Chrisky

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Everything posted by Chrisky

  1. What you might want to look out for when looking at helmets is if they accomodate audible altimeters, and if, how many and where. For example, I prefer helmets that allow for two of them, one either side. That narrows down choices considerably. Get a clear set of goggles, they will always serve you, and if it's only on those occasional darker sunset jumps later. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  2. Sorry if this isn't exactly on topic, but i couldn't resist; What happens when the season ends? The rich travel south or to exotic locations. The normal stay and wait (and drink beer?). And the hard ones keeps jumping through winter! The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  3. I'm not wondering about the swoops. I'm wondering about riser pressure. I get nice swoops out of it, I'm just wondering what's up with the advertised "light front riser pressure". If you just pull one FR down, yeah, that's easy, but you get less speed out of it. Would you please share the enlightenment as to how using the harness will lower front riser pressure? The foward/backward leaning in the harness is in no way sufficient to build up enough speed for a long swoop... When the canopy is going full speed, turns in the harness are the only option short of aborting the swoop with toggles... (no rears for me quite yet...) The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  4. I recently bought a XF2 119 from the US and love the canopy. So far I had only done single frontriser carve approaches to swoop. However, when I did an advanced canopy control course, I found front riser pressure to be really high (I can pull a double front maybe 20 inches and then let one up a bit for a 90 lasting about 4-5 seconds before pressure gets too high). Using one FR only makes it way easier but speed buildup is lower. Just last week I was jumping in Switzerland trying some mountainswooping and I just wouldn't be able to do more than one "low" run because I'd just not be able to pull those fronts down anymore, even when doing the brake-swing initiation. I do a bit of climbing and can do at least 10 pullups, so I consider myself to not be a total sissy powerwise. Since I got the Crossfire from the US off stock, I had planned to buy a custom one later if I'd be really happy with the canopy (Their production turnaround is 18 weeks...). Now, I know Icarus produces them in New Zealand, the US and Spain. How can I tell where mine was manufactured? How about differences in quality between the different locations, as I've heard spanish qc and customer relations to be not quite top-rated. Experiences? (My own so far; no 119 demoes available from any german dealer, just the recommendation to buy one "as there is a 30-day satisfaction garantee" - WTF? Do I sweat money?) What linesets do they use? Mine has Kevlar/Vectran(?), not Microline. I'm loading it 1.7, love it except for the massive fronts pressure. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  5. Taxation. When I got my PC-5E it had the DV-In function disabled (the PC-5 had it) in the Cams' OS. Key was by definition if the camcorder had a wire-in recording function they would have to pay european import duties like on VCRs, not the lower duties on Camcorders(was something like 25% rather than 19% or such IIRC). I had to hack my cam to get the DV-In. Nowadays many have it enabled b/c it's more convenient and i think probably there's a solution to the duties regulations. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  6. Any chance you could put a low-compression (hi-quality) sample of, say, 10 seconds up somewhere? You might just win a customer... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  7. Nothing wrong with checking out your front risers. Ending at 150 feet cant hurt, literally. I saw someone flaring with double fronts earlier this year and it wasn't pretty. He was lucky with 3 bolted-down vertebrae and no losses in sensing and motors. Being able to fly front risers might just save your ass on a long spot under strong winds. To have them snap back from chinup (symmetrically) isnt so bad as the canopy returns to full-flight rather than a slow-flight trim state. The trick is to find the right timing (Read: altitude) to release the fronts and not have to dig toggles to enter horizontal flight. This is basically flying the recovery arc of the accelerated canopy straight to flare/touchdown. Sure you can swoop the 170, speed is a matter of loading the wing(and knowing to fly it); the agility and handling differs from smaller canopies due to longer leverage of the longer lines (etc.), but you know that as you've read Germains book already. A way to get the fronts down easier is to go to your brakes, let up the brakes and grab the fronts while the canopy recovers from the brake. Watch your altitude, practice up high. No shame in aborting. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  8. Chrisky

    Music?

