DontfallOff

+1

I just couldn't understand why a plane full of other wsrs wasnt as stoked at the crazy cloudscape I saw as we climbed to jump height!

I did this jump at the end of a week of boundary pushing flocks a few months ago - we don't get too many clouds here in West Australia, so when I had to choose between flying a slot or flying a cloud valley, it only took me a minute to apologise to the rest of the guys and go solo - best jump I've ever done... www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF69nmDmf3o

Not the 1st in the country mate... I jumped my V4 on its maiden flights a few weeks ago - what an amazing suit! It flies completely differently to my old P2, long dives and swoops had me losing my stomach - it also fits like a glove and has so many small surprising small details -I won't spoil them all for you now but you can really see that Robi has gone to town on this one - you are going to love it! My camera was smashed later that day (gutted!) so I haven't put up any footage and my GPS was flat so I havent got any stats as to glide ratio, but I haven't had such a good time in wings since the first few days I got my P2! I'm back in the sky this Thursday and the Venom is due this week also so I'll be able to fly them both side by side and put up some footage for each :) Can't wait!

Its torture having my suit sitting at home without being able tro jump it... what has the feed back been about the venom? How does it compare to the Stealth 2 that it replaces? And flying all around a flock for camerawork... how does it hold up for that kind of work? Its got a huge area, how easy is it for an 'average' sized guy to fly it all over?

My venom arrived a couple of days ago :) Looks floppy on my little sister, but I don't get home for a few weeks so I can't even jump it to brag about how much fun it is to fly :)

Received my new Venom in the mail yesterday, looks unreal - I didn't have to wait for the colour chooser to pick my colours. Just send them an email and they will work with you. Customer service counts for far more than an up to date website and I know that I'd much rather have my wingsuit just the way I like it, full of all the innovation that PF is known for, than to have an up-to-date website while I wait for my suit. Besides, the smile on my face every time I jump with my best mates will stay much longer than the anxiety of not knowing what colour to pick... Now I just have to wait until I can get these new wings in the sky!!!

My first canopy was a Sabre2 190, I put a 100 jumps on this and about 20 on a Sabre2 170 before borrowing a mate's Pilot 168. I put about 50 jumps on this and another 5 or so on a Sabre1 150 before getting my own Pilot 150 ZPX after around 200 jumps. I've since done another 400 jumps on this canopy, mostly wingsuit jumps - Since buying my 150 I've jumped a friend's Sabre2 150 a dozen or so times and a Stiletto a handful of times. I've just downsized my Pilot again to a 132 zpx loaded at 1.6 - I've put about 20 jumps on it, it deploys, flies, and lands the same just quicker and more responsive (as to be expected). Deployment is where the Pilot really shines - quick, but very smooth in each stage of the deployment - consistently soft and on heading - compared with Sabre2 openings, the Pilot is much more reliable, the deployment sequence feels more evenly 'spaced out' between each stage from snatch to full inflation. It doesn't snivel for ages and then snap open like a Safire2, and in ~500 jumps on Pilots I havent had one spanker opening like I have had on the Sabre2. I've had a few really hard openings on Sabre2 canopies, including one where the opening broke a steering line and gave me broken ribs and me my first chop. Even trash packing has given me reliable openings. With the Pilot I always dump in full flight from a track or in my wingsuit and while it opens firmer from a full track, it hasn't bitten me yet. It can be off heading occasionally, but I'm pretty sure that is because of my bad body position - not like some other canopies that have a habit of being uppredictable even with good body position. The consistent forgiving openings have made me a bit lazy on deployment - and I have been sucked into deploying lower and lower - this lead to my only chop on this canopy, a spinup on my Venom because I started unzipping a wing while it was still deploying - that coupled with the low height meant I had no choice but to chop. When flying, the Sabre2 and Pilot have a similar range - I regularly do some sports CRW with mates that fly Sabre2s and they fly well together when loaded the same. Riser pressure and toggle response are the same, and getting back from a long spot is very similar for each canopy. The landings are fun and reliable on the Pilot - holding it in double fronts can pick up a nice bit of speed - its not a high performance canopy, but it can still give fun landings after a double front or 90 approach - I find the Pilot a little more forgiving of user error than the Sabre2 when flown like this and I've found it a lot easier to dig out of trouble than the Sabre2. There is also still a nice strong flare from half brakes - which is nice to have if a late flat turn is required. The flare point on a Sabre2 is very different from the Pilot and it takes a couple of jumps to get them to fly the same, but once they are dialled in - they seem to have a very simliar performance. If you're looking at this canopy, you're probably trying to decide between this one and the Sabre2 - for my money the Pilot has been money well spent - I haven't regretted flying Pilots once since getting it - it is a nice feeling to know that every time you throw that pilot chute out that you're going to get a nice opening, a fun canopy flight, and a good landing. I don't miss the spice of the openings of the Sabre2 - I'd rather get my buzz from other things in jumping than to worry about whether this deployment will be the one that breaks me.

Does anyone know of a boogie that 10 Aussie jumpers could go to next year in june/july?