More Trivia: Anyone Ever Jump A Viking?

[ericber 0]

I remember Dick Pedley (may he rest in peace) who was a dear friend told me one day to try jumping his Viking. Ok I thought, and then he told me to flare when you get scared; in other words when you are about ten feet off the ground or so flare like you have never flared before. Well it scared me all right, but what a smooth landing it turned out to be.

That was the last and only time I jumped it.

Blue Skies
Eric Bernstein
D-9298
ericber@oz.net

[darkwing 5]

Wasn't a Viking a Pioneer semi-clone of a Cloud, but made a bit more RW firendly? I never jumped one, but I remember them (vaguely).

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[wmw999 2,447]

I had a Pioneer Viking Superlite I put about 1-200 (?) jumps on. Pretty heft toggle pressure (it was my first square after a few hundred round jumps, so it's probably an unfair comparison), but with its 230 sq. ft, boy did it land my then 120-lb body softly .

Very predictable; I don't remember the flare as being challenging, but, of course, it was my first square. It was the first square that attracted me; everything else packed up bigger than my Starlite for not enough buy-back in performance.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[murrays 0]

I put one jump on a Viking Superlite of a friend's. As Wendy mentioned...the toggle pressure seemed high. Ok parachute for the times.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[JohnRich 4]

Me and my Viking. I put about 700 jumps on this one, before discovering that packing outdoors for several years had weakened the orange fabric to the strength of tissue paper. It was a great canopy.

Oh yeah, and I'm wearing my "Windjammer" balloon suit...

[Faicon9493 141]

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I remember Dick Pedley (may he rest in peace) who was a dear friend told me one day to try jumping his Viking. Ok I thought, and then he told me to flare when you get scared; in other words when you are about ten feet off the ground or so flare like you have never flared before. Well it scared me all right, but what a smooth landing it turned out to be.

That was the last and only time I jumped it.

A Viking Superlite was the first ram air canopy that I owned. I jumped it in a Wonderhog with a 26 LoPo with 4 line release. WHat a rig!

[ericber 0]

The landings are so terrific, but I would hate to flare late. :-)

Blue Skies
Eric Bernstein
D-9298
ericber@oz.net

[tbrown 26]

I owned a Viking Superlite, made of the 1.25 oz lightweight material in use befor F-111 came along. I think there was a final F-111 version of the Superlite, along with the 200 ft Merlin and 260 ft Titan.

I really liked my Superlite. It wasn't as fun or zippy as a Cruisair, but it really handled well and the landings were soft. Did a fair amount of CRW with it, including earning my 4 Stack patch (#529). Made my El Cap jump with it too. Finally sold it to some newbie kid at Antioch in '82 after I'd quit jumping.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[wmw999 2,447]

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Did a fair amount of CRW with it, including earning my 4 Stack patch (#529).

Wendy blows on fingernails -- got #419 with my Superlite

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Made my El Cap jump with it too.

[jealous] That was something I meant to get around to doing [/jealous]

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[riggerrob 643]

At the 1984 Canadian Nationals I jumped a borrowed Viking Super Lite to fourth place in Intermediate Accuracy.

[skybill 22]

Hey Eric!
I remember theViking (had one), I remember Dick, New dimensions flite school, Scare-us Valley, and YOU!!! Time flys when you're having fun!! After a hundred or so jumps and two cut-aways AHHHHHH!!!!!, Willy Gargano gave me a set of his 220 Comet lines for mine, WOW!! what a difference!
The new lines flattened out the angle of incidence and moved the C.G. back to the "B" lines instead of being under the nose!!! Results were easier and softer openings, a flater longer glide and definitely smoother, softer landings. Oh yes, I cross ported it also as it wasn't manufactured that way. Yes I remember the Viking only too well!! My last cutaway on it was in front of Manifest (2500') at perris on 09SEP1979!! one steering line broke and put me into a violent spin!!! When I cut away, I was thrown over into a back loop which I flew out of and deployed my 26' Conical reserve (Remember boys and girls that was about 25 years ago before most of you were born!!) Any way, someone said that Joe Morgan came running out of manifest when all this happened and was yelling,"TEN,TEN,TEN!!!!!!" That was quite a ride!! Blue skys Eric, good to hear from you again!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[ericber 0]

I don't believe it; Bill Deli. So wonderful to hear from you Bill. Thank you so much for finding this post and doing a reply.

Too funny about the young one now in the sports. You have been around the sport longer than me as I now have 21 years, but most now weren't even born yet.

Blue Sky,
Eric

Blue Skies
Eric Bernstein
D-9298
ericber@oz.net

[Faicon9493 141]

Quote

I remember Dick Pedley (may he rest in peace) who was a dear friend told me one day to try jumping his Viking. Ok I thought, and then he told me to flare when you get scared; in other words when you are about ten feet off the ground or so flare like you have never flared before. Well it scared me all right, but what a smooth landing it turned out to be.

That was the last and only time I jumped it.

A Viking Superlite was the first canopy that I owned. It was a good canopy for it's time.

[tonybrogdon 0]

Hi Eric.

never jumped a Viking but had a Comet 228.

Dick Pedley jumped in Tijuana's Birthday demo and filmed Artemisa, a Tijuana TV newscaster's Tandem. The edited TV version shows Dick landing and turning into a dove. I gave a copy to his family at his services. Dick is also known for making hte first jump into Perris.

Tony Brogdon
D-12855

[flailchick 0]

Hi! My first square parachute was a Viking. I put a couple hundred jumps on it from 1984 to about 1986 - in an old wonderhog of course. I did my first four stack as well as all of my initial CRW with that canopy. At 120 lbs, I was always base because I had no forward speed. Even did a few downplanes with it. And quite a few exhibition jumps. Of course, now I think, "what on earth was I doing on a demo with that low level of experience!" It was a different world.

[Tonto 1]

Hi Eric,

I did my first jump on a square with a borrowed Viking Superlite. I had about 60 jumps on C-9 and T-10 rounds at the time. I remember thinking it was fast, noisy, and that the toggle pressure was high, much like others with round experience have said.

It landed me just fine after a "flare on the 3rd "Oh Shit!"" I did several dives on it before progressing to the then "radical and unforgiving" Cruiselite. Those days are a long way from my Stiletto 107 and FX 93 jumps... but well worth it!

Blue Skies,

t

It's the year of the Pig.