shadeland

They're both fine helmets. I've tried on both, and the G3 fit better for my head. Others have had the opposite. The only real way is to try them both on and see for yourself. In most DZs that don't have a gear shop that can be problematic of course, but hopefully there's people around that won't mind you trying on their helmets.

Written test: http://www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/rigger.asp They make an app for iPhone and I think Android. I found a free PDF from some other outfit, don't use it. Many answers in it are wrong. Save themselves a re-take and use Dauntless and pay the $40 or whatever. Videos from Simon Wade are really, really good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orGGPg6IRW4&list=PLLkpO13Q9imTTQqFZ2iKuQ-9RyUovjHkG

This highlights some of the challenges we have with these types of issues: The inconsistency. I had a crap flare, you had a great flare, on the same size and model of canopy. There's control line length, parachute age, length of risers, length of arms, perhaps there's also inconsistencies in the manufacturing process for the same model and size of canopy, I'm sure there are a few I'm not remembering as well.

That is definitely something I assumed. I did about that many on a Safire 3 129, loaded about 1.4, and it flared like dogshit. But I had assumed it the break lines were correct (or rather, were not a variable).

I started jumping Safires and Pilots early on. I rented Safire 2 169s off of student status, and my first canopy was a Pilot 168. My next canopy was a Pilot 150. And then I got a Pilot 132. I liked the openings on the Pilots, and loved them on the Safire 2s. They also had a really nice glide, where forgiving, and great for long spots. But man, with the exception of the Pilot 132, the flares on them all sucked. Especially when I moved to Crossfire 2s (and now 3s). But I think I've figured the issue out. I've got a working theory: The flare isn't bad, but Safires and Pilots, for whatever reason, are very susceptible to brake line length issues, more so than many other canopies (such as Crossfires and Sabre 2s). The pilot and safire 2s and 3s that I've jumped seem to have a pretty deep spot to get that last bit of shut down. If a brake line is a bit too long, even by an inch or two, you're going to miss that key bit of flare. The flare on the Crossfire seems to be strong even at 3/4 of a flare, so even if the lines are a bit too long, there's still enough tail deflection/AOA change/drag to get the job done. I've been taking wraps (usually about 500 feet, too long to cutaway) on my Pilot 150, and I've been able to get that strong flare point out of it. I've not tried it with Safires, but I imagine it's the same. I've tried stalling up high, and it takes 2/3 wraps to get my 150 to stall, so I know I won't stall it 10 feet above the ground. There may be other canopies with a reputation for weak flares, but that's something in particular I've noted with Pilots and Safire 2/3s. Thoughts?

I've been on the newer 747s that Lufthansa flies, and they're beautiful, quiet, luxurious aircraft. Sadly, I've also flown a lot on the United 747s. They're much older (15 years around), and United was deferring a lot of non-essential (i.e., interior, not saying they were deferring safety related repairs) and it showed. They were like flying in custom vans from the 80s. Even the Polaris Business upgraded cabin re-used old worn out remotes (which were really gross). The flight crews for the 747 United flights were great, though. Always helpful, and treated their 1Ks great. But I'm not sad to see that particular fleet of planes go.

I have a lot of jumps on various Pilots. I've got 20 or so jumps on Safire 2s (loaded lightly, about 1.1) and about 5-10 jumps on a Safire 3 129, loaded about 1.4. Safires and Pilots have had relatively week flares for me, until I jumped a Pilot 132 (about 1.4). It flares great. However, that might be mostly brake line length. My pilot 150 (1.25 WL) I've managed to get a much better flare by gripping the lines just above the toggles. I generally like the way the Pilot flies better than the Safire 3. My Pilot 132 felt more responsive than the Safire 3 129, despite being about the same WL. The flare on the SF3 129 sucked, but that's probably a brake line issue. Responsiveness could be a brake line length issue as well. The Safire 3 129 felt "boring". The Pilot 132 felt a bit sporty, though not as sporty as my Crossfires. They're both pretty shallow trimmed, so they'll get you back from long spots. That's my opinion.

Another update: In full flight, there's no deflection. Deflection comes at about about I'd say 3 inches, though I'll have to look at my video to see what the exact value is. I did a bunch of jumps this weekend on it, with winds from LV to 5 MPH. I didn't wrap the lines, but I did grab the lines just above the toggle, with the toggle just at the heel of my hand. I figure that shortened my brake lines by about 2 inches. There's definitely a more powerful stroke right at the bottom of it, and it didn't stall out. It feels like I might have another inch to go to get the same flare as my 132. I'll try it up high in case it stalls. I'm learning towards my brake lines are too long. Now to determine how much they need to be shortened.

I recently flew a Safire 3 129 at about 1.4 WL and it flared like dogshit. The brake lines could have been too long, however.

I would have thought so, but when I jumped a Pilot 132 (1.4WL) the flare was amazing. Also, the Crossfire, with its awesome flare, isn't a steeply trimmed canopy (medium shallow?)

