has contributed 23 reviews

(Review ID:729)

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

safire-1 review

Rated by: alain on 2004-03-04 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Safire in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: perfect allround canopy for intermediate to expert jumpers
Cons: tricky sweet spot for lowtimers

getting close to 400 jumps with a Safire 1 135 loaded @ 1.3+:1, here's what I can say about it...
The vectran lineset will probabely last another 100 jumps, that will take it to 500 jumps or so. I've checked the lines length not too long ago: they are all within 1cm from the factory specs !!!
I use to find the flare quite tricky at first but now I realise that it was mostly due to me not being experienced enough for that wingloading at the time.
The openings are nothing but sweet: I don't even bother to slow down my track before pulling, which gives me some consistant 700ft nice openings, on heading 90%. I reckon the last 10% are mostly due to lazy body position, anyway the canopy never dives nor spin. I look forward to jump that canopy with a wingsuit !
The glide is very good if you need it (rear risers), either to get back from a long spot or if you want to wait for trafic to clear...
Despite what many people have said, this canopy has heaps of flare even on a classic strait in apporach, you just need a little research to find it...
Flat turns are quite easy to dial in too.
No issues with strong or turbulent wind.
Now, the very good side of the Safire-1 compared to many of it's kind is it's ability to dive and swoop, don't expect 400ft though ;-). Recovery arc is not too short, front riser pressure is manageable (I had the lower steering lines lenghten of 3 inch to avoid some wierd reactions on front riser input). Best thing to do* is a front riser carve approach, starting slowly for 45�, then pull harder to make it dive and get some speed for another 90�, what you need for the last or so 45� needed to complete a classic 180 is to release the riser smoothly or eventualy pulling the other one a little bit if you find yourself too high: the canopy won't level out untill you want it to and it will keep heaps of speed.
Then: the flare is cool ! After a smooth approach like I described, I usualy just need a little break input to flaten the glide and then the canopy flies horizontaly on it's own, pretty much toggles up, for about a third of the swoop. You just need to apply some breaks progressively to shut it down. Once dialed in, even on a hot no wind day, you won't have to run it out, not even a single step needed. slide&stop, that's how it works!

My 0.02 euro advice to intermediate jumpers willing to progress safely would be: get one (with the spec-1) and take some time to learn how it flies.
If you are more conservative and don't want to get into HP landings, maybe a Safire-2 or Sabre2 would be an easier option...

* I would not recommend any front riser approach at first or for beginners, you don't need that to land the canopy proprely. But if you want to, do your home work and take the time and jumps to get there progressively (double front at first, then 90's, etc...)

edit, 3 things I wanted to add (120 more jumps and a new line set since):
- i'm now jumping it with my S-Fly wingsuit: great, no hassle, sweet openings. I got a couple of twist once, no worries the canopy flew strait and I had plenty of time to kick them out. just as good as I expected :-)
- I had the opportunity to throw some nice 270's at higher elevation (1800ft) in Morroco lately, just one thing to say: leave your self some room 'coz the thing will swoop!!! No problems to shut it down though. Considering that sort of altutide density is fairly equivalent to one size smaller at home (sea level) and how enjoyable it was, I'm hunting for a 119 ;-)
- I discovered how to make it dive steeper&longer, thus building more speed, by pulling on both risers during the carve. More speed means slightly longer recovery arc and better swoop, plus you to start the swoop higher with this trick which is a good safety point !

safe ones !
Alain

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(Review ID:709)

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Safire kept me skydiving

Rated by: madflying on 2003-05-25 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Safire in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: No Prob in opening, easy to get use
Cons: I haven t found one yet

I purchased a Safire 139 (second hand) (1.1 wing load), after I crashed landed a Sabre 120. I spent 8 months recovering, then I started looking for a new canopy and I came across Icarus, in UK most ppl don't even want to talk about it. I read everything possible that I found online about Safire, and I thought it was the canopy for me. First jump I landed off, I was a bit afraid, then things started to work again. Now after 250 jumps on it I have only two words "AWSOME CANOPY".

As I said it is a second hand, after about 100 jumps i re-lined and the improvements in perfomances was amazing, I m not saying it wasn't performing, but i became a lot more responsive.

I psyco pack, only becouse my bag is for a sabre 120 and psyco packs smaller than pro-pack. I always get nice opening, in 250 jumps i had once two twists, and once half, i guess both due to the opening position.

These days I'm doing risers approch and it keeps going, and it stops whenever i want it.

Few weeks ago I jumped a Safire 119, and it blew my brain, but i also realized that i have a lot more to learn about my canopy before thinking downsizing again.

Moreover customer service is fantastic, they are very nice, Joris and Martin, based at Empuria Spain, are fantastic...

