Crossfire Rear Riser Flutter

[gmac324 0]

I did my first couple of jumps on an original crossfire 109 @ 2.0 at the weekend and noticed than when I was flying on rears from deep spot the tail of the canopy seemed to flutter a little.

It didn't really concern me, the canopy felt pretty solid except that.

Is this completely normal for a crossfire? The rears seem very light compared to my sabre2 and stiletto.

The crossfire is 5 years old but only has 150 jumps on it because the owner stopped jumping 4 years ago. Was never on the service bulletin list.

Any input is appreciated,

Cheers, Graeme :-)

(edited to add it was an original crossfire)

[piisfish 140]

Crossfire or Crossfire2 ?

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

[Spizzzarko 0]

It sounds like a crossfire 1. Some VX's have the same problem.

[frost 1]

You know about the issues they had with some of the original crossfires, right? Make sure yours is not on the recall list.

Isnt 2.0 a bit too much of a wingloading for a x-fire? Or any 9 cell for that matter?

SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

[gmac324 0]

No it's not on the list :-)

The actual recommended wingloading is up to 2.1.

I find it actually flies very well at 2 and could be loaded much heavier.

I have a sabre2 120 as well and have loaded that up to 1.94 with excellent results, still plenty of stopping power left.

I guess it really depends on the design.

Graeme

[frost 1]

really? Is that "maximum" recommended? I thought most 9-cells were in the 1.6-1.8 "optimal" loading range, after that they start losing in performance...

SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

[johnny1488 1]

Any canopy can get tail flutter, some more than others.

When you use the rears, the way you pull on them can cause it. When you push out on the rears as many people do, you are not pulling the back of the canopy down evenly. You are actually pulling down on the center lines more than the outside lines and can get this flutter effect depending on how much you are pushing out.

There are many factors that can contribute to flutter, but this can be one of them. I dont know of any Crossfires, 1 or 2 that have consistant tail flutter problems.

And I don't have many jumps on first generation Crossfires, I loaded a Xfire2 at 2.0 and loved every minute of it. 2.0 is too high for some nine cells, but not all.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[superstu 0]

i know my xfire 97 very rarely got tail flutter, along with my vx. really only certain times when doing crw with those canopies.

i do think they are more prone to tail flutter though, and for a couple of reasons some of which have already been stated. but also, look at your d-lines. they have a little more slack than some other canopies in it's same class, which contributes to the lighter rear riser pressure and tail flutter.

just make sure your lines are in good shape and that they are in trim, if it still happens on a regular basis i would have it checked out.

also, i would like to add the optimal wingloadings for canopies can change person to person. my 97 i felt was best @ 1.8 or so, a friend of mine who has a substatially larger xfire loads his at about 2.0 and he loves it there.

hope that helps.

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down