aubsmell

Bill, I'm not going to give you the official Aerodyne line on this one, since it sounds like you already spoke to someone in the loft. However, I will make some suggestions: You have 56 jumps listed in your profile. How about deploying terminal (or slightly de-arched), in a good body position with your hips and sholders square and semetrical. That would be a good start. You say you only have 10 jumps on the canopy, if you have deployed, head down, head high, terminal, sub terminal in a track etc, etc, etc, that doesn't leave many good solid normal consistant deployments? I'd say when you get the line trim charts from Jody, or Sandy, have a rigger check them out, and if they are correct. Still do a few jumps on the canopy and concentrait on proper body postion. There still may be nothing wrong. I will say that the power of suggestion can be pretty strong. And if someone said "wow that looked funky" on your first subterminal jump, then you go out looking for something wrong on each jump after that, altering your body position each time. You ARE going to find something wrong. Especially multiplied by the fact that you are relativily inexperienced, and don't have many jumps on this particular canopy or design. a couple of side notes, I tried to look through all of our sales of a Pilot 188 to anyone named Bill, and I didn't see you in there, could you give me in a PM the serial number of the canopy, or your first and last name, or the distributor who you bought the canopy from... Just for my own interest. Last but not least (here is the plug) if you or we do find something wrong with the canopy, you bought that sucker from Aerodyne man, you know we are going to take care of you.... we'll fix it or replace it, and maybe even make jody give you a foot rub. Cheers, Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Aerodyne will be represented there for sure... if not me personally, someone will be there with a pilot 124, 132, 140 and 150. Bonnie from Gravity Gear has a couple of those sizes available all the time for demo... check with her too. Aubrey - "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Because I work for a manufacturer, I'll keep my opinion to myself. (everybody knows what opinions are like!) but I will tell you you can demo one from Aerodyne 3 ways: 1. send Sandy an email s.kimball@aerodyne-int.com and she can arrange to ship you one right to your house. 2. Go to our website, look under demos, see if there is a Aerodyne Distributor near you who has the make and model you want to try, and you can link up with them to try it. 3. Take a look at our calendar and see what boogie our reps will be attending and cruz over to the tent at that event, and we'll either give you a fully loaded Icon to jump with your choice of canopy, or just put your canopy of choice in your rig. My candid advise to you would be to jump them all then buy the one you like, remember it's your toy, and your the one who has to play with it most.... Regards, Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Wow, this totally blows me away.. Having worked very closely with Egon the past couple of years mostly as a competitor, we have been on quite a few adventures together. He was a good guy, very positive, this is tragic, and I'm very sad for all of the folks on that plane. They all had such bright futures. I just wanted to post a couple of pics of Egon that I had that illustrate his humor.... I'll miss those guys.... He was a good man... -Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Just to let you know, we have A2 389 and A2 350 demo's available, for demo in the US only (from the manufacturer, in some other countries distributors own demos), there is usually a few week wait, as they are gaining popularity, but we just got them all back with fresh relines for the season. Check with Sandy Kimball: s.kimball@aerodyne-int.com to arange an Aerodyne tandem demo, actually any Aerodyne demo product for that matter. Regards, Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Actually Aerodyne Research is an American company, a Florida Corporaton. We do do our manufacturering in South Africa, at Aerodyne Systems (pty) ltd. (PISA no longer exists). However as an American Customer, you are buying and being delivered to by a Florida company, this is also where all of our post sale service takes place and the majority of repairs, you will never have any contact with anything customs related. We do all the leg work. And the prices of all our gear, reflect the total you pay. We are not the only ones who operate this way. For instance PD does a portion of their manufacturing in Honduras, as the warning lable states, but they handle all the import for their customers the same as we do. For international customers outside of the US. The distributor usually deals with customs, if you order direct from Aerodyne, than you have to handle customs, usually it isn't a big deal, depending on the country. Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Just added some clearer pictures of the dive loops, and anti-twist hard housings. There was some mention that the last pics were hard to see. Peas. "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

I'll be in NorCal at the end of next week ~ around the 23rd.. 1 Corona it is... if you said my service was great, you'd get a whole six pack... "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Just a note to say that if you jump the Sigma 395 it is closer to the A2 389 (which is actually bigger then the 395) A more accurate comparison of the two canopies would be a A2 350 to the Sigma 370. The 389 to S-370 compairison is going to seem that way, because smaller parachutes are always more fun... And the price difference is more like $1000. (in favor of the A2) Peace out. A- added (to be fair, the hop 330 is the funnist tandem I've ever flown, but I weigh 200, and I took my buddy that was 240 and it ripped, but agian, small and fast is fun, but sometimes not all that practical) "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

