Spider sliders: a long (7+ ft) pilot chute bridle feeds through a channel in the center cell center rib and attaches to a X slider right at the center. Seeing a video of a canopy deploying with one instantly gives one the impression of a spider moving through it's web.
We knew we were doing some cutting edge stuff and people would hear about it soon enough, but this was quick!!!
Yes, we are working with Icarus on some canopies and have modified them quite a bit, including the retract system. Everything is still in the testing stage, and changes quite a bit. So a posted pic could lead people to the wrong conclusions or to something dangerous.
Stop in at Lodi, CA and check us out. We're the crw team that swoops!
I met up with Craig this weekend & he talked me into jumping the JFX 109. He really had to twist my arm since I've never jumped anything smaller than a Sabre2 135. I wasn't sure what to expect, the last competition crw canopy I jumped was a Lightning 143 about 15 years ago. I was impressed with the teams landings but in the back of my mind I couldn't get the lawn dart approaches out of my head.
There were 3 of us; Craig, Robbie & I. We were going to get out, play with the canopies & if we felt good about them we were to wave Craig in & try out some crw. The first thing I noticed was the quick on heading opening & I immediately started playing with the canopy. It's fast! I made 2 quick turns to each side & then noticed that Craig & Robbie were starting to head for each other. I turned the canopy in their direction & was surprised at how quickly I was in their airspace & ready to dock. We put a 3-stack together & started rotating. Six rotations later I decided to run off & check out the canopy.
These are not your ordinary crw canopies. There are quite a few modifications and the lines are shorter than anything I've ever jumped. They are fast, solid & the easiest crw canopies I have ever experienced. I was amazed with the lack of front riser pressure & how fast I was able to float back up to the 2 stack.
Although I was told that they would stall at about mid-range I was not able to stall the canopy. I buried the toggles and looked up at the half folded hankerchief over my head but was still flying. This eased my concerns about the landing but I wasn't off the hook yet. Due to everything I've heard & seen regarding small fast canopies I expected to land long so I turned final a bit further out than normal and I ended up a bit short - about halfway up the grass at Lodi.
The landing was easier, softer & much better than landing my 135. The first words out of my mouth upon landing were "I need to downsize! Where's the 88!"
Overall I'm extremely impressed with these canopies & am thinking about getting back into crw. I'm looking forward to jumping the sub-100's next weekend. Do they make them for freeflyers who do crw after opening? (Get your wallet out Zack, we need a couple of these!)
We did manage to do some rotes with them this weekend. We even have teammates looking forward to doing more rotes, which has never happened before! Since we are not a rote team, it's hard to tell, but they we're easy and a lot of fun.
They seemed fine doing rotes but I'm a bit rusty. One thing I did notice is that it was a bit floaty when going over the top (I was pulling rear risers & going over the back instead of going off to the side - out-of-habit). I did come in hot on one of the rotes & the canopy stayed inflated. I need more time on them to figure it out but I'm sure they will work.
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