frost

No, actually i had a second canopy - a Tri 135 for the wingsuit :) Not anymore though SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

nuh, i dont think i need it. LOL I dont think 90% of the people that use it actually "need" it. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

All good suggestions! Thanks guys. I inspected the slider stops, and they look fine. More strange findings - the damage IS on the top of the grommet (facing the canopy). That suggests that may be the slider was placed upside down at some point, but I seriousely doubt that, knowing that the previous owner was a world class pilot, never had metal links and had his canopy looked after and cared for well. Overall, really odd stuff. I will have it looked at by a master rigger to get some ideas what it could be. I will definitely replace the slider. If interested - i will post my findings and resutls here. Thanks to all that contributed SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

PM sent... to answer some of the questions here: I have had some rather fast openings on it, but nothing neck breaking. Solid is what i would call them. The slider doesnt slide down past the guide rings, usually to the top of risers. I pull it down all the way and secure with a rubber band so it stays al the way down when in flight. The FRONT grommets have the holes, the rears just have some dents in them. So looks like majority of damage comes from the front. My slinks are PD - soft all around, no metal tabs. Tucked under the riser (T17 with nickel hardware). SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

The lines in pics are brand new HMA line set. 2 jumps. The grommets are stainless steel for sure, must be the flash effect. I have slinks and prior owner always had them, i am 99.9% sure... Before HMA it was Vectran - 700 jumps. Like i was saying - it's an actual break in the metal-a hole in the grommet, an uneven tear in the steel... VERY odd... I dont thinkk any line can ever do that. i have never ever seen that much damage myself. Dents - yeah, but not holes in steel... SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

pics! SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I was examining the slider last night, i discovered that all 4 grommets have dents on them. I saw that type of dents in all my other canopies, but this one was a bit different. Two of the grommets had HOLES inside the ring in the stainless steel(!!) like someone has driven a small nail in them. VERY strange damage and very bad for the lines, needless to say. I know there are huge forces at play during opening sequence, but HOLES in STAINLESS steel?? lol Curious to hear from experienced riggers their opinion on what could cause this?? I have slinks. Thanks in advance SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Was curious to hear opinions of people who have made the move to longer LINES (NOT risers). Here is the situation. I had my VX relined with longer lines. Old Vectran was replaced with 14cm longer HMA lineset. (BTW another quality job by Skyworks rigging - thanks Mel) After jumping the new set up a few times, i noticed that the rear risers have slack in them... i had to pull them about half an inch to feel the lift. There was a bow in the D-lines at full flight, similar to the brake lines, but not as much. Seemed that most of the suspended weight was on the front lines. I was told that that is to be expected with longer lines - as the canopy flattens out more. The canopy flew differently which, of course, is to be expected with longer lines. i thought it was odd that it seemed to lose speed, within 2-3 seconds after coming out from the dive, and the glide wasnt as far as i was used to. I only made a few jumps on it and probably lack the time and experience under the new set up, so i cant say that I did everything right - it was just a seat of pants feeling. So i was curious to hear from people who have made the switch. Did you feel a loss in performance? Did you have to adjust the approach turn? Or was it totally what you expected and the performance improved? Is it just a matter of getting used to the new set up? I think i need to adjust my turn to start higher and give more time to build up speed with the longer lines, but i was very puzzled by the quick speed loss... thanks in advance SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Well, i wasnt questioning any of that... Surely, safety wise and ease of execution wise I agree with you and previous posters - smaller turns on bigger and lighter loaded canopies are better in that respect. What I was questioning (and it's totally possible that we missed each others points alltogether) was a notion that a bigger and/or lightly loaded canopy wouldnt benefit from a longer time in a turn and that it wouldnt build up more speed from a 270 as it would from a 90 degree turn. My aurgument was that ANY object in gravity induced motion has a maximum (terminal) velocity. This object needs a certain amount of time to reach this terminal velocity. A 90 degree turn simply doesnt give the wing enough time to reach it. Now, whether or not the BENEFIT of the bigger turn is worth the risk, is a completely different story. I'd even agree that the gain in speed might be minimal, making it even less worth the trouble, but I maintain that there WILL be a gain in speed from a turn bigger than 90 degrees. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

it goes back to some other discussion we had a bit back :) I'd like nothing more then to hear the theory behind that opinion. PM me if you want SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Shenanigans on what? On your "i jumped a lot of canopies so i know" talk. Once again all i see are YOUR thoughts on concepts. Present me with a valid SCIENTIFICALLY proven theory (or even just a theory) and i am willing to consider my point an error. Otherwise... it's just your opinion. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Plus less in terms of accuracy? but again with repetition you'll get good at big turns too. Now here is another point. I think BIG turns anything over 270 are MUCH more of a traffic hazard then a 180 or 270. MUCH more. Even with a 360 you have a huge blind spot behind you EXACTLY where a staright in approach guy would be. Definitely! Thats why each object has a terminal velocity. But it takes time to reach it and i dont think a 90 or a 180 would allow enough time for that. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

wonder who that wizard would be? I call shenanigans on that. Any canopy needs a certain amount of time to reach its terminal velocity and 90 or 180 is just not enough time. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I'd agree with you in the case of NEWER pilots, people that came up in the ranks in the last 2-3-4 years. But may be a good point to keep in mind here (and what i was trying to say) is this: Those who may be considered dangerous today, or out of their skill level, or downsizing too fast may just be the big dogs of tomorow. "IF" they survive that is. Good or bad, is awlays open for discussion (can of worms, no doubt) but the fact is - you do it long enough - you will get better and eventually you'll get really good. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

You know if you ask some of the top pilots about their progression with downsizes, you just might find that early on in their careers they were EXACTLY that type of people you speak of. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

You guys should take it to PM before both of you make complete jackasses of yourselves. Just being honest. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

PM sent SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I believe it involves folding the risers in half length wise and stiching them all the way along the fold. Theoretically, cutting on drag by making the area of the risers facing the relative wind half as wide. Nothing real in terms of gaining anything in skill level and probably more of a gimmick then anything else, i think. Top pilots might benefit from it, but most average pilots who do it are just blindly following the leaders. Not much unlike when they strap an extra 40 lbs of weight or get RDS. They mod their gear as a shortcut to results they might show if they only made an extra 500-1000 jumps. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Then i guess you COULD tell SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Not if you are in tune with your body and have been racing motorcycles all your life. what about them? what if you go just under them and they freak and turn and die? does being in tune with YOUR body help them? i think not. Probably not. But having a sense of humor might help YOU SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Not if you are in tune with your body and have been racing motorcycles all your life. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

How about a set of longer lines? I have a VX-111 with an 6 or 8 inch longer line set on regular 20" mirage risers. Let me tell you, the canopy flies very differently as compared to a VX with a stock length line set. So if you dont want to get longer risers - get longer lines SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

VERY nice, thanks for the link SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I thought i saw a velocity there. As far as the speed... consider the air density at that altitude. Even a spectre 150 will be flying FAST! SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I am SURE something must have been lost in translation. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.