I don't know much about the racer (or what options this one has), and I've never jumped one, but one thing to consider is that even the base modle of the icon has: -Link stop panels (small panels inside th emain container that help prevent line twists, and prevent the lines from ever catching on the corners on the reserve tray) -All Stainless steel (including the miniforce) -Stainless steel Benchmade hook knife (if the guy selling it hasn't lost it) -Articulation at the hip junction (also stainless) -Quilted back pad -Pillow cutaway handle with a conduit insert (very beefy, sold as option with other rigs) -Velcroless toggles (stainless steel locking pin) -Cypres ready -Aerodyne Embroideries -Hard housings sewn in risers (steel tubing) Other than that it is just what you like better, what you think looks cooler, and what you think will have better resale in the future, and all those questions can only be answered by you. You'll have tons of fun with either. A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Andy, I have been corosponding wiht both you and Doug about this, there was a bit of confussion in the beginning, one was ordered to replace yours (purple), I instructed the rigging loft to send you a temporary replacement, that you would return to us when you got your color specific one. For some reason it didn't go out. Laura shipped a red handle three weeks ago to your Chicago address. (728 W. Jackson St), although I believe I told you it was coming to the DZ. Either way, I have been on vacaiton, I have no clue why you have not recieved your handle. But I am right now putting a black one in my back pack, and I am going to personally bring it to you at Hinkley this weeekend, and I will by you your favorite flavor beer. Even with the very best customer service, sometimes strange things happen. In the end you will probibly end up with 4 cut away handles, the first one that was a bit too sort, the one I'm bringing this weekend, and the red one wlll probibly show up at the same time your purple one shows up. Peace out, I'll see you this weekend, cut away handle in hand. Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

That is weird, I'll get in touch with you privatly and we'll get our Euro guy to get you squared away... "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

I had a chat with our Technical Director this morning. No, the template has not changed at all. The canopy, plan form, size, shape, aspect ratio all that is exactly the same, all the changes that I listed above are the the only changes to the canopy. The bulk difference can be explained in a couple of ways, one a very new canopy can be as loose 8-12% of it's pack volume over time. Two, one 150 can differ from another 150 by as much as 10%, just due to the batches of fabric and tape they were constructed from. That is why canopy companies are so leary about quoting exact pack volumes, because you can test 100 different 150's and get 100 different volumes. Third, just packing a brand new (very slick 0P) canopy can prevent you from being as neat, as you would with a well worn in one, and that can add to the bulik too. Sorry to give you the run around, but the long and short is that, no the canopy has not changed in physical size. That being said, that doesn't mean that the demo you packed didn't have a greater volume than your old canopy. A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Hi Andy, I won't spend a lot of time telling you the differences between these two canopies, if you have the ability to jump both, your own opinion will be far more valuable than anything I can tell you now. What I want to do here is make a few points comparing the Triathlon of old to the Triathlon you have now (if it is brand new with a 2003,04, 05 manufacture date) I will admit that we haven't done a very good job of marketing the differenced in the product we sell as the "Triathlon 2004" and the Triathlon that was originally designed by Bill Hazlet’s old company Aerodyne (a different company from the Aerodyne of today) I'll tell you about the new updates: Made from a completely different fabric, we currently manufacture the Tri with PN4 from Perseverance Mills, that is more in line with the type of fabric found on PD, Icarus, and Precision mains, we no longer use the Gelvanore stuff that was a little easier to pack. (This change didn't really change the flight of the canopy too much) It has what we call the 4.0 steering mod. Basically this is a design change that changed the positions of the steering lines. It speed up the turn rate a bit over the old design, and dramatically increased the sink-ability and flair of the canopy. Instead of being completely made of zero porosity fabric, the ribs are now made from 0-3cfm (f111 type) fabric. This really makes the openings smoother and softer than the old Triathlon. Also the line type from the old Tri's has changed to a 725lbs Dynema line (just another trade name for Spectra) but our engineer says the braid that we are using now is better and shrinks at a smaller percentage than the stuff they were using before. All that being said, I just wanted to let you know that some of the responses that you getting from people with older Tri’s may not actually pertain to the parachute you have. Jump them both and keep the one you are happy with. It’s your toy after all, and you have to like it. If you ask my opinion, I have jumped every size Spectre from 120-230, and every size Tri from 120- 210, and 3 of the mid size Icarus Omni’s. I don’t see a dramatic difference in any of them, at heavier loadings, the flight characteristics are a little more pronounced, but I’m sure marketing and sales guys like me will usually tell you why our product is the best since sliced bread, but realistically there aren’t dramatic differences. Openings, the Spectre snivels more (longer opening), but inflates quicker, the new Tri stands you up right away, and starts inflating, but sort of blossoms a bit slower. I guess when you jump the two back to back; you’ll see better what I’m talking about. I'll leave the differences up to you to decide. Let me know if you have any more questions about our products and I’ll try to help you out. Later... "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Andy, I'm pretty sure that your hard housings are the new ones, and the older dive loops can be modified, I'll take care of them when I'm at Chicagoland in June. later- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

