dploi
Members-
Content
380 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never -
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
Dropzones
Gear
Articles
Fatalities
Stolen
Indoor
Help
Downloads
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Videos
Classifieds
Everything posted by dploi
-
That sounds like a great plan. For an active weekend jumper (which I assume from the 300 - 400 jumps per year), it's a good idea to have both if and when you go with a Velo. If you get uncurrent after a vacation or a stretch of bad weather, or if you just want to take it "easy" under canopy for a day, it's nice to have something a tad less demanding in your canopy quiver. Great post, Stu. That's a really great way to put it. If you fly a Stiletto, you'll undoubtedly love the Katana. Once you dial in a Katana, you'll know whether or not you are ready, able or want to move to the Velocity.
-
Yes. And the same goes for KA to VE. Or anything to anything really. The altitude loss from a 90 on a KA is about the same as a 270 on a ST. It's that different. Definitely take it easy and do a lot of high pulls as you venture into this class of canopy.
-
The Velo is a huge jump from the Stiletto on the front end. The Katana is a great inbetween. The back flies like a Stiletto, and the front gives you taste of the Velo without the same level of commitment. Stiletto to Velo can be dangerous -- the front riser diving characteristics are drastically different. The Katana is going to be a much better choice in breaking some habits you'll need to lose from 1300+ landings, mostly swoops, on a Stiletto. The Velo dive loses a good two to three times more altitude than the Stiletto and really locks in once it gets going. The Katana is maybe twice the altitude loss of the Stiletto in a dive -- maybe more depending on technique -- but an altitude misjudgement is easier to correct than the Velo. I don't what your wingloading is, but with your progression and desire to swoop, you're probably best off with a Katana that is about between where you are now and 2:1. So if you're at 1.6:1 on a 120 and you're swooping the hell out of it, put a few hundrerd jumps on a 107 loaded at 1.8. When that's dialed, you should be set to load a Velo at 2.0. In addition, if you like the way a Stiletto flies, you'll love the Katana. The Velo is supercharged speed demon that isn't quite as "playful" as the ST or KA. I think if you made the jump to Velo, you'd miss those characteristics. The KA is a good transition is this respect, as well. My two realistic cents.
-
If it's a skydiving rig and you have a D license, I'm pretty sure you can just do it without violating any laws or USPA recommendations. Make sure you aren't trespassing when you land.
-
Do you or any of your friends know Actionscript 2 really well? I was doing a contract job on top of my fulltime day job and got way too sick recently to handle both. It's a really cool, fun, well-organized project, and it pays well. Unfortunately, I'm just not healthy enough to handle the hours right now. If anyone is qualified and has some free time, please let me know ASAP. I'm asking here, because it seems like everyone who is qualified and is looking at Flash blogs is already employed and doesn't have time. Please PM me your basic online contact info (email address) and a sample or tow of your work which I may forward on to the company that is searching.
-
Ukrainian, sorry.
-
It's great to some more wings getting into the market from the "skydiving side". The GLX is nice, but $3k is too much for not an extremely noticeable performance boost over HP skydiving canopies, IMO (don't me wrong, it's been the best GL wing for awhile). With this and that Russian Aeros showing up, looks like we'll finally get to see performance go up and prices go down due to competition. :)
-
NICE! Will it not be $3,000? Please?
-
If it can go wrong...
-
I agree. If they're sticking for some reason, spray a little WD-40 on them. I'm really surprised to be hearing this. The "hinge" cutaway system is THE innovation that separated the deathtraps of the mid-20th century from the new era of wingsuits. Removing this critical safety feature is huge step backwards. Zippers fail. Tabs break off. Your shirt sleeve gets caught in the teeth. The teeth can get out of order and jam. If the suit's a bit too big or if the handle/wing is dropped, there won't be enough tension to unzip. There's a whole host of problems. This is death in the BASE environment. There is no way I'd buy a wingsuit without a cable cutaway system. I know of no suit where you can't easily reach the cable cutaways on the side. For the extra big wings, I second going with the GS1-style cutaway.
