isaiah85

What kind of canopy are you flying? It might not be all you, it might just not be the right canopy for you. I've helped hundreds of people find the canopy that is right for them, one thing I find is, people that have trouble timing their flare generally get a good amount of ground rush when coming in, around the last 20-30'. One of the biggest things I find to combat this is to put them under a canopy that is trimmed much flatter. Generally I see this problem on canopies that are trimmed pretty steep (Sabre2, Original PD's, etc...). Sometimes people who will recommend a canopy don't know what is best for you and your experience and what your individual frame of reference is. An example of a flat gliding canopy is a Silhouette, Spectre... I'm not saying this is definitely the solution just one thing to consider if your flying a canopy with a relatively steep glide angle. I'm not a big fan of waiting until you can see the blades of grass or looking at a building, unless you can take your building every place you ever want to (or have to) land, or there is no grass. Hope this helps, Isaiah

We just finished the 135, 150 and 170. Shouldn't be much longer before you can come and get them. Isaiah

I had a wonderful time as well, I think I found a new home! Too bad you went home Crystal, we did a night jump on Sat. Thanks to everyone for the fun times! See you soon. Isaiah

Random qoute from last weekend, "Isaiah SWOOPED MY BALLS!!!!!!" had to drag your foot right across them....!! Well, someone had to do it! Isaiah

I'm pretty sure I'll be there. Isaiah

The coated line sticks together. Over time it changes the deployment times. But I guess it's not something we should worry about because everyone repacks their reserve at or before 120 days and they never see the heat from the trunk of a car or anything crazy like that.

Actually, the market for a canopy in that range is a lot smaller then you think. The percentage of people flying X-braced is something like 5%. (I know it seems like more, especially if you spend a lot of time at bigger DZ’s) So, trying to go higher then X-braced in performance, price and pack volume, we could probably expect something like 1% or less of people to fly it. Really the market is not ready for the Z-braced canopy. It would simply cost way more to develop then anyone could justify, just to take over 1% of an already very small market. Later, Isaiah

I agree with Johnny, sort of, If your getting out of sequence deployment tighter stows will make the opening more comfortable. But, if that’s not your problem it won't help, tight stows don't slow the bag down; just make sure it all comes off in proper sequence. The reason it's important to take tight stows is because, when the bag explodes off you back, the weight of the line (between the stow) is pulling on the stow, if it's loose it'll pull out. The reason other systems work with out stows is because the line still comes out in proper sequence. The reason they are not more popular as far as main bags go is because they are not as idiot proof. When packed properly they work really well, but it's easier to pack them wrong. As far as the "coil of death" I would let Johnny pack like that for me, only because I know how he packs, as far as recommending it for anyone else it's probably a really bad idea (more room for problems) Later, Isaiah

As far as speeding up the Spectre opening, some of the things I've heard, like don't take tight stows and don't quarter the slider are very dangerous. People have been seriously hurt doing these things (not usually on purpose). The only thing your going to accomplish doing this is either out of sequence deployment or bottom skin inflation. I would suggest, check out the pilot chute to make sure it's big enough and in good condition, pull at little bit higher or consider the smaller slider; Personally, I'm not a big fan of going with the smaller slider though. Later, Isaiah

I just checked into it, apparently if the oil has been in the canopy for a long time you might have some problems with it. Oil will break down ZP fabric. Might not be a bad idea to send it in and have it looked at by the manufacturer. If you get oil on it, you want to clean it off pretty quickly with water and Woollite, and rinse off the soap well. Later, Isaiah

If you didn't blow out of Rantoul so fast I would have had one for you... Isaiah

Hey Guys, We are not holding out the KA 135/150 because we don't want inexperienced jumpers to get their hands on it (we don't, but that's not why it's not out) We would love to have the canopy ready, but right now it doesn't meet our standards. We are very, very close; a few times we though we had it, further testing showed flaws in it. We are not going to release the canopy until we are fully satisfied with it. Later, Isaiah

