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Thanks Bill. You saved me a lot of typing. William

Big difference in 3.1 to 1 and somewhere around 2.2 that a lot of high performance pilots fly. At my 2.4 I would land it on rear risers. William

so is that how you spell it?

Ok this is getting a little off subject but as we have been over before If you can land it with increased speed you can land it without. The canopy slows down to that speed anyway. I still think it is. They finnish with toggles but there is no reason that you could not slide it out instead. He is also talking about canopies loaded over 2 to 1. For most jumpers it is possible to have a stand up landing on rear risers. William

There are about 20 crossfires at my dz with no problems.

No matter if it is true or not, that was an awesome quote. I think I am going to e-mail that to my friends. William

Actually most tandems tend to fall kind of slow. Unless you are tall and thin with a slow fall rate, you might want to wear a baggy suit. Talk to the local camera fliers. They can give you a good idea about how fast a certain tandem will fall. William

Everyone should learn to land on rear risers. Why take the risk if you have a good canopy already out. If you practice on rear risers it isn't that hard to land. William

Ever see a teradyctal (i never won any spelling bees anyway). It was designed to be a single skin canopy and it was scary to watch. Someone at my drop zone has one and every now and then someone will get a wild hair and jump it. Not a pretty sight. William

The Marine Corps has me in a one bedroom suite at the base hotel.

That would cost me an extra 150 dollars a month. For that I think I would get my own towels and linen. William

As long as the canopy was flying good beside that I would land it. I am almost always jumping video and I would rather not cut awy if I don't have to. Both of my canopies are a FX99 at 2.4 to one so I know I am going to have to slide it out a ways on landing but I like that option better than risking an entanglement on a cutaway. If the canopy is turning even just a little bit or did not seem to be flying normally I would chop it immediately. William

One of the 160's I borrowed was a friend of mine who wheighs about 15 to 20 lbs less than me. He jumped it for over 100 jumps and he had to start his turns so low that if yu had never seen him before it would scare the crap out of you. William

Tri-s do have a short recovery arc. On a 160 I am ar about 1.5 to 1. I used to borrow one for back to back loads. On a 180 degree approach I started at about 150 ft. Looks scary but the thing just doesn't dive much. William

I vary the amount of dive in this way. I lean the oppisite way to lengthen my recovery arc. If I am a litle low I will lean in the direction of the turn and come out of it quicker. William

I think he was refering to the fact that his pics weren't mag quality, not to the capabilities of the camera.

The problem is the same as the 900. It can be fixed by changing some settings on the camera. I can' remember without looking at it. There is a guy that jumps at Louisburg, NC that jumps this camera. You might want to look him up because I know he jumps it without any problems. William

I feel sorry for you. Cherry Point sucks. Not as bad as Jacksonville but still the pits. CSS is a very good DZ. Usually jumping a CASA, sometimes multiple turbines. During the week they will usually jump an Otter or King air. He has so many planes it is rediculous. They have very nice facilities as well. Good luck. William

Used skydiving gear is like anything else. It is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Get someone who has been around a while and seems to keep up with the used gear market to help you. William

They do have a reputation for this. I believe part of it is deserved and partof it is not. The Stilletto was the first very succesful elliptical canopy here. When it first came out people did not know as much about packing an elliptical canopy and were not as critical of body position because they did not have to be on a square. A lot of people had spinning mals they had to cut away from. They don't seem to be nearly as bad today. I think this is due to an increased attention to baody position and packing techniques but the reputation still ramains. That being said I do think that some of the newer designs are a little less likely to have line twists due to improved technology, but with proper care to packing technique and body position the stilletto is not bad at all. This must be done with any elliptical canopy. So to answer you question I would have to say a little more likely. William

amn homey, do you have a brother-in-law that works there? J/K > Crossfire’s are very popular at my DZ. There was a demo 149,129,and 109 there. I own a 119 (but I don't jump it anymore as I have two FX99's) and the others were borrowed canopies just so I could jump that size as well. I liked them all. I would probably still be jumping crossfire’s except I got unbelievable deals on these FX's. William

The square is usually 150 to 175 ft wide. 175 ft will make the distance from corner to corner about 247 ft. # feet is about the right depth. Deep enough to give some coushin but shallow enough so when your feet sink in the bottom your head is still above water. William

To be exact I have jumped a 149,139,129,119,109,and a 99. William

Ok every standard size. Thanks for the knit pic. William

E-mail Jim Slanton. He has put a lot of thought into this and has been around a lot of swoop ponds. I emailed him to talk about a number of things concerning them and he emailed me back a lot of good info.