I've now been the proud owner of a VX 79 for about 100 jumps. I'm loading it at 2.4. Where to start? Well, I owned an FX 89 before this. I never would have believed how different the VX is to the FX considering they are from the same "family". The VX is the first canopy i have flown that doesn't feel like a RAM-air canopy. It is so rigid it feels like a fibre-glass wing! I wanted to wait a while before I wrote this so I could attempt a fair and honest review.
Openings : I heard rumours that VXs open pretty shitty. I also heard that FXs open pretty nice. My FX opened shitty so I was not looking forward to this. I wanted to open sub-terminal for my first up high but due to numerous reasons I ended opening at terminal. I was braced for a neck-breaker and....I had THE nicest opening i've ever had on a X-braced canopy!! The reason my FX opened so hard was because it was too small for the bag. Even though it was 10sqft bigger the pack volume was far smaller and being loose was already rather full of air. (In a Jav NJ) The VX being pretty tight in the bag opened beautifully! In general, the canopy doesn't really snivel but starts inflating pretty quickly.(not hard - just positive) DO NOT stuff the nose into the centre of the pack job as this provokes assymetrical inflation. I personally recommend 'flying' the opening using harness weight shifting and I ALWAYS watch the opening. Being able to see a twist coming really decreases the chance of a unrecoverable situation! I actually find this dives off less on opening than a Stiletto if the nose is left out the front otherwise i found it will dive off worse. The VX has the typical 'dancing' during inflation of all X-braced canopies if a little more pronounced.
Flight characteristics : This canopy has an amazing amount of lift for the size. I have managed to just about stay with a tandem which is pretty impressive! The canopy is seriously ground-sick on full-drive but as soon as you put the brakes right on or use rear risers it can slow right up and get back from bad spots. As mentioned by the other guys (reviews) the power in the control range is right at the bottom so deep toggle strokes are necessary. You can feel how rigid the wing is because it takes quite a bit of strength to pull the canopy out of shape(either risers or toggles) compared to other canopies. The canopy dives hard in turns so be very careful spiralling when first jumping this. Learn to fly the canopy at slow speeds because you will be a danger to yourself and others if you are only capable of burning around a busy sky on full drive.
Landing : This is why you should want a VX - for the landings. The recovery arc is huge, obviously very variable on wing-loading. Any non-cross-braced jumpers be WARNED!! Riser turns result in huge amounts of speed and huge amounts of altitude loss! A previous review mentioned that, "no matter how high i hook i always seem to have to give input to pull it out" That's because it was not designed to recover to a flat glide on it's own. You HAVE to give a small amount of input to flatten out at the end of the dive. It will recover to near flat but not completely. The VX is very fickle. If you are not smooth with the toggles then your swoop will really suffer. It took me a while before I was getting my swoops as long as my FX. Directional corrections in the dive should be done using harness weight shift. Using toggles will effect swoop length. The VX shuts down so well considering the wing-loading jumped. As mentioned before the flare power is right at the bottom of the control range so make sure you take it right to the stall point to get the most out of it.
Packing : It packs up big, real big! If you bought one coz you wanted a small rig then you got it for the wrong reason. Even when packing it, the awkward bulk reminds you of why it is the swooping machine that it is. So when you're stuffing it in the bag, covered in sweat it still puts a smile on your face! :o)
The is the best canopy i have ever flown and has pretty much been the reason for me almost giving up freefall! Have the utmost respect for it at ALL times. Mess around and get complacent and it'll let you know...fast. Flown well, it will reward you with THE fastest and longest swoops possible. All in all, the VX is truly THE swooping weapon.
EXTreme-VX
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in Main Canopies
Openings :
I heard rumours that VXs open pretty shitty. I also heard that FXs open pretty nice. My FX opened shitty so I was not looking forward to this. I wanted to open sub-terminal for my first up high but due to numerous reasons I ended opening at terminal. I was braced for a neck-breaker and....I had THE nicest opening i've ever had on a X-braced canopy!! The reason my FX opened so hard was because it was too small for the bag. Even though it was 10sqft bigger the pack volume was far smaller and being loose was already rather full of air. (In a Jav NJ) The VX being pretty tight in the bag opened beautifully!
In general, the canopy doesn't really snivel but starts inflating pretty quickly.(not hard - just positive) DO NOT stuff the nose into the centre of the pack job as this provokes assymetrical inflation. I personally recommend 'flying' the opening using harness weight shifting and I ALWAYS watch the opening. Being able to see a twist coming really decreases the chance of a unrecoverable situation! I actually find this dives off less on opening than a Stiletto if the nose is left out the front otherwise i found it will dive off worse. The VX has the typical 'dancing' during inflation of all X-braced canopies if a little more pronounced.
Flight characteristics :
This canopy has an amazing amount of lift for the size. I have managed to just about stay with a tandem which is pretty impressive! The canopy is seriously ground-sick on full-drive but as soon as you put the brakes right on or use rear risers it can slow right up and get back from bad spots. As mentioned by the other guys (reviews) the power in the control range is right at the bottom so deep toggle strokes are necessary. You can feel how rigid the wing is because it takes quite a bit of strength to pull the canopy out of shape(either risers or toggles) compared to other canopies. The canopy dives hard in turns so be very careful spiralling when first jumping this. Learn to fly the canopy at slow speeds because you will be a danger to yourself and others if you are only capable of burning around a busy sky on full drive.
Landing :
This is why you should want a VX - for the landings. The recovery arc is huge, obviously very variable on wing-loading. Any non-cross-braced jumpers be WARNED!! Riser turns result in huge amounts of speed and huge amounts of altitude loss! A previous review mentioned that, "no matter how high i hook i always seem to have to give input to pull it out" That's because it was not designed to recover to a flat glide on it's own. You HAVE to give a small amount of input to flatten out at the end of the dive. It will recover to near flat but not completely. The VX is very fickle. If you are not smooth with the toggles then your swoop will really suffer. It took me a while before I was getting my swoops as long as my FX. Directional corrections in the dive should be done using harness weight shift. Using toggles will effect swoop length. The VX shuts down so well considering the wing-loading jumped. As mentioned before the flare power is right at the bottom of the control range so make sure you take it right to the stall point to get the most out of it.
Packing :
It packs up big, real big! If you bought one coz you wanted a small rig then you got it for the wrong reason. Even when packing it, the awkward bulk reminds you of why it is the swooping machine that it is. So when you're stuffing it in the bag, covered in sweat it still puts a smile on your face! :o)
The is the best canopy i have ever flown and has pretty much been the reason for me almost giving up freefall! Have the utmost respect for it at ALL times. Mess around and get complacent and it'll let you know...fast. Flown well, it will reward you with THE fastest and longest swoops possible. All in all, the VX is truly THE swooping weapon.