What canopy do you use?

[Wings-n-Things 0]

What canopy are you guys using for WS skydives?
Do you stick to 7 cell squares or do you use a semi-eliptical. What about a fully eliptical?
Also what's the wingloading on what you do jump?

Card carrying member of the
Nanny State Liberation Front

[mccordia 73]

Jump 400-1100 (+-) - Spectre 170
Jump 1100-1400 - Strom 150
Jump 1400 - now (closing in on 2000) - Storm 135


Love the 7 cells..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[monkycndo 0]

This one

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[DSE 3]

Storm 135 and Storm 150.
Ellipticals aren't the best thing for wingsuiting, as a search will show you.
Pilots, Sabre's (1 &2) Storms, Spectres are all commonly seen. Saw a Pulse on a wingsuiter yesterday at Couch Freaks.

[piisfish 136]

most often Safire2 139 loaded around 1.4
occasionnaly a PD-143/R loaded about the same.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Wings-n-Things 0]

Quote

Storm 135 and Storm 150.
Ellipticals aren't the best thing for wingsuiting, as a search will show you.
Pilots, Sabre's (1 &2) Storms, Spectres are all commonly seen. Saw a Pulse on a wingsuiter yesterday at Couch Freaks.

I know ellipticals aren't the best thing. I just thought bringing it up was a good idea as an earlier thread on the same subject hadn't been active in over 4 years.

Card carrying member of the
Nanny State Liberation Front

[piisfish 136]

Quote

I just thought bringing it up was a good idea as an earlier thread on the same subject hadn't been active in over 4 years.

4 years ago I certainly had the same Safire in the thread, around same loading, and no PD-R wingsuit flights yet

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[sdctlc 0]

I have used a number of canopies but have had the best luck with the tried and true Sabre (not "2" but the original) I have had 3 of them and currently fly a 135 loaded at about 1.6 As long as the lines are in trim the canopy is awesome and performs well.....

Lots of good options but the Sabre is a great choice..

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[Bones 0]

I use a Spectre 150, loaded @ 1.2 for WS and RW/FS.

[repcool 2]

Storm 170 loaded at 1.1

[VectorBoy 0]

Icarus FX-99

[antonija 0]

Storm 170.

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

[dragon2 0]

Safire 119, spectre 135, these days a pilot 124. I also have a fusion 120 which might be usuable but it is much more twitchy than the pilot. Also did a few wingsuit jumps using a vengeance 135, went ok but not my first choice

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[skyfiend 0]

As above elipticals are not the best, however i use a 119 crossfire.
has very nice slow openings and have not yet had an issue
(i'm sure i will soon though)
its loaded at 1.68
Blues!

[jessesouth 0]

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most often Safire2 139 loaded around 1.4
occasionnaly a PD-143/R loaded about the same.

hahahahahaha! awesome!

Sabre2 150 at 1.74

[aarthus 0]

Pulse 135
used a storm 135, not very happy with it

Patrick de Guillebon

[Wings-n-Things 0]

So it sounds like a Sabre 2 150 with an exit weight of 185 would be a better choice than a Stilleto 150.
I had a 7 cell 220 for 500 jumps and really had my heart set on a 9 cell for the performance.

** No, I don't plan to go from a 220/7 to a 150/9 as soon as I get current. lol. I'll prolly rent a 190 for a little while then buy a used 170 and THEN a completely new rig with a 150 main and 160 reserve. Put 300 jumps or so on the 150 and go to a 135. (As per Germain's recommendations)

Card carrying member of the
Nanny State Liberation Front

[vitriol 0]

Quote

Pulse 135
used a storm 135, not very happy with it

What didn't you like about the storm 135?

[aarthus 0]

after soft and nice openings during the 50 first jumps started being unstable (easily giving a fast 180 deg right or left) just after the end of the opening...weird ! and i am not the only one facing this issue.
I even had a cutaway after a fast spinning...

Patrick de Guillebon

[vitriol 0]

Quote

after soft and nice openings during the 50 first jumps started being unstable (easily giving a fast 180 deg right or left) just after the end of the opening...weird ! and i am not the only one facing this issue.
I even had a cutaway after a fast spinning...

Any one else has the same problem? I'll be jumping my new storm 135 next weekend, and it's the first time I hear about that!

[BlindBrick 0]

Safire 2 loaded just under 1.4

-Blind

"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[mccordia 73]

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Any one else has the same problem? I'll be jumping my new storm 135 next weekend, and it's the first time I hear about that!

Ive got 500+ jumps on a storm 135, and never had anything like that, or even slight off heading opening.

One reserveride due to a shit packjob is all I have to offer. Jumped a spectre before this, and recommend both highly for WS flying. With the storm (for me) scoring a bit better in distance/glide and more fun to fly than the spectre..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[Gadget 0]

Triathlon 150
Nothing is beats combining wingsuit and crw in one jump

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

after soft and nice openings during the 50 first jumps started being unstable (easily giving a fast 180 deg right or left) just after the end of the opening...weird ! and i am not the only one facing this issue.
I even had a cutaway after a fast spinning...

Does it happen to one side more than another or does it randomly turn both ways?
Does this only happen when you pack it or does it do the same thing when a packer packs it?

A couple of things you can do as a process of elimination.

1. Check to see that your lines are within trim specs.
2. Make sure you are not inadvertently pushing part of the nose deeper into the pack job or distorting the pack job during packing. If you aren't doing it already, follow PD's recommendation for packing.
3. Make sure you're tightening you leg straps evenly when you gear up.
4. Make sure you are symmetrical in the harness during pull time and during the deployment sequence. Movement during the deployment and inflation process may be causing the problem. Try doing a normal skydive and deployment paying attention to body position to see if it makes a difference.
5. Try not tucking your riser tuck tabs in all the way. Leave them partially open to see if it makes the issue go away. This would not be the first time an off heading opening could be traced back to a tuck tab sticking or opening later than the other one. Some harness containers have specific instructions on the riser tuck tab(and some don't) that say "place main riser on top of this flap". Failure to do that correctly can cause a tuck tab to lock and or have a delayed/harder time opening that could potentially be causing your issue.

I have been jumping the Storm longer than most and have jumped several different sizes and I cannot say that any of them displayed an overly aggressive turn as you described during deployment. I am not discounting your issue, rather I am saying that what you describe is typically uncharacteristic for the canopy. If you are unable to figure out or correct the issue let me know or contact PD directly and they will determine what the issue is with your canopy. Hope that helps you out.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[lurch 0]

Sabre 1 135 loaded about 1.2-ish. I find Sabre 1 deals with being deployed at a wide range of fallrates much better than any other canopy I've tried and is far more forgiving of dropped shoulders and such than Sabre2's or Pilots or semielliptical whatevers.

Sabre 1 is so perfect for wingsuit that if I could buy one brand new I would. The design may be dated but it is VERY reliable for this use. I've put maybe 1100 jumps on mine and chopped it only once due to bad packjob within the first hundred jumps.

Packed properly a Sabre 1 is so resistant to twists and so forgiving of bad body position on opening that the worst twists I've had in 3 years have been a simple 180 degree- only half a twist... even when I'd badly dropped a shoulder and was expecting a wild ride, I got nothing...it opened straight and true anyway.

-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.