MagicGuy

Forget the skydiver children, I want one! Happy, Bolas?!

Chris.. Do it! Ok, so a 120 is still a small canopy, but the difference between that and your 105 is HUGE!!! Consider it, man.

I try to watch it whenever I can. Both Grant Wilson (co-founder of TAPS) and Dave Tango are personal friends of mine. I've always had a huge interest in the paranormal. I've never really had an experience but absolutely believe in ghosts. Some of the stuff that both Grant and Dave have told me about, combined with a lot of the stuff I've read about convinces me that there is definitely some freaky shit out there!

Ya know, I've never seen a tiny Infinity before. They are all really LONG, regardless of the canopy size. Anyone have a picture of an Infinity with sub-100 main and reserve? Preferably next to something else for size comparison? Just curious to see a really small Infinity.

I've been jumping a Pilot 150, 1.1 WL for the past 250 some odd jumps. The canopy I jumped previous to the Pilot was a Sabre2 150. The Pilot is THE sweetest opening canopy I have ever jumped. Sabres (original and 2's), Triathlons, Hornets, Spectres, Navigators, Safire2.. these are all canopies that I've flown previously to the Pilot. None of them compare to the soft, snively openings of the Pilot. Sure, the openings aren't always on heading, but pretty damn close. Pilots have a really nice flat glide, which makes it nice when you have a long spot. Sure, doesn't mean that you are always going to make it back, but it makes things a whole lot easier. And as for landing off - I've had to do it 3 times and have had no issues sinking it into small areas. For those looking for a really responsive canopy, the Pilot has those characteristics as well. The turns are the fastest I've experienced. My Pilot is a 150, and it turns faster than 120s that I've jumped. Doesn't add much to the practical flight characteristics, but does make it a lot of fun to fly for those toggle turn, spiraling junkies out there. One other added note is that for beginners or newbie packers out there, the color coded line attachment tabs make pro packing a very easy task. I use mine all the time when teaching people how to pack - it's a great visual aid. My only gripe about the canopy, and it will only relate to swoopers, is that the recovery arc on the Pilot is ridiculously quick. It's actually a benefit to those people who aren't going to swoop. The canopy recovers from an input almost immediately. That does NOT mean that you can't swoop them! I don't care what anyone says. I've gotten 200+ foot swoops on the 150 and my WL is a measely 1.1. It just looks scary to anyone watching because you have to hold the front risers until you're at 20 feet! A really crazy sight picture, that's for sure. Overall, I'd recommend this canopy any time. The quality is great, the openings are the best, and it's a blast to fly even at beginner WLs. And Aerodyne has pretty good customer service, so I've heard (haven't had to call them yet.)

I agree with what's been said. I like to be pulling at 4. Pulling at 3 is OK and all, but like you my current canopy snivels (Pilot) and I like the extra time to deal with shit if I need to. And in the cold, I always bump it up for the same reason. Only time I'll pull at 3 is usually on a 3 grand hop n pop.

I don't think you were wrong. I have done similar things that you did. I've also asked before I fixed something, and said something while I was fixing it just to let them know what I was doing. While of course it's great to ask before touching the gear, sometimes when it's right before they leave or in your case, while on jumprun, you don't have time to ask them first. I'd feel better knowing that even though they got pissed, you could've potentially prevented something bad from happening. Sucks that he doesn't appreciate it, but oh well.. he's probably just a dick. Great job on catching it.. and lots of kudos to you for looking out for your friends.

Damn you, Howard! Ha, just kidding.

Hahahaha!!! Oh man.. that's great. It worked. Thanks a bunch. I've used this same technique on my iPod and laptop with great results.

Hey guys.. I've been having some issues with my PC9. After letting my buddy borrow it for a day (Yo PJizzle!) the camera started acting up. As soon as I put a tape in it it starts beeping at me, showing the eject sign, and giving me a signal C:31:22. I've tried different tapes, tried taking the battery in and out.. nothing. Any suggestions? The camera has been very well taken care of, never dropped or anything, and doesn't appear to be dirty on the inside. I don't want to get rid of my camera! I love her.. Thanks guys.

