Ronaldo

You may try a Triathlon 135 if it fits your rig. You can get a used one pretty cheap (Square1 has one for sale right now). At 1.5 it won't have a nice flare but it is a square 7cell so it will be as stable as possible for your wl. Since you probably have a lot of canopy experience, timing the flare shouldn't be a problem. I fly a Tri160 at 1.35 and get really good landings (and swoops) with it

Finally I had a chance to write a quick review and give my first impressions of this awesome product:
> Package - well, my suit was not shipped but delivered in hands directly to a friend at TS factory (ZHills). It came in a simple transparent plastic bag. It didn't come with a transportation bag, though. Honestly, I would expect a $1600 suit to come with at least a simple nylon bag with draw cord. I had to make my own (which I ended up liking a lot since it is compact and prevents the leading edge from bending)
> Documentation - Again, I would expect such an expensive piece of equipment to come with a CD, pen drive or at least a better quality printed copy of the manual.
> Suit construction and fit - Awesomely built suit. Fits me perfectly (my wife has part of the credits for taking perfect measurements). I’m not a pro but I have some sewing skills so I can really appreciate the work behind this suit. Just one thing I would change: the leather soles. IMHO they attract too much dirt and look horrible after just one day of jumping. I will definitely replace them with cordura and also add some kind of BASE soles. The suit has some really nice features such as the stiff leading edge and retractable leg wing. I was able to walk around freely without being worried of dragging the trailing edge. It was fun to see one of my friends in his brand new V-4 walking around like a lady in long skirt.
> Gearing up – incredibly easy! I just love being able to put the leg straps on first with no view obstruction. I’m just paranoid about forgetting them and usually check them a few times on the plane.
> Flight – in 7 letters: A-W-E-S-O-M-E! I was a little apprehensive since I’ve been flying only my Sfly Expert lately. This was definitely the biggest suit I’ve ever flown but I was amazed to see how instinctive and easy the flight was. The suit is very stable and seems to fly on its own. I don’t need to put much effort to achieve a relatively efficient position. On my third flight I easily outflew a friend in his V3 in a performance race. I noticed that the wing tip grippers barely move and I can pick them up easily during flight. Wing pressurization is so solid that on the last jumps I was barely touching the grippers.
> Deployment – although it may sound weird pulling time was much more comfortable than on the Expert. Got some tips with Rob Haron and had 7 on heading openings in 7 jumps. As soon as I feel the canopy inflating I bring my knees up and arms tight to the torso. While in this position the scape sleeve is great for pulling the rears and correcting the heading before unzipping the wings.
Well, I can’t remember the last time I was that happy with a new toy! Just can’t wait to have some outside video for debriefing. I’m pretty sure I have a lot to improve but the suit is so damn good that even if you suck you’d still get a decent flight!

I did that and can testify it made a HUGE difference!
Thanks again for the tip

I made 2 tubes for HU. If I was going HD I would try to build something adapting an old riser + cutaway handle.

That was my first and obvious thought but why putting a pocket in such an awkward place? The space is limited due to the wing ribs. The access is not that easy or practical and you have to open 2 zippers to reach one pocket not to mention it should feel weird if you put something heavier hanging on your arm (cell phone + car keys).
Why not a simple pocket inside at chest area?
I jump with cargo shorts so I won’t be using it anyway. Not criticizing though, just wondering if I was missing something.

Just got my new S-bird! Well, after playing with it for some time like a kid who just received his Christmas gift, I found something unexplained (at least to me). There is a zippered pocket inside left arm chamber just below the zipper which is used to depressurize the chamber. I couldn’t find anything on the manual or website. Does anybody have an idea of what is it for?

+1 for Ari

I did it twice and I have also washed a bunch of pilot chutes with great results. They smell good after and the process has apparently no effect in porosity. The major concern would be with the reinforcement tapes. Some say they may not return to the original size and thus distort the construction. The canopies I washed had no lines and flew great with the new lineset later. I would never do this with a high performance or low porosity (F-111) main. Keep in mind that handling in water may loosen up some of the stitches specially if the canopy is old and well-worn (very likely if you're thinking about washing it).

Just in case someone asks: No, I do not recommend doing this.

Forget the plane for a while, go to the tunnel, trust me
Fixed: at 45 jumps you need to keep current in order to develop your canopy skills

Engineering Law #5: The most vital dimension on any plan drawing stands the most chance of being omitted

My personal advice: If you switch disciplines occasionally get a cheap used 7 cell (like a Triathlon) and buy a set of risers/ bag/ PC. When you want to wingsuit just connect the low performance canopy and have peace of mind.
I have a Crosssfire2 129 I use for freeflying and a Tri 160 for wingsuiting. Currently, since I’m only freeflying at he tunnel the Tri is quickly becoming my main canopy

You use a removable slider, with a Stiletto at 1,2 wl?

