pilot-one

Does your gun fit? A custom stock doesn't mean it fits you. My guess is your head it too low on the stock and you are shooting under the target. The reason you don't miss on the high house is because you are picking your head up off the gun. This is typical for beginner shooters. Are you shooting appropriate to you dominate eye? Also some people have a shifting dominate and require something to partially block the vision of one eye. I have been a skeet coach for many years and shot competitive skeet since 1999. These two things are the most prevalent problems with new shooters including those that have hunted their whole life. When you say trap I am guessing you mean skeet from your description of the low house as opposed to a high house? There are three things in addition to a gun that shoots where you point it (you don't aim a shot gun). Those three things are keep your head on the gun (down on the stock tight), keep your eye on the target (do not look at the barrel, most people have a hard time keeping their eye off the barrel. You MUST watch the bird until it breaks), and keep the gun moving (follow through after you pull the trigger). Of course you have to have the proper lead on the target too. Hold points are very important too. Your hold point should be about 1/3 the distance from the house to the place you are going to pull the trigger. What stations are you talking about that you have a problem? On most stations on the low house you should be holding a bit below the door, so the target isn't blocked by the barrel, and your eyes should be looking a few feet out from the door. Your look point being out a few feet utilizes your peripheral vision which is much quicker in picking up moving objects. Of course station 7 is completely different. You should have a rhythmic cadence. In other words every station should be the same.....PULL......BANG. PULL......BANG Skeet shooting is 90% in your head not 50% as mentioned above and every shot should be the same with the exception of lead distances. Another thing is stick with just one gun. Changing guns changes the game even if they are exactly the same. There are lots of good videos out there for leaning. Todd Bender is a good friend of mine that has a few that are great. Try you tube. You will probably learn a lot just by watching since stance and where you stand on the station are all important too. First thing though is get your gun fitted so it shoots where you are looking.

What he means is the concept of an audible altimeter is new to him so he is not yet out of the habit of checking the altimeter on his wrist.

Wow. I've been jumping Infinity's containers for more than 4 years now and have always put the riser just under the top part of the riser cover. I've never had an issue but it's nice to know that it will be even MORE secure.

If you take Brian Germain's canopy course you learn some of this. Part of the canopy flight part of his course is flying relative to other canopies in close proximity and even bumping each other end cell to end cell. Of course a huge amount of time is spent with landing patterns and how to fly them. I happen to be a pilot so I am very familiar with landing patterns however at my local dropzone very little is ever spoken of proper patterns or even proper landing directions. There definitely needs to be more communication in this area.

I don't see where secondary riser covers are necessary if the rig is built properly. One of the very best free fly rigs is the Voodoo and there is no secondary cover. Also Aerodyne used to incorporate a secondary cover but last year quit doing so. I also disagree on your D ring thoughts. I do agree a pillow handle could get snagged easier however for the same reason I want that handle to come out regardless of the condition of the rest of the system whatever that may become during an eventful skydive. Also if I ever had an injury where for some reason I could not get to my hackey I want to be able to get to my reserve with either hand. To deploy with a D handle requires a simple hook with the thumb or fingers contrary to the grip necessary to deploy with a pillow handle. The only reason I bring this up is because I have experienced this issue in the past and I will always have a low profile Dring on all of my rigs.

Although I don't own the helmet anymore all I did was move the existing bracket up. Aside from drilling a few holes no other modification was required.

That may be dependent on the size. I have a ZPX 168 that packs exactly the same as a regular ZP 150 if not a bit smaller.

That's bullshit. I have a ZPX Pilot 168 and have no experience like that whatsoever. Sounds more like a canopy out of trim than the material "not holding pressure".

There exists very clear and concise right of way rules too. The pilot of any aircraft has NO right to be in the airspace of a canopy. Ever.

Your not welcome... I'm not sure why all of you are so mean. The OP asked a question so just give him an answer and move on.....or just forget it......Geeezus

Although end cell closure is no big deal it is not normal for the Pilot. I have hundreds of jumps on different Pilots and have never experienced an end cell closure. All of mine have been loaded over 1.3 so maybe the light wing loading is a factor. Did you contact Aerodyne? They are awesome about fixing problems if you're not happy.

Very nice.

Did you get VanBuren's 182? Who's gonna fly it? I suppose you're qualified Jason LOL...there aren't any big guns like the Spectre though. Oh...what are you going to charge to put the 182 up?

Hopefully you're not going to forego the audible.

It does concern me, which is why right now, I'm looking at buying a new container. It is mostly about knowing if a new container will actually fix the problem (if it was the source of the problem) if it isn't the container causing the problems, then it's something else with my body position that I have to figure out. Step 1 - get new container Step 2 - see if it still spins up Step 2a - if it does, get my body position fixed (somehow) I'm curious to actually know if it could be the container causing the issues. I think it makes sense, but I have a biased opinion, so I'm looking for others advise. Also, no one at my DZ jumps the same size canopy, so it would be a big job of changing canopies for one jump. How about sending the container back to Wings to resize the harness? If it's THAT loose where you can move it up and down 12 inches that would seem the most logical to me. If it didn't spin up before and now it does and every thing else is the same it seems like a no brainer to me.

Hmmm under 10 is high winds? What's the point in even skydiving if that's the case? I'm not talking about high winds (as defined by the USPA as above 14 mph). In fact I'm talking about 8 mph. Any canopy under a 150 though is considered high performance regardless of the wing loading so it's a fine line in this situation.

So what is the answer to this question? Is it really more safe to land backwards in the wind just to keep it big enough? I had this issue and argument regarding my 112 pound girlfriend a few years back. After several consistent very risky backwards landings in less than 10 knot winds she went against the advice of the S&TA and went smaller. Her landings improved ten fold and in my opinion were much more safe.

How did you manage to get the drogue in your toe?

The Tonfly looks sick. I have a Tonfly Converter helmet that is bad ass. The only thing I see that may be a problem is it comes from Slovakia. What if it doesn't fit? ....it will have to go all the way back to Slovakia. It might be worth it though.

Usually a couple of weeks. At least that's the way it was with my 3 LS suits. I think Julio is at Summerfest so my guess is he is taking lots of orders so right now it may be a little longer.

Just to clarify you are talking about Vertical Suits...correct?

I know he does. Really though, as far as free fly suits goes he has very little competition.

My bad. However Aerodyne does not retrofit the Icon. The container has a completely different yoke.

5 rigs in 20 minutes? Man..I'm way off the mark... Lol

If you are looking for used gear, be aware that not all older vectors and javelins can be retrofit. I don't think ANY rig can be retrofitted.