D8055

When I refer to "zero Airspeed" I'm talking about vertical. The kind that increases opening speed. Chopping from a good canopy, even with line twists, is harder to deploy than helo or balllon jumps... and with the Skyhook, there iss deffinately no delay to help out! I'm merely pointing out that such openings tend take longer than normal and may give one the sense that something was not functioning properly. Thats why I checked several reports from the ground, which gave no indication that the opening was anything but normal... if there is such a critter!

I was n't around for the packing of the main or the deployment. But I make a point to follow up on any reserve rides I packed. All I can saty is I'm tired of hearing about a double malfunction that didn't exist. The reserve opened normally! Several reports from the ground stated that it looked normal, maybe a little slow. besides the fact that these reserves are packed with a very deep brake setting and will begin all sorts of movement if not acted on on swiftly... This particular instructor cut away fro a functioning parachute without an attempt to clear line twists. There was no rapid decent. He fell away in dead air and tried deploying a very large parachute from a "zero" airspeed... you bet its going to open slow! He was also probably "stnding/sitting up" when he fell away... the likely bounce off his head a couple of times! Further more, the deployment was not even as slow as made out to be. He did not acccelerate enough, or fall far enough, to even fire the Vigil. All he is doing is MSUing to take the heat off his failures. What he is doing in the mean time is making others jumping my reserve packs feel uncomfortable. Its time to stop the bull$!@*.

I was told during my firsdt jump course... back in 1978.... "what you do to a parachute to pack it, it has to undo to open". Been a part of my being ever since... So, ya neatness, and everything else counts!

Thanks everybody for getting involved with this... I sent this info to Bob in Greensberg first... sounds like maybe he ran it on his end... not sure, though, noone ever got back to me directly... And the canopy was retrieved... Anyway, Happy ending! If you ever lose any gear... Check E-bay asap! Blue Skies to all! Mike

while checking into a used Triathlon offered on E-bay... I made an inquiry about the size of the canopy, since it wasn't listed. I got a response tonight. The girl (I think) said... "she didn't know, I found it all tangled up and just untangled it" Sounds like she is trying to sell a canopy someone cut-a-way... from her listing, its obvious she doesn't know anything about the sport. Her location is given as INDIANA. I'm trying to squeeze some more info out of her... but, don't know if I'll get it. Her e-mail address and the URL for th eE-bay auction are below. Hopefully word can get out in Indiana before this canopy dissapears. [email protected] http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130193759441&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003 Blue Skies, Mike

Thanks to all for the help. I apologize if the term crap offended anyone. It was an uninformed description. Its just that I've heard/read more bad reports (about 10:1) than good. At any rate... I should be able to figure this thing out now...

OK, I know these things are crap... but I ended up with one as a freebe... so, does anybody have any directions on how to use these things... maybe I'll get lucky and this one actually works? A scan of the directions would be awsome... but I'll take word of mouth if I can get it!

I can't meet your comparison exactly... but I can get you close. I have three rigs I jump. Mostly I jump a Sabre I 170 and a Pilot 168. Sometimes I throw in the third canopy which is a Space (Alpha) 170. I load them at about a 1.3. I often jump the Pilot and Sabre back to back... My preference is the Pilot, but they are both great... so it depends on what you want out of it. The Pilot opens a little "sniveley" for me. I'm an old head and like positive openings... I've never had what the wimps call a hard opening on a Sabre... If you still have your shoes on, it wasn't hard! On no wind days the Pilot deffinately gives softer landings... the Sabre is a bit faster where they flatten out. Also, the Pilot seems less affected by thermals, or at least its smoother on the bumpy days. Both give me a strong flair, you just have to work it 'till you have the feel for it... I don't get on here much... if you have any direct quetions, feel free to e-mail...