frost

go away, troll. please.

Dan... seriously? not you, man! You should know better than that. As usual, the thread has drifted, and now the questions of performance of the smaller parachutes are being discussed, with points being made about their inefficiency. So Ian points out that Jay has set a new distance record under a 79 sq ft canopy. "This is because PD lured in all the best pilots with their sponsorship"??? I dont care if that's in a general sense or specific to the point of small canopy performance - only an ignorant person would say something like that.

hey... do yourself a favor, stop saying dumb stuff and making yourself look like a fool.

Thanks for your reply, Dave. You make some very good points, no question (I'll assume when you say "you", you mean it in a general sense, applicable to everyone). I dont know how many DZs have put in a bid to host this event. I am not 100% sure how the bidding system works, i can only make an educated guess. I want to believe that the buddy system and bribery doesnt take place, but i think you're right... it probably does. And IF it does, i just hope FAI/IPC makes it a more strict and ethical process and considers the safety, needs and interests of the competitors more in the future. i wonder, if it was a US dropzone like, say, Spaceland with the facilities, the know-how and the $15 jumps, would it make more sense for competitors even those traveling from far parts of the world? Both financially and performance-wise?

DSE brought up a very good point that i was thinking about myself. Not everyone out of 70 competitors is as capable as the top 10-20. Not everyone has the much needed competition experience. Not everyone has the funds to stay there for two weeks and practice as much as they need to to readjust from their near sea level home dropzones. Far too many people are getting hurt. Not to mention that the jump prices are expensive ($33 for a hop and pop +$5 daily DZ fee), the location is remote, the modern day facilities such as internet is scarce, the travel is difficult and the weather doesn't seem to be cooperative in that region of the world. So why would IPC/FAI chose a remote location with a 5100 ft MSL landing altitude as the host for the World Meets?? Is this a competitive event, where pilots can safely measure their skills and compare themselves against a field of world competitors OR is setting a distance record or a speed record more important??

Gentlemen, With all due respect, you need to take your "skydiving trends" discussion and "swooping is dangerous - lets ban it!" nonsense to another forum. This is a specific incident involving a very experienced skydiver (jump-wise much more so then all of us, if that matters) and a specific set of circumstances that led to this tragedy. Those who may be affected can learn and should do so constructively. Those who are not interested in learning, those who cry "Ban!" and those who just want to idle chat about skydiving trends in general need to do it elsewhere on this site. Please.

Are you serious?? Or this is just a joke? because I feel a certain level of insanity sometimes when reading your replies.

Most of the time, I'd say 85-90% of it - this is pure sheep mentality. This is true for anything - skis, skateboards, bikes, whatever. "The top guys use 'x-product', so will i - it will make me better!". No, it wont. What's easier to fly is a subjective opinion. Very much so. The only good reason to select a product out of several equally good products is because YOU liked it. The only right way to know for sure what those reasons are is to try all of these products out before deciding. If Stu tells you that the JVX is different from the Velo in and he thinks that based on Velocity suits his flying style better - then you should have no doubt - he has plenty of experience on both wings. But people that say "Velocity forever!" NEVER having tried any other wing in the same class are just clowns, really. Customer service is another good point to consider when picking a product. If Brand A gives a great product, but Brand B gives equally good product AND supports it well post sale - then the choice is clear. If we are talking specifically about JVX and Icarus NZ here, it is my experience that their customer service has improved greatly. Super fast delivery, good communication and a few good extras thrown in for free (3 weeks for a new JVX was my experience, your results may vary). I really hope this trend towards excellent customer service continues and we have two great companies offering awesome products and competing for our dollars as equals on all fronts.

Thank you. Any idea when are the actual CP dates are?

The recently established Team Tampon Swoop has been competing directly with PD Factory Team. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=187283990096&ref=ts

This is not a official "world" meet... all open class pilots can compete?

How about this. I have 100-200 jumps and THOUSANDS of posts on dropzone.com. I chime in on ANY and EVERY topic. I like the forum drama, i prefer to chat online about skydiving rather than actually do it and when i do jump, i don't care what voice of experience says, i have an "expert" opinion on all things related to skydiving and i like to voice it, not afraid of sounding like a complete and total clown. What am i? You got it. I am a modern skydiver!

I have a set of 2nd or 3rd gen rings i can trade for those if anyone is interested.

that's it.

The ones made out of regular slider grommets sitting in a white plastic base. Anyone has a set laying around?

Looks like A LOT of fun!

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is. Respect! :) Just a couple of thoughts.... Promote it to spectators locally, attract a bigger crowd to the DZ, let them make a skydive there - should help Bill see see the benefits of swooping at his place, maybe soften him up... i doubt it, but you never know. Maybe make it the Thanksgiving weekend and some out of state people would show up too. I've been thinking of making a shit load of cheap jumps in a weekend, this may be it :)

head over to http://www.uspanationals.com/live.htm for live coverage of the Canopy Piloting events. Right now (Monday, 12:30PM EST) it's CPC Championships on the pond. 10+ mph winds, 10 minute call for Load 1 - Accuracy.

90's can be plenty fast! Jeffro does double miracle mans on 90's. what i think people here are saying is that Lodi, very sadly, is not suitable for the competitive swoop training and that 90s will never let you to get even close to the the maximum performance of a fast capable canopy. i sure do hope Mr Bill Dause changes his mind someday about the 90 degree rule...

I know what's involved in designing and releasing a product. I also know that it costs pennies once the product is put on the mass production line. When the cameras were nearly $1000 dollars (as in PC1000, or HD HC-series), paying $200 for a box was almost OK. But now, when you can get a replacement for less than 400... i for one am not going to pay half the price of the camera for a protective box/cage, no matter how nice it is and in the event that i bump my camera to the point of breaking it, i'll just buy a new one. I am wondering, why invest so much if a considerable number of people are not going to pay the asking price and potential sales are not going to cover the initial investment? Of course there are others who will purchase the pretty new box, those who take good looks over simplicity and cost effectiveness of, say, a home made bracket. But I do love Cookie stuff, it always has superb quality and excellent design. I've owned your HC3, HC5, CX7 boxes, have three liquid flatlocks... Kudos for being on the cutting edge offering great products. Google sony cx100. Here is one of the vendors that has reputable feedback: http://www.dbuys.com/product/?54712&camp_id=265

Great looking product, as always. Does it really cost that much to make these bad boys? I mean the cage is nearly half the price of the camcorder, you can get a CX100 for $388 shipped these days.

this one is pretty good too http://www.laszloimage.com/Best_Of_2005_NEW/pages/Dec_16th_2005_Tony.htm

Great job, Dave! Comp ran very smoothly. I was psyched to uhm.. make a guest appearance and make some practice runs :) Look forward to swooping that big pond in October and seeing everyone again.

Do you find it that as soon as you tell your "success story" and give (what to me is questionable) advice you lose quite a bit of credibility?

there, corrected it for ya. you should have provided Hans with some free coaching, he could have used a zero or two. P.S. Hey, Al, can we do "guest appearances" at the FLCPA meets? I could have used a couple of those this last season...