Alexg3265

I agree with all of the aforementioned. Even though technically you can safely fly cross braced wings at lighter loadings, it is entirely pointless based on what you are describing you want. Sure, the cool factor... but no. Generally, the crossbraced parachutes, size to size, will feel and fly "larger" and feel more sluggish than a non crossbraced at the same size. Going from a katana 120 to a velo 120 felt like I upsized to a 150. Settled on a 103 as a good step from the katana 120. The extra speed and snappiness come from the fact they are generally much higher loaded on smaller canopies. There were a few HUGE red flags that tell me you are not ready for either. Wing Loading excludes the gangster and katana outright. You mention you don't understand the difference of diff types of lines. This is normal to be confused, but at 500 jumps and considering these canopies, that's a huge red flag. Third, you emphasize loops and spins. The two parachutes you mentioned are not going to give you enough time in the air with the steepness to really get the time to "play around with loops and spins" do 2 360's on a katana and boom, there's 1000ft (guessing based on your wingloading and turn speed). These are not made to "whip around". They are purpose built to go fast, go down and then swoop. I know quite a bit about the gangster and from what you are describing, this is not what you are looking for. It likes to be loaded at 1.5-2.5... This is important as it is designed to be flown effectively at that range. Personally, I thought they really lit up at 2.3-2.6. Try the katana if your coach thinks it's a good idea but it sure sounds like a stiletto or crossfire is more up your alley. The katana has light front riser pressure and dives very well. It can really get you into trouble though quick. You will find yourself fighting on long spots as well. Do some research and speak with some knowledgeable jumpers you look up to and get their opinions.

What kind of deployment bag? Could be a number of issues... With "way too large" of a pilot chute you can get a nice hard kick at line stretch but the parachute should open reasonably well after the initial kick, unless the pc is causing slider rebound. Another thing here if you are consistently head low upon deployment, it leads to more of a whip on opening combined with you having to rotate further and potentially unloading the lines for a split second which can (not likely) but can cause hard openings. Try rotating up so you have less rotation before sitting up in the harness. We need more info...

I have built jumpsuits, swoop shorts, dbags, pilot chutes, risers, wingsuits, and hundreds of parachutes... new designs/prototypes/and reverse engineered copies.... this is my opinion: Most of the work is in [reverse] engineering it... You will spend more time and money doing this than just buying a new properly build one. when you buy a new suit, youre paying for the peace of mind in knowing its right and will do what its supposed to. Large manufacturers buy materials in bulk and youre going to spend 2-5x as much for the same materials... if you can source them...(hardest part in my opinion) once you have the templates, its much quicker... and then theres the legality of it. nobody can stop you from making your own copies, but as soon as something is sold or exchanged as a service, it starts becoming questionable... and i wouldnt fuck with it..... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Tiny shit can make a parachute turn. I'd vote at this point to while youre flying it next time,preferably on a high pull or hop and pop, take the c-d line group one in from the outside on the opposite side of the turn and pull on just that group slowly until it flys straight and note the distance that takes... could be a little or a lot. One thing i can tell you is dont start messing with the end cell lines. Those control your slider stops and will seriously fuck with openings. So start one in from the end and start pulling on stuff till it flys straight...tie knots first!!! dont just start having someone chop off lengths of line till youve jumped it like that a few times.... my 2 cents... good luck I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Less parts, less stuff to fail, dirtier airfoil means more drag(more ballooning/less ribs) which translates roughly to stability... a square 5 cell at 1-1 ratio would open amazingly on heading and be super reliable until it comes to producing the lift to land. the 2:1 A/r 7 cell seems to be the best middle of the road right now as far as pack volume/ acceptable landing performance/ and reliability. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Your're much more likely to spin yourself up into line twists than "barrel roll" a lightly loaded parachute... That being said, 1.1 on a 220 is going to be close to the impossible side and 1.1 on a 107 is no problem and just about technique. My point is its not loading alone that will determine it, so how about a little more info? The wing type will play a huge part in its ability to roll, which is usually most efficient in an already accellerated state after leveling the wing to level flight or whatever plane and applying opposite harness and riser to wash the wing out and snap it around without initiating a coordinated turn. If this doesnt make sense, dont worry it will eventually. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