sorry, the pics arn't that great, I had to dilute the quality of the pics pretty heavily to fit them on here. The dive loops can't contrast, as they are not a different piece, just a continuation of the same piece of type 17 webbing. all the risers I have in stock at the moment are all dark colors, lots of black and navy blue harness going through right now.... "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

I just posted a few pics of what we came up with on this thread. [/url]http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1583726;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[url] "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Just some pics of the other pieces of the risers. The working end and the toggle. A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

I'd say it's not advertising, because I'm not trying to sell you anything, or tell you how great they are... Just simply pictures of new gear to keep the skydiving population informed in new happenings at one manufacturer. For info purposes only. A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Additionally a few months ago, there were some questions on here about our hard housings slipping on the earlier designs. I just wanted to post some pics of the manufacturing methods used at present. The hard housing is sewn down with the open end contained in a folded over piece of type 3 webbing, with a hot knifed hole, the housing is additionally tacked down at the bottom and top, and at the top end there is an Oetiker clamp, with a piece of Spectra crimped between the housing and the clamp with the free end being bartacked. This prevents the possibility of the hard housing slipping out of the bottom should the hot knifed opening be torn, the bartack prevents the cutaway cable from protruding through the top end of the hard housing. (that is a lot of words ending in ing) Photos below. A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

In the past there were a few threads in this forum concerning our risers. I posted one requesting suggestions on dive loops, and I just wanted to post what we came up with from all the suggestions. So here it is. The basic premis is that it stays a continuous loop of type 17, but it is rotated outboard, so that the dive loop opens from form, and is easily grabbed under canopy. (here are some pics) A- "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