    Just recently got a flash based mp3 player (NOT an ipod, Cowon D2) and a pair of Shure E2c headphones for all kinds of activities (tunnel mostly, still to be tried), and found it to be nice and working well on the ride to altitude. I always pack it up around 10k to get ready for the jump. I dont think I would really register music playing during freefall and I support it being an added distraction under canopy in a pattern. There are enough unaware canopy pilots out there already to have people copy that habit. On a 12k hop'n'pop or a C206 load I dont see a problem, but in a crowded pattern...? Better not. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  9. A friend of mine wants to get one (107), but she's been looking everywhere and didn't get list prices; also, no word on delivery times anywhere. Any info around? ETA: Called PD and their list price is 1930 USD and delivery times for custom orders are 8-9 weeks now (August 11th '08). The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  10. Well, I started flaring around the corner (turning in flare thanks to one toggle lower) around 30-40 jumps in my career. It was the result from looking down. My instructor told me to look at the horizon, as, with his words:"Your eyes will know the right altitude, as they see it all the time when on the ground". That combined with impatience to flare (starting early) gave me sweet perfect flares back then. Instantly fixed it. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  11. Mind sharing a picture for all those who dont happen to have the Paragear catalogue? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  12. Now recently switched to a Crossfire2 119 (1.7), but a change in planform. Feel the WL is a sweet spot for me for the time being. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  13. Chrisky

    Tunnel suits

    Hey everybody, thanks for your feedback. I've been flying at the Airkix SkyVenture tunnel so far (and will again), which is a 1000 hp tunnel. Come winter I'll be flying in a 2000hp tunnel. A bit of added drag for either tunnel or outside flying will not hurt, as I'm around 80 kilos on a 1.8m body... Fast is not the problem! My current suit is a Freak'n'Suit and it's holding up ok, but the fit has changed in the past 5 years, both by the suit wearing out a bit and me starting climbing regularly. I will send my design to the different suit makers and see what they'll say; [inline Suit_Wish1.jpg] The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  14. Chrisky

