tbrown

The gear store where I jumped has a rule that they would let you jump a smaller size with same number of cells (seven in your case) OR a nine cell in the same size, but not both all at once. 800+ jumps is nice, but cross braced is a different animal. Do not attempt them without some serious coaching. You sound like you're interested in nine cells, so aside from Sabre 2 (a fine canopy), check out the Pilot and Safire 2 as well, they're all in a comparable class.

Hey thanks. The first reply was incomplete for some reason. The second reply, while clear as mud appears to explain things. I'd only heard that something had happened and never saw an explanation anywhere. I've always held Icarus canopies in the highest esteem, even if I was jumping a Pilot.

And ?

I've been out of circulation for a few years and have a question about what's happened with NZ Aerosports. Their canopies have always been great of course. My question has to do with an apparent split or divorce in the company and I can't seem to find the story anywhere. It looks like NZ Aerosports has rebranded themselves as Jyro, while an Icarus Canopies company is now operating in Spain. Their canopies look to be same or similar, with names like Safire 3 / Sfire 3 and Crossfire 3 / Xfire 3. They both appear to be doing well, which is good. Anybody out there know the story about what happened and why ?

I've read that Precision's FX canopy was a licensed ZP version of the Excalibur.

I've opened a reserve at terminal twice. Once was a PD193 when I couldn't shake my pilot chute off my back, the other time was to demo a PD 176 Optimum as a main canopy. Both openings were quick, but not what I would call hard. More like comfortable. There's a hole in the slider on those things for a reason !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5LnjhbzRPg Going all the way back to the seventies my two greatest passions have been skydiving and the Grateful Dead. They're not everyone's cup of coffee, but I've known a lot of skydivers who love them as well. For a Father's Day present one of my daughters who lives in the Bay Area copped tickets for the very last show. The entire weekend, San Francisco was a wall to wall carnival of tie dyed old farts roaming around Haight St. and the SOMA district where Oracle Park is located. It was a special weekend for those of us who have grown up on the Dead. We lost Jerry Garcia along the way, but the music never stopped. Bob Weir and the guys promise they've got other things up their sleeves yet, but this was the end of an era.

Bigways, like BIG Bigways usually get a waiver. Also days with low cloud ceilings to allow hop & pop loads, as the freefall is short and sub-terminal. As I recall from Parachutist Magazine, the waivers can even just be verbal, but are only good for a day at a time.

I do know two people who literally femured from slammer openings on Pilot canopies. It caused both of them to give up the sport. I had a wicked slammer myself on a 210 Pilot that wrecked the canopy, even damaged the risers. Had to chop it. Fortunately I didn't break any bones, though I was bruised from my neck down to my knees. Lines were Spectra. Aerodyne said the canopy was totaled and they gave me a sweet deal on a brand new 188, which never gave me any problems. Also owned a ZPX 188 Pilot with no problems. I've always done my own packing and after the slammer I religiously checked that my slider grommets were all the way up 2 or 3 times while packing. Skydiving's a dangerous sport - you pays yer money and takes yer chances.

Mark Brown was one of the pillars of Perris Valley Skydiving. When I returned to the sport after an absence of 22 years he was my mentor - and remained my mentor for the next eleven years. I can't even imagine how many hundreds, maybe thousands of jumpers of all experience levels Mark shepherded to their next level of accomplishment. He was there rain, wind or shine and had a heck of a sense of humor. I'm grateful that I got to see him one more time last month, if only for a minute or so. I will always miss him.

Sphincter Brothers

Lisa was the sweetest loving of people and a bright spot at the Elsinore dropzone. At the time of her passing she was waiting for a liver transplant and had actually passed and completed all of her necessary tests as a transplant candidate. She is the second dear friend to leave us while waiting for a transplant, the other one being Mike Gerwig. Probably many more that our members knew by name. All the more reason to be an organ donor, so that others may live when we pass away.

I once attended a basic canopy course where the instructor was teaching the newbies to make their turn onto final with their front risers. To do otherwise was "wasting the canopy's energy". Utterly irresponsible for teaching jumpers at the novice level.