pinkfairy

Have a look below the WL chart, there is a link to a PDF about "Wing Loading Interpretations" that clarifies what they mean. As for max weight: If you surpass the max weight or WL, the canopy will no longer have the flight characteristics that the manufacturer intended. I know someone who tried overloading an Aerodyne Mamba. Not a good idea, it would sink through too much and the landings were bad too. I think PDs Wingload charts are pretty good if read with the above mentioned document in mind. Over here, there are wing load limits set by the national parachute association, and people treat them as recommendations, not limits, as in "I HAVE to get the smallest possible canopy!". According to them, I should run out and buy an elliptical 86 sqr ft canopy. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I stow the whole toggle in the landing area, but I do the excess steering line in the packing area. It's the best way to avoid twisted steering lines. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

0:0:0 Damn. Just CX skiing. It's not the same. The oly jump plane within reasonable distance had an incident and got damaged by a tree on the finale on a non powered landing. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I think the freeflyers are easy to recognize by their suits. Or what about looking for a DZ that has freefly organizing? Paying for coached jumps? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Or Pinkfairy, who's doing the same. If you're not comfortable landing your canopy with the extra weight required for your dicipline of choice, then you've got a too small canopy. Weights are required for lightweights like us if we want to do FS. Sorry, that's the truth. I met VanillaSkygirl this fall, and she was jumping a Spectre 150 at the time, looks from her profile like she still is. It's not an exciting canopy, not a fun swooping instrument, but it did it's job. I have a new Pilot 111 now, but I jumped my 100 first jumps on a 150 (Sabre and Silhouette), then downsized to a Pilot 132, then to a 124. My local dealer told me I NEEDED a 132 @ 50 jumps when I was ordering my new gear, thankfully I made decisions myself and chose what I felt comfortable with at the time, not what everyone else told me I needed. I'm not saying that you can't land your Sabre2 135 with weights, you'd probably be fine, but at this stage, the canopy is for getting you safely to the ground (well, mine is still for that, nothing else), and you should feel good about it. If you don't, then that's a pretty good indication that it's too small. Remember, you are the one landing it, and it's supposed to be for fun. Tunnel, like someone else here suggested, is also a good idea, because you'll learn to fall fast while staying in one place instead of backsliding. Other than that? get jumping! get experience in flying your canopy, learn to land it well, and you won't worry so much about weights. Blues!

It's COLD here. Brrrrrr! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Remember "The Matrix"? "It has everything the body needs" "It does NOT have everything the body needs!" I think most people would have problems eating the same thing every day, even if it did have all the nutrients the body needs. We have evolved to avoid malnutrition by eating varied food. They made some peanut butter like stuff that they gave to starving children in Africa. It made them put weight back on fast, and was safe because it didn't have to be mixed with water that might be contaminadet. Tough luck if they had peanut allergy, though, I don't know how they dealt with that. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

We buy beer. It is usually the jumper or the packers fault. Not everybody has one during their skydive career. Buying 24 beers and sharing them with your fellow jumpers is the same as celebrating, right?

Hey you didn't fail the canopy part! You even enjoyed it! A jump with good freefall isn't such a good jump after all if you end up in a tree. Everybody here will tell you to talk to your instructor who has seen you jump. We can't really say anything. Has your instructor told you you should quit? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

You find gear reviews here under the "gear" tab. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

That's simply not true, Aerodyne makes great quality stuff, both harness/container systems and canopies. No, I don't work for Aerodyne, but have been very happy with my Aerodyne gear so far. The Pilot and the Sabre2 are both lightly elliptical 9-cells that can be suitable for beginners and experienced jumpers depending on wingloading, but they open, fly and land quite differently, and some like the Sabre2 and others like the Pilot. My local dealer likes Sabre2, Crossfire, Katana and Velocity, so that's what he sells, and when Sabre2 is owned by many beginners, it gets recommended by the beginners who haven't flown anything else, then Sabre2 is what we mostly see over here (in Norway). Some people are going to like the Pilot and others the Sabre2, I LOVE my Pilots and don't understand why everyone doesn't get them. See if you can try both so you can decide what you like, but at your experience level and wingload, I'd say you'd be happy with any of them. They are both good canopies. The main differences are that the Sabre2 is better if you want to learn front riser hooks, and the Pilot has better openings, so they suit different types of jumpers, but both have good openings and both can be hooked. I hope this was helpful, now go and order yourself an appropriately sized ZPX Pilot, jump it and have fun. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

