freakyrat

I just flew a couple demo canopies and one from another jumper. Demoed one for the first time at Muskogee when they first came out. It was a fun canopy to fly and landings were easy. I heard that it just didn't work out when they tried to use ZP.

Sorry to hear this as Jarno was so passionate about Wingsuiting and spreading that joy to others. Blue Skies.

Blue Skies John.

You folks were also talking of the Dornier 328. The late Johnny Gates and I flew on the Jet version (Atlantic Coast Airlines/Delta Connection) between Cincinnati and Champaign, IL to jump at the WFFC in Rantoul, Il.

I had the pleasure of meeting and jumping with Dilys at the POP's World Meet at Empuraibrava, Spain in 1995. (Pictured Below) she was a lovely lady and very entertaining. At a later POP's World Meet in Aqaba Jordan a group of us jumped into the Wadi Rum desert and were treated to a traditional meal afterwards by a Bedouin family. After the meal we were entertained by some traditional music and Dilys got up and danced with the head of the family.

I've actually had it happen to me on my 6th jump onm the RBird in the picture At deployment when I reached back the wing blew up over my pilotchute handle and wouldn't budge. I reached back several times to try to knock it off and find my handle and at the same time was keeping track of my altitude on my mudflap mounted altimeter all to no avail. I was jumping a brand new Mirage G4 container and went to my Reserve. Never flew a PD Optimum Reserve but I'll have to say the opening was fast but not hard and it was a joy to fly and I had a superb landing under it. I attributed my deployment problems to the fact that I was jumping the wingsuit with internal arm zippers half open and also that I dropped my hands off the wing behind me instead of along my side. This contributed to the wing getting in the way of my deployment. I cleaned up my deployment technique and it's never happened again and I put many more jumos on the suit. At present I have some minor rotator cuff problems in my left shoulder and haven't wingsuited for a while now but hope to get back into it on a newer version (GNar Bird) and have a little more fun.

I would talk to one of your instructors and your local rigger. Everyone here has an opinion on canopies. A Pilot or a Sabre 2 loaded 1-1 is a good choice. Another overlooked canopy is the Pulse from PD which os another Hybryd Canopy. In a 7 Cell a Spectre is also a good canopy. I personally jump a Pilot 140 made out of ZPX for easier packing loaded at 1.5 which is a little aggressive for your experience level. A larger one would be most appropriate. The Pilot opens nice and flies great. To get a nice flare you have to push the toggles all the way nice and smoothly. Some people who have flown the Pilot do not realize that you have to complete the flare as you do with any canopy. All of the manufacturers have demo programs and will send you a canopy for your experience level to try out. I also know that PD has Reserve canopy's to demo and that is a good idea. Whatever you decide have a great time and be safe. Cheers

All my riggers would agree with you. IMHO with both of my Mirages the recommended Reserve for the MT and MO is the Optimum 113 in the new sizing guide. With the old guide you could pack a regular PD126R in either container but it would be a snug fit. I have Optimum 126's in both rigs and neither are tight. The Optimum fills out the bag nicely and both containers are medium soft and flexible. IMHO the Optimum 113 would be too soft.

The new sizing guide is conservative. I presently have an MT with an Optimum 126 Reserve and a Katana 120 Main and both canopies fit fine. The Optimum is medium soft and flexible in the reserve container. The Katana fits nicely also. I also have an MO with an Optimum 126 Reserve and a Pilot 140 ZPX Main. Again the Optimum 126 fits medium soft and the Pilot 140 ZPX fits just right. I originally had a regular PD126R reserve in the MT container and it did fit snug. I had a Reserve ride on the Optimum 126 out of the MO container and the deployment was smooth and clean. The way I see it all Mirage is doing is to try to get people to order reasonably sized containers for their canopies so that the canopy fit will not be too snug especially in regard to their reserve.

Sorry for the problems you encountered: Here is the link to the DOT website concerning transportation of Lithium batteries. This link came off the Southwest Airlines site here in the US. http://phmsa.dot.gov/safetravel/batteries

Blue Skies Pat. I still enjoy your book The Art Of Freefall Relative Work.

Blue Skies Scotty You were one of a kind.

Nice to hear from you Dave. I kind of slowed down a little bit on jumping because it's the start of hockey season and living in Dallas that means the Dallas Stars and Allen Americans. I still have those memories of Ft Hood and Gatesville and Hearne. I was in Connecticut last weekend for the Skydiving Hall Of Fame Induction ceremonies. Got to meet Paul Poppenhager and some other old timers of our sport. See Yah.

Pilot 140 ZPX loaded at about 1.3 Sweet spot is about elbow level and I have to go to full arm extension on the flare. I also find you have to be a little patient with the canopy as it's slowing down. From my own experience with my pilot, If you fly a wingsuit snap up your jumpsuit legs and do not let them flow behind you. If the catch air while they are dangling behind you your forward speed under canopy will be a lot slower and the extra drag will increase your stall speed under the Pilot so a full arm extension on the flare will set you on your rear end. Happened to me jumping in the Netherlands. Fortunately I was landing in tall grass and the landing didn't hurt at all but I always stow my jumpsuit legs after opening now.