Pobrause

cmulli4

***Probably would go with the xfire by icarus spain on this one, pretty much the only canopy at this time with the schumann platform without x-bracing think if makes it more efficient/faster than some of the older designes.

Spain? You do know their tech comes from NZ, right.


Nope. The two companies parted ways a while ago and the S-Fire and X-Fire canopies are their own babies.

isurfne

The gangster packs a LOT bigger than the size that it is. Its 6% cross braced. To be on the safe side, plan for it to pack the same size as a velo or JFX. The attached photo is a photo of my demo OG-135 packed into a 135 Jav 2 stow bag. as you can tell.. it doesnt really fit. If your container is maxed out with a standard wing, dont even think about packing the same size OG in it.

The gangster packs exactly as big as any new wing would with partly xbraced internals. Nothing new about them adding to the pack volume since the Excalibur.
Please make informed decisions, not vague guesses.

Another anecdotal experience:
3 grommets, Semistowless DBag, large rubbers, Double wrapping, lines are HMAs 400

I need to replace one rubberband in about 20-30 jumps

chuckakers

*********I feel like there isn't a "learn to swoop canopy"

The Sabre2 is a very common recommendation for that job.

So people are expected to go from a Saber2 to a crossbrace?

As I mentioned, Stiletto.


First I thought you were trolling but you seem to be serious about your Stiletto swoops... other than extremely low hooks and toggle monkeying combined with an instant recovery, what exactly do you think makes a stiletto a reasonable canopy choice for a pilot trying to get into HP- landings?

tripp9r

I thought skyhelmets wen out of Business

Skysystems, Not Skyhelmets

chuckakers

Americans are not covered under the government sponsored healthcare system there and can be denied treatment without proof of 100% coverage.

Not exactly true. No necessary and/ or life preserving treatment is going to be denied, ever. If you’re not insured you will receive a bill, same as in the US.

I for one have a few „real“ expectations for an upcoming G4:

Redesign of the closing mechanism so it stays shut even at higher speeds. My properly adjusted G3 visor with new rubber bands keeps popping open during Speed skydives, faster than normal traces ect.
Part of it might be the cheap shell, that deforms very easily

Better ventilation/ air channeling around the mouth area so it doesn‘t fog up all the time during the colder seasons. Maybe better anti fog coating as well

Better integrated dytter holder.

Thicker foam with more adjustment possibilities like on some bonehead helmets. If this comes with more impact protection even better.

Better quality foam, that doesn‘t make the helmet a whole size bigger after a few month of use.

And maybe, just maybe a more realistic pricing policy. Here in Germany we pay close to 400€ for those leaky cold punch buckets, ~$480

You‘re the first person I’ve ever met that complains about his HP- canopy because it swoops too far. *chuckle*

On a more serious note: you can shorten and lengthen the required landing space with the proper techniques by miles. With a new canopy over your head you might be due for a canopy controll course anyway.

Openings on the x-fire are certainly more demanding although the videos I’ seen so far from early bird buyers don’t make them seem complicated to deal with at all.
Relax, feel the canopy with your butt, don’t look, don’t grab, hands loosely on the lower inside of your risers and watch the horizon. Easier said than done but, if you just start to care A LITTLE about your openings, definitely manageable.
It actually doesn’t really matter if you’re in a track or not as long as you lay flat on the wind, not flat relative to the earth. You definitely should be symmetrical in you body axes to load your risers up evenly when you’re stood up during the snivel but that is something one learns somewhere between jump one and twentyfive so I assume you’ve got that down by now

Openings are an active part of canopy flight, not a passive one. Act like the canopy you own. You sound like you adopted a few unhealthy habits under your Crossfire2. If you don’t get rid of them they will lead to problems on any of the available HP-canopies that are further down your path, xbraced or not.

Whether or not your packing is relevant or responsible for the twists is dependent on the time, the twist occurs during the opening. If it comes out twisted then yes, if it occurs sometime during the snivel, then no.
Line length is dependent on the particular airfoil design. Longer lines on smaller canopies mostly mean a longer recovery, though. For more specific answers you might want to contact Icarus World directly.

Canopy choice for a particular jump depends on the circumstances.
If I get out my Velo, Petra or Spectre depends on the anticipated landing area. But I can sure you that wherever you managed to land with your CF2 you will be easily able to land your x-fire, IF you learn your new wing properly...

