blakeman

I have jumped a Stiletto 97 for years now, and the C99 is a very comparable canopy. The first thing I noticed, when packing, was that it has a differential line set. Each line group has different line lengths, as opposed to all of them being the same. Instead of the parachute being arced over your head, it is fairly flat with only the wingtips being drooped for more lift. I trimmed my Stiletto like that over a year ago and noticed a radical inprovement in the lift and glide. Openings are great of course. They are a little more progressive than the ST97. The Stiletto tends to snivel for a while and then whack! the slider comes down fast. The Crossfire snivels for at least as long, but the slider comes down slowly - three cheers from a cameraflyer! The glide is flat and shouldn't be too stressful on long spots. The input range is longer than the Stiletto - it requires significantly more input to get the same response, but the trade off is obvious when you flare. Mine is trimmed to manufacturer brake settings which allow me to flare all the way to full arm extension - this puts me hovering at a stall (the Stiletto stalls when the toggles hit the chest strap, and wickedly at that.) Stall recovery on the Crossfire was nice, without too much line slack, but be careful anyway! The stock brake setting makes the flare feel way deeper than you Stiletto pilots might be used to, but in a full-on deep front riser turn, the brake lines are taut, but the canopy is flat and unencumbered by any tail deflection. When swooping, don't be afraid to keep flaring - it flares really deep and really slows down! When you set your brakes, make sure the mark is on the canopy side of the knot! The Crossfire dives more than the Stiletto with a longer recovery arc. Front riser pressure is moderate and the speed builds nicely. The canopy carves down as opposed to the quick snap-around of a Stiletto, so you won't get the instant directional change, but you do build some groovy speed. Toggle turns are not as sharp, so if you are up dog-fighting a Stiletto guy, you may want to take a wrap for the close combat stuff. Stiletto pilots will miss that quick recovery, but will learn to love the build-up more. The Crossfire was not as sensitive to harness input as the Stiletto, but at higher loading it might be, I am loaded at 1.9.

All in all, an excellent canopy. Buy one, you'll dig it.