very slippery pilot

[eml 0]

Can anyone recommend a semi eliptical canopy that is not as slippery as a pilot. I demoed a pilot and love the way it flies and lands, but it's about impossible to get in the bag.

[AggieDave 6]

There are some different packing techniques you can try, but which ever way you choose the biggest trick to packing a new canopy is to simply practice packing. Once you are proficient at packing then it won't matter if the canopy is brand slippery new or a 15yr old F111 floppy rag. You'll be able to pack it well.

Some canopies have a slightly different kind of ZP fabric that isn't as slick, but overall that really shouldn't be an overall deciding factor in a canopy purchase. If you flew the pilot and are happy with the canopy then get the canopy and learn how to pack better.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[mattjw916 2]

I've got a Nitron that knows all the latest cuss words too... it just takes a bit more work to bag.

Have some skilled packers show you some tricks.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[NickDG 23]

I thought you were taking about a jump pilot I used to know at Lake Elsinore . . .

NickD BASE 194

[gearless_chris 1]

Psycho Pack.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[darkwing 5]

Quit whining and pack. New canpopies are slippery. It isn't just a Pilot issue. ps - I'm on my second Pilot...

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[davelepka 4]

Buy a used one. They're cheaper and easier to pack.

[piisfish 140]

or keep the new one, lay it flat in the gravelpit, take your SUV (or someone elses if you don't have one), roll over the canopy 8-10 times, and after that it should be easier to pack than any old F-111 canopy.


[Disclaimer] this was a joke [/Disclaimer]


any car will do, even a Prius.


-------------

or ask your local packer (tell him/her its new beforehand, don't just throw the canopy to pack and runaway) to show you how he/she handles a new canopy and learn from that person. The best couple of bucks you will have invested in skydive coaching

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[dannydan 5]

I dont get the DIsCLAIMER part??? But would my 89 Ford Escort work in the same way?

[lilchief 1]

Quote

any car will do, even a Prius.

I agree, as long as it's not a BLUE one! You hear me Jeff Dunham =D


"SILENCE! I Kill you!"

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return." - Da Vinci
www.lilchief.no

[tdog 0]

The pilot will get easy to pack after a few jumps. A bit of dust will save the day. In 2004 I got a pilot new, and put it under the Christmas tree for myself. I opened it the night before and stuffed it back in the box. The canopy was so slick and explosive it broke the tape and exploded out like a volcano...

The pilot taught me how to pack - I got it brand new as a novice. After learning on it, there has not been a canopy I could not get in the bag after the experience.


If you like the pilot, buy it... If not, PD canopies are a tad easier in the beginning, so I have found.

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

Like NickDG, I too thought you were talking about some slippery jump pilot when I read the title of your thread...


Anyway, there are techniques to packing brand-new ZP. Find someone that can do it and have them show you their tricks... some tricks work better than others, but such things are much much easier shown then explained.

One thing that will always work is to jump your brand new ZP canopy A LOT... thus... you'll be forced to pack it A LOT... avoid the grass, land out in the dirt and dust and in 30 or so pack-jobs it will be much much easier to pack.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Can anyone recommend a semi eliptical canopy that is not as slippery as a pilot. I demoed a pilot and love the way it flies and lands, but it's about impossible to get in the bag.

One with 1000+ jumps on it and a fresh line set. It'll fly like new since the fabric is still ZP, stay in the bag like F111 because the coating outside the fabric is gone, and be easier to squeeze the air out because the stitching holes have opened up. Even 50 jumps is a big step in the right direction.

Everyone uses the same fabric now, so unless you buy a Silhouette which is F111 + ZP topskin you're not going to get something easier to pack like the old Triathlons.

Just bite the bullet and learn tricks from good packers. Reverse S-fold, Wolmari pack, Precision Pack, proper treatment of the ears at top + leg placement with a standard pro-pack.... there are lots of ways to get canopies packed with less trouble.

[DougH 270]

Will a 1000 jump canopy fly like a new one?

I don't know enough about the variables but I think we might be oversimplifying things when we makes this claim.

My guess is that porosity increases due to seam holes changing size with time.

I also find it hard that the fabric itself stays dimensionally the same over the course of its life.

Any thoughts?

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[mbondvegas 0]

Quote

Can anyone recommend a semi eliptical canopy that is not as slippery as a pilot. I demoed a pilot and love the way it flies and lands, but it's about impossible to get in the bag.

Yes, the FIREBOLT! It is actually fully eliptical but is quite similar to the Pilot. It has ZP top skin and F-111 bottom skin and is WAY easier to pack. It is the only canopy that I have flown (Safire1&2's, Sabre2's, Spectre's, Tri's) that has openings comparable to the Pilot...the Firebolt's is easily as soft...maybe softer. The Firebolt does turn sharper (dives more) and it has a awesome planeout and bottom end flare...the Pilot is a near perfect intermediate canopy in my opinion and I think that the Firebolt has all of the goods of Pilot plus considerably easier packing. The Firebolt is slightly more aggresive, but not considerably.

- - -
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.

[tbrown 26]

I recently got a brand new Pilot and was dreading packing a brand new canopy. But it just isn't that bad. Pilots don't use the So. African ZP anymore that was easier, that mill has gone out of business. The new stuff really is VERY slippery.

But all you need is a little patience with it. Don't rush things and don't overdo it, those two things will make the canopy fluff all over the place. Just take your time and you'll be surprised and maybe even a little bit smug when you get that baby in the bag.

And I'm talking about a standard pro-pack, by the way.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !