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rhys

differences between stiletto/short recovery arc and crossfire/long recovery arc

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Hi,

I was reading the thread that got locked because differences of opinion. I do not wish to further the deate of what canopy is better.

i just want people especially newbies to learn the difference.

I stoved myself in on a maveric 200 turning too low when i had little jump numbers, too much confidence and not enough/the right advice.

we can hurt ourselves on any canopy and have to be ready for any number of different situations to deal with.

I did 800 jumps on a heatwave 120 (similar but not the same as a stiletto) and then 800 jumps on a crossfire1 109. I could honestly say that the crossfire was much safer to jump even with the size difference.

I noticed in the last thread that the less experienced jumpers were getting rheemed by much more experienced jumpers/moderators. I cant imagine these guys that were discussing the actual content of the thread felt too good about that and therefore would have taken any advice with a grain of salt. not a good learning environment!

Newbies don't want to hear I've jumped this and this and this and this and i've got heaps more experience than you so you can't give me advice. Credentials are good but not immedediately before telling someone they are wrong, it just looks arrogant.

they want to hear positive information that will teach them valuable lessons, lets teach them!

while jumping shorter recovery arc eliptical canopies for 800+ jumps (stilletto, heat wave, hurricane, diablo) i found the tendancy for line twists to create a dive much more frequently(i can't remember the amount of times i had my hands on the emergency handles). I also found myself in the corner more often as the initiation altitude was much lower. as soon as i jumped the crossfire I had 800 consecutive beautiful openings (no hands on any handles!) and had a much nicer/safer feeling dive and swoop. The canopies did take considerable time to transition from one to another because they were so different. Looking back I wish I had spent the other 800 jumps on a crossfire or similar. the shorter recovery arc didn't teach me much but how dangerous it was!

I have a JVX84 hybrid coming and I have 3000 jumps BUT i am still going to start my landing pattern all over again (slow carving 90's)when i jump this canopy. every body needs to do this and everybody needs to know to do this. no canopy is the same.

be safe, and stay out of the corner!

;)
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

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I found that the sabre2 had a longer recovery arc than the stilletto as well although not quite as lifty

I did 200 jumps on a sabre2 170 learning to swoop after I broke myself learnign badly on a pilot 150

then did about 50 more on the 150 sabre 2 and then went to a crossfire 2 129 AFTER Demoing a 149 Crossfire 2 for a weekend or two.

jumping the 149 first helped me a lot.

people yelled at me for jumping the 129 at first...

johnny 1488 said "dont kill yourself" a lot

Sonic from the ranch pro shop was flat out pissed at me and was very short with me for quite some time.

What they didnt see since I was jumping at sussex at the time was that I had a mentor ( I learned that I needed a second set of eyes) and was getting video debriefs every day. In addition to that I went to florida and did the first of two canopy courses in 4 months...

Sonic later sold me a 119 Crossfire2 when originally he hadc refused to sell me a Crossfire2 149.

And that is how I survived aggressive downsizing that made people angry...(after I broke my leg the first time doing it wrong)

It can be done but I would reccomend the following

1. Mentor

2. Advanced Canopy Courses (I took Brians and man has it saved my life a lot)

3. Remain teachable if someone walks up to me and says something I will still listen they might be trying to save your life with knowledge that they learned doing the same thing. Believe me they aint doing this for thier health.

4. Do some high pulls if you can, I have about 75 or so with my friend Matt it teaches you about the ranges of your canopy so much...

5. Practise up high as much as you can to find the altitudes

6. Learn what density altitude does to canopies :-P

7. Be safe and stay alive

Cheers

Dave
http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

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you guys rock!!! in this thread.

funny when i was on a 220 triathlon rental off aff they said downsize and i said you will get me off this pink 220 triathlon when you pry my cold dead fingers from it. they sold it a week later. i said i would never swoop ever

funny how all that happens. i wonder if people on vx velocitys xaos everr look back and laugh and never imagine they can do what they do now.

i am at that level and i cant do but baby swoops yet.

my progression was anything that didnt scare the shit out of me and was comfortable

and then when i was demo'ing many many many differnt sizes and canopies my standard was whaats comfortable, what feels right, what can i land well, what canopy do i feel most conected with, annd oh yeah what ever didnt scare the shit out of me.

so i wussed out and settled on the crossfire 2.

great post i memrize these good points belive me.

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i wonder if people on vx velocitys xaos everr look back and laugh and never imagine they can do what they do now.



yup, I remember I used to say I would never do that. that it was too dangerous.

I am still conservative with it. thats why you don't see me do freestyle.:P

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i wonder if people on vx velocitys xaos everr look back and laugh and never imagine they can do what they do now.



yup, I remember I used to say I would never do that. that it was too dangerous.

I am still conservative with it. thats why you don't see me do freestyle.:P



Not me . My JM for AFF flew the shit out of his 120 Stiletto. I said: "I wanna do that!"

Funny thing is: I watch the people that I go to for help and advice and I still say "I wanna do that!" B|
Goddam dirty hippies piss me off! ~GFD
"What do I get for closing your rig?" ~ me
"Anything you want." ~ female skydiver
Mohoso Rodriguez #865

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