Pilot 210 (new) - Packing Help requested

[flyinblind 0]

What's up?

I'm kind of new around here and to skydiving. I have 26 jumps and just bought my own rig which as part was a Aerodyne Pilot 210.

Anyway, I've been packing f-111 and smaller, older zero-p canopies and find this new Pilot especially hard to pack.

Is there anything I can do to make it easier to manage? Should I soak it in linseed oil?

That was a joke.. :)


Thanks..

cheers and blue skies,

timmah

[Fab 0]

http://www.packingparachutes.com/techniques_tips/greed.htm

try this....good luck

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[jose 0]

Pay a packer for the next 75-100 jumps. No, seriously, find out if you can psycho pack it. The rolling part of the psycho pack makes it real easy to bag an unyieldy slippery monster of 210 sq ft.

Or you could downsize to a 119 and have no problems at all.

[skyyhi 0]

I packed a slippery piece of snot Sabre 210 for about 10 pack jobs then gave up and paid a packer till the newness wore off. I now have a hornet which is similar to your pilot - however, mine is not new. As a newbie jumper, my advice is to stick to the method you have learned so far, keep practicing with the s-fold part of the pack job and remember - put the bad around the parachute, don't stuff the parachute in the bag. . .amounts to the same thing but mentally it makes it MUCH easier. I know this isn't much help but its the best advice I can give as I don't know where you are having trouble in your packing. . .

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[Kramer 0]

Hehe...just ordered a new Pilot 168, and then I see this thread. Oh well, challenges are fun. (And I'm sure it's not like the Pilot is any harder to pack than any other new ZP).

Good luck bro.

The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!

[phoenixlpr 0]

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http://www.packingparachutes.com/techniques_tips/greed.htm

I have a Pilot 150. Trust him, thats to way to do.

I`ve got 9 jumps on it. It`s a little bit easier than before :).

[Frenchy68 0]

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Hehe...just ordered a new Pilot 168, and then I see this thread. Oh well, challenges are fun

I just got mine. You have no idea...

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[tbrown 26]

Just bought a brand new 210 Pilot canopy myself and I was dreading packing it, but it really hasn't been bad at all.

You could try psycho packing it, I used to psycho pack a Spectre for a while but gave it up. No particular problems, it's just that all the riggers I talk to don't like it. You'd probably be alright so long as you remember you're inducing a line twist when you psycho pack and you must remember to flip the bag over and undo the twist. Not everyone does and maybe that's where the trouble starts.

But you can actually pro-pack and get it into the bag and it's not as hard as you might think. It's mostly a matter of menatl attitude, showing the thing who's boss. Be assertive with it and USE YOUR KNEES. You've got two knees and they're made for kneeling. So kneel on that puppy and don't let it give you any lip. Keep it squashed down. Like Skyhi Darcy said, pull the bag down over the canopy, don't try to stuff it in. All I would add to that is pull the bag down one side at a time. I start with the left side, pull it down, KNEEL on the bag and go after the right side. You only need to get the canopy about 2/3 of the way bagged in order to get your first locking stow done. Then the battle's over & you've won. You can flip the bag up on edge and squash everything straight down into the bag, stowing as you go.

Try it, you'll be surprised how easy it can be. You'll amaze your friends too, especially the whiny ones who think you should waste your jumping dollars on hiring a packer.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[dgskydive 0]

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I now have a hornet which is similar to your pilot -

About the only thing the Hornet and the Pilot have in common are the colored line attachment points.

Common thing I hear a lot, but not true. The Pilots is a much better canopy then the Hornet. All the way from the openings to landing.

