Description
The Crossfire. Our identity. A truly unique design. Now completely redone in the new Crossfire 3. This is how we do justice to the Crossfire legend.
Unparalleled openings, a longer recovery arc and incredible swoop distance combine in a 9-cell fully elliptical wing that’s 100% devoted to the art of having fun.
If you’re ready to step it up a notch from your Safire or want to upgrade your Crossfire 2, the Crossfire 3 is for you. She’s fun to fly at docile wingloadings between 1.0 and 1.4 for the confident intermediate pilot, but we recommend a wingloading between 1.5 and 2.0 for maximum performance.
Simply put, the Crossfire 3 is the all-round maestro from the Icarus Canopies range. She will have you flying long and high, turf surfing, or coming in hot for your first swoops across the pond.
It’s time to take to the sky the way you were meant to, on a 9-cell sports machine that keeps it as real as you do.
Design
The new Crossfire 3 continues the era of the legendary Crossfire 2 that began in 2001. But she isn’t simply a remake – she’s a completely new canopy designed from the ground up.
The Crossfire 3 was designed with you, the pilot, in mind. From the plain-to-see to the supposedly inconsequential, every detail makes for an effortless and enjoyable flight. Shape, planform, lines: in every component we have invested years of experience, thousands of ideas and countless hours of development.
The result? A completely 3D designed canopy with smooth curves and even smoother openings and landings.
The Crossfire 3 benefits from the most up to date CAD design tools and CFD technology available, and all the important lessons we learned designing Petra, Leia and the Safire 3. She’s the most modern 9-cell sports parachute in our range. The new shaping gives her a massively improved performance range…and she looks prettier than ever.
What can you expect when you fly your brand new Crossfire 3 for the first time? The unique blend of awesome openings, hassle-free flight and unrestricted everyday practicality that the Crossfire is known for, mixed with the cutting edge design and performance that is typical of NZ Aerosports high performance wings. And the inevitable desire to do it all again after every landing.
Who is the Crossfire 3 for?
The most important thing to note with the Crossfire 3 is that she is a fully elliptical, very efficiently designed high performance canopy. She is not suitable as a first canopy for students off AFF. She must be treated with respect and caution at all times, but particularly in the adjustment period with the new wing. Her dive is more aggressive and her recovery arc longer than the Crossfire 2. The sight picture for your turn, landing and flare will be different than the wings you have flown before.
At light wingloadings of 1.0 to 1.4, the Crossfire 3 is suitable as a first or second fully elliptical 9-cell for confident intermediate jumpers stepping it up a notch or three from their Safire 2, 3 or equivalent. We recommend a minimum of 500 jumps on a square or semi-elliptical canopy before moving to a Crossfire 3 of an appropriate wingloading for these jumpers.
At higher wingloadings of 1.5 and above, the Crossfire 3 is an all new machine for those jumpers already accustomed to flying smaller/higher loaded Crossfire 2’s or other elliptical 9-cells. She’s a step up in performance. She whips around, dives hard, recovers slow, and eats up the ground in a swoop. She is perfect for advanced pilots who want a fun hassle-free canopy without going crossbraced, and a favorite among team flyers and camera-flyers.
Openings
The Crossfire 2 hit the sweet spot for openings. The fully formed nose gave her a cleaner leading edge and consistently soft openings without the fear of spinning up. We figured if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So you can expect those same smooth delicious openings on your Crossfire 3.
Inputs
Inputs are how any canopy is defined…how does it feel? Everything about the Crossfire 3 is focused on effortless fun flight time. From the second you pop those brakes everything becomes sublime, responsive and predictable.
Toggles
Toggles give you all the feedback you need to feel connected with this wing. More aggressive inputs will cause drastic altitude loss, but if you feel inclined to sit in deep brakes taking in that last jump and reflecting on how damn awesome it was, she is happy to oblige.
Stall Point
Her stall point is predictable – you will recognise when she is telling you it’s time to let up. Rears are predictable too. She’ll give you plenty of warning before the nasty stuff happens and you’ll know quite quickly how far you can milk them before switching to toggles.
Rears
The extra glide helped by her constant cell aspect ratio means you can hang off your rears for a worry-free ride back to the dropzone after a long spot. Or use them to give you that exhilarating swoop to end your skydive.
Fronts
Wanna change up a gear? Swooping is your jam? No problem – she’s just as happy floating back to the drop zone on brakes as she is being pushed as far and as fast as you can. The fronts feel lighter but not vague. You can judge precisely and predictably how much or little you need them.
Performance
Enjoy the ultimate fun flying experience without the drag (pun sadly intended) of a less responsive wing. The highly elliptical Crossfire 3 has snappy turns and incredible performance.
The Dive
Probably the biggest question we have been asked. Yes, she does dive more! We made this a priority. Drooped wingtips minimize wingtip drag to maximize efficiency and power. The dive is also predictable and controllable, giving you the confidence to find consistency in your landing. Feel confident whipping through your turn knowing that you can harness a huge amount of power for your landing.
Recovery
Whether doing a 90 or banging out a massive rotation, the recovery arc is something we know you will love. An advanced trim makes the Crossfire 3’s recovery arc longer than the Crossfire 2 and introduces you to a new sight picture.
It’s extremely important to bear this in mind that if you are transitioning from a Safire 2 or 3, or a Crossfire 2. The recovery arc is significantly longer, so if you turn it at the same height as you are used to, you will come out low. It will take a bit of time to retrain your brain to the new sight picture, so stay alert, treat the wing with respect and take it slow while you adjust to it.
Flare
She will give you huge confidence on landing with a powerful predictable flare Enjoy your swoop without worrying about hard landings; the nose reinforcing reduces distortion during the flare to give you that much needed extra lift at the bottom end.