The truth is, I don't think Chris can give you an answer to this question. In fact, I don't think he can give you 3 good reasons why he needs to be jumping a 105. 1.) "I want a better flare" -Bullshit, and a terrible reason. That's the only reason I've seen so far. I'm sorry but if you can't get a good flare out of any modern day canopy, 7 or 9 cell, than you need more training and have no business of even day dreaming about being on a 105. Chris, you say that you aren't practicing swooping and use this as a reason of why you are 'safer'. The lines on a 105 sq/ft canopy are SHORT. Short lines = steeper dives and more altitude lost in a turn. You DO NOT have to be pulling on your risers to hurt yourself. Coming straight in means jack when it comes to the possibility of getting hurt. Chris, until you can give legitimate reasons for your choice in jumping this size, AND SHAPE, of canopy.. I'd like a picture of you so I know never to get on the same aircraft. After the multitude of great advice that people who have been in the sport for years and have more experience than most skydivers, and your continuing effort to neglect their advice and remain a stubborn skydiver putting not only yourself but other people at risk.. ahh, whatever. Looking forward to the time where I can say "I told ya so!" Hopefully it's not a reply to your death report..

Chris.. Honestly dude, I would quit while you're ahead. I see a lot of bad things in some of your original posts. Your reasons for downsizing (wanting a better flare.. what??!!) and the way you are saying that people that are actually setting up their patterns, wanting to be at a certain spot at a pre-designated altitude etc is not necessarily "good", and even more shocking, that you don't know how they do it? Dude, all of those things should be reasons why you should NOT BE DOWNSIZING!! Let me give you some of my background info, because size-wise, you and I are fairly similar. I'm a light guy.. 130-135 pounds before gear. That puts me at about 150-155 pounds with my gear on. I started jumping last July and in he past year and a half I have accumulated close to 400 jumps. I have taken both Scott Miller canopy classes, a Skydive U coach class (which really has nothing to do with canopy coaching, just throwing that out there), and consider myself to be pretty freakin' current. Actually, at my dropzone I had the 2nd highest fun jump numbers of anyone this year.. and we are a pretty big dropzone. I lost by 2 jumps. The first rig I got had a Triathlon 160 in it, which I was jumping before I had an A License.. 25 jumps or so. I was loading it at less than 1:1 at the time and even then.. the master rigger and S&TA were slightly hesitant to let me jump it. In AFF.. I stood up every single landing, and to this day I have only had 2 non stand up landings, one due to low altitude turbulence and the other, my personal mistake doing low corrections during an accuracy contest (which I ended up placing 3rd in). Why am I posting all of this? Because like you, I'm a small guy. If I were going at your recommendations for canopies, taking my jump numbers and size into consideration, I'd be on some sub-100 canopy. You know what I'm jumping now? A Pilot 150. When I wear my 10 pounds of lead, I am a little over 1:1 on this canopy. You know why I'm jumping this canopy, even though at my skill level (which some people like you would call me a fast learner, 'natural', whatever you say..)? Because I want to be able to know every input of this canopy, be able to land it in any wind condition, and be able to land off. I've been working on hook turns for the past 150 jumps. The biggest turns I've done are about 120 degree front riser turns. Ask anyone that swoops or is learning.. a Pilot is a hard canopy to swoop. The margin for error as far as timing goes is very small due to the fact that the recovery arc is so short. Take my low WL into effect and it becomes nearly impossible to get a decent swoop. Doing 90 degree front riser turns, I've gone 200+ feet on my Pilot 150. Go figure.. You know what's good about my Pilot for swooping, though? It's forgiving, and if I fuck up, I have a lesser chance of getting hurt because I can dig out of a low turn. I am confident in myself now, and feel that I can comfortable downsize and stay safe. I've also gotten the same advice from extremely experienced canopy pilots. I thought before that I was ready, and heard from other people that I was ready. But guess what.. the 3 times I have landed off, I was damn glad that I had my 150 and not the 120 that I will go to. You say that you do not want to swoop. Guess what? You don't have to be trying to swoop to hurt or kill yourself. Cobalts, as you know, are fully elliptical. That means that they lose more altitude in a turn. Do a low turn, with toggles, and you could get hurt badly. Ellipticals are also more prone to spin up due to bad body position. I don't get line twists very much, but earlier on I had some pretty bad line twists on my Pilot. 1 or 2 times I was even close to chopping. Had I been on an elliptical, I would've been searching for that canopy afterwards and sitting down for the rest of the day waiting for my reserve to be re-packed. Bottom line is.. just because you don't weigh much doesn't make it right or safe to be on a small canopy. A 105 dude? I am actually extremely surprised that you are even allowed to jump that thing, regardless of skill level or size. That is a high performance canopy in every regard, and one that noone with 130 jumps should be on, period. Don't take my post wrong. I used to have a similar opinion to yours. Why do these 100 jump guys have 170s and they weigh 100 more pounds than me? Well, a 170 is a whole different animal than a 150 or a 135, nevermind a 105. And like people have said, if you can't get a good flare on ANY modern canopy that's a 135.. than you should be on a 150, not a 105. Good luck, man. But if I can give you one piece of advice in this whole thread, open up your ears and listen. You will get a whole lot more respect from people and will increase your chances of being in this sport for a lot longer.

