Best Canopy

[blu 0]

what would be in your opinion the best canopy to fly with a wingsuit?
Sabre 2? Spectre? crossfire?

***Keep it fun, stay alive***
Safe swoops
Azul
Follow Orbita on Twitter @freeflyorbita

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Anything that you are comfortable with, no matter how potentially sketched out your deployment might end up being. My choice: Sabre2 for all my wingsuit flights.

[ManBird 0]

Sabre2. http://www.deepart.org/sight/Sabre2.wmv.

The first opening in the video is in a wingsuit (note that it's all hands off). On the third opening (also in a wingsuit), note that the canopy flies straight with line twists (there were FIVE -- messed up pitch/hard pull resulted in bad body position). Then note that it swoops like a mother.
Edit: PS, I'm selling the Sabre2 107 in that video. Look for my classified. OK, enough advertising.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[TALONSKY 0]

While you can use pretty much any canopy, ones that fly good in line twist are probably the best. I have flown Crossfire 1 with great luck. I also have flown a Crossfire 2 with great luck however, I had it line twist on me three times and all three times it started diving toward the ground (I was always able to kick out of the line twist but did not care for how it dove toward the ground). My current canopy a VX 109 works fine but over the last 10 flights I have ended with line twist 5 times. So far my VX has flown straight and level with the line twist. So obviously it is best to have a less elliptical canopy but it all depends on what you want to deal with if things go wrong. Sabre 2 is really a great wingsuit canopy.
Kirk

[TALONSKY 0]

When starting wingsuit flying it is best to start with a non elliptical canopy. Initial deployments can be kind of interesting.
Kirk

[The111 0]

This may belong more in the G&R forum, so I hope I'm not off-topic, but to me it does have to do with WS. I fly a Spectre 170 right now and would eventually like to get a 150 9-cell that I can learn basic swoop skills on but also that is tame enough for my still fledgling WS skills. I was planning on a Sabre2 for a long time, but recently have been reading reports of 90-180 offheadings being very common near the end of deployment. With a WS this would be even less fun. I've actually been experiencing very consistent 90-180s with my Spectre+WS, but I'm pretty sure that's my fault somehow. So are either of you guys familiar with these alleged problems with the Sabre2?

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[ManBird 0]

Body position is my bet. It'd happen on any canopy. No one ever wants to admit it. It's always the canopy's fault, right? Even then, a 90 or 180 means nothing, even in a wingsuit. Especially on a Sabre2. You aren't BASE jumping it and you're at least a couple thousand feet up.

300 jumps on that canopy. Line twists maybe 6 six times (5 were body position and 1 was definitely a packed twist (from a packer)). Maybe 2 dozen off headings out of 300 (about 1 in 12), which is a hell of a record for skydiving and super fast pack jobs. And those were always to the right -- due to a slightly off body position in the S3 (hey, it happens).

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[TomAiello 25]

Is it a wingsuit-only canopy? And do you care about any of it's other characteristics (canopy flight, for example)?

In terms of docile canopies, consistent opening, easy to deal with, not prone to twists, you might consider using a BASE canopy. At least one BASE manufacturer (Atair) had made some scaled down versions of their BASE canopy, with things like microline to reduce pack volume, that would probably work great in a skydiving environment.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[blu 0]

my question was more towards over all perfomance (openings, flying in line twists, swooping etc.... i am planing on jumping my base rig with it (wingsuit) to start practicing but that would go in another forum
the reason I asked was because a friend of mine was flying a vengeance and had to cut it away because of line twists, i used to fly my classic with a vengeance as well and never had any problems but now that i'm jumping my vx (love it by the way) i feel i might need another wingsuit canopy.
thanx for all the feed back

***Keep it fun, stay alive***
Safe swoops
Azul
Follow Orbita on Twitter @freeflyorbita

[TALONSKY 0]

I only have heard about two canopies that due to their openning charteristics would not be great for wingsuit flying. A Vengence and a Velocity both do to the canopy hunting for a heading on deployment.
Kirk

[skyflyingbecca 0]

This might be a silly question, but what about the rate of speed BASE canopies open at? I thought they open pretty quickly, even if you pack for a terminal opening.... And don't you want a bit of a snivel on a wingsuit jump?

What about the ramifications of using a non-FAA approved canopy on a skydive? Or are some of these approved?

Silly newbie questions, I know, but I had to ask..

"I know it's friday night, but come on. Surely there's something better to do than yell at people on the internet?" - Tom A.

[pbla4024 0]

Just use sail slider instead of mesh one.

