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bigway

PIA 2009. New toys......

By bigway, in Gear and Rigging

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DSE    3

DSE

The Padlock is one of the sweetest new toys I've seen for camera flyers, even former IronMan Mike Semanoff couldn't dislodge it. The GAS is a sweet fitting helmet too...
With luck the Alti-2 N3 will actually begin shipping soon, even though it's about 9 months late. Looks to be a sweet little unit.
The Pulse from PD is a winner, that's a certainty, can't wait to toss one above my head.
I had to buy one of the Rigging Innovations riggers kit, and even though I'm not a certificated rigger, it's a very useful set of tools. Got really excited when I heard I'd won a drawing, but then learned it was for a Riggers Handbook, not the Rigger's kit. [:/] (already had the handbook).
Sonic didn't have anything new, but he sure kept the crowds entertained in the BaseR booth.:D At one point the show was just a little too quiet for ole' Sonic, so he donned a TonySuit Raptor and began running through the aisles of the show screaming "C'Caw, C'Caw!" Definitely a show-stopper...
The Spelco booth was a hit for no other reason than the sheer size of the deployment system they had on display, showing a small version of their 1150lb deployment (between the legs) system.
Mike Gruwell's booth was sweet with the HiPerUSA canopies on display. "They're BACK!," says Mike.
L&B's booth was super busy. New designs/algorithms for their Solo, Optima, and VISO, they're also waterproof, too. Same with the Altitrack. It was fun to see fish swimming with the Altitrack, and see the L&B guys programming the Altitrack through the water with a new remote. And...the free RedBull was nice too.
The simulator from ParaSim/Systems Technologies was an incredibly busy booth. You could say everyone was "hanging around" there as they tested the freefall and canopy flight simulator. If affordable, every dropzone should own one. Every tunnel should own one, IMO.
Skysystems had a number of new products, it's great to see they're representing the full Wes Rich lineup.
Of course, Bill Booth was phenomenally entertaining, holding court in the center of the Sunpath/UPT booth.
Our own booth was busy, the new Canopy Control DVDs, wingsuit DVDs, and Tandem Videos Made Easy DVDs were popular. Norman Kent stopped by and signed a few of his "Aerial Camera" DVDs too.
Aerodyne and their introduction of the Brian Germain "Sensei" with their new low-bulk fabric was interesting to see, and of course, Brian's sessions were a hit at the symposium.
T'was good to see Mark Kirschenbaum from GetHypoxic wandering the show, and was great to see old friends and new. If you missed Tom Noonan's session on Mt. Everest, be glad. It only would have made you want to jump Everest.:D
ParaSport has a new digital alti that I'm looking forward to testing, it's perfect for mudflap mounting/wingsuiting, and if you're someone who struggles with being able to read small numbers and like digi-altimeters, it looks to be the bomb.
There were lots of other great new products, improvements on old ones, and just a general sense of "well-being" at the show overall. you can look at the http://www.youtube.com/group/aerialfun channel for videos of new products and interviews with product managers, manufacturers, and celebrity skydivers.

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tdog    0

tdog
I think the PD Pulse, with the Optimum like bottom skin fabric and good olde ZP topskin, that packs a few sizes smaller than a Sabre2 of the same size, and promises a flat glide and quick recovery in a semi-elliptical intermediate canopy (kind of opposite of the Katana in recovery arc) is going to be a hit for those who love zippy small canopies, like maybe the Stiletto, but are maybe not into the diving swoops. Never flown one, but I touched it and read the press release/product lit sheet and I wish I had one because I think it would be in my wingsuit rig.

I think the PD Optimum in all the larger sizes, like we have been begging for bigger than 143s, will make a lot of people happy.

I think the spectra rip-cord just approved this week for UPT's vector's is going to be the future of our rigs... Cheaper, lighter, and fully inspect-able without tools by riggers and end users.

I think the new fabric in canopies, main and reserves, and new uses of lighter, better designed materials, shows some of the most promising "radical" changes we have seen since perhaps the three ring or square parachute.

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jtval    0

jtval
Excellent videos of PIA.

Thanks for taking the time to show us.

I want to hear more about the pulse.
I am getting ready to sell my rigs since I don't don't much civilian skydiving anymore but I want to buy some new gear. How does the Pulse fly/land compared to Cobalt, sabre2, pilot?
My photos

My Videos

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parachutist    1

parachutist
Quote

Excellent videos of PIA.

Thanks for taking the time to show us.

I want to hear more about the pulse.
I am getting ready to sell my rigs since I don't don't much civilian skydiving anymore but I want to buy some new gear. How does the Pulse fly/land compared to Cobalt, sabre2, pilot?



I'm glad you liked the videos =] All I know about the Pulse is what I heard from John LeBlanc this week... so if you watched that one then you know as much as I do. The small pack volume is a nice feature

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DougH    270

DougH
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DSE, Mike, and I shot interviews with quite a few manufacturers at the PIA 2009 show. Most of the clips are already online at the address DSE mentioned:

http://www.youtube.com/group/aerialfun

I just got home and I'm busy uploading 10 more... they'll be appearing on that channel over the next several hours



Did you guys happen to shoot anything at the Aerodyne booth?

All the other streamcast have been awesome! Much thanks for putting this together! :)
"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

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parachutist    1

parachutist
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Did you guys happen to shoot anything at the Aerodyne booth?



That's a good question... I know we did shoot at their booth. I'll do a seacrch for that footage and get back to you later this evening

Aerodyne had a rack with 6-8 Icon rigs that people were trying on, and they were displaying a canopy made of a new type ZP fabric. The fabric doesn't have straight lines for the rip-stop... it uses overlapped polygons (hexagons I think). A big benefit of this fabric is that it packs up smaller than traditional square-pattern ripstop nylon... the Aerodyne rep I talked to estimated about 20% smaller.

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riggerrob    558

riggerrob
I think the PD Optimum in all the larger sizes, like we have been begging for bigger than 143s, will make a lot of people happy.

....................................................................

John LeBlanc was gracious enough to loan an Optimum 253 for my seminar.
... even before he announced it to dealers ....

The Optimum 253 packed into a 210-sized container ... ridiculously easy.

And it is rated for about 300 pounds!

Thanks John!

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rhys    0

rhys
[reply>I want to hear more about the pulse.

Brisker and more on-heading openings than the Stiletto. Other than that similar to the Stiletto - flat glide, short recovery arc, snappy turns.



eeeeew! why would anyone want that? aside from the on heading part, the rest sounds like things we don't want from a canopy!
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

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parachutist    1

parachutist
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[reply>I want to hear more about the pulse.

Brisker and more on-heading openings than the Stiletto. Other than that similar to the Stiletto - flat glide, short recovery arc, snappy turns.



eeeeew! why would anyone want that? aside from the on heading part, the rest sounds like things we don't want from a canopy!



I love faster openings (not snappy like a Sabre.. smooth and steady). I like this type of opening for camera jumps and AFFI jumps. For camera jumps it gives me more time to get back from a long spot & for AFFI jumps it doesn't make me sweat pulling at 2k if it were absolutley necessary. A snivelly canopy + AAD would give me concern about 2-out in that situation.

Short recovery arcs aren't fun if you're wanting to swoop, but it's great for those who fly standard patterns

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