justchrisdsp

i am asking these questions way in advance of course, i wont be back from iraq until at least august. i am going to get back on my velo till i feel current again and then start going for the jvx. i have heard they like to be loaded but i just have a mental block for going sub-100. i might have to do some test jumps or something with it to see how i feel. then there is always the possibility of jumping at around 2.3. and then gradually stepping up if i think i need more. The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

im about 235-240 out the door. i am looking for something around a 107. i know they make them anysize you want but i was wondering what sizes they have tested them at. if the engineering really holds up at all sizes or if its better at certain sizes like the velocity. The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

anyone here own or know of someone who owns a jvx in the 100+ size. they say they will make any size but i am wondering what size seems to work best. and what people actually have. The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i was searching for that canopy that is a great step up to the velo and i found the mamba to be the choice. the riser pressure and flight is similar. it doesnt dive as much as the velo but i feel that it holds the swoop in the same manner and the plane out is about the same to me. the katana just felt a little too ground hungry and the riser pressure definately did not even compare. just my opinion The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i have jumped all but the blade as well, in various different sizes from the 169 xfire all the way down to the 99xfire2, the kats i have jumped from the 135 down to the 107, the mambas from the 150 to the 117. of all i like the mamba the best as far as what i thought prepared me best for xbraced flight. the controls to me are remarkably similar and the flight characterisics hold true to a more high performance canopy. personal opinion but i felt i had more total flight range out of the mamba and as far as pure fun factor it was right there. i had to put an rds on my mamba 117 to get it to fly right but once i did that the thing was giving me mad distance and awesome turf surf. try them all though, everyone's flying style is different so what i like may not be what you like The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i like the mamba at between 2.1 to 2.3, i think they get great distance at those loadings. but nobody talks about the mamba much, i think people forget that it is a great canopy in the same class as the katana and the xfire2. i think they handle better at higher wingloadings leading to much better high performance flying. plus the thinner aspect of the wing means it has less drag at those higher speed and higher wingloadings. just my opinion though The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

his event had a stupid strong head wind. Everyone was fighting hard for the scores they got. I think its a good indication of canopy performance to see some of the canopies that did well in the distance The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i think the pilot can be an excellent canopy to learn on. the short recovery arc can be a hassle but it can also be a savior in the beginning, i know it saved me a couple of times, as far as jumping it at a low wingloading i think that is the best idea with your jump numbers and learning how to swoop, it is annoying now but the fundamentals you will be gaining will be invaluable for later, i started learning how to swoop on a pilot 188 and then moved to a crossfire 169, from there i went to the mamba 150, 132, and soon the 124, but i learned my basics on that pilot, plus i have jumped a pilot 140 and 132 and at the wingloadings those things were monster swoopers, so dont get discouraged and think it is the canopy, just remember that in the beginning of swooping it will take a little time to get it right, i can almost garauntee you that someone like aggiedave could take a canopy like that pilot 150 and get some great swoops on it simply because of technique and experience. keep learning and beeing safe The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

anybody know if and when they are going to post the results for the swoop comp online, both intermediate and pro? The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

you should have jumped he 140 pilot that you packed for me blindfolded, that thing opened better than any other canopy i have ever jumped, and did i mention you packed it blindfolded? The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i agree about the pilot, i think its a great canopy for people in just your situation. soft, on heading openings so you dont have to worry about that, plenty of flare on the bottom end so you dont have to worry about hard landings. not to mention the color coded line attachments so you dont have to worry about packing. great canopy for all those needs. as for reserves the smart is as good as they come. great flare in the smart so even if you end up on your reserve you dont have to worry about the landings there. like was said above though, demo whatever you can and make your decisions from that. if you want to try the pilot and/or the smart, check out www.flyaerodyne.com they have a great demo program. but before you do anything get current on student gear and with instructors. skydiving isnt like riding a bike. especially since canopy design and skydiving in general have changed dramastically in the last 20 years The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

how many jumps do you have on pilots and what sizes, i jumped a 117 loaded at 2.3 just to see how the flight would be, put about 20 jumps on it, thing never even came close to stalling, and that is the type of loading that you would think would lead to an easily stalled canopy, you might have been jumping a pilot where someone had extremely shortened the brake lines or maybe you got one that was out of trim, but i have put nearly 500 jumps on various sized pilots and i have never had one radically stall on me, in fact i have only had one stall on me and that was my 188 that i took a wrap in the brakes on and held for a very long time to get it to do that, i will agree that trying to lump the sabre2 and the pilot in the same category is a bit misleading, they are 2 different canopies built by 2 different companies, but they are marketed to the same crowd, the newer jumper and the jumper that needs a predictable everyday all-around canopy. so they will always draw comparison. so i repeat what i said earlier, if i am in the market for a semi-elliptical i will go with the pilot first and foremost The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

i've had 2 pilots (188 and 140) and 2 sabres (210 and 170), all different sizes, i have to say that i liked the pilot better, but it kinda depends on where you are wanting to take your canopy flight. the reason i like the pilot is because it works really well at both extremes of flight, fast and slow, i used my 188 for filming CRW and at the same time learned how to swoop under that canopy, the short recovery arc was exactly what i needed to fine tune my skills with a canopy that would help me out in the corner a bit if i did something stupid. the openings on my pilots were way better than my sabre2s and way more on heading. i think that the pilot is a great canopy for novice jumpers and what i really love about them is that you can load them up a bit and really get some speed out of them. but even at 1.9 under my 140 i found that i had the ability to stay up forever in brakes or on the rears if i needed too, i was still able to film CRW with that one and at the same time take it for 200' on the landings. i can safely say that if i were looking for a semi-elliptical main right now i would only look one place and that would be the pilot. i think it is definately the best all-around canopy and being a poor college guy its got a great price tag as well The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

put the university of alabama at birmingham on the list of colleges represented cause i will be there, if i can only find out where palatka is. The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez

would love some coaching, i want to compete in the cpc next year, would love to get some input to get better. The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez