What canopy for skydiving?

[imported_mknutson]

I am just wondering what everyone thinks is the best canopy to skydive with my wingsuit?

I use a Raven III right now, and am thinking of a Raven II, Triathlon, or somthing else.
Any thoughts?

[guest]

Believe it or not, my crossfire ( old trim) loaded at 2:1 is a fantastic canopy for my wingsuit. Other than having to pull relatively high in order to have the time to deal with the suit, 3000', the openings are great, slow, smooth, and none of the big diving twists assosiated with other stuff out there.
I just ordered an 8' colapsable pilot chute from Jari, a great idea I think. I also pack with my d-bag lines at the top of the pack tray, and the bridal pulling from the bottom. I jump a small Javelin, and I am very pleased with full flight openings.
See you in Norway on July 14th-? then southern Europe. We should get off some rocks together if we can.
By the way, thanks for the wingsuit Mick, I'm loving it.

RK

[crwper]

It interests me that you put the lines at the top.

I bought a Jedei 92 from a friend of mine last summer, and put it in a Talon 2 (sized for Stiletto 120 or so). I had frequent line twists with this canopy (haven't jumped it with the wingsuit yet, so these were ordinary, stable pulls), to the point where when I got to pull time, there was always a sense of dread about what was going to come out. I talked with my friend about this and he said he never had any problems with his Teardrop. I borrowed the Teardrop from him for a while, and also experienced no problems. So I had a look at the differences in design, and noticed that the bottom corners in the Teardrop are more open than they are in the Talon 2. I figured this was catching on my line stows, so I went back to the Talon 2 but put the line stows next to the reserve, like you do. No problems so far.

Since that time, particularly in reference to wingsuit stuff, I've heard a lot more about open corners versus pockets, and now at least two container manufacturers are making rigs with completely open bottoms.

Anyone else have experiences or thoughts on puttings lines to the top or bottom? IIRC, the major concern in putting lines to the top is damage to the reserve container. Does that sound accurate? Any other problems you guys can think of?

Michael

[guest]

I can't think of why the lines at the top would damage the reserve pack tray any more than the bridal/ d bag/ gromet that normaly gets pulled past the reserve tray. In fact, seeing as it is being lifted from the bottom, I would speculate that there would be less wear, since the initial hard tug to free the bag is coming from the bottom.
Line twists in a skydiving rig may also be lessened because many jumpers simply do not leave enough free slowed line in the pack tray. With the lines at the bottom, this is even more important. If one riser loads while the bag is still being lifted from the rig, line twists are almost certain. I always leave quite a bit of free stow in my pack jobs.
As far as open corners go, it seems like the future of wingsuit flight. I think we will see many new wingsuit friendly rigs on the market in the next year, in skydiving as well as BASE.
I hope we get some feedback from those who jump BASE and or skydiving rigs modified specifically for wingsuits. Maybe Martian Bob can comment on his new open cornered pin rig when he takes it off our local A. Yeah right, ha ha, that's funny!!
I know I'm waiting with much anticipation for the wingsuit rig from CR....I probably should have stayed and worked some overtime today.

RK

[guest]

If you jump small, fast mains like I do, then the three best choices in my opinion are the Cobalt, Competition Cobalt, and the Crossfire. All open straight and soft. I have only had one "odd" opening under a Cobalt (brake came unstowed) while jumping my wingsuit. I regularly jump my Competition Cobalt 75 with the suit (a BirdMan GTi)as it is in my "pond rig" (a fully articulated Javelin XRS) which has cut bottom corners. I am perfectly comfortable with this combination. As for packing, I do just like Jari Kuosma: I pack the lines toward my backpad and the grommet sticks straight up. FYI: Jari is jumping a Velocity 74 or 79 nowadays with his SkyFlyer. :D

Chuck Blue
Raeford Parachute Center, NC