Basejumper.com - archive

I searched the forums trying to find out some more information about the Rock Dragon, but was only able to find one review. It is a new canopy, but I am hoping by now that more people have been using it and someone will be able to comment on it.

You can find more information on Apex Base website..... or call them at 435 259-1085.

I have one Rock Dragon 303 with 180 jumps and another one with 3 jumps.....

I like this canopy a lot, that´s why I ordered a second one.......


You you need more information PM me....

I recommend sending a PM to Manship. He is, as far as I know, the only Rock Dragon owner that has done sufficient jumps on other canopies too to come up with a valid comparison.

I don't have enough jumps on my Rock Dragon to comment beyond the fact that it has saved my life on most of my BASE jumps and many of my skydives. So it seems to do the job well.

I think it is worth pointing out that the Rock Dragon is manufactured by Precision Aerodynamics which traditionally has a less strict quality control department than Performance Designs where most other BASE canopies are being manufactured. I've heard of at least three (including mine) manufacturing defects on Rock Dragon canopies that slipped through their quality control. Two were related to the packing tabs and innocuous, one was much worse and Apex recalled the canopy.

Apex has been very helpful and forthcoming in these scenarios. As long as you inspect your Rock Dragon on delivery you will be fine.

I'm actually hoping an Apex representative will chime in on this and comment on Precision's reputation that BASE jumpers talk about. I don't want to get known as the guy spreading rumors here. I've been exceptionally happy with my Rock Dragon (although again; I don't have enough comparison jumps to objectively state that it's a superior canopy).

Put my 7th. or 8th. on my new RD the other night off a 162ft. B. Static line, nice stand up. My buddy's landing wasn't as.....soft...on his Dagger. Can't really give you any comparisons cuz this is the first vented canopy I've jumped. But so far I'm happy with it.

 

I have 44 jumps on my 288 Rock Dragon, bought this year. 1 from a 500 foot pylon, 24 from a 340 foot tower, 17 from a 975 foot tower and 2 from a 850 foot cliff. Jumps ranged from G&T's to 5sec delays. Only one off heading which was pretty certainly down to body position. Used half break approaches and sank it in several times, loved the way it did this, very confidence inspiring. Was slightly surprised by the amount of forward speed but that may have been a reaction to the amount of obstacles and size of the landing area.
I've not tried it on properly terminal jumps so can't comment on that, yet, (Swiss valley this weekend ;-) but very happy with it so far.

M

I have the new slider but haven't had a chance to put any on it yet. I hope to change that here in the next couple of weeks. My plan was to get some jumps in at RG, but work got in the way of me getting out there.

I have put some jumps on it since I had the 5th line mod put on it though, so I can comment on that.

Heading performance has been fantastic. I'm prone to throwing aerials and I've pitched in all manner of weird body positions and my headings have always been solid.

The canopy flew and flared fine prior to the mod, but I really like the way it handles now. The canopy is much more responsive and has a very solid flare. Flying in half-brakes is fantastic.

That said, Jimmy cautioned, and I would tend to agree with him, that the 5th line mod is more advanced and really not for people starting out.

I'd also caution that if anyone does have a line mod conversion, realize that that changes the brake settings. I now use what was formerly my slider-up setting for my slider down jumps.

Just my $0.02.

Is it just me that doesn't understand the idea of putting a ZP topskin on a base canopy... I haven't got any BASE jumps, but I have read really much about the sport and the gear, and i understand that there is a bigger chance of gettin an offheading opening. I also have some problems understanding why you want your canopys to fly faster in a sport like BASE.. I may have totally misunderstod something, but i hope you will explain the pros. and cons off having a ZP topskin on a BASE canopy..

Stay Safe

ZP topskin is an option. None of my canopies have it.

The idea behind the topskin is to get some of the performance characteristics of ZP while still having a primarily F-111 canopy.

The ZP topskins aren't really to improve performance, but to preserve the initial level of performance for more jumps. You really won't notice that much of a difference between a canopy that's all F111 or the same canopy with a ZP topskin.

Also, the entire topskin isn't ZP (at least on CR canopies) but only the topskin from the nose back to the B lines.

A ZP topskin will not negatively affect your headings either. As far as contributing factors to offheadings, a ZP topskin will certainly be low on the list if even present.

The same canopy built entirely out of ZP is not going to fly any faster than the same canopy built out of F111. Over time, the performance of the F111 canopy will degrade faster, then the ZP version will seem to perform better.

Trim and angle of attack make a canopy have a fast forward speed.

I thought that part of the thinking behind it was that it would make the canopy a bit more responsive to toggle inputs because of the lower porosity of the fabric.

Then again, the topskin usually only covers about the front 3rd or so of the canopy, so I wouldn't think toggle inputs would have an impact that far up.

 

I'm sure a lot of jumpers believe all of that, but how many have made enough jumps on both types to really have an educated opinion, rather than just believing that the new magical "thingie" really does something?

You're going to have to jump the same canopy in both versions, under identical conditions, and remain very objective.

I think even with all of that, a lot of people will "believe" that the ZP canopy has better performance.

I seriously doubt that anybody has done enough empirical testing to say whether the ZP option really does increase performance significantly. I know that there are plenty of ZP BASE canopies out there that have been jumped like college cheerleaders, and still have that flare that they had when they were new. I also know there are F111 canopies out there with similar jump numbers that flare like crap.

Who really knows?