proswooper

I think that the tree should be dubbed "Stu's rectal anomaly" ,since he tends to turn about two time zones away from the gates i predict he will "wedge" that one limb where the sun rarely shines

June 19th through 22nd lots of fun turbine aircraft FF organizing by Mike Wittenburg from team Mandrin evening festivities RW organizing Big landing areas seperate high performance dont be shy come get your freak on

Hey Danniel Good to hear from you. Long time no see. wanna come to the course? :) coming to the states anytime soon? you're welcome to do some AFF at the DZ anytime my brother. Take care my friend

Skydive Tecumseh , Michigan Friday April 18th, 6pm or so. theory basic through advanced Saturday, all day, jumps video with debrief. Saturday night, debrief and swoop specific theory, and then beers around the bonfire sunday, hangover and some jumps cost: 20$ per person. excludes jumps which are at standard prices and you can do as few or as many as you like. there will be two cessnas on call for hop n pops and a caravan for altitude loads.

Skydive Tecumseh , Michigan Friday April 18th, 6pm or so. theory basic through advanced Saturday, all day, jumps video with debrief. Saturday night, debrief and swoop specific theory, and then beers around the bonfire sunday, hangover and some jumps Contact me for pricing information.

Happy birthday big guy in the sky

Howsit Rob Thats great news. I hope the gate will be open at the fence if distance goes that way!!! It is a beautiful Dropzone and any one who can go even to just spectate should do so. camping available on site with bunks and bar. awesome awesome place. i lost several days to this dropzone!!

did the jumper do a control check after opening?

I have a bunch of jumps on a solo and have put about twenty to thirty students up on one during aff. it is basically a big pilot with a f111 skin to make packing easy. our aff students would argue over the rig with the solo in it because it opened so nicely compared to the other older student canopies. another really cool thing for students is the color coded line attachment points which made learning to pack simpler. the other canopies in the program include PD 9 cell, and navigators.

no advice but i will say that aerodyne offers in between sizes such as 132 to 124 to 117 to 111 to 104 for people who dont like the big jump between 135 to 120 and 120 to 107. stay safe Paul

I agree it is perfect for all around skydiving but i disagree with you about swooping. I have done 250ft swoops with a pilot 117 consistently. it has a similar recovery arc in my experience to a crossfire2 in similar sizes. it is very swoopable. despite not being designed as a swooping specific canopy.

Hi Ryan I was in fact sponsored and jumping a wings for quite some time and then was offered a job at aerodyne, which i did for a short while. When i left i was in a position to go back to jumping any container. I am still jumping the icon and have had about five of them in about three years. There has been many changes and improvements in that time both on the outside and on the inside. This to me is a huge plus because i know the company is constantly working on improving the container, i have it on good authority that the skyhook version of the container is really really neat and i will be getting one when it is released. pros for icon: I like the miniforce system. i have had back to back cutaways one with and one without and yes i could tell a difference. The newer icons are really really comfortable and are so from day one, not after a hundred jumps of breaking in. i really like the dynamic corners inside the rig, they really help with preventing linetwists, especially if you're a bend at the waist to deploy kind of person (like me). cleanest reserve line deployment i have ever seen on video because of the stow system. it comes with everything already stainless and articulated and all that jazz which most companies tack on hundreds of dollars for. Most options are included in the base price Cons: some of the older icons would require a college degree in packing to get the wrinkles out of the main tray, but i must say the newer ones pack up really nicely and this problem has been addressed. some of the really older ones had really thin leg straps that were uncomfortable under really long canopy flights. again this has changed. i wish the laterals had that fancy padding that you get on a javelin but that is just me personally. Wings: pros I like the design of the rig, really simple and it looks good. They are really comfortable too but take quite a while to break in a new one from feeling stiff on your back. i like the external pop top really like the cordura boc comes with many tiedie color options (extra) it is pretty cheap too as far as containers go but the base price is a bare rig and has no options on it so remember to have the same options on both before making a price comparison. Cons It packs up rediculously tight. in fact most people order a size up. The reserve pack job is a little different and a lot of riggers can ruin the look of the container by not putting enough material in the ears or by packing it like any other container. I wish it had more riser protection to help with sloppy packing, i have seen heaps of toggles sticking out a little but with some extra attention this is really just operater error. like i said i have jumped both alot pm me for more details Oh and i love both containers

pro/am team speed at 0900 and after that around 1100 will be freestyle.