-
Because it's a PAIN IN THE ASS. It's really hard to orient yourself for flying while snowboarding. Really the most you can do is run a straight line to get the speed to launch. After that, it's pretty tricky.
-
I have favor to ask of anyone who lives in or near Tyler, TX. My girlfriend's father is in a hospice out there. His kidney and lung cancer have taken a turn for the worse and he has maybe days to weeks left to live. We live on the west coast. The American Cancer Society is paying for my girlfriend's airfare and hotel to give her a chance to see her dad one last time. The problem is that the she doesn't have a driver's license so she can't rent a car, and we don't have enough money to pay for a cab, or for me to go with her. She'll be flying into Tyler, TX some time next week, and the hospice is car ride away from there. We're weighing our options and the only thing I can think of is to ask if any of my fellow skydivers would be willing and able to give her a ride in the morning and in the evening for two days during the week next week. Like before work and after work. We'd be able to cover gas money, but that's it. If anyone out there can help, please PM me for details. It would mean the world to us. Case of beer is on me next time I'm jumping in Texas. Thanks in advance.
-
Hell yes. Good call.
-
For the category of canopy you seem to be seeking, Sabre2 can't be beat. It's probably the most well-rounded canopy on the market today.
-
Sabre 2 is a great canopy for swooping. It's performance range is huge -- you can learn to swoop on it and eventually shred the hell out of it. 1.4 is a decent loading, but I recommend you double the jump numbers you have listed in your profile before moving up to that loading. And get all the advice and coaching you can get at your home DZ. Have fun!
-
I concur. This was a well-thought out policy and is still very applicable. Even if training is getting better, the wingsuits are getting bigger and faster. No reason to reduce the jump numbers.
-
I definitely wouldn't say you need to be in the "corner". but if you start the turn a tad lower, then bring that last bit around more quickly than the first part, you get that slingshot effect. Not something to go out and try tomorrow -- it's something you have to slowly work towards.
-
I generally get the best performance with my legs straight and locked with my feet about 30" from each other and my arms at about a 40° angle from my body. I fly like this palms towards the sky (but it probably doesn't make a huge difference). Overall, I'm pretty flat. Maybe a very slight d-arch. This is for best distance. Fall rate is generally mid-70s. I get more airtime if I bring my feet about 6" closer together, slightly reduce the angle my arms are from my body, and d-arch a bit more. Think of a plain-clothes "maxtrack" position -- it's a wider version of that. I've noticed that this covers considerably less ground, but yields some impressive freefall times -- 10,000' in 100s+ consistently (high 60s). I'm 5'10" about 190 out the door (skydiving) and have about 250 PF suit jumps between sky and BASE. Your mileage may vary.
-
Don't ground launch anything you wouldn't skydive. Not yet, anyway. With
-
Tandem canopies have the right of way in all situations?
dploi replied to stevomooo's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
It's up to the DZ, but have you ever heard of a DZ that didn't give tandems the right of way? -
Tandem canopies have the right of way in all situations?
dploi replied to stevomooo's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
Don't forget about high pulls and wingsuit flights. This almost all I do, and am generally passing tandems vertically (quite a ways away horizontally) at about 3k. -
Ouch! Sucks! Double suck! Sounds like quite a day.
-
Oh my god. I'm in shock. Ouch... what an amazing human. Talented, friendly, motivated... damn... this sucks.
-
Velocity? Future? Competition Regulations?
dploi replied to CKSCUBA's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
It's not the modded canopy that makes Jay a great swooper, it's his skill in using it. -
Tandem canopies have the right of way in all situations?
dploi replied to stevomooo's topic in Swooping and Canopy Control
Add to that, if you're having difficulty navigating your HP canopy in traffic, you might need to rethink what's over your head. Or at least steer WAY clear of traffic until you're more comfortable. An HP canopy is far easier to move out of harm's way than a tandem canopy, so long as you have some clue as to how to control it.