others regarding jumping in high winds? Let's say someone finds themselves under canopy and the winds have picked up. What now?
  9. craigbey

    Weather

    craigbey replied to tmarine253's topic in The Bonfire

    Ditto from Iowa.
  10. craigbey
    I really like your description of this process for larger turns, but I'm not sure what is meant by the body input in gear 3. You're already using harness input into the direction of the turn through gear 2. How would you describe the body input? Is this just a combination of leaning harder with the upper body in a coordinated effort with the riser and harness input?
  11. craigbey
    That sounds bad. How did you test it? ZPX may be another example of new technology being introduced to our game before it is ready for prime time. There are a few older threads where other people expressed similar concerns.
  12. craigbey
    What makes it a poor choice or what makes ZP a better product? I've heard some comments about ZPX being 'different', but that's about it. Just wonderin'.
  13. craigbey
    Looks like some new kind of freestyle trick. Did he get extra points for that?
  14. craigbey
    +1 Seen it happen too many times.
  15. craigbey
    Yes! And CSC. They are both great DZ's.
  16. craigbey
    Many jumpers are in a position where they could safely move to another canopy, platform or buy some new component (RDS, etc.) that would help them swoop farther and faster or simply make the canopy fly more efficiently. What do the folks at the very top of the game do when they 'need more performance'. Most of them are already flying the ultimate HP wings that have been tricked out beyond the original designs. They have the very best gear for the specifc purpose of HP canopy flight and swooping. There are constant evolutionary improvements in the gear and canopies, but I suspect that refining their technique provides the most results for HP pilots. That process takes hundreds and thousands of jumps -- on the same platform -- to translate into real results.
  17. craigbey
    There is a young man at Skydive Iowa who also started jumping in the early 70's and is still very active today. He is always working with new jumpers, organizing safety day, canopy control classes and other activities around the DZ. He is also a pilot who will generously take time to fly a load when needed. He sometimes posts here, but his actions at the DZ are what speak the loudest. I have a ton of respect for him because of his commitment to helping others and his longevity. And he's the only grandfather at the DZ flying a Velocity.
  18. craigbey
    Demo all you can, and then continue flying your Sabre2. At your wing loading, there is probably still a lot of untapped performance in that canopy. Whatever canopy you choose, the goal is to get the most out of it. You need to learn how to do that on what you have.
  19. craigbey
    I've had a couple of different types of blocks/slocks on different pairs of risers and the ones from ChutingStar worked the best. And they look sexy.
  20. craigbey
    Reverse S-Fold Technique... http://sidsrigging.com/articles/greed.htm
  21. craigbey
    Plymouth Sky Sports in northern Indiana will be opening 3/18/2011... http://www.plymouthskysports.com Best of luck to David and Troy.
  22. craigbey
    You posted that earlier in this thread and it reminded me about the timing of the death of the Vengeance... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2092143#2092143 From John LeBlanc's comments... "the Katana has taken the bulk of the narrow market between the Sabre2 and the Velocity ... it really fills this niche much better than the Vengeance ever did" The release and marketing of the Katana was partly responsible for the demise of the Vengeance. Not that it's a bad thing. The Katanas I have jumped have been great. The 107 @ 2.1:1 kicked a$$. The Vengeance vs Katana in the PD product line is particularly ironic to me because both of my Sams were made by PD (2004 and 2006 IIRC).
  23. craigbey
    Ron, thanks for sticking to the point regarding the marketing / distribution reasons for the lack of popularity of airlocked canopies. Good history lesson. One more airlocked canopy that may have been in the prototype stage at some point... http://www.bigairsportz.com/shogun.php edited for spelling
  24. craigbey
    So, 'brisker' openings mean 'poopy' openings? I guess it's a matter of perspective. The Samurai may not snivel as much as other canopies, but I've never had a 'hard' opening. Again, I would call it very consistent. Smooth and on heading, with only a short to moderate snivel. There were a few sub-terminal openings on the Samurai136 that were faster than normal, but it wasn't dramatic. No broken bones or blackouts, so it's all good.
  25. craigbey
    +1 I have ~1100 jumps on 2 different Samurais with no chops. I have also had less than 10 openings with line twists and only a couple required any form of intervention on my part. The Samurais that I have demo'ed and jumped all opened very consistently.