hudsonderek

when buying a used ZP canopy how many jumps is too many? I've heard line sets should be replaced after about 500 jumps and there are a lot of great deals for ZP canopies that have more than a 1000 jumps, why the sudden devaluing after 1000 jumps? if the line sets are recently new do these canopies not perform near what they did new? are they beginning to be unsafe at this point?

what would cause the collapse? this thing stays more pressurized than sabres and sillouhettes i've flown. appreciate the advice, but I spent real money on this thing and plan on getting my moneys worth out of it, especially considering that everything else I've read on this canopy doesn't suggest that a "collapse" is an issue. they had fluttering issues when doing front riser turns, but those were on a specific set of serial numbers and my serial number doesn't coincide with those Icarus recalled. Basically I want to know if the plan form for the 1 and 2 are the same, or if the 2 actually modified the canopy itself. I'd like to get lighter front riser pressure out of my xfire and x-fire 2 like performance, but if the plan form is different and the differences aren't just line trim, then I'll just jump this thing till I'm ready to downsize then demo a smaller x'fire 2.

I really like Icarus canopies I like really soft consistent openings and they give me that. avoid brand new mains (packings a bitch) and if you buy a canopy with over 500 jumps on it, make sure it's had a new line set on it recently or at least all the lines are within spec. Containers aren't a bad thing to buy new if you've got the cash. buy one that's sized for a canopy size smaller than the one you want, so you can squeeze the canopy size you like flying now in there and eventually downsize without having to buy a new container (if you foresee downsizing in the future). If you think you'll eventually start trying to free fly, make sure the containers free fly friendly. buy gear you can eventually grow into, but safely use now. there are a lot of beginner rigs out there for a cheap price, but that's all they are are beginner rigs and if you jump avidly in a years time you'll be wanting something more. I highly suggest an AAD (some DZ's require them) and if you go with those, Cypress 1 or 2 or vigils have good track records SSK industries, inc. (services Cypress AAD's in the us) has a calculator on their website to calculate the value of cypress AAD's. Look around on the classifieds here, then if you see a rig you want, do some research on it's components by looking at the gear section, post questions, etc.. Generally, complete rigs will be cheaper, and if you look around long enough, you're dream rig will become available. Good luck with your gear search, and of course you'll feel kind of guilty when you shell out the cash to get it, but all that melts away when you see that canopy open on your first jump on your OWN GEAR! blue skies

so is there anyway i can get it relined to have lighter front riser pressure, or will I get an instability if I do?

I've heard the only difference between a crossfire 1 and crossfire 2 is line trim, is there truth to this?

people learn through doing, if I didn't let students try and mess up then they'd never learn. instructors are just there mostly to make sure the students don't mess up to the point they hurt themselves and damage the plane, past that you have to be willing to take the huge bounces almost off the runway landings with a smile and "well that was good, but next time lets try doing this". diver driver, you speak to my heart, times were different "back then" aviations gone downhill in recent years, I remember when I could rent a J-3 cub for $45 an hour 10 years ago, now, mostly because of insurance it's nearly impossible to rent that same plane (if you can even find one) for anything less than $100 an hour. Flyings gotten more pricey (not following normal inflation) and restrictive recently (post 9/11) and then the FAA wonders why GA is a dieing industry. lets hope LSA takes off and succeeds. but I digress. I'm a low time pilot, with no incidents or accidents (my day shall come, I'm sure) that just gets a little frustrated when my total hours is the only limitation preventing me from flying positions. experience is great and definately builds to your skills, but what do you say when airliners take off from the wrong runway (Comair Flight 5191, check your mag compass dude) and kills everyone on board, I bet they had thousands of hours and Insurance companies have to dish out tons when shit like that happens, basically what I suppose it comes down to is that people need to stop fucking up and making preventable mistakes and our economy needs to be stronger so insurance companies can make more from investments rather than focusing on premiums as their sole means of income. Unfortunately we're all humans and I doubt neither of those things will happen, so I guess it's 1000 hours and networking for me.

I'm an instructor as well guys, flying jumpers is a way easier job. I have about three close calls a day with students where as I had none with my 100 hours of C-182 jump pilot time. perhaps I was lucky. Plus, otters are much less complicated to fly than per se, a Seminole, or Seneca... no shock cooling issues, cowl flaps etc. if jumpers having a container open on exit is an issue, that's not my fault as a pilot, it's yours as a jumper that doesn't do good gear checks and why should the liability fall back on me as a pilot and not you guys as jumpers? (by the way I jump as well and don't have the usual jumper pilot, who doesn't jump, disdain for jumpers). insurance companies basically blow, but hey, they've got to be filthy rich, so why not charge outrageous amounts and have ridiculous requirements because of the few that make mistakes and have accidents?

hey everyone, This post is to share my frustration with insurance companies. I'm a low time pilot (500 hours) with about 100 hours jump pilot time (c-182). I'd like to get into flying divers out of a king air, otter, or other multi turbine, but most DZ's require a minimum of 1000 hours with some multi turbine time. I've heard of some regionals hiring with less time! this seems bogus to me, I could fly around passengers without parachutes in IMC conditions at around 800 hours, but I don't have enough hours to meet most DZ's insurance policies? and please explain to me how someone can build twin turbine time without morgaging their house? I know aviations a game of "who you know" but it seems ironic when jump pilot positions don't pay that well, yet the requirements are higher than better paying flying jobs. can anyone explain?

I'm thinking toggles don't produce any praticle lift (at least in the manner we use them on canopies) and are moreover drag devices, I believe we're producing more parasitic form drag than we are induced drag. When the canopy slows we swing out because of our momentum, and hence change the AOA of the main canopy. our mean camber line then extends from the nose of the canopy to where the tail material begins to bend. how can, in turns, the toggle and tail material be a drag device, and in flaring a lift enhancing one? I agree that with very little toggle pressure, you are increasing lift, but as I said in the manner we use them on landing we are deflecting them to the point where they are creating more form drag than anything else. am I totally off here?

I was reading the article in response to Brian Germains "no wind landing" article. in it Scott miller describes the toggles as a lift enhancing device, this makes sense because when you flare, you decrease your rate of decent. why then, when I want to turn do I deflect the toggle on the side I want to turn? ailerons on an airplane don't work this way, when the aileron on the wing is deflected downwards it produces more lift on that side, and hence a turn in the OPOSITE direction from the down aileron is created. could we look at the toggles instead, as a drag enhancing device? The critical angle of attack for most airfoils is about 18 degrees. air just can't be bent more than that, next time you pull a toggle look at your tail material (if you can estimate angles from I bet it's bending more than 18 degrees from the rest of your canopy. to explain landings could we say that we create drag pulling the canopy back, with the toggles and, because we are suspended from the canopy like a pendulum, we swing out and inturn change the angle of attack from that? (sort of like pulling on the rear risers) does this make sense? any comments?

why does Icarus not recommend psycho packing the crossfire 2 but recommends it for the Saffire 2? does this hold true for crossfire 1s or might they suggest psycho packing for the 1's? and is the primary difference between the crossfire 1 and 2 line trim? appreciate any input

don't be such a pervert

and check out the freeflyer...

oops, didn't attach correctly. here. edited to add: NSFW (sorry Billy, hope we didn't cause you any trouble ;) )

and here's what I made.... it took Supergirl about 25 minutes It took me about... 10?

wondering what people have to say about the icarus safire? anyone out there flying it with a 1.3 loading? I've heard it has nice openings, and predictable handling qualities, is this true?