We're working on it and have been sending some demos over with sponsored athletes to some locations in europe... Up till now its been the shipping and customs keeping us from expanding into europe as far as demos go.... Expect to see some in the nearish future... You guys need to set up a demo program in Europe. I'd happily try one this summer if you did . The lack of demo program in Europe is also the reason why I am flying an X-Fire now instead of a Tesla. I could try the X-Fire before buying, but I couldn't try the Tesla. BTW: How does the Gangster compare to the Tesla for swooping? How do their recovery arcs compare? I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

ask them the expected life of a peregrine.... If theyll even answer that. Youll start noticing lighter tones around the folds and eventually flaking off of the coating... at which point its comparable to f111 porosity and stiffness wise. This is all assuming that its the same single side PU-coated Sail they've been using.. Keep an eye on it and see and let us know.... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Try a gangster I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

The sail will degrade past the rigidity of zp and almost to the softness of f111. so it will settle out and perform worse after the first 500 jumps. This has been my experience with sail. The best way to store sail wings would be like a paraglider. Lay it out on its top skin, and accordion fold the tips into the center and repeat on the other side until its the width of the center cell. then gently fold/roll from the tail. I prefer clear rubbermaid bins. far superior to garbage bags... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Once you fly something crossbraced you will understand. At some point you will find yourself deep in the corner and how quickly you can assess you fucked up and fix it will determine the outcome. A velo or any other cross braced wing will dig out faster and harder than a katana ever could. As soon as i got off my katana and onto a velo, it all made sense. I felt safer and more in control. It behaved and flew like a katana but had more power and the ability to dig if you need it where the katana just didnt. That being said, I loved my katana. In a pinch it will not dig you out as well as other stuff will. If you accept that then, fuck it, jump it. Katanas dont kill people, people kill themselves. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

as parachute performance increases, so does its sensitivity to symmetry on opening. A minor annoyance on something more docile becomes quickly a violent malfunction when you get to smaller and faster wings. I have almost a ritual when i open high performance stuff and actively pay attention to orientation and my loading on the entire system through deployment and during inflation and am ready to give inputs if needed (not recommended)... if you have to think about what you're seeing develop and what you should do to help/stop/counteract, then it's too late.... but over time this will become second nature... and youll react and keep it on heading without consciously doing so. You need to give your openings and canopy flight the same attention you do to body awareness you do when you're really trying to hit your slot in freefall... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

You can actively steer the opening if you wish and is far more forgiving to accidental large inputs but it opens beautifully and mostly on heading hands off in my personal experience... I have about 50 jumps on various sizes from the 90 @2.8 to the 135 at 1.9ish and had similar results on all... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

