apagios

I drove down to DeLand last week to get some time under the WW84 since it's not really part of the demo program (yet?), and got 14 jumps in. I Absolutely loved it!!! Scott took my order as I was packing in between jumps! SN # 28! Waiting 10-11 weeks is only less painful cause it's so damn cold in MD now! I was flying @ 2.86 WL, and it seemed to really shine! I was floored by the range of the wing. For a wing that's trimmed steeper for XRW, you can get it pretty flat in brakes and ride back a long spot. The Full FT30 is awesome, easy stand up landings at 2.86. Harness response is PERFECT, I had thought the AW was a bit too de-tuned for my taste, the VK had a lot of harness response, but didn't feel as connected to the wing (almost twitchy), the WW just feels like an extension of myself! I've never felt so connected to a wing in such a great way! Roll response was definitely up a couple notches too from the AW, spot on, easy to flick, and easy to slow your roll and stretch out that dive. I was able to up my TMA by ~125 feet from AW and keep it in a dive longer, (270's from 825 ft @ DeLand, so basically sea level, YMMV at other altitudes & WL's). I really loved the longer roll out, so much easier to keep in a dive and adjust it with minor harness inputs than the AW was. Just a tiny bit of brakes and I was easily flocking with a buddy on a Helix @ 2.4 WL. And lastly, If you plan to use the WW for XRW, a fun tidbit: my Dekunu recorded the canopy flight as wingsuit freefall time!!

Without knowing your skill & knowledge level (or personality) personally, it's difficult to say. While looking at it from a wing loading perspective, admittedly you're not changing too much. But from a wing perspective, you are jumping from a 7-cell rectangular to a 9-cell fully elliptical. Conventional wisdom would suggest trying a Sabre2 150, then Katana 150 to work your way through the various flight characteristics of the wings prior to downsizing to a Katana 135. Admittedly, I prefer to progress faster than conventional wisdom as well, this is where I mention your personality & knowledge level. Are you the type of person to take some canopy courses and work with a canopy coach to learn the flight dynamics of a wing, before deciding "hell I do 90's on a Storm 150, I'm sure I can stab the Katana 135 out if need be"? The Storm 150 to KA135 is not so unmanageable a jump that I wouldn't expect someone who takes it slow and conservatively learns the new wing, couldn't do it safely. But self awareness of our own limitations is often a rare trait in skydivers. Taking bigger steps in your progression requires a self awareness of your own limitations and discipline to not seriously hurt yourself. It also requires honestly learning about the flight dynamics of a wing, understanding the changes from the wings you are used to, and lots of practice up high. Don't rush it and "femur it in" With that in mind; ideally you could demo or borrow a friends Sabre 2 150 (they are pretty common), and demo a Katana 150 via PD. I'd highly suggest at the very least demo a Katana 150 first, demos are pretty damn cheap for getting 2 weeks to fly the hell out of a wing! Even if you Demoed both it would only cost you $190 in demo fees to work your way through over a couple months. Spend some time on the demos doing high pulls and get as much time in the saddle as you can! Enjoy them! :-) (Demo fees << health insurance deductibles for biffing it in!) Also, I loved my Katana 120 and put 100+ jumps on it. An amazing wing to progress on, and sadly gets an undeserved bad rap for being too steep in full glide. But as a bonus for you, it makes buying used ones much cheaper! When you get under one, explore the flight range, mine got me back from some very long spots riding the rears, it's not as bad as some may say! :-)

Thanks for your thoughts! Nice to see a single jumper wing comparison with same size canopies. As wings get smaller its ever too often to read a comparison between wings with sizes that are close, but not the same. If you don't mind a follow up with a comparison of the all FT-30 AW96 and H1 AW96 when you get it, that would be awesome! Thanks! Did you buy that all black AW96 on FB? The one with the full moon? :-p

Heres a pic of me and a few oif the guys from the University of MD skydiving crew -Dave