Fido

[leroydb 0]

you can jump anything as a main. you could use a bed sheet as long as you have a TSO'd harness and reserve

from what i was told....

anyway I have used my base canopy on a bunch of skydives, a main parachute is not TSo'd to my knowledge

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

This might be a silly question, but what about the rate of speed BASE canopies open at? I thought they open pretty quickly, even if you pack for a terminal opening.... And don't you want a bit of a snivel on a wingsuit jump?

I don't know that you'd want any more of a snivel on a wingsuit jump than any other jump. Perhaps someone else can comment on that?

You can slow a BASE canopy down quite a bit by (a) using a sail slider, and (b) putting it in a bag. There are numerous other ways to effect the speed of the opening, but those are the two big ones. I've made several skydives on this kind of setup (BASE canopy with sail slider and bag) and the openings seemed very soft and slow to me. Note, though that my basis for comparison is generally BASE openings, so your feelings about the relative hardness of the openings may vary.

Quote

What about the ramifications of using a non-FAA approved canopy on a skydive? Or are some of these approved?

In the US, only the container and reserve system needs a TSO. You can put anything you want in as a main. This is not true everywhere.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[skyflyingbecca 0]

Quote

In the US, only the container and reserve system needs a TSO. You can put anything you want in as a main. This is not true everywhere.

Thanks for the clarification. I don't know any active BASE jumpers in my area these days, but back when I first started skydiving, I was asking around Pahokee about BASE and equipment and someone told me the prices on a new BASE setup and the canopies were way cheaper because they didn't have to go throught TSO testing, but I guess I misunderstood and they were talking about the container and (lack of) reserve.

"I know it's friday night, but come on. Surely there's something better to do than yell at people on the internet?" - Tom A.

[sjonak 0]

I've been jumping a Sabre2 150 on all my WS dives and the only problems I have ever had were self-induced. As far as I know, the Sabre2 150 is just about the perfect wing suit canopy. Staged, on-headng opening almost every time!

Steve
"Maintain an even strain."

[Ferry 0]

I think if you're used to snivels and like them, you can use a canopy with a snivel. Just think about your body position, because the longer the snivel the more time to mess up. And don't forget to keep your legwing closed all the way, that how I got some linetwists. They also catch wind on the backside
I've used my cobalt on all my WS skydives, and never had to do a breakaway. Allthough I've had some twist which started to spin, most of them flew straight out.
I've no experience with them, but I'm sure a non-elliptical is the better choice for wingsuit.

Ferry

[vesatoro 0]

I would maybe vote for the original Sabre. Good flying characteristics and not too much snivel on openings. I currently jump an FX which Im happy with as a compromize with good openings and swooping capabilities.

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[GroundZero 0]

I think the X-braced canopies are one of the best choices...

Like all cross-braced canopies, my Xaos is a relatively low aspect ratio and is not very elliptical meaning very tame openings even at higher wingloadings.

Almost 800 Bird-Man suit jumps ...all on cross-braced and not one cutaway...

Chris

(and ya can't beat 'em for landings!!!)

[ManBird 0]

Totes. While I have only a few wingsuit/Xaos27 jumps, they all went well. I had a half twist/half dive on one, but it swung out ot level flight and was chill after that. My Katana does the same thing some times. It can seem hairy for a second or two, but it doesn't turn into anything that needs to be chopped.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[Buffdiver 0]

So I have been Jumping a Sabre 2 150 for many of my wingsuit jumps. I just bought a 135 for its ability to open relatively on heading but still swoop decent. My old Sabre I 170 gave amazing openings but was lacking a bit on the performance side. My question is that I am really enjoying swooping as much as i love wingsuit. What is the best canopy for both worlds. I am a huge fan of the Samurai but had to cut that away. Also heard some good stuff about the crossfire and its openings. We have one on Demo for the PR boogie but would like to hear some feedback. I love wingsuit....but I love swooping......... is there an happy/medium canopy, or am i destine to 2 different rigs?? Thanks for the input.

[vesatoro 0]

Icarus FX
I have about 350 wingsuit flights with an FX (79 and 70 sqft) loaded 2.1 - 2.6 with no chops. Consistent on heading openings most of the time, maybe linetwists 3-4 times, flying straight. With brakes stowed, not too prone to body control during unzipping legs etc. Swoops well, of course it´s not a velo or (j)vx... Downsides: descents rapidly in half brakes after opening, good thing to pull a lit higher. And when the spinning malfunction eventually comes, it's going to be fast and there will be no time to think if it can be fixed or not.

Edited to add: with your jump numbers though I would maybe not advice Crossfire, nor FX.

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[dunderhead1 0]

i vote for Spectre..,this has always been nice to me

[hjumper33 0]

I love my crossfire. Opens super soft and usually on heading. Swoops really nice with light front riser pressure.

[DSE 3]

Silhouette and Safire for me.