Dom

[dzkid39 0]

ive been a packer for years and the thing i always tell people when going from f-111 to zp is to always keep constant pressure on the canopy. on f-111 u can take your knee off and nothing bad will happen. on zp it will try to expand and probly will. i advise pay a packer and watch them pack it (o and tip them if its brand new zp). hope that helps

Nick

[GQ_jumper 4]

I myself own a pilot 210 loaded at 1:1.1 which i purcahsed brand new. I'll let you know that after about 30 pack jobs or so it will get a lot easier to pack. Mine mostly because my dz is very dusty and the dust on the canopy gives the material a little bit of grip, no joke.

but here is the packing technique that i was taught to get it into the bag and i've been using it ever since. The trick with new ZP is maintaining control of the material at all times with constant pressure. when you set the canopy on the ground and are getting ready to roll it put your knees on the bottom of it, the part that would normally go on the inside in the first fold where the data card is. once you get a decent amount of air out of the canopy i hold the tail where its rolled together at the back to keep the material tight then bring it straight up. forming an L with the canopy with the bottom of the L being under my knees. then starting at the top i roll the canopy down into itself away from me then just fold the roll over on the bottom of the canopy where my knees are. from there until i get it into the bag i use my chest to hold down the canopy.

this technique has gotten me through about 50 packjobs fairly painlessly. i hop it wasn't too confusing i tried to explain it as best as possible. if your still having trouble drop me an email and i'll see if i can't send you some pics of me using this technique.

good luck and enjoy the pilot, it rox!!!

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[BlueEyedMonster 0]

The Pilot is a different type of ZP, and actually the ribs on mine are F-111. For some real fun try packing a brand new Sabre2. A Pilot is far easier to pack than most other new canopies. Just take your time with it, and push the air out slower... It'll go right in the bag. Mine has gone in the bag the first try all but one time.

[TOT 0]

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http://www.packingparachutes.com/techniques_tips/greed.htm

I find this is the easiest way to pack ZP canopies also.

[EAerodyne 0]

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The Pilot is a different type of ZP, and actually the ribs on mine are F-111. For some real fun try packing a brand new Sabre2. A Pilot is far easier to pack than most other new canopies. Just take your time with it, and push the air out slower... It'll go right in the bag. Mine has gone in the bag the first try all but one time.

Actually the ZP fabric is exactly the same from the exact same supplier. (Perseverance Mills, based in the UK). As for the F1-11 ribs yes you are correct. We believe this aids the Pilot in it's smooth, well distributed inflation.

kind regards

[flyinblind 0]

Thanks for all the great tips you guys. The first three pack jobs were by pros as having velcro down the middle of my deployment bag was really making it difficult. After having that sewn up, I'm going to be attempting it again after I jump it tomorrow.

I did watch as they packed it and there was a level of control there I hadn't really focused on. I definitely need to be more vigilant when I am about to put it in the bag.

Thanks again everyone!

cheers and blue skies,

timmah

[GQ_jumper 4]

Quote

The Pilot is a different type of ZP, and actually the ribs on mine are F-111. For some real fun try packing a brand new Sabre2. A Pilot is far easier to pack than most other new canopies. Just take your time with it, and push the air out slower... It'll go right in the bag. Mine has gone in the bag the first try all but one time.

when i first got it i had quite a few times where it took two tries to get it in the bag, now i can slop pack it and it still goes in just fine, and still opens great. only problem i have is it tends to start a slow right turn after inflation, i'm guessing its my packing but do you know anything i could do to correct this

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[LiveLifeGoJump 0]

I have a Sabre 170 & for the first 100 jumps I found that the best way to pack it was to take it home & leave it on the armchair in the front room for a hour or so the pack it on the carpet, the carpet helped stop the canopy from slipping all over the place.. Apart from the earache (wife not happy about having to sit on the floor, [it was HER chair]) I had no probs.
If I packed at the DZ it was just a case of getting as much in as possible the first time then force any spare bit where I could get them. I jumped on the principle that if it realy didn't want to go in then it would come out as soon as it got the chance (most of the better openongs were on the DZ trash packs).
I found that it was a lot slippier & harder to pack when the weather was cold. Not sure if others would agree on this.

Bagging my canopy because a source of merriement at my local DZ (it keeped the others amused while they waited for the next lift).

Get out, Land on a green bit. If you get the pull somewhere in between it would help.