Speeds that high (expert setting) so close to the ground would definitely make me question my decision to stay within the AC.

What I was refering to as "DZ.com nonsense" was the unspecific, generic answer to a rather precise question. Especially the different student settings, wingsuitmode or the intermediate of the M2 aren't that hard to reach in a descending plane and should be well known at least by the people jumping them/monitoring them (teachers)
I hope, it didn't come across as an insult.

typical dz.com nonsense ... *claps*

below is a list of some of the most common AADs in use today, all statements without guarantee, see links for user manuals

to avoid accidental firing stay well below those speeds/ go and RTFM yourself
ETA: activation altitudes may be permanently altered (see gowlerks answer), set to fire higher by the user, all stated data are referring to default settings

CYPRES AADs

Expert Cypres : ca. 35 m/s at 225m AGL

Tandem Cypres: ca.35 m/s at ca. 580 m AGL

Student Cypres: between 13m/s and 35m/s at 300m AGL, > 35m/s at 225m AGL, if it detects an open and flying canopy between 800m and 300m (>3m/s
Speed Cypres: 46m/s at 225m AGL

Wingsuit Cypres: freefall mode 20m/s at 225m AGL/ Canopy mode same as Expert or Speed

VIGIL AADs

for Vigil copied from the manual

3.3.1. “PRO” Mode
The Vigil® Cuatro activates in “PRO” mode when it measures* 1100 ft (335 meters) (average altitude** between 840 ft and 1100 ft,
depending on body position) and below, until 150 ft (46 meters), if the freefall speed is equal or superior to 115 ft/sec. (78 mph or 35 meters/sec).
The Vigil® Cuatro activates in “STUDENT” Mode when it measures* 1300 ft (396 meters) (average altitude** between 1040 ft and 1300 ft,
depending on body position) and below, until 150 ft (46 meters), if the freefall speed is equal or superior to 65 ft/sec. (45 mph or 20 meters/sec).
The Vigil® Cuatro activates in “TANDEM” Mode when it measures* 2300 ft (701 meters) (average altitude** between 2040 ft and 2300 ft,
depending on body position) and below, until 150 ft (46 meters), if the freefall speed is equal or superior to 115 ft/sec. (78 mph or 35 meters/sec).
The Vigil® Cuatro activates in “XTREME” Mode when it measures* 1100 ft (335 meters) (average altitude** between 840 ft and 1100 ft,
depending on body position) and below, until 300 ft (91 meters), if the freefall speed is equal or superior to 141 ft/sec (96 mph or 43 meters/sec).

VIGIL 1

PRO
MODE
The Vigil releases at
840 Ft. (256 meters) and below
if the freefall speed is equal or superior to
35 m/sec. (78 mph)


STUDENT
MODE
The Vigil releases at
1040 Ft. (317 meters) and below
if the freefall speed is equal or superior to
20 m/sec. (45 mph)


TANDEM
MODE
The Vigil releases at
2040 Ft. (622 meters) and below
if the freefall speed is equal or superior to
35 m/sec. (78 mph)

Some variations between the versions 1, 2, 2+ ect, but the activations speeds are more or less the same


MARS M2 AAD

Student Mode: approx. 330m / 1 100ft and fall rate is higher than approx. 13m.s-1 / 29mph.

Intermediate: approx. 330m / 1 100ft and fall rate is higher than approx. 20m.s-1 / 45mph.

Professional: approx. 270m / 885ft and fall rate is higher than approx. 35m.s-1 / 78mph.

Canopy Piloting: approx. 270m / 885ft and fall rate is higher than approx. 45m.s-1 / 101mph

Tandem: approx. 610m / 2 000ft and fall rate is higher than approx. 35m.s-1 / 78mph


http://www.m2aad.com/download-en/user-manuals-m2-multi
https://www.cypres.aero/documents/manuals/
http://www.vigil.aero/manuals

Germany/ 1 year cycle

Within a good hours drive there‘s skydive colibri in Thalmässing.
Porter DZ with a lot of tandems, but funjumpers are very welcome.

2h away is skydive Klatovy in the czech republic with the Pink Skyvans. LOTs of traffic of all kinds during the season, swoop pond, trailers and hotellike accommodations.
This would be my choice if I were you and driving isn‘t an issue.

