xaos 27 packing, opening, flare

[CKSCUBA 0]

I have searched the forums for an answer hard to nail one down. I jump a borrowed xaos 21 and 2 crossfires. I have a new xaos 27 comming. How should I pack the 27. What to do with the nose and how many times do I wrap the tail? I understand that the 27 will open in a bowtie or spin hard. Leave a lot of line or short line?? From the container?
I have a strange neck condition so I need baby openings and I am 38years old.
Any tips or tricks known??


Also, what about dives,swoops, flaring, landing, any other tips on what to expect from flight. I haven't jumped the 27 but have lots of 21 jumps and some fx jumps as well as katana jumps. I got a good deal and the wife approved the transaction.

Thanks Chris.

[dharma1976 0]

is the wife a canopy piloting coach?

Just kidding

Pack it neatly quarter the slider well and make sure it doesnt move when you are sticking it in the bag...

Oh wait I do that on Nine cells too

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[TALONSKY 0]

In my limited experience (45 jumps on one), what I found is do a normal PRO pack job except with the nose fold the outer 3 cells on either side back(I just folded them back 180° and positioned them under the slider) and expose the center 3 cell out in front of the slider. I found that by doing that you avoid the bowtie however I always ended up with a fast 360° turn to which ever side open last. The opennings were always soft.
Kirk

[CKSCUBA 0]

Its more like canopy nagging " why did you land like that and take the trash out"


For you purest's I jump at sea level I load 1.88 please when giving advice please account for global warming, despite that I froze my ass off during the winter in Florida, and that I am lactose intolerent so any scary crazy openings may facilitate the soiling of my freefly suit

[cessna54tango 0]

i leave the nose alone, quarter the slider then pull a taste out in the front. fold the stabilizers, make sure your rds stays against the stops then roll the tail normal. i leave about 14-16" from top of risers to bag.

[Miami 0]

Regular pro pack, quarter slider, nose exposed but pushed a little into center then make sure front of slider extends a little past the nose, fold stabs back over steering lines to help keep them in place. Just a couple rolls of the tail for control while its on the ground. About 12" from last stow to the soft links. I very rarely (maybe twice over 400ish jumps) have a center cell not wanting to inflate right away and usual opening are soft and on heading...at most 45 degrees off.
Hope that helps...

Miami

[ORANGENBLUE 0]

I have had five or six xaos's now and i don't do anything out of the ordinary. Just a clean pack job. I also use a free stow bag ( only two locking stows and a pouch to stow the extra line after that ) so I don't think it makes much difference how much left over line you leave. The "bowtie" issue is a five minute fix, just set the brakes about an inch deeper and problem solved.

[brenthutch 444]

"The "bowtie" issue is a five minute fix, just set the brakes about an inch deeper and problem solved."

Per Chris Martin of Precision:

Another even easier work around is NOT to pull the slider out to favor the nose. When the slider covers the center cells it allows the outside cells to inflate first and then they fly to the center, causing the bowtie. If this happens just tweek the rears and it will pop right out.

Regarding packing: the 27 has much more pack volume that the 21. My 98ft 21 packed up like a 9 cell 120 my
98ft 27 packs up like a 135+.

Openings on the 27 are a bit quicker that the 21 and tend to search a bit. That said the Xaos 21 was the best opening canopy I have ever jumped.

When getting ready to demo the 27 I asked Chris what to expect, he told me that it would not be as docile as my 21. I thought that was funny because I have never heard of a Xbraced canopy loaded 2.4 referred to as "docile."

It will be much more twitchy than the 21. I got a big surprise when I when to loosen my chest straps with the breaks in my hands. (note: loosen chest strap BEFORE releasing breaks)

On landing it will not dive as much as the 21 and has loads more slow speed lift.