How many jumps do you have on the canopy? Can you post a video of what your consider one of its normal openings?
Regarding this particular video, the slider stays up for a long time (snivel). At this stage the canopy is very sensitive to any input such as body position or grabbing risers. Also, at this stage the speed is very high and canopy is narrow spanwise which amplifies any input (intentional or not).
If your canopy has snivelly openings it is even more important to keep shoulders leveled during deployment. Even if you have twists if your shoulders are leveled the canopy will probably not turn or do it slightly.
Was it packed for a long time before the jump? I have a Cobalt that snivels a lot more when left packed for weeks (all the air goes out). I believe the type of fabric (Gelvenor) has also an influence.

167km (104miles) – around 2h driving to the only decent DZ in my state (we have 3).
I would be happy to drive that if I could jump but the DZ is down because the pilot quit and they can’t find someone capable of flying a Cessna195.
Only 1 wind tunnel 800 miles away without freefly option and the cheapest ticket in the country at almost $60!!
It is impossible to get current here, if I was in US I could be easily making 500 jumps/year
Hope my suffering makes you feel better

Thanks, I haven't used it yet so can't really tell the results. If it really blocks the signal I will try to make one from fiberglass or a thin plastic sheet.

Did this support kind of quickly. It is certainly not as snag proof as I would like but I believe it is not that bad.

Thanks for the great tip, Sylvain!
Thanks everybody for the ideas and heads up

Hi folks,
I would like to share a quick mod I made on my suit. This mod may help other jumpers using suits that were originally made for slightly taller persons. As I’m on the shorter side of the height range I wasn’t being able to fully tension my SFLY Expert in flight. To fix this I sewed an elastic pocket inside the booties and added 2 rubber pads. These pads added a little over ¾”’ to my height and made a huge difference in flight!
Safe flights

If a jumper pencil packs or jumps an expired reserve and end up using it but dies as a result of a clear error on the repack. Is the previous rigger free of any charges because it was expired? I know the DZO and pilot would be in trouble but I was wondering if the rigger would be so

Are you sure it was 100% destroyed? Harness/ containers are really tough, was it cut, punctured or frayed? Water itself won't cause any damage. Maybe you can save something and build another rig (maybe a back up rig). A rigger may help you evaluate.

If you follow the same idea of links opening the longer side should be at the bottom to reduce the chances of the whole riser escaping (which would free all the lines).

I guess it depends on what you want. I have a Crossfire2 129 for less than 100 jumps now and really like the canopy (I have a few more jumps on a 149). The openings are superb (soft, on heading) and it has the flattest glide I have ever experienced on any canopy. Swoops are great (for my current skills) and the flare is really good, just not as good as my old Cobalt. I jumped the 129 many times with a wingsuit and it felt extremely well behaved even in twists.
I have never jumped the Katana but I believe the openings demand much more attention.. The consensus is that the Katana has higher performance though.
My experience is very limited but I hope it helps a bit. I recommend you demo both if you can.

The theory I heard behind this is that in case the links are not tightened and deform (open) during deployment, the first lines to come out will be the inner ones. Inner lines are less prone to affect controllability. If outer lines go out the canopy will be dramatically affected (turn quickly).
Anyway, not a dumb question at all.

Since you live in Orlando I would recommend Ari Perelman. He is an awesome coach and could teach you all the basic stuff. The major problem I see is that you would most probably be so excited about freeflying after seeing him fly that you may end up spending much more later…
His website: http://ariperelman.com/

Just would like to share with you all how the training went at Florida. I was initially planning to make around 50 coached jumps and 1h tunnel time, always focusing on head down. Well, I thought I had at least a decent sit to start but right on the first jump Ari pointed out (very gently) how incorrect my position was. We made a couple of jumps but I simply could not fix it (it is really hard to get rid of old habits). At night we did a 15 min session at the tunnel and I was really impressed on how productive the tunnel can be. I immediately realized I should have booked MUCH more tunnel time and MUCH less skydives!! I tried to switch the rest of the training to tunnel but unfortunately it was a pretty busy week at IFLY. I was able to make a little over 2h but I can definitely tell it was the fastest and most productive progression I could ever achieve with my current skills. I told Ari not to worry about hd since I understood I still needed to work on the fundamentals. I noticed he was really concerned about my motivation but I’m very mature in the sport today and know when I need to slow down or even step back in the progression.
About the coach: Ari Perelman is the man!!!!!. He is not only an awesome flier but really knows how to teach and also the physics behind every move (which works really well for a freefly engineer). I learned a LOT with him and he was incredibly supportive through the whole trip. Since I traveled with my wife he gave us great tips for hotels, shops, restaurants, entertainment, etc. He was extremely professional but also wanted to make sure I was always having fun with the training. I totally definitely recommend him for anyone at any level who wants to improve their flight skills.
It took a while but I was able to relearn and get a pretty decent sit position and also start some basic moves (side slides, turns, level control, front flips, grips, etc) and even some HD on the net. Future plans already set: come back once or twice a year to continue with the tunnel sessions and get really good at this damn thing (someday)!!! Next time I won’t even bother bringing the rig!
Safe skies!

The fact that the container doesn’t have open corners and he is deploying almost in full flight does not help either