You must be thinking of the tesla.... The nexus has inflatable stabilizers but are laid out the same as any other traditional parachute. The tesla is extremely harness sensitive and can be flown entirely with harness till you have to flare. The nexus cannot really... it has some harness sensitivity but you need to get up into the 1.7 and up to be able to really do much with harness. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Yes, its a step below the helix. Its steeper than the helix, less harness sensitive and the openings require less attention. Its supposed to fill in the first crossbraced type market. Some sizes are finalized already and were working on filling in the other sizes and finalizing those and we'll have a release date soon! I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Nobody is arguing that.... Were ONLY talking about degradation of the rib sail material. the bottom and upper skins and i believe the cross braces are all the same as everything else ZP... Their fabric suppliers have changed and have provided updated newer materials that may or may not be better... Feel a new pd parachute and one from early 2000's and feel the fabric side by side. Its definitely different... but thats not the discussion at hand. The sail fabric they use and everyone else for that matter, breaks down faster than zp. It will settle out to be less dimensionally stable than zp but will outperform while new.... thats it. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Hi, Short answer - yes. Long answer - pulling on fronts increases your wing's angle of attack, decreasing the resistance to collapses (wings collapse from a sudden increase in angle of attack). However, pulling on fronts eventually increases airspeed which produces more lift and internal pressurization making depressurization more difficult. So it's nuanced. Here is a short document about dealing with turbulence under ram air canopies written by some Germans. https://www.dhv.de/web/fileadmin/user_upload/monatsordner/2004-06/Ausbildung/activ_flying_english_text.pdf Fronts decrease* the angle of attack, rears increase it. I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Fluid Wings is working on The Gangster... To fill the first crossbraced wing type class (velo/jfx/ect)... very very promising... Teasers and Release Dates coming soon! I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Daddy likes.... very much so.... I might be a little partial so take it with a grain of salt but yeah.... Compared to the helix, the openings require a little less concentration, since harness response is reduced, slightly quicker inflation, which i like. In flight, like i said its less responsive in harness than the helix which does give it less of that connected feeling but it flies like its on rails, where the helix feels like its just begging to roll. The rollout is the biggest difference... its far far easier to keep in a dive, even with a sloppy turn. The helix has to be dead on, whereas this you can kind of huck it, let it ride and still be on the deck with plenty of speed. I can give you all anecdotal testimony all day but its all abstract and pretty meaningless.... you just gotta try one and see for yourself... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

https://youtu.be/v569hpZwrmg quick mash up of opening, some flight and first two landings on an airwolf 90 @ 2.7 loading.... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

agree 100%. have my own loft and multiple machines at home... Pretty much refuse repacks except for a select few people.... honestly not worth the time or effort and i hate it... When i was busy doing repacks, id always invite them and get maybe 1 in 10 that actually have the interest... but repairs and custom fabrication and whatnot, hell yeah. I do more custom manufacturing/ mods and repairs now.... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Not exactly... the most stable configuration of most modern skydiving wings is a slow turn to keep airspeed up while maintaining small input and tension on the rears... it keeps the angle of attack up and should you tuck a tip, it aids in speedy reinflation. Brakes can have the opposite effect and move the center of lift back which can make tucks more likley. The transition from brakes to fronts is the most susceptible time to collapse... you have low airspeed and then greatly decreasing your angle of attack while the wing is slightly depressurized... If its that bumpy that youre worried about it, you shouldnt be jumping, but that being said, if you find yourself in bumpy conditions, rears and maintaining airspeed is your friend. Full flight is good due to the airspeed thing, but not the MOST stable... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

your helmet in skydiving is not there to prevent head injuries... its there to keep yourself from smacking your head on the door and a mount for your badass go pros.... pretty much it... any collision that a dot approved helmet could help at all will generally be pretty brutal and helmet protection will be the least of your worries.... Wind drag, and weight specifically hard opening wise are other points.... I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

the rubber bands we use for packing are rated at 40lbs I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

Most competition wings are closer to 4k.... which over a parachutes lifespan, lets say a normal zp parachute may cost on average 1$ a jump if treated well and a competition swoop machine will cost 10$ or more per jump based on initial cost, relines, ect divided by expected number of jumps. Nobody goes and buys an F1 car and complains about the price or having to rebuild the engine every race.... You a buying a very specific specialized machine for a very specific purpose.. To squeeze every last ounce of performance out of it, to hell with the cost. The HK, Petra, and Peregrine are that. They are not made to be an every day fun jumping kind of recreational wing. They are finely tuned high maintenance machines... Hence why we made the HKT, which is almost the same wing as the HK, but made with more durable and longer lasting materials, at the expense of performance... Oh and some manufacturers will sometimes take them in trade in and give some credit. Once they are worn out, they are done and should be retired I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...