Flik canopy with 3 vents of 4???

[mknutson]

I am ordering a new Flik 266 and am trying to decide between 3 vents or 4 vents. Can someone help me understand the pros and cons in these 2 choices?

I assume that most of my jumps will be slider down, with the occasional mesh slider up jump in UT and CO & CA.

But I am also not wanting to rule out an EU trip with this canopy of course.

[MMK]

Not sure if you are just wanting to start a discussion on vents or not.
The easy answer would be to call Apex and ask their reasoning behind it. Apex Variable VTEC is pretty well described on their website (Welcome to Apex BASE), but you might be better off discussing your indivividual needs with them.
I jump vented Flik266s with the standard 4 vents in Moab on a regular basis and have been very happy with their performance. I have also taken this canopy to Switzerland on several trips. When doing tracking jumps I had to resort to several reefing methods to reduce the opening shock, which I attributed to the venting (but could be something else - I am not experienced enough in this field). I have had more 'comfortable' openings using this canopy during WS in LB - this said, I have also been wearing a different helmet for WS, so that could be a factor.

[stitch]

I 2nd the opinion that you should call Todd to have this explained thoroughly. Supposedly 3 vents on cells 2, 4, and 6 work as well as 4 vents. But I also believe he said it has a lot to do with canopy size, weight, and usage.

[speedphreak]

I don't really have an answer to you question (but I do have another question...). I've got a FLiK 266 with the four vents, on 2, 3, 5, & 6, and while I was aware that you could get different vent configurations, I had been told that you didn't vent the center cell?

Is this just some random bit of unsubstantiated here-say that I picked up or would there be a valid reason for not venting your center cell?

[seekfun]

Speedphreak,

One factor with venting is to keep it symmetrical - span-wise.. Therefore, if an even number of cells are vented, the center cell is excluded. And if an odd number of cells are vented, the center cell is included.

~ topher

[shegget]

I agree with the suggestion to talk with Todd at Apex. He answered several of my questions when I bought my FLiK, even telling me which options weren't really worth paying for (for me, anyways)... never met him but he seems like a really knowledgeable, no-BS kind of guy.

[Sharpy]

I recently purchased a Flick 266 from Apex and figured living in Oz i would get 5 of 7 cells vented as majority of my jumping would be slider down, was not too sure how it was gonna go at terminal? Recently jumped the canopy with about a 11-12 second delay large mesh slider and 32" pilot chute opening was really sweet on heading no shock what so eva. Just ran the normal tailgate setup with the slider quarted beneath and a small bight single stow on the lineset at the tailpocket "Indirect control". I have very little experiance though but just an early observation which may help you?