Nope, but it does tell me that a reserve smaller than my main by 20 sq. feet is probably not the best time for a downsize. Come on now, didn't your parents teach you to keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything nice to say? I followed the rules when I decided to strap a camera to my head, but thank you very much for making assumptions.

I actually think it was firewire.. wasn't my cable. Howard help me out here He did the same thing with his PC1000 and it was fine so I think it was firewire.

So I found out this weekend that my camera, a PC9, will not allow me to transfer footage from the mini dvs to my iBook. I think something is wrong with the USB port. The computer recognizes the camera but for some reason can't trasnfer anything over, either to iMovie or Final Cut Pro. I was wondering if there is another way to do this. Is there a device to connect to my computer that holds the mini dvs and can directly transfer? Or any other ways to do it besides putting the tape in someone else's camera?

I have Aerodyne risers on my Wings currently, only after calling Aerodyne and asking them about it. They told me that they were tested on rigs made in the US and all of them were approved. She said that only a couple European rigs didn't work due to the size of the main (largest) ring.

The 30 minutes in the tunnel is worth a few hundred bucks itself. I live in RI and I drove to CPI over the winter, just about every weekend, to make jumps and stay current. It was cold, it was a long drive, but it was a blast!

Thanks, guys. It's been a while since I jumped the Sabre2. I'll have to give it another try. And yes, definitely will give the Safire a try as well.

So are you saying that it's the canopy or the WL that will make the difference? I didn't notice much of a difference between the recovery arc of a Sabre 2 versus the Pilot. I have heard that the Safire 2 has a longer recovery arc. That might be a good option. Thanks!