Turbulence is pretty complex, because there are more than one kind of turbulence, I would have to write a book here on the subject. So, I'm going to keep it pretty simple and only talk about the turbulence that we feel when we get to close to objects disturbing the wind on landing. First off the easiest way to view turbulence is looking at water, try to picture air as if it was a fluid. Picture a river, now picture a fast moving river with a big rock in the middle. The water doesn't just happily flow around it and continue on, it's all stirred up. This is what the air looks like on a windy day in a field with a tree in it. Now picture a windy day with a bunch of trees on one end a building somewhere in there and you have most DZ's. On a really windy day the air looks more like white water rapids. I don't care what kind of boat your in you are going to be affected by the turbulence. Now the topic of airlocks of not. Airlocks defiantly feel different in turbulence, are they safer....? The way I always explain airlock in turbulence vs. a open cell canopy is, an airlocked canopy is like riding a metal boat down a white water river and a open cell canopy is like riding in a rubber raft. The airlocked canopy is going to feel more ridged, but does it handle the turbulence better, I don't think so. The open cell canopy is going to appear to be breathing more but is it less safe in turbulence, I don't think so. What I do know is, you don't see too many white water enthusiasts taking on the river with aluminum boats, even though they are more ridged. The best thing to do with turbulence is educate yourself, know what causes it and where you can expect it. Then avoid jumping in situations you don't want to be in. My personal opinion, I agree with Breezy :-). Later, isaiah

The competition line set and RDS will be available in November, yes, the same canopy the Factory Team and Team Fasttrax jump. The only thing is the line set only has about a 100 jump life. It makes a big difference but it's pretty expensive. The thicker HMA (500) will also be available, has a longer life and is still a lot thinner than Vectran. Later, Isaiah

Here is at least one thing that can go wrong..... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1437 Isaiah

Swoomas....yes! The Swooper's Choice Isaiah

Here it is. http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/dualsq.pdf Later, Isaiah

Hey, Look at the picture of that 7 cell 16 chamber thing....just the top skin. You can see 7 very distinct cells. In between the loaded ribs the top skin just domes up, the chambers aren't doing much other than pulling the bottom skin up with it, now look at the Velocity....in between the line attachments (on the top skin) it doesn't dome up, because the crossbracing is also loaded. so looking at just the top skin you see 21 very distinct cells. Isaiah

Hey, Well, a traditional 7 or 9 cell canopy has 7 or 9 cells. It's based on the way the canopy is loaded on the top skin. With crossbracing it loads the topskin of the canopy to make it think it has a lineset of a 21 cell canopy without having all the drag of a 21 cell lineset. So, it has a 7 cell lineset, but with the crossbracing the top skin is loaded like a 21 cell, on a 7 or 9 cell the ribs in between lines are not loaded, that's why we call them 7 or 9 not 14 or 18 cells. It's not a marketing thing, just brilliant engineering. Later, Isaiah

I'm going

Hey, All the components play a role in the deployment process, the hard openings could be contributed to any number of things, pilot chute, d-bag, rubber bands...etc. All these things factor in. Another thing to consider is that maybe with the smaller d-bag, your not putting the canopy in the bag as neat. If your having a little trouble getting the bag closed, you might be moving the slider grommets around. if the slider grommets are not tight on the stops, it will cause harder openings. I'm not saying it's defiantly sloppy packing, just something to consider. Chances are if the canopy was working fine before you changed the components it's not the canopy. It might not be the components either, just might require a different method of packing. Take it easy! Isaiah

Looks like a trip to Salvation Army...... Isaiah

*Newbies ears perk up* Sooooo, you're saying that if I buy Puma's then I can swoop like the cool kids!?!? SWEEEEEETTT!! I'm going to the mall tonight to get me a pair. All the other kids on the DZ will think I'm awesome when I show them how I can swoop thanks to my Puma's!!! Easy now, it takes years of practice and hundreds of jumps to master the puma's, getting them to early is like downsizing too fast. Isaiah

Yea, I notice a big difference, they really helped me, the blue ones are defiantly faster.. Top secret info, keep it quiet..... Isaiah