Update: This past weekend was a busy weekend and I didn't get to look at the brake settings much. However I did put two jumps on it (my other jumps were on my Crossfire 3 109). The winds were pretty good (10 MPH) which makes weak flares seem like good flares. The skies were busy so I didn't spend much time looking up, but I did notice that I had deflection pretty much at 1 or 2 inches of toggle. This weekend I'll try to get some more time in, possibly a high pull.

I've got a Crossfire 2 129 (WL 1.4) that I've put about 500 jumps on and I've got a Crossfire 3 109 (WL 1.7) that I've put about 20 or so jumps on. There's zero crispiness in the Crossfire 2 129, from both age and being a desert canopy for a while, so that's a difference there. Openings: Nothing I've ever jumped opens as nice and as consistent as a Crossfire 2 or 3. They're comfortable and the deceleration is nice and smooth through the entire cycle. The openings are also consistent in terms of comfort: I've yet to be wacked by a Crossfire. They're easy to pack: Nothing special needs to be done. Flare: They have a really strong flare. Even on a straight-in approach, no additional speed, it's rare that I do anything but easily stand up a landing. Both the 2 and 3 have phenomenal flare. Crossfire 2 versus 3: Someone noted that the recovery arc is longer. I would have disagreed initially, as the first few jumps it felt pretty much the same. However this past weekend I did a turn a little lower and the ground came up pretty fast. I flattened the turn and still landed straight and level, but I probable went wings level at 20 feet. It's not hugely longer, but it does want to stay in the turn more than the Crossfire 2. That could be the WL change, but it seems consistent with other reviews. (I don't swoop, my turns are typically toggle 90s). I'd say the openings on the 3 are a bit snappier than the 2, but still well staged with a smooth consistent deceleration. If you're worried about your neck/back, it's hard to beat a Crossfire 2/3 I think.

I've had a Pilot 168, and I currently have a Pilot 150 and 132. The openings are about medium (not super hard, but not super soft) but consistent. They're pretty trouble free and forgiving of bad body position. I've spun up my 150 real bad and it flew straight. I spun up my 132 once and it turned a bit, but I was able to kick out without any trouble. They're shallow trimmed, so they get back from really long spots easily. They're great for bigways. My problem is the flare. The flare on my old 168 (1.1) and my 150 (1.25) had a pretty lousy flare. I've probably got about 200-300 jumps on those two. If it was a no-wind day, I'm almost always sliding in. During the night record last year, I used my Pilot 150 since it was my biggest canopy, but I kept slamming into the hard Arizona desert. I started jumping a Crossfire 2 129 (put about 500 jumps on that) a while ago in my main rig, and the flare was night and day compared to the Pilot. The Crossfire flare is strong. Very strong. I recently downsized to a Crossfire 3 109 and the flare on that is also phenomenal. I also have a Pilot 132 (1.4), and the flare on that is... phenomenal. Maybe not quite as good as my Crossfires, but it's still really, really good. Plenty of stopping power, and plenty of room at the bottom end. It was like flying a completely different canopy. My question to you all, who have Pilots (the 9-cell variety, though chime in if you have a 7-cell) at various wing loadings: What's your wing loading, and how would you describe the flare? A couple of friends of mine have noticed the same: At about 1.4, the flare gets awesome. But I don't have a large enough data set to rule out line trims (my brake lines might be too long), canopy age, and/or differences in canopy production runs. And of course, there's pilot error. So what say you?

I noticed a big change in Aerodyne's page today. There are new Icons (Icon A, Icon V, Icon) with some new designs and all can take a Skyhook (it used to be Icon Pro and Icon Sport, the later couldn't have a Skyhook). They trimmed their canopy line too (see what I did there?) I don't see the Mamba or Sensei any more (I guess they stopped selling them a while ago?). I'd be interested in hearing reviews of the new Icons. Anyone jump one?

It looks like a Valkyrie and a Crossfire 2 had a baby.

It felt pretty flat, but I'm used to pilots and crossfires, the pilot being really flat and the crossfire also being on the flat side. As such I don't notice a difference in that regard. Given that it turned more aggressively on a given toggle input I was surprised how weak the flare felt. It may be partly where the sweet spot is (Aerodynes tend to be deeper from my experience) and I just didn't have a chance to dial it in. But my impression is that it was weaker than the crossfire. Better than a pilot, but not much.

