CygnusX-1 42 #1 October 13, 2009 In case anyone would like to see a better photo I've attached it. I was hoping to get a better placement then what I got. My copy of parachutist looks like the photo was darkened. Maybe it is just because the image was shrunk so small. The photo printed does not do my canopy justice. All photos thanks to Norman Kent.Anyway if you want to read the unedited version of text that I submitted, I'll post that too (if asked to do so). I may have a split personality, but I don't understand why they required that my article was written in the third person, by me, about me. But its their mag, so whatever... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #2 October 13, 2009 Nice work on both the article and the canopy. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robskydiv 0 #3 October 13, 2009 Now that is Artistic! Nice work on the canopy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #4 October 13, 2009 I bet you scare a lot of rabbits when you skydive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NewGuy2005 51 #5 October 13, 2009 Quote Anyway if you want to read the unedited version of text that I submitted, I'll post that too (if asked to do so). Please do. That's one of the coolest canopies I've seen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnDeere 0 #6 October 13, 2009 PD does do some great logo work!Nothing opens like a Deere! You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #7 October 13, 2009 Very nice. From the few contributions (text and pictures) that I've made to magazines, I learned that it's good to have a thick skin about the end result. No matter how much work you put into your submission, it's liable to be edited and presented in a way that you don't think lives up to the original version - often it's just a question of available space. I think it's a good idea to post your article here so everyone can see it the way you intended. I don't subscribe to Parachutist and I'd like to read it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toasted_Cracker 0 #8 October 14, 2009 Quote In case anyone would like to see a better photo I've attached it. I was hoping to get a better placement then what I got. My copy of parachutist looks like the photo was darkened. Maybe it is just because the image was shrunk so small. The photo printed does not do my canopy justice. All photos thanks to Norman Kent.Anyway if you want to read the unedited version of text that I submitted, I'll post that too (if asked to do so). I may have a split personality, but I don't understand why they required that my article was written in the third person, by me, about me. But its their mag, so whatever... Very cool canopy! I would like to see some bigger higher rez shots of it if you don't mind. BTW, your screen name... You don't happen to be a Rush fan are you? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CygnusX-1 42 #9 October 16, 2009 Thanks for the nice words about my canopy. I'll post the write-up that I submitted when I get back home. Currently I'm on business travel and don't have access to what I wrote. I'm not really upset about them changing it. They can do whatever they want. I didn't even expect to get any text with the photo. So anything is just a bonus. And besides I always planned on posting the original here . Oh and PD only cut out the image and sewed it on the canopy. All the actual work was done by Nancy @ Jumpshack. (There Nancy you get another free plug for all your hard work). Jim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CygnusX-1 42 #10 October 23, 2009 Ok, I'm back. Attached is the original write-up I submitted... One of my favorite things about skydiving is the canopy ride down. When I first started to skydive, the one thing that kept me coming back to the DZ was not the freefall portion of AFF but the ride under canopy from 5000 feet to the ground. In those early days, it seemed to me that when the parachute opened correctly I was going to live to make another jump. The most dangerous part of the skydive was over. It was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. Ah, as Cypher said in The Matrix, “Ignorance is bliss.” It was because of this love of the canopy, that I have chosen a route different than what seems to be too common these days. That being a rush to downsize and get under the smallest, most highly loaded canopy possible. I do understand the draw that downsizing quickly has to most people. Who wouldn’t want to go faster “naturally” under canopy? You can make it back to the DZ when winds are higher. More speed mean more lift. More lift means a better flare. “Hey look what I can do and I didn’t even have to induce a high performance landing to achieve it”. But you know something; I’ve noticed something else about those on small canopies. They are usually the first ones down on a load. Their landing sequence seems to be: break off, pull, flight straight to their setup point, initiate a turn, and land. Meanwhile I’m still up at 2000 feet. Flying back and forth, enjoying the scenery and sometimes looking for thermals to extend the ride as if I’m soaring like an eagle. When it came time to get a new canopy that I would have for a long time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had this dream since I started to skydive. But I had never seen it done. I had seen the typical logos that PD and other manufacturers had done. I had even seen some designs of other images placed on canopies. But has anyone ever placed an actual photo silk-screened on the bottom skin of the parachute? I was sure it could be done. After all, you can walk into any good specialty T-shirt store and come out with your face printed on a new shirt if you so desire. Hell, I’ve even seen them print a photo in icing on a birthday cake! There has got to be a way to get a photo on a parachute. I took my idea to a couple of local dealers to see what they thought. Did they believe it could be done? Unfortunately, the responses I received were less then desirable. About this time my reserve was due for it’s inspection and repack so I took my Racer 2K3 into Jump Shack for its I&R. Nancy LaRiviere asked how I was doing and I told her that I was looking at buying a new Stiletto and of my idea of putting a photo of a bald eagle in flight on the bottom skin. Even though Jump Shack makes their own canopies, she said she thought she could do that for me. Jump Shack, a PD Dealer? Who’d da thunk it? As it turns out Jump Shack is one of PD’s original Dealers. Nancy said, “We can do it with a dye-sublimate print on a very lightweight fabric – much like the data and logo labels we put on canopies and containers.” Basically she took my high resolution art work and overlaid it on a diagram of the Stiletto, copied the Photoshop document 7 times and cropped each file to match each particular bottom skin with a little extra for seam allowance. Easier said than done! She obtained fabric samples from several vendors to find just the right weight and opacity so as to keep bulk to a minimum, but still get good color saturation. A few small-scale printed samples went back and forth between Jump Shack and the company Nancy finally settled on to actually print the eagle image. I could not have dreamed of the ordeal it has been to get this project completed. Since this technique has not been done before, the process was just ripe for delays. I told Nancy at the beginning that it was more important to come out right verses getting it done quickly. As time went on, I began to question the logic in that statement. Days turned into weeks; weeks into months. Although progress was being made, it just seemed like nothing was happening. Then the questions in my mind started to happen, Gollum style. Do I really need to get this done? Yes, precious, remember all the time you spent looking for the perfect photo. I don’t really need a canopy that looks like I’m suspended from just a bald eagle, do I? Oh yes you do. How else are you going to set yourself apart from everyone else? Yes, but if I just get a used Stiletto I could save all of this money and then later on get a newer style canopy. No, no, NO! The Stiletto has a flat glide angle. It’s the perfect PD canopy for this type of design. It’s the right canopy for the type of skydiving you want to do anyway. Now kill those nasty hobbits and take the ring for ourselves. While dementia was setting in on me, Nancy was coordinating efforts with PD sales, engineering and production. PD’s “Rags” Raghanti was instrumental in making sure the segmented eagle was perfectly aligned on the canopy’s bottom skins. Rags also had the critical job of holding a cold cloth to the head of the lady at who actually cut the eagle free from its’ background and sewed it down. She was understandably nervous, as each of the 7 panels was worth about $150. Happily there were no slips with the hot knife and she did a masterful job. Well, it has taken just over a year to produce. Overall I’m very happy with the outcome. I wish to thank Nancy LaRiviere for having the vision and being able to turn my dream into reality. I would also like to thank Kim Pothuisje for, um – she knows what she did for me. I don’t want to stir up any issues by publicly stating what she did. But without Kim, this canopy would not have been made. And finally, I want to thank Norman Kent for taking the wonderful photos of me under my new canopy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NealFitz 0 #11 October 23, 2009 thats amazing Dudeist Skydiver #170 You do not need a parachute to skydive, you only need one to skydive again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
