mfrese 0 #1 February 18, 2004 Got a total of 6 jumps on a demo Velo 120, loaded at exactly 2:1 this past weekend...thanks to all who gave me input before jumping this monster. I'd post the rest under reviews, but I'm guessing I'll get better feedback here. So, my impressions: - First...FUCK ME PINK! What an awesome wing!! - OK...calm down...openings were very interesting after watching standard (i.e. non-crossbraced) openings...kinda searches for a heading, but never came close to opening off-heading or starting twists. Once open, it feels like you're flying under a plank instead of a parachute, very solid feel. - Very easy to steer with harness input with brakes stowed. - Slow speed flight is freakin' unbelievable. I tried hard to stall it, finally had to take two wraps on the toggles to get the stall started, recovery was weird, quite a bit of drift and correction needed. - Front riser pressure was indeed greater than my Vengeance, but not not significantly. I'm finding I lose a bit more altitude during front riser dives than I do on the Vengeance, due to the higher wingloading. - First three jumps were all straight-in approaches, no wind on the ground. Takes a little more toggle input to plane it out than the Veng, but I got maybe 150 ft. of swoop. Last three were with gently carving 90 fronts, and I got 200 ft.+ on all of them. Started these at about 300-400 feet, planed out with a little toggle. Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with the performance and handling of the Velo. Great openings, great flights, great swoops...what more can you ask? I'm not entirely sold on this as a day-to-day canopy (I recall one of the Airspeed guys saying, when they went back to Stilettos a year or so ago, that when you do a couple thousand jumps a year, every landing doesn't need to be an event, and I guess I agree with that), but it would surely be a blast to fly occasionally. I'm going to try and play some more this weekend before I have to send it back, mainly focusing on braked flight, traffic performance, and swooping. I'll post more in case anyone is interested...Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
webracer 0 #2 February 20, 2004 I don't feel the Velocity is an "occasional" canopy. The airspeed guys, and others that do lots of jumps, may consider occasional as 4-500 jumps/year of their 2000+ Otherwise, either commit to the Velo for most of your skydiving needs, or give up the idea. I have chosen crossbraced, and I want to jump them whenever possible to be current and comfortable. I do want big landing areas though. Keep jumping your Velo, you will like it more and more, but get ready for some seeking. Also, stalling is a bad idea, if you have to push that envelope, do it high, it may yield it unrecoverable in line twists. Also, just let it rock a bit, not fold. It is deceiving, as it does not fold as quickly as a normal canopy, so you feel you can induce the stall a bit longer. Then once you realize your error, you may be landing under F111 (hopefully) Good luckTroy I am now free to exercise my downward mobility. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hookitt 0 #3 February 20, 2004 QuoteI'm going to try and play some more this weekend before I have to send it back, mainly focusing on braked flight, traffic performance, and swooping. I'll post more in case anyone is interestedMike... pull high and fly the fuck out of it!!! Braked flight?? What are you thinking! Wring it out before you have to send it back. Have fun and definatly write about it.My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ccowden 0 #4 February 20, 2004 I agree totally that if you are going to fly a Velocity or any Xbraced canopy, then you need to commit 100% to learning it and staying very current on it. It is definitely not a 'couple jumps a weekend' canopy. And I think you do have to look at every landing as an 'event'. Not in the sense that you are always like "Wow, just barely pulled that one out!" But in the sense that you need to treat it as a seperate discipline and be on top of your game. You just can't afford to make any big mistakes. Even a couple little mistakes can turn into a life-threatening situation and you have to treat it as such. It is a process that you have to crawl into, not jump head first. (this is a general statement and not necessarily directed at you or your abilities) The Velocity is really quite docile in flight, contrary to what most may think. It is the high performance characteristics where you will see the huge difference. ie: aggressive front riser flight, long recovery arc, altitude loss in the dive, rear riser input on landing, and remarkable bottom end lift and flare. Plus you have to be ready to deal with what happens in a less than perfect situation like line twists or a malfunction or if you do make a mistake. The Velocity is an awesome, awesome canopy, and can be learned and enjoyed by anyone as long as they are ready and RESPECT it. By 'ready' I mean has worked into high performance flight over many jumps and become very proficient on each canopy as they went. Along with that and the training and understanding that is out there, I really believe we are on the right track. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
velo90 0 #5 February 20, 2004 QuoteThe Velocity is really quite docile in flight When I first read the sentence above I thought, eh? But when I think about it, I see what you mean, as long as you remove the massive loss of altitude with each turn from the equation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ccowden 0 #6 February 20, 2004 Yes, I mean it is really quite docile in regular flight, doing nothing radical. It is still a high performance wing, so I figured it would be understood that you are going to have all the characteristic of such, like loss of alot of altitude in turns. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mfrese 0 #7 February 20, 2004 Thanks everyone for their comments... I agree, this is not a canopy you would want to use occasionally. It's either commit and learn it well, or don't bother. I'll wring it out a bit more and see what I think. And don't worry, Timmae! I am flying the fuck out of it. But I will spend a little time working braked flight some more just in case...I'm finding that since I have to start everything higher, longer, and more carefully with the Velo, I want to be sure I'm comfortable with slower flight modes, especially below a grand. I'd be pulling at 15 and riding the shit out of this little sucker, but Chris won't let me pull above 8... Thanks again, I'll post more after this weekend.Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hparrish 0 #8 July 18, 2006 Demo the VX then the JVX before you make a deciscion. i think both are comparable to the Velocity, but the JVX will blow you away. Sure try the Xaos too just to sample all the X-Braced. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nicknitro71 0 #9 July 18, 2006 Quotewhat more can you ask? A Xaos 27 Memento Audere Semper 903 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cessna54tango 0 #10 July 18, 2006 ha, you beat me you bastard, after reading his first post i was thinking wait till this guy tries a cha-hos 27! then it will be fuck me pink and purple Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