Hans runs a very professional outfit. Rigging loft is huge and will do anything while you wait. Nice atmosphere and just a great get away.

if the mod can be done by a rigger then it is commercially available. that includes RDS, Trims, and anything else that is commercially available to anyone that is willing to put the effort into doing it. I think the canopy should originate from stock. i agree you should be able to hone your stock canopy. i have even seen someone cut back the stabilizers on his velo. but ultimately when the wing is as tricked out as it comes, it is still a wing that any other competitor could be jumping if he or she chose too.

point is... if jay put all that skill into that same awesome swoop with a comercially available canopy... would he have gone that far? i would argue that he would probably have gone further than most but not as far. competition results should reflect skill and performance and that canot be truly portrayed in results if the top guys are flying 'higher' performance canopies than the other people who are considered in the same 'league'. especially when those canopies are only available to some of the people. whether you intergrate different classes or just ban canopies that are not available to the general public something needs to be done. if there is prize money involved and you are jumping a comercially unavailable 'on steroids' canopy and you sweep the field for years then do you really deserve the prize money? i say a simple solution would be to ban comercially unavailable canopies due to the small number of competitors and the logistical nightmare of running three congruent classes.

i dont think you would reduce the number of competitors by regulating competitions to canopies available to everyone although we may see companies puting a stock label and logo on a prototype canopy again and that would put us back in the same position.

i cant comment on the canadian nationals but i will say at the world cup in vienna that every round was a roll of the dice as to whether you had a downwind or head wind or mega turbulence. so it is not a fair comparison between canopy performances. i will say that at the swoop fest in chicago two years ago the wind conditions for distance were nil for everyone in everyround and the prototype that jay was flying went noticeably further than anything else. it was consistently 50-80 feet further than the rest. i think competitions should be won by the person with the best skill and performance on the day not the person with the best toys. i used a prototype unavailable to the public for two rounds of speed in a competition last year and obliterated everyone else. did i feel like i had achieved something? absolutely not!! i put the canopy away and did the rest of the comp on my stock JVX. its not fair to all the others in the comp. its great for manufactures to say their canopy is always top of the pack and winning every comp and claiming that it is a stock canopy and if you buy one you could achieve that same result. but it simply is a marketing ploy. i could have won the other rounds by jumping the prototype and then said it was a JVX but it would have been immoral and not a fair competition.

sorry not me. i still love my JVX. two medals in three world meets is enough canopy for me.

glad that PD are finally being open about the factory team jumping a commercially unavailable wing. i have personally seen this canopy in flight for the last two years in competitions (or versions of it) and it definitely out performs any other comercially available wing. even the stock velos with hma and rds dont come close to it.

Ok, we will meet at manifest at 6:30pm Friday. Don't worry about picking up dinner, there will be free pizza provided! There will also be a small, just-for-fun accuracy competition on Saturday for everyone attending the canopy course with prizes including gift certificates for discounted gear!! See you guys this weekend.

yeah that was funny stu must have had someone help him with that.

only a homo would think like that!! and its mariat. and 40pounds of his out the door weight are dreadlocks!! im bald!

I have confirmed demos and the course is going to have good attendance. the theory portion will be on friday night Aug 17th followed by jumps on saturday and sunday. all are welcome. Paul Rossouw

Im there but not competing. i am just going to stand in zone accuracy course and through vegetables at ian and stu whilst shouting anti homosexual abuse at the overly feminine pair. unless Jay lets me jump his canopy then i will consider it!!! or unless my new top secret toy arrives in time!!! come on atilla!!! cut that canopy!!! i need all the help i can get i am only 240 out the door these days since i went on a whiskey diet i have lost five days.. i mean pounds