FYI, Boobs don't really look like that Good to know if you ever come by some real ones... And I think these girls are WAY hotter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hCZdAo-6Pg

Cosmo Magazine? Damn, I read one of those recently after not having read them for ten years. Scary stuff. "All your clothes are ugly, you are fat and you're not good enough in bed!" I like thongs, BTW.

I used to own a Silhouette 150 and put 100 jumps on it, and I have flown Pilots 132 and 124 for my last 200 jumps. I can't compare the canopies directly, as I haven't flown the same sizes of them, but I love my Pilots, and the Silhouette is also a great canopy. They both have very good, comfortable on heading openings, you don't have to think too much about the opening, it wants to go forward and straight, which is really useful when you do formations. The Pilot has a slightly longer snivel than the Silhouette, I prefer the Pilot openings. They are both rigged very flatly, they are easy to fly in from long spots, and they hardly sink through in flat turns. They are both easy to land, the flare is easy to figure out, but I can't really compare them, my Pilot landings have been much better than my Silhouette landings, but that's probably because of experience and wingloading. I think you'd be happy with any of those canopies.

Well, the new problems with the new computer system I implemented before the holidays are really starting to show. Good thing I only set up 80 PCs with it, then I fell down and injured my ankle today on my way to work. Yes, on flat ground, it got all swollen and painful, I had to limp to the office. Voltaren saved my day. I just found out why you don't put whole eggs in the microwave oven. Pretty interesting. On the positive side: Payday today and well deserved chicken wings. Good luck quitting smoking! Remember, your body doesn't need cigarettes. It needs food, sleep and freefall Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

5 F here in Norway. I'm built for the 100s, that's when I'm happy. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Damn. This means more expensive insurance coverage for my rig, but I'd have a REAL problem if rig is lost on the way to the 100-way. Maybe I'll stick to Europe in the future, then. Wasn't the bomb in his underpants and not in his hand luggage? What about banning underpants? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Driver's licence and a brand new costum embroidered Aerodyne Icon I1, the rig was really for my birthday, but I received it closer to christmas. Oh, and I had to buy those two things myself, as no one else would. I got a bottle of wine from my parents. I'll just give it to someone else, as I don't drink right now. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Hi! I just put the rig in a gear bag and carry it on my back. I remove my hook knife just to be on the safe side. I would NEVER EVER tie anything around my reserve handle. People have jumped rigs with the reserve handle held in place with a plastic strap. I want my rig to be ready to jump when I arrive. And the reserve handle will stay in place if the rig is in a gear bag. The gear bag would hold the reserve. I would probably NOT be able to resist the temptation to fire the big, spring loaded reserve PC directly in the face of someone if they HAD to open it. The reserve PC has two purposes: save your life, and give someone a nose bleed. I've travelled to Spain and the US several times with my rig, I've never had any problems with it. I dress decently, I smile and I'm friendly, I answer any questions the people in the security check might have. Skydiving rigs, even with AADs don't really look that suspicious: It looks like a lot of compressed fabric, some metal and some electronics, if you explain them what it is, they are usually happy. I'm from Norway, BTW.

Bear with him, "Shah269" broke a leg in a bad landing on jump #7, and unlike the OP in this thread is not done with skydiving. The question is relevant, and he's learning from the answers. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Wow. I have 350 jumps and don't have that wingload or planform... Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Damn. Good thing my 111 packs like a 99, then. I'm looking forward to use this trick to ground you. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Got it today at work.

Small is feminine. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I LIKE hot. I think I'm built for 100 and above. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?