I'll throw my observations in because, why not. I did 2-3 jumps on a Zulu 122 at Zhills over Near Years. My daily driver is a Crossfire 2 129, and my other rig has a Pilot 150 in it. Wing loading on the Zulu 122 was about 1.55, 1.45 on my Crossfire 2. Without many jumps, I've only got a few quick impressions: Openings: They're brisk compared to my Crossfire, but anything is brisk compared to Crossfire openings. It's very comparable to my Pilot 150. It's not hard, but not soft. About in between. Certainly not uncomfortable. Despite being only slightly smaller than my 129, it seemed far more sensitive to hip inputs. It was "twitcher" which caught me by surprise. The risers on the loaner were longer than I'm used to, so I had to stretch to get the slider. That put me into a turn that doesn't happen on my Crossfire. I'm not saying it's bad, it just surprised me. I didn't have to move the toggles nearly as much on the Zulu to get it to turn. To my shoulders would put me into a turn that was as steep as pulling to my belly button on my Crossfire it seemed. So while the turns were more aggressive, it seemed to pull out of them quicker than my Crossfire. The flare surprised me. It wasn't as strong as the Crossfire. It felt a lot like my Pilot (sweet spot is lower, and it's a mushier flare). The ground kept coming on my flare so wacked down and slide in on my first jump. Not my best landing. I was expecting it next time, but I really had to extend my arms to wrench every drop of flair.

I've had two crap out of on me. My first one crapped out on an AFF pre course. I mailed it back but had to buy another one to use in the meantime because it takes about 4 weeks to get the replacement. Then the new one I bought crapped out and I sent that back. I had to send a reminder email before I got the replacement. I think that was about 6 weeks for replacement. I like them, but you'll probably want to have two.

I had a master rigger put tuck tabs on all my hackeys. I much prefer hackeys for deployment, but I really like having the tuck tab there.

Perris has the equipment (including a pool) and you can probably arrange something with the school. All you need is a pool, instructor (such as an AFF-I, not sure if coach counts), and a rig. And Perris has them. A few years ago they did it for a group of us in January. Be warned, that pool is really, really cold this time of year. However, if maple syrup runs in your veins, however, you may find it balmy.

You have to know how to teach, and you have to know how to fly. My day job is an instructor for other skills, so I had a leg up on that. As far as flying, I spent a lot of time at Perris doing big way camps (Mark and Darryld 40-ish ways) and other big way camps. Especially at Perris, they do a fantastic job of putting you outside of your skillset and debrief you on how you can get better. A little bit of tunnel here and there didn't hurt. I then took a pre-course down in Texas. They run you through the ringer and really show you where your weaknesses are. In big way camps, they spend a lot of time talking about "dressing for success". That's especially true for AFF-I. If your student is bigger than you, wear lead. If they're smaller than you, wear something floaty. My evaluator was bigger than me, and while I could fly up to them on their back, the moment I reached out to roll them I shot up like a rocket. The more you have to work to match a fall rate, the less you have to to work with when you need to fly fancy.

I'm not a lawyer, but a lawyer once relayed this piece of sage advice to me: There's a misconception that an LLC will prevent you from getting sued. In the US, at least, you can get sued for just about any reason. Just because you have an LLC doesn't mean they'll sue just the LLC. They'll sue whoever has the assets, and try to get past the LLC. The LLC/corp can help protect assets, but it's not guaranteed. It certainly won't prevent you from getting served.

Here's how the Sabre 1 problem was explained to me (by a rigger, but I am not any kind of rigger): The problem was the slider. It had the requisite surface area, but it was too long/narrow. As a result, infrequently (and I think it had something to do with wingloading and parachute size) the slider would "flag" into the wind. Instead of presenting a large surface area to the relative wind slowing down the opening, it would show its side and open like there was no slider (or its effect is greatly reduce), or packed with the slider down or collapsed. That type of opening is, of course, violently hard. This has caused broken necks and other injuries. Packing tricks that help slow an opening aren't going to do any good if the slider doesn't do its job, so the idea of "packing it right" doesn't sit well with me. The fix (as explained to me) is to fix the slider (consult your rigger of course). I jumped a borrowed Sabre 1 150 that the rigger put a slider from a Pilot 210 and it opened beautifully.

Yup, mine is one the list. And with an Icon, that means that rig is offline. Greatttt.

I've done about 8 night jumps so far, and here's what I've learned: Chem lights are nearly worthless under canopy. They're difficult to see, and by the time you see them you're probably dangerously close. They're marginally good under freefall. Strobes are not actually required per the FAR (in the US at least), and I'm not a big fan of them as the only light. They're better than chemlights, but if you jump an area with a lot of antennas, it can be difficult to discern them from stationary strobes. Also you have to keep your eye on the strobe source for a second or two to track it's actual direction, distracting you from other areas of the sky. The real requirement is: "the person or object descending from the aircraft displays a light that is visible for at least 3 statute miles." So it doesn't have to be a strobe, just visible for 3 statue miles. What I've found works the best is LED lights. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Brightz-Ltd-Cosmic-Bicycle-Light/dp/B00WN3NHVQ/ You can wrap it around your leg pretty easily, and you'll be easy to spot under canopy as well as in freefall. Make sure to turn it on just before you set up at the door, as it's a little bright. They're like $10-20, and will make sure you're seen. If you want to have fun, the EL wire or EL tape is also pretty fun (TRON lights). Another thing is to tape a regular flashlight to the back of your helmet, shining it up. That will illuminate your canopy (when you're looking ahead). This also helps increase your visibility under canopy.