hey send me your exact queston. a.easterlin@aerodyne-int.com Talk to you soon... "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Just wanted to reply to a bunch of these with a little clarification. Also I’ll let you know a technique that we have been using here, that works well. You can substitute “Food Grade Silicon” for Pariffin I’ll give you some back ground on the incident: Someone went to switch out a canopy at Skydive Capetown in South Africa and had a hard pull on the ground, they tested a couple of others on the ground and found the cut away force excessive. They gave us a call to let us know what was going down, the thing that sparked our interest is that they had a few rigs with very close serial numbers made in a very narrow time frame the rigs were fairly new. We thought there may be some defect, so we sent our technical director down to inspect the rigs, some of which we directed them not to touch. Upon inspection, it was clear that due to the nature of the DZ, very fine sand, windy environment that excessively dirty cable housings were the culprit. Arguably, you could say it is a tad excessive that we mandate that you clean your cable housings, and cables (something that you should do anyway). However, as a company we feel that we have the obligation to do whatever we can to keep our customers as safe as possible, to include informing them if we find any problems or potential problems with something as important as the cut away system. The fact that the pieces in question are fairly universal in the industry (standard size cables and cable housings from the same manufacturers, used by most major container manufacturers), and are not limited to only our brand system is irrelevant. Hopefully this SB will inspire everyone to take note that is very important do proper gear maintenance, and without it your system may not function correctly. Some tips on cleaning: A very easy way to execute this cleaning when you are at the dropzone next: See if you can get a hold of a piece of spectra, a rigger who has done a reline will most likely have one lying around, a new clean piece is best, if you can get a piece with a sewn in eyelet or cats eye it’s best. Take a small piece of cloth (a gun barrel cleaning patch works best, or even a little square of t-shirt material) and feed it through the little sewn eyelet, and run the spectra through the housing, (I’ve been doing it like a rifle barrel one dry, one “wet” one dry) The point isn’t to soak it in silicone, it is to clean it and leave a “light” coat of oil. Then clean your cables with a cotton cloth and silicon or just a paper towel and silicon. You should repeat this process periodically to insure proper function of your system, regardless of the brand. Your rigger will usually clean your cables at least at each repack in the U.S. but it is best to be a bit more thorough. If you have any questions on the cleaning technique feel free to email Jody Conn at j.conn(at)aerodyne-int.com -Aubrey "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Tonto, I want to go through each of your points here and I also want to preface this message with the fact that through our personal conversations I understand that you do not like our company for a number or reasons that are personal to you, which I do not feel it is my job to discuss in this forum. I respect you, your experience as a skydiver/instructor and your opinions. I also realize that there is nothing that I can do to change your mind or feelings on this subject, all I can do is respect your opinions. However, I feel that a more constructive course for your frustration with perceptions of our products and company would be to put your views to positive use in order to aid us in addressing the issues. If you feel that you have noticed things that could be done better let us know. It is quite possible that we will listen to you and go on to improve our products, which will then improve the sport of skydiving overall. Simply constantly pointing out flaws doesn’t help anyone in a positive manner. We have delivered over 750 Icon's to include +-100 student Icons and this is the first instance I've heard of flaps coming open in flight. I'm sure you guys often have AFF students that request video. To help our research and development team, could you please provide some video of this happening to Dave Macrae (I think you have his contact info.) This is a system unique to the Icon Student rig. I'm wondering if you have actually deployed the main using our reserve side deployment system? I think it would surprise you. It is a very clean system; I have MULTIPLE jumps on video where the focus of the video is on this deployment sequence. It doesn’t take any longer than a standard break away BOC and immediately clears the pilot chute of the burble. To explain a bit, when the wind catches the 3 inch cure tape that pulls out from under the Spandex BOC, it typically pulls the pocket straight up in the air, releasing the pilot chute, similar to the bridle function on a free bag. Because the spandex pouch comes off as a piece and is pulled away from the bottom of the container (also taking tension off of the pouch itself) the pilot chute is placed outside the burble when removed unlike other designs which have been shown to bounce around in the burble for a few seconds. Quite a few container designers thoroughly looked this system over at the PIA and complemented us on the ingenuity. It wouldn't surprise me if you didn't see it showing up on other brand systems in the future (a good idea is a good idea.) In fact the Swedish military is so impressed that they are retrofitting all of their Atoms to include this system. That is an excellent point, which is why we have a design that places the control unit on the reserve top flap. This gives it a little more protection than afforded on the yoke, but it is easy to look at. It can be seen under window (you can see the prototype for this design on page 16 of the Icon Manual.) Once again, the system is not perfect but is being worked on with a few different designs coming into play. After it has been tested, reviewed, moved, altered and run through a battery of other tests we will show you the new design. Until then, we have chosen to keep the control unit in a place that is safe, clean, and familiar to a number of designs. Albeit, it does take a few seconds to check once on the students back. There are many types of adjustable adapters out there for main lift webs, some with noted failures. The reason we use this particular one is simple; it is proven. This is the same piece we use on all of our military systems, and have for years with no documented failure. It is also the same adjuster that PDF has used for 10+ years on all their military and sport adjustable harnesses (thousands of harnesses) with no documented failures. To bring the point closer to home for you the Former South African Defense force has been using this piece on their military harness since the late 1970’s, with literally hundreds of thousands of jumps on them. This system is suited to most environments, and the few extra minutes it takes you to routinely inspect wear on the harness should be an obvious trade off for an adapter that has proven itself over time not to fail or break harnesses. We don't list it as an option because it is not very popular, but had you asked we would have sewn handles on. In fact retrofitting your Icons by producing new leg pads for you with handles included is as easy as a phone call (contact Dave Macrae.) In closing, I hope this post finds you well, please contact Dave about the issues you have, I am POSITIVE that we can in some way accommodate you. Regards, Aubrey Easterlin "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

Happy Birthday Jari.... I know you'll have a good time... wish I could be there with you!!!!!!!!!! "Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"