After taking both the beginner and advanced Scott Miller canopy courses and doing high pulls on 1 out of 3 jumps, I've recently started to learn how to swoop. I had been coming in on double front risers for maybe.. 30 or so jumps and a couple weekends ago I switched over to doing 90 degree front riser turns onto final. The difference between coming in on double fronts and coming in with a 90 degree front riser turn is drastically different and the results I have been getting are pretty sweet. I'm doing my turn fairly high.. about 250 feet, and coming out of the turn on double fronts to keep my speed and heading. I've been jumping a Pilot 150, loaded right at 1:1. Previously I had jumped a Sabre 150, Sabre2 150, and my other rig has a Triathlon 160 (ewww). I also have a Hornet 135 that I've only jumped 4 times due to needing new brake lines, and some folks not agreeing with me being on a 135 (WL, 1.1:1) I'm having fun with the Pilot 150, but there are some things that I really don't like about it as well. The recovery arc on the Pilot is almost instanteous. As soon as I let up on the front risers, I'm planing out. The first half of my flare is basically letting up on the fronts. This isn't the most ideal situation.. I feel like I'm in the corner every time I come in, but in order to get any kind of a swoop, I have to hold the fronts until I'm pretty low. The fact that I load the Pilot at 1:1 is also something that isn't very ideal for me. I've been doing so many high pulls lately, really trying to squeeze what I can out of this thing. In order to keep up with my buddies, they have to be in pretty deep brakes, and I have to be on my front risers a LOT. About a month ago a friend and myself got a bit complacent.. we were bumping end cells and flying relative and we realized we were a good distance away from the DZ. We were at 7 grand. We both turned back towards the dz, he immediately started heading back but I was basically coming straight down. There was a decent headwind, and even though I had my chest strap loosened all the way and was on my rear risers to try and keep a clean airfoil and a flat glide, I didn't move until about 2,000 feet. He's on a Katana loaded at probably.. 1.6ish. Of course he's going to get a better penetration than myself. I'm not looking to drastically load a canopy, but I also want to have a clear mind knowing that I'll have an easier time getting back from a long spot when I have a headwind. The light wingloading is also holding me back from getting any kind of swoop even if there is a little bit of wind. I get the best swoops early in the day and later in the day when the wind dies down. It's basically meaningless for me to come in with a 90 when there's any wind because I don't get anything out of it. However, I keep my turn and set up the same for consistency purposes. Canopy flight has become my main focus in skydiving. I've gotten to the point where I want to go up and pull high on every jump, or if I am in a formation or something, I want to break off higher so I have more time to fly my canopy. I know that there are many opinions on what kind of progress one should have with canopies. I'm just looking for a broad range of suggestions on what I can do to maximize my swoop under the current circumstances, and what would be a good choice for a next canopy so I can continue my progression, both safely and effectively. I'd love to get a Crossfire 2 or a Katana, but I'm also not looking to load a canopy at 1.4 or higher, which is what both manufacturers recommend as a minimum WL on these canopies. Thanks guys..

Doug, next time your at Jumptown ask Brian G to check out his box. He's got a Mindwarp with a top mounted PC109. He's got the Cookie box for his, and it is slick. Very form fitting to the camera and a very smooth box, eliminating lots of snag. He's got the Liquid Lens to go with it and it's a sweet combination. The Bonehead boxes I've seen all look like crap. Huge hinges and lots of edges. Yay Doug is gonna have his camera set-up!

It's funny that the people at your DZ said you should've chopped. I've seen other people in the same situation come on here, that DID chop, and said that everyone at their DZ said they should've landed on rears. Landing on rears isn't a bad thing to have done. It may be something you have to do one day. Maybe at your jump numbers most people would say chop it, but you did what you did and landed safe. Good job on dealing with it.

Man, I know the feeling. There is one person in particular at my DZ that refuses to listen. He's got the attitude that he's been around for so long so he knows what he's doing, and it's everyone elses fault when he fucks up. He sachets (s-turns) on final on nearly every jump. Likes to hang out in brakes, fucking up the people behind him so he can hit the peas. He's cut me off, on final, at least 3 times. Last time he had the nerve to say to me "We don't want to be that close under canopy again" where I replied "Than stay away! You were a thousand feet above me and I STILL spiraled to get the hell away from you". Oh, he's also pulled about 20 feet away from me. I purposely wanted him to leave the plane before me (he is a heavy guy and was jumping with other big guys) because I assumed he would fall fast and whatnot. He insisted on leaving after my group because he was pulling higher. I'm under canopy, doing my controlability check, I look over and I literally see him grab his pilot chute and throw it. Not cool. If I had pulled 2 seconds earlier he would've been freefalling through my canopy. I get to the ground and ask him why he did that. He said "You guys gotta give us more time in the door" WHAT?!? You left after us, DUMBASS! Ahhh. So much emphasis on the high performance stuff when basic pattern rules are still being broken.

210 exit weight on a 150 is a 1.4 WL - that's loading it pretty highly for being at 31 jumps. Even the 170 is a 1.23 WL - pretty high wingloading for your jump numbers. Be careful, and if you're going to jump the 170, stay on it for a while. A 150 is a LOT different than a 170. It's technically considered a high performance canopy, and with your wingloading, it's going to haul serious ass.

Well, maybe not. 1001 jumps, Dave? I already smell the Reddi-Whip..