gian 0 #1 October 1, 2003 What better than all of you guys' advice? What do you think about them. I like stiletto but I'm a little concerned about the openings. On the other side I never jumped a crossfire. For what I herd the crossfire should be pretty nice in the openings and powerful in the flare. Stiletto a little bit more inconsistent in the opening with a shorter recovery arch and a faster toggle response. I'm thinking about putting together a new freefly and light camera work rig. Need advice form the bests: all of you guys Thank you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WrongWay 0 #2 October 1, 2003 Okay, just my $.02. It's prolly not a good idea for you to be jumping a camera at only 100 jumps. Just my opinion, but being as safety is the #1 concern, I'd hate to see you jump a fully elliptical canopy like that Crossfire2 (which IMHO also isnt a hot idea at those jump numbers) and get it snagged on your camera helmet and you not be able to have the skills needed to react quickly and appropriately. My personal advice: Take your time, be safe. All of the cool "I'm a freeflyer and need to jump a camera" stuff will come later, along with those swoops and carves. It's better to jump something simple while you're learning, and move up slowly, and live to jump tomorrow, then jump on a high performance canopy with a camera and get killed. not slamming, just trying to look out for you buddy. Ya need any advice or anything, PM me. Do whatc you want, but be safe. PEACE!! Wrong Way D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451 The wiser wolf prevails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #3 October 1, 2003 At your experience level, neither the Crossfire or the Stiletto is an appropriate choice, nor is flying a camera. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflydrew 0 #4 October 1, 2003 I didn't really start to love the stiletto until I had flown the 120 a bunch and downsized to the 107... That's when the openings became totally consistant, and everything else fell into place. I found the 135 Stiletto a little less consistant on openings with my weight under it, and I felt like the arc was much too small. I have heard wonderful things about the CF openings not specific to any one size, and the same for it's landings... Although the Stiletto and the crossfire are similiar, they are two different wings that have two different sets of characteristics which you'll see best through demo. Having said that... you'll probably be able to bust out some sweet landings, and have really nice, consistant openings with the sabre2... No need to think about another canopy quite yet, ya know? -drew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gian 0 #5 October 1, 2003 I perfectly agree with you: safety first in the sky. I'm a skydiver, airplane and hang glider pilot and i inderstand that safety and good judgment is the most important thing we have in the sky. I want everybody to understand that since putting together a new rig is going to take me at least 4-6 months I'm just starting gathering some info. WrongWay, thank you very much for your replay and your great advice. I appreciate your attitude and I definitely think you're going to be on top of my list for any question. Gian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydive84 0 #6 October 2, 2003 QuoteI didn't really start to love the stiletto until I had flown the 120 a bunch and downsized to the 107... That's when the openings became totally consistant, and everything else fell into place. I found the 135 Stiletto a little less consistant on openings with my weight under it What did you load the 135 an 120 at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflydrew 0 #7 October 2, 2003 135 at 1.4 120 at 1.6 (rounded up) 107 at 1.8 (rounded up) -drew Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #8 October 2, 2003 I jump a Stilleto 107 loaded to 1.8 I also have some dives on a Crossfire 109 loaded to 1.77 They're very different. I don't think you should be on either - or camera - at your number of dives. Your descriptions of the canopy charecteristics are good though. Stilleto openings can be tricky if you don't load them up right, Crossfire openings can be long - perhaps too long at 800ft. In normal flight they're similar. The Stilleto will out float the Xfire on brakes. Toggle turns are faster than the Xfire. The Xfire recovery arc is way deeper. Toggle pressure is much heavier and stroke is full range. Both are excellent canopies. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrNo 0 #9 October 2, 2003 What you say is funny. I have a stiletto 135 and I often heve shit openings (often turning and sometimes very brutal). Most of the people owing a stiletto 120 I talked to say that their openings are very good. Could it be a problem of wing loading? I'm 65kg and I'm not very familiar with the kg/pounds conversion+the addition of the rig weight. Now I'm thinking of switching to a 120 as I'm pretty confident with mine, but I'm still hesitating with the crossfire2 or the oncoming katana. The reasons for that are the openings (specially with a camera) and to have longer flares. Do you have any suggestion? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NeedToJump 0 #10 October 2, 2003 65kg is about 143 lbs. I fly a stiletto 135 and I weigh 150 lbs and my exit weight is 165 so I'd guess your rig to weigh about 15 lbs as well making your exit weight 158. That would put your wingloading on the 135 at 1.17 I load my Stiletto 135 from 1.2 - 1.3 depending on how much weight I'm wearing (probably very similar to you) and I love the openings. I had a lot of trouble with the openings when I first got it (off heading, slow spins to the left) so I sent it in to get it relined which made a world of difference. I also became very aware of my body position when I deploy and always fly the openings. If it looks like the canopy is going off in one direction I'll lean a little in the other direction. I almost always have on heading openings now and they are all very soft.Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 0 #11 October 2, 2003 The stiletto will open funny if you grab the risers and try and steer it.(bad for any parachute) If it's out of trim it will open funny as well. Doing nothing but remaining neutral is generally the best bet. Eventually you'll learn to lean in the harness only when needed. As for hard openings, If it's consitant then I'd suspect it's out of trim. Not to be confused with say, me being out of trim... that's a differrent story. After about 1000 jumps on the same line kit, I started being concerned on every single jump cuz my parachute was VERY unpredictable. One cutaway later, I changed the lines. One jump later I kicked myself in the ass for not changing the lines a few hundred jumps prior. Sorry for the longish story but it happened twice. Hope that helpsMy grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chopchop 0 #12 October 2, 2003 as always, tim, a wealth of information.. thanks man. chopchop gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking.. Lotsa Pictures Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
