yarik

Thank you very much guys, I really value your comments! Although none really answered my post. I do not argue and know that I still can get more out of this canopy (and definitely will put more jumps on it before my next canopy gets delivered), but should I stick with this one for another year? Where should I stop? You can put hundreds of jumps on a student canopy with 0.75 loading and still learn how to get better control out of it, try learning front riser approaches, 90, 180, 360 turns - I believe it will swoop! Will it make sense? Where is the trick? I can continue jumping my current heatwave but I would rather go a bit lower and learn more effectively at 1.35 - 1.4 and definitely stick with it for longer than a 100 jumps and if I were jumping at 1.7 (as AggieDave) I would not change my canopy after 100 jumps as well. I appreciate your advises, but I'd leave the question "to downsize or not" to my instructors here who can judge personally knowing my experience. If anyone has anything to say about Safire/Heatwave - I would really appreciate it. Thanks to all again! Blue Skies!

Time has come to downsize :) Currently jumping Heatwave 150 at 1.23 loading I put 100 jumps on it this summer and now want to go to the next point around 1.35 - 1.4 and looking into second hand market. I love the way Heatwave flies and during all 100 learned a lot of front riser approaches and now feel quite confident in 90 deg. turns. Had to land it crosswind and tried it's landing in brakes (accuracy stile) and it's really predictable and wide range canopy at that loading. My first thought was Heatwave 135 which would give me 1.37 wing load, but resently found an attractive offer on Safire-129 (not Safire-2) and now I'm in doubt. Safire will give me wing loading 1.43, which is higher than on Hw-135, plus I heared that on Safire-1 the real area of the canopy is somewhat smaller form the nuber given, but at the same time as I understood from the reviews Safire is more forgiving canopy. At the same time Heatwave assumes higher performance and I really adore FLYING the canopy and learn to swoop (as much as it's possible at 1.23) don't want to sacrifice flying capabilities to extra forgivness (I'm consious about this :). Except flying I also take into consideration that Safire must have better performance due to it's different from HW ZP material, or it's not true? Please help! Another option would be a Stiletto, but price is much higher on the same age canopies which is a big minus in my case, or maybe older Stiletto will serve as good as newer Heatwave? If anyone could share the experience: what may I gain with one and loose with the oter - I would really appreciate. Blue Skies!

Guys, thank you very much. I already followed some directions you gave me and printed out the article of Jerry Sobieski. So far it looks just like something I was looking for. Later will check other sources. Thanks again! Safe and long swoops to all !!!

Guys, anyone knows where I can find source of information on aerodynamics of ram-air parachutes? Some time ago I studied a lot of aerodynamics of jet planes which I flew and loved the subject. Now I'm in skydiving and feel a need to learn some theory of ram air flying. Would appreciate any reply.

I've got an offer on Factory Diver with fixed lens. Actually I think it's a good head gear, but fixed lens makes me doubt. Is it comfortable when you under the canopy and can't flip the visor up? Anybody has experience on using it? Please advise.

Thank you guys for your thoughts. The thing is I live in Ukraine, and most of jumpers here use russian made canopies wich are presented in only 2 models with the same area, so even experienced ones don't know much of how is better to choose. May be someone knows an accuracy jumper to refer me to? Blue Skies!

I'm looking for an accuracy canopy, and was thinking of parafoils, but there is a line of models different from 232 to 308 sq.ft. My "empty" weight is 145 and I think the best model would be 252, but choosing used one not olways have that option. What possible problem I can run into if I jump with 282? I read a lot about overload of high performance canopies, but nothing about underload of an accuracy one. Any thoughts?

Hi Sangrio! When registering for the site I could not find my country-region. This is Ukraine (Eastern Europe). To register I had to choose one from the list and as country the nearest was Russia what could be considered close (Ukraine is a part of former SU), but region - Asia - not even close. Could you please add Ukraine (it's now independend country for 10 years), so it will be geographically correct. Thanks in advance Blue skies!

Hey guys, thank you all! This was my first question at dropzone and I'm happy to here you answers! Soft Landings!

------ to slotperfect ------ This is a Clipper 196, made in 1985 (found in auction at this site :)

I'm a new at dropzone.com. Was pleased to join your community and find lots of usefull info on site, but a little drawback made me a bit upset. There is no Ukraine in the list of countries. To register, I chose the closest Russia/Asia, but geographically this isn't "even close" to where I am. Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe (Western border of former SU). Thanks in advance. Yarik

Thanks for the note guys, by "safety" in this case I define - no torn lines or risers or even canopy on openings. Does age affect the fabrique of the canopy if it's unused? All low hook turns and other - human related mishaps, I ask only about the gear.

Is it worth to buy 16 year old canopy, that has never been jumped? Question is not about performance, but about the safety. Will it be safe to jump such an old gear even if it was stored properly?