Just wondering if anyone out there has the hard facts (not something you read in a magazine) about the differences in performance between the FX and the Chaos-21 at similar wing loadings. Maybe Chris could comment on this. Also, for my own curiosity, what is the current state of the relationship between Icarus and Precision? Does everyone still love each other down south?
Can't comment on the performance differences between the two canopies you mention, but to answer your second question Icarus canopies are no longer being manufactured by Precision.
If I remember correctly (and I may be wrong) doesn't PD have some part in this? I thought PD had sued Icarus about something over PD's license to produce crossbraced canopies. Dosen't PD own the rights on the crossbraced technology?
Skydiving is not a static excercise with discrete predictability...
That is ancient. PD owned the patent due to the Excalibur, a cross-braced, square, F-111 canopy that in its day was the hottest thing out there. That was settled years ago when the FX was first introduced.
After talking to LaBlanc about a month or two ago. They way Icarus gets around it is by manufacturing over seas and more or less illegally importing. That seemed to me to be the case, but I could be wrong.