[Spizzzarko 0]

I noticed if I pull the slider far out on my JVX the outer cells have a tendancy of bouncing off of each other in front of the canopy before it opens. It is not scary or violent, but just different

[CKSCUBA 0]

Great tips. Is the 27 as ground hungry as the 21 and what about flare and amount of oversteer?? What glide how are you xaos 27 pilots making it back. Thanks. Chris

[cessna54tango 0]

yea every once and awhile my end cells inflate a bit faster and they bounce around. actually i think this is kinda fun and play around a bit, or just a quick hit on rears and the center cell pops right out like you said. i also attributed it to the slider being out too far but with the rds if i didnt it came down too fast, so i just deal with the boxing end cells. i do have to add that the cha-hos is a great tarp.

[airdog07 0]

how many brake setting do you have on your canopy, is all you canopy has same setting (one inch)or different on some thanks.

"A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones ..."

[TALONSKY 0]

I found that the Xaos 27 in quite ground hungry, I have never flown a Xaos 21 but the 27 is more ground hungry than a VX and not quite as ground hungry as a Velocity. The Xaos 27 had very snappy turn rate and just a little over steer (but may be that was just me). I never had any trouble making it back but I never was really far out either. I aslo found it had more than enough flair.
Kirk

[Para5-0 0]

I have jumped the 27 for two years now, absolutely correct with the slider make sure your center nose cells extend past the slider, this cures the bow tie.....
good luck, have fun, be safe....

Note: be ready to fly with risers immediately.., stow slider prior to brake release...

If you have HMA lines, stow neatly and do not 1/4 twist at each stow.

Line twists, are an experience, hold on.

PRACTICE HIGH!

[crazydiver 0]

Quote

I found that the Xaos 27 in quite ground hungry, I have never flown a Xaos 21 but the 27 is more ground hungry than a VX and not quite as ground hungry as a Velocity. The Xaos 27 had very snappy turn rate and just a little over steer (but may be that was just me). I never had any trouble making it back but I never was really far out either. I aslo found it had more than enough flair.
Kirk

I would tend to disagree about how ground hungry the Xaos's are. I feel that they are very much flatter than velo's and vx's. Watch video of competition swooping with all of those canopies, and the ones that you will find climbing after plain out the most are the Xaos's. I would not attribute the climbing to pilot technique or amount of energy built up in the dive since Xaos's tend to be a touch less aggressive than Velos and VX's. Xaos's have a pretty flat glide ratio for crossbraced canopies. This can also contribute to why the front riser pressure is so low on Xaos's. Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Travis

[ORANGENBLUE 0]

Jump a Xaos at 2.6 and you might change your mind on the riser pressure.

[crazydiver 0]

Quote

Jump a Xaos at 2.6 and you might change your mind on the riser pressure.

Jump a VX and you'll understand. Relatively speaking, I think even a Velo will surprise you at its higher front riser pressure relative to the Xaos.

Cheers,
Travis

[ORANGENBLUE 0]

I have even jumped a VX 68 at over 3.0. Light is a very relative term.

[Miami 0]

I agree with crazydiver on this. I've jumped xaos canopies up to about 3.3:1 and the front riser pressure is still lighter in comparison to any other crossbraced I've jumped.

Miami

[Spizzzarko 0]

As far as Front riser pressures go Ranking the canopies I have flown from heaviest to lightest here it is in order:

Front Riser Pressure
1. FX 104
2. VX 98
3. PD-300
4. Xaos 27 91
5. JVX 89
6. Velo 103
7. Velo 96
8. Xaos 21 98

Rear Riser Pressure
1. Xaos 21 98
2. PD-300
3. vx 98
4. JVX 89 (when going really freaking fast)
5. FX-104
6. Velo 103
7. Velo 96
I didn't use rear input on the xaos 27 when I jumped it.

I have found though that riser pressure changes signifigantly with speed. The JVX has nice rear riser pressure when cruising around but after a really good speed inducing turn the rears get really stiff and powerful! I am really enjoying the JVX, but that is not to say that I am putting my 96 velo on teh shelf. There are applications in which each canopy is better suited in my opinion.

[Spizzzarko 0]

Hi Mike!