Kirils

After 30 years of jumping, I have experience with 23 canopies. I usually jump a 108 Xaos which I think is the best canopy ever made. The Mamba,is the only 9 cell that comes close to cross braced performance. It is a dream to fly and the glide ratio is the best of any 9 cell on the market. I had poor openings with a pro-pack, with twists and spins. After I psycho-packed it the problems were cured. This is one fantastic canopy!

The A-Max is just a Springo canopy (parachute de France) copy. The difference is the agressive line set. I bought the first one and it's a good canopy. My conversations with AeroDyne revealed the pull from the market was just a marketing decision. They wanted something unique with superior performance. After 2 years+ R&D they are coming out with the Mamba. The new AeroDyne is going to give PD a run for the money. Their customer is the best I've seen. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

This canopy is radical,fast and controllable. At 2.2 loading the openings were fantastic. Riser pressure for performance is light and it responds quickly to hip input. Very, very responsive! This canopy is a real rocket! BUT...it's for experts. It is the new benchmark for 9 cell Ultra HP canopies. 2 years later now, I see Aerodyne pulling this canopy from the market. I spoke to Aerodyne about it and they assured me the decision was based on a marketing reasons. This was a great canopy with a short life. I hope the new canopies Aerodyne is coming out with are as solid as the A-Max.

I've jumped all 3. The Hornet was overall the best performer, with the Saphire placing last on my list. I'm sad to see mfg. of this canopy stopped. I have heard Aerodynes replacements are are an upgrade though. Call Rigs&Things and see if Roy can find you one.

D-line line folds are taken and rubber-banded to prevent line-over. I have seen it done a number of times when BASE jumpers move to skydiving. The same thing can be acomplished by putting a loop on your slider and banding the D's to the slider. After seeing broken lines when this trick was used on a Firebolt I wouldn't consider it unless the MFG. insists.

Very true! I have owned and jumped 3 heatwaves and a Spinetto. There was always an expectation of a spin or at least an off-heading opening. The newer canopy designs eliminate that stress. Here's to science!

I skydive. I'm a private pilot who has a hangliding cert. I recently purchased a paraglider. It seems harder than it looks. While just a newbi, I became well aware of the dangers fast. You can fly in and out of a thermal very quickly and find yourself stuck in a bad area. The canopy is really sluggish and I need to anticipate well in advance my flight path. I'm giving it up until next spring when I can get down to the Outer Banks in NC and fly more safely over the sand dunes. I am only speaking for my ascending canopy designed for beginners. I bought it cheap, it sounds like the HP's are more fun.

What you are experiencing is typical of a new eliptical jumper. Before pulling...STOP and pause to assure you are in a stable position. Pull and lookup, and using hip input, fly the canopy in an on-heading opening. Good Luck! Most of us flying elipticals have had the same problem. There are some eliptical canopies out there that seem to have resolved this opening problem, check out the Xaos, Velocity and A-max. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

How about flying a black canopy at night?? As a kid I used to built transparent triangular box kites using 1mil PE. They always got a lot of attention because it always looked like you were just holding a magically suspended string. The PE stretched and deformed quite a bit, requiring at least partial replacement after every flight. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

It's my understanding the F-111 PC's are less prone to ocillation, spinning and orbiting on deployment. The fabric is also stronger. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I made a couple "mudflap" altimeter holders a couple years ago. They were made out of plexiglass acrylic plastic that was heated and shaped according to Pat's pattern. Unfortunatly, they really never worked very well, except in a sit. Any wind blast caused the mount to wave side to side. I would be interested if anyone had success with this type mount.

I've jumped sub 100's on both. The Velocity was quite stable in flight. I'm usually NOT a fan of PD, but I think the Velocity is a great canopy. I really prefered it over the FX. The FX was twitchy and I thought the Velocity had more uniform inflation whilt the FX had wrinkles in the nose. Openings on both were good. Construction quality was similar. The A-MAX and Xaos are my current rides, but I would consider a Velocity for the next round.

I jump 4 rigs and 3 have soft links. Gaffers tape has protected and allowed them to take a solid set. There has never been any sign of degredation caused by the tape. It works. Form follows function even in skydiving... I made a suggestion to use the tape, why do so many of you youngsters take it as an attack? Looking pretty is SOOOO important...

What design revision are you speaking of?

There was a recent tragedy, caused by a steering line wrapping around a Slink that had rotated to expose the tab. I suggest using gaffers tape to fix the Sloiks in place or till they take a firm set. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I'd go Protrack. Service is solid. Neptune really has not established a track record yet. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I have owned 3 HeatWaves...170, 150, 130. I think the canopy likes to be loaded at about 1.5:1.

Scott Miller does courses at both Aeroheo and Parkman occasionally. During the interim I suggest you call Parkman 1-800-TLC-JUMP and talk with Arron Stokum. He can video you and really help improve your canopy skills. The VR up at Parkman is also good for the newby to learn landing pattern and halp diagnose flaring problems.

check out Aerodyne Internationals packing manual. It is well done. Also precision.aerodynamics.com/psycho/psysteps.htm is a good site to learn to psychopack.

I don't know that it's the same company, "different name" Trident has contacted me in record time over my customer complaint on an older Bomber mod on my Reflex. They were friendly and willing to see I had satisfaction! I'm impressed... I definately want to see this new container!

I jump both. I love my Xaos but it has limitations because of the landing area required. It also need a 2.0+ loading to get the performance advantage ove a non-crossbraced. It's really not a practical canopy...but hey, when have you ever heard of skydiver being "practical"? "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

The canopys toooooo big! You will not be able to control it. Years ago I built a 75 ft2 Ragello style kite. My anchor stake pulled loose and the wind gust pulled me up in the air 10-15 ft, the kite buckled and I fell hard. Keep it under 50 ft2.

Until the Katana flies, my vote is for the A-MAX.

I confess I'm confused. All this discussion and it still looks like ordinary tracking to me... (The French have a way of embelishing and spicing up the common things.)

Recently I have read that steering lines can foul on a slink tab. While the new Aerodyne container has softlink tab pockets, those of us with other containers can protect against this potential hazard by using gaffers tape to secure the slink. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish