Switching to X-Braced - Coaching and Progression ?!

[jad_ben 0]

I'm thinking about switching to X-Braced. I'm currently on a KA107 loaded at 1.75:1 (give or take depending on a hop'n pop or a fully loaded video jump). Anyways here's the deal.. I've been puting a lot of effort and invested in good coaching in the past three years and everytime i change my wing, i feel like a need to relearn everything. The knoledge stays and in fact is still very usefull (thanks to Jay and Pablo). I've been thinking for a while now about getting more serious. I wanna bring my skills a notch higher and eventually start to compete, so get something that i know i'll be puting 1000 jumps on in the next year and learn everthing i can from it.


1) First of all, i've been asking around for the past few weeks about canopies, and geez... it changes from a DZ to another depending on who's their main canopy provider. Velo, Sensei, VX... I trust PD, i jumped a few Velos, i demoed a Sensei, and never tried a VX (tried the FX though..). Now what ?? I wannt something i know i can learn on. I've been told that the Sensei is a good canopy to actually learn on before transitioning to a Velo (ok, i don't think that'S true but i'm curious to know your opinion about that) and for you Icarus pilots out there, bring it on, why a VX over a Velo or Sensei ??

2) What to do after i get my new wing ? put a shit load of jumps on it to learn to know it, and then seek some coaching ? or go straight to Flight-1 with it and start right away ? And what about Ground Launching ? Basically what i'm asking is .. what do you think would be the optimal progression here ?

3) Wing loading.. ok, i've read a lot, and asked a lot about this, and it always seems to vary. Now let's not forget that i'm still in a learning environement. I don't wanna know what WL is optimal go get killer swoops, but what should i consider as a 1st X-Braced canopy. If i take everything i got from everyone i talked to and every bit of info i got from this forum, i think i should probably go for a Velo 96. Is a 1.85:1 WL optimal for a 1st X-Braced canopy ??

Let me hear ya, i know i'm asking a lot, but i can't seem to get the right answer anywhere else !

If everything seems under control, it's because you're not going fast enough.

[superstu 0]

If you've recieved coaching from Jay and Pablo and they've seen you fly the first thing I would do is email them these questions and see what they say. Most of us haven't seen you fly and have no business telling you what is right for you on these forums.

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

[davelepka 4]

Quote

I'm thinking about switching to X-Braced. I'm currently on a KA107 loaded at 1.75:1 (give or take depending on a hop'n pop or a fully loaded video jump). Anyways here's the deal.. I've been puting a lot of effort and invested in good coaching in the past three years and everytime i change my wing, i feel like a need to relearn everything.

Maybe stop changing wings for an appriciable number of jumps. With 700 total, and jumping a KA107 at 1.75, how many could you have possibly put on any one wing? Even if it took you 4 wings to go from your first canopy to your present canopy, you're still at less then 200 per.

The KA is a good wing, and a 107 at 1.75 is a 'swoopable' size for sure. How about putting 500 jumps on it and see where you're at then? 200 jumps on a wing is enough to learn to fly 'a' canopy, 500 might be enough to learn to fly 'any' canopy.