All the supervan dzs in Bavaria are locates more in the west with 2.5h plus drives but still might be interesting for you. Paranodon Illertissen, Skydive Saulgau both have a large funjumper community and are welcoming places

topdocker

https://youtu.be/hg5EoCDwhnk



top

Fixed the link, you just underlined it

As Austro Control is regulated by/ a national Department of EASA it IS tso‘d under EASA and therefore tso‘d under TSO c-23 f in any sense of the word and SIFE confirmed this to me.

At least that‘s my understanding of a conversation with the manufacturer. Attached one of their replies in german, can‘t find the mail where Diana mentioned the EASA part atm.

JohnMitchell

***But the loads turn faster, so it isn't pointless.

For the type of flying jump planes do, climbing at best rate-of-climb speed, I thought that the additional weight of the retractable gear mechanism would outweigh the advantages of reduced drag, or be a wash at best. Adding the complication of retractable gear to an up-and-down operation like a jump center does, plus the increase (I would imagine) in insurance rates would further tip the scales in favor of fixed gear.

But I could be wrong.

BTW, do the RG models also have larger engines or more power?

They run RGs in Klatovy, Czechia, Europe and when I asked one of their pilots he said the RG-system only adds about 26 pounds.

No real secret about it, really. Slide down on your rears and lean forward.
Completely opening up your chest strap and a belly band to lean on is a must.

Stretching one's shoulders helps.

FT30, Airwolf, HKT... I need demos in Europe!!!
Wouldn't you like you have a representative over here anyways? ;)
I hereby submit my application.

Because you could get a nicely opening, strong flaring and overall rather reliable, sporty canopy for less then $500, slidermod included and often with only a few hundred jumps. The aerodynamical developments of recent designs in the same class as the Sabre are minor and most people are not taking advantage of them anyways.
There are many good reasons to stick with a Sabre.

When I first started swooping I had problems with slippery gloves on rears as well.
Somebody suggested to not try to grab and pull on those rear risers but rather push them aside. Arms up ALL the way, lean forward during the recovery and the required input magically happens. Non sticky gloves will help you to slide down on the rears if you want to get horizontal like the cool guys someday in the future as well

The change in technique might feel strange at first but is so mutch more natural once you get used to it.

have fun playing around and stay safe

At my home DZ the packers won't touch a rig where the brakes aren't set already, pilot chute decocked and slider prepared.
Even during team training with tripples and quadruples there is plenty of time to take care of this and it teaches the jumpers to set the brakes right after landing, picking the shit up correctly ect. A practice that has worked well and stopped a whole lot of idiots complaining about brake fires and other stuff.
Most packers aren't house elfes like Dobby, tread them with respect and they may return the favor with soft snivels.

If you leave your rig twisted and unprepared, brakes dangling and knotted, don't expect good service in return.

Surely also depends on bridle design, e.g I found the hidden killline types (UPT-style and new Sunpath style) to be more susceptible to burn marks. But the POD stopper at the bridle is most often the first part the kill line eats through.

And destroys the bridle about half way through the pilotchutes life because of the much higher friction coefficiant of Vectran compared to Spectra.

a couple of manufacturers used or are still using HMA or Vectran for their killlines. Guess what needs repair every other repack on those rigs...

I really don't think a more heat resistant line fibre is the solution here. For those, that aren't jumping in desert conditions siliconising the killline can do wonders. Did it once early on on my then new rig, made around 900 jumps on it so far and haven't had to lenghten it and don't expect having to do it until I get a new PC, probably in another 500 jumps or so (Jav Odyssey)

I think you're leaving out a few peeps in this poll that where fortunate enough to start before they turned 18.
At my Dz for example there are two guys that started when they where 14 and one that made his first tandem jump at the age of 9.

evh

***....Setup I'm looking at if I come back from a car accident:
2x Sony X3000 with Hypeye Alphas.

I have / had 1 Hypeye on one of my X3000's. It stopped working after just a couple of jumps, in one case it showed a red light while nothing was recorded.... during a competition.... thanks to the backup I still had video to show to the judges. I think the micro usb connector is way too flimsy.

+1

The connector is a loosely glued together, 3D printed, cheap and underbuild POS.
Hopefully I find aftermarket sollutions to repair mine as it it about to break as well...

birdynamnam

***it really is terrible how many wingsuiters are dying with no pulls and flatspins from upsizing so rapidly.

Eh? Am I missing something, what are you talking about and where is that documented?

Sarcasm ;)