I'm about to get slippery...

[Kris 0]

Geez you perverts, you only looked at this because you thought it was sexual, didn't you? Seriously though, my new Stiletto will be here Thursday. Yeah, I know, "Didn't you just buy a new custom-colored Heatwave?", you ask? Yup but it had a bit of a problem with a built-in left-hand turn that just kept getting worse and worse.
I had three riggers check the trim on the Heatwave and even the trim of my harness was checked. None of the crossports was blown out and all the seams and tape were fine. But evey jump the turn got a bit worse until I landed on the last jump on Sunday with my right toggle pulled down 4" to keep the canopy level for final.
I want to give a big thanks to Ralph over a Western Parachute sales for standing behind his product. When I found out that it would be two-weeks minimum for me to get a stock-colored replacement Heatwave he gave me full credit and let me pay the difference on a new Stiletto. I actually found a Stiletto with the stock colors of purple /silver /white /purple /purple /purple /white /silver /purple that exactly matches my new Mirage!
I am sooooo not looking forward to packing new slippery PD fabric but at least I know if there's a problem I can just send it to Florida.
Don't get me wrong, the Heatwave was a blast to fly and has great openings but the landings were too much work to enjoy with the amount of compensation needed to get the thing to fly straight.
Kris
ahhh, only 24 more hours...

[michaelmiller 0]

Very funny, and I thought I'd get to read about something other than guns!! On a serious note, do you think your heatwave prob was an isolated incident or common?
Bloo ones,
Mikey

[Aviatrr 0]

That's the third problem I've heard with a PISA main in the past month or so......very suprising.. When you find out what the problem with the canopy was, be sure to post it....I'm definitely interested in knowing..
The Stiletto is a well proven design, and as long as you get one without serious opening issues, you'll like it.. The Stiletto recovers from a dive a little too quickly for my taste(release the front riser, and it planes out immediately).. I'm waiting for delivery of a Nitro, myself..
Mike

[Merrick 0]

Excellent Kris!!! I didn't know you were having any problems with your heatwave, but regardless... I'm glad you're getting it straightened out.... and I know how much you liked that Stilletto demo you had for a while! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

[Kris 0]

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do you think your heatwave prob was an isolated incident or common?

Well, the way it was explained to my by Lee Fairbanks(?), the rigger at Skydive Dallas was that PISA has been known to lay the panels for the canopy exactly as they are cut instead of turning the fabric 180-degrees for the next piece. The gist of it as he told me was that by having the "grain" of the fabric the same across the canopy will cause it to torsionally pull (the fabric, not the canopy) the same and induce a turn. Apparently, other manufacturer's go against the 'grain' with each panel allowing even stress throughout the canopy.
Whether that's a load of hooey or not it sure made sense to me. Then again, it could have been a simple problem with the stitching on one of the panels.

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That's the third problem I've heard with a PISA main in the past month or so......very suprising.. When you find out what the problem with the canopy was, be sure to post it....I'm definitely interested in knowing..
The Stiletto is a well proven design, and as long as you get one without serious opening issues, you'll like it.. The Stiletto recovers from a dive a little too quickly for my taste(release the front riser, and it planes out immediately).. I'm waiting for delivery of a Nitro, myself..

If I ever find out the problem, I'll post it. As for the Stiletto, I agree on the proven design and as a consumer I usually follow the rule of "You get what you pay for" (you should see how many jump tickets I blew on my Sony ES / Velodyne / Magnaplanar home theatre system) but in the case of the Heatwave I went with the unknown. Funny how we do that with things that we trust our lives to...
The demo Stiletto I tried a few months back was a 1996 model and opened / flew like a champ. I'm sure PD threw all the latest mods on it as they came out but I know what to expect from a PD product and I know it will be right the first time.
What other problems had you heard of?

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Excellent Kris!!! I didn't know you were having any problems with your heatwave, but regardless... I'm glad you're getting it straightened out.... and I know how much you liked that Stilletto demo you had for a while! Good luck with it, we hope to see you soon.

Thanks Merrick! I can't wait to jump my new toy this weekend. Hopefully, I won't have to chop it on the first jump like I did on my Heatwave.
Kris