    Tunnel suits

    Hey folks, well here I am with a little money burning me a hole in my pocket as I can't jump for the next 4 weeks. I'm tunnelflying more or less regularly and my old freefly suit has grown a bit large and worn during the past 4 years... Now I'm looking for a new suit to wear in both the tunnel and the sky. Some manufacturers have started creating suits using Cordura along with or instead of Heavy/Poly Cotton, some even integrate Zero-P as I've heard. As european manufacturers don't seem to like the idea of offering many design options other than what they think their suits should look like, I'm looking for manufacturers in the US (comes in handy with the EUR/USD rate as well). I've looked at Sonic, Matter and Boogieman. I like the design option for the Sonic Classic, but they dont do tie-dye. Boogieman would use tie-dye if supplied with (where could I get it?). Matter is out of the race (too pricey for the options, dont like the design). So; What brand suits are you north americans flying in the tunnel and how satisfied with the options are you? What materials are being used? Do you use the same suit for tunnel and freefly? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  15. Well, your question can not be answered by anyone here in a simple short post. Elliptical wings tend to be much mire agile than square or tapered ones. Thus, they usually have very different turn rates and subsequently very different dive characteristics. An entry-level canopy by general consensus is a docile canopy with a linear turn rate (the turn doesnt "sharpen" given constant input), so entry-level elliptical is an oxymoron. If you want to know more about the effects of a canopies' planform (rectangular, tapered, elliptical etc.) and the characteristics of the different shapes, I can't recommend Brian Germains book "The Parachute and its Pilot" highly enough. It covers both the aerodynamical/physical as well as psychological/physiological aspects of a canopy in flight in easy to understand words. You can order it from the bigairsportz web site. Best money i ever spent on a skydiving book, made me a better and more aware canopy pilot. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  16. More logging memory (2500 jumps logged w/ details). Now I do hope it takes a bit more time cause I only received my N2 three days prior to learning about the N3 and was really frustrated as th IR connection gave me some trouble and i had thought "why cant they just make one with a mini-usb?!"... Wait 2 years to get the Neptune, and then three days after having it the joy gets tainted - boohoooo! The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  17. Wasn't there a big recall of a reserve pins batch around two years ago due to less bend resistance as usual as well? Might it have been an affected one? The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  18. In my 9 odd years in the sport I have been there at 6 incidents of which I only really saw 1 happen. Two were guys landing one or two slots after me, so they struck ground when I was stowing my toggles and not looking. This is not about what gruesome thing happened that you can't forget, it's whether the memory of that fades. And to me, it doesn't. It is a good thing to keep these moments alive on occasion (not constantly) so you remind yourself of the "what if the sh*t goes down" when you're on "bulletproof hero" heading now and then. The closer you are to the incident, the less it fades. I.e. I almost forgot about a guy hooking in and lamost die while i was still in AFF - he was gone in the ambulance before i landed, but a year later he showed me his video and that scared the sh*t out of me. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  19. I'm wearing either my vintage Airwalk Vics (with Lace savers), or, as they've started falling apart some hi/mid-back sneakers (Vans)... Generally many skate sneakers have some ankle support. Anything goes as long as it's not hiking boots with quicklace hooks. Linesnag is not something you'd like on your feet... The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  20. Hey everybody, to help make the collection of worldwide DZs and organization in a single KMZ file easier, here's some simple guidelines to help set up a good placemark of your DZ; 1. Create ONE master placemark on the location where the key facility is. If there are several far apart places (like an off-airport landing area) or you'd like to add area describing polygons for landing areas, obstacles etc, please create a master DZ folder containing these sub-items. The master description with contact info can also be added to the folder descrition. (Right-click on placemark/folder>Properties) 2. Put Name and contact info of the DZ in the description field and include a website link if the DZ has a website. Simple www.whatever.net will be shown as a link by GE. 3. When done, put your DZ in a folder structure such as this: World Region>Country>DZ (or for the US Counrty>State>DZ as there are too many otherwise...) (World Regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Pacific, South America) 4. To export right-click on the topmost folder you created (i.e. your country folder), right-click and select "Save placemark under..." to save that folder/placemark exclusively to a file without exporting all your other places as well. If you want to change the default placemark icon click on the placemark icon button to the right of the placemark name; [inline GE.jpg] Hope that helps!
  21. You are implying Airtec used all 4000 of the defective sensors. Do you have any evidence to back that up? What about if they scrapped the 3200 remaining sensors after they were informed 18 months ago (roughly December 2006)? The units affected were sold/manufactured from August until December 2006. According to the Service bulletin, they checked out on the 14 days quality control checks at Airtec. It seems a bit much to suspect they'd sell 4000 units in just 6 months; 800 seems much more reasonable. Only reason to complain (and rightly so) would be Airtech not recalling the units immediately after being informed by the manufacturer even though the units checked out during their own testing. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  22. That's one of the big advantages of the Speed 2000 - it uses a rather new fabric which packs smaller/tighter (if you want to call 6+years on the market "rather new"). Canopies can vary significantly in packing volume, I used to jump a Paratec Faqtor 120 (326 cui IIRC) and now jump a Crossfire2 119 - which packs at 275 (or 270 something). Factors may be reinforcing tapes etc. that add to overall material (vo;ume) but not surface area. If you'd like to know more it may be worth starting a new thread, as this wouldn't really have anything to do with the Wings rigs people own anymore. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  23. Same here. Never stop learning! The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...
  24. I always though that when using packers, one is to set the brakes, uncollapse the slider and cock the PC. I've only used packers
  25. And be careful to obey the 2 minute wait between the removal of the depleted and the insertion of the fresh batteries. It's hidden somewhere in the back of the manual as well. The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open. From the edge you just see more. ... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...