Thanks ICARUS

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(Review ID:691)

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Safire 189

Rated by: skymedic on 2003-04-23 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Safire in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: sweet turns, great flare once you figure it out.
Cons: takes some time to learn the sweet spot for landing.

funny thing is I wasn't going to buy a safire when i did. It was a few weeks before WFFC and I needed a canopy fast. This canopy happened to be for sale at Square 1 as one of there used Demo fleet. they said it had a relatively new line set and just a few holes. I really didn't care about what color it was.

well this was the start of my journey with the safire. my first 20 plus jumps I got the snot slammed out of me...on opening and on landing. I just could not figure this thing out. it was making diving off heading openings. the flare was awful(so i thought at the time). well then I learned that I needed to start psycho packing the canopy. this helped tame down the slammer's to a more acceptable level. I still had off heading openings now and then. But I could handle that. then I finaly figured out the sweet spot of the flare. I went from standing up 2 out of 20 to standing up almost every single landing and even having the thing pop me back up into the air. this was just after one of the low jump# skygods at the local DZ told me the safire has no flare...even thoug he had never jumped one in his life. the canopy literaly lifted me 10ft plus back up into the air which I rode out and landed on my feet nice and softly.

Well then a few weeks after making a post about the slammers HooknSwoop PM'd me about a mod that he does to help slow down the openings and improve flare.

I finaly got the mod done after waiting almost 6 months.

well let me tell you. I now have a few jumps on the mod and the thing is just awesome when it comes to openings. nice SLLOOWWWW snivels the way I like them. I have none of the diving tendency's like I had before. it is realy nice not to cringe when I deploy like I had before at times. On the Bottom end I have mega flare. it seemed to me that I am not even using half of the available flare. I am sure I can swoop the thing much longer than I am. I am more than capable of shutting it down any time I wish. for an extended swoop or a nice and short flare to a full stop in a relatively small space.

to sum it up, I love my canopy, it is a ton of fun in the sky, turns are great with no oversteer, easy to stall and recover, recovery arc is relatively short(which is fine with me right now), I'd definately recomend the mod be done for anyone with the safire, it really does make a great canopy better.

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(Review ID:499)

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Rated by: cardinalfalling on 2002-04-08 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Safire in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

I am a new time jumper with 80 jumps. After ten jumps trying to find this "sweet spot" that requires a "full flare" I went back to the basics and determined that my steering lines were just a bit too long. My rigger looked at the rig and doubted my call on the length of the lines. He abliged my requests after I did two jumps confirming that I could not stall the canopy up high unless I hyper-extended my shoulders (and I am 6'4"). He shortened my steering lines by three finger widths. I gave him two big hugs and I owe him some beer after loving the new responce of the canopy. Now I really like the canopy. If you are having trouble finding the "sweet spot", test the steering line lengths up high to see if they are too long. Don't just have someone look at it on the ground, as this did not help me.

Blue skies and enjoy.

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(Review ID:350)

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

Safire Review

Rated by: landmissle on 2001-06-05 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Safire in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

BIG DISCLAIMER: I am a newbie to skydiving. Most other skydivers have more experience and knowledge than I do; therefore what you are about to read may be inaccurate, incomplete, totally off-base, or just plain wrong.
I currently have 79 jumps under my belt and of those, 65+ have been under either a Safire 189 or 169 (wingloadings respectively 1.1 and 1.24). I rescently bought my first rig and it is equiped with a Safire 169. So from the get go, it should be understood that not only is my experience limited, it's also biased <grin>.
The Safire is a 9-cell slightly eliptical ZP canopy. As such, it tends to come in flater than a similar sized and proportioned (aspect ratio)7-cell. This is neither good or bad...just different if you've only flown 7 cells.
I love the way the canopy flies, especially at the higher wing loading. It responds immediately to toggle input and straightens out promptly when you release tension. In other words, it doesn't continue to turn when you let up on the toggle. When I first started flying the Safire ( about jump # 9)I thought the canopy was abit twitchy to inputs, but I quickly adjusted to it and after about 4 or 5 more jumps the twitchiness was no longer a factor. If you like to go horizontal durings spirals you'll like this canopy. My 169 slings me from out under the canopy very easily under hard toggle turns and remains rock solid. I've done 6 or 7 sequential 360 degree spiral turns and then flipped it in the opposite direction to complete several more spiral turns and the whole time felt under complete control. During the transition from opposite directions the canopy exhibited no tendency to induce line twists.
The control range is on the longish side. To stall the canopy requires a deep pull of the toggles. Perhaps because of this, you may have heard that you have to land Safires differently. I don't know how to interprete "different" but I will say that when flaring the canopy on landing you want to progressively apply input to the toogles throughout the entire range. You do not want to just yank down on the toggles in one quick motion. If you do this and are high when you flare, you will plane out and drop straight down when the canopy stalls (ouch). It may even gain a little altitude at the end of the plane-out phase and drop you from a little higher up (double ouch!) Should you just yank on the toggles on the lowish side for flare time, if you're lucky, you'll have to run off the landing speed, and I do mean run. If you're a little less than lucky than you will get to do a really good PLF. I'm not trying to intimidate you or make it sound that this canopy is hard to land. The secret here is smooth progressive control inputs, and feeling for feedback from the canopy.
This is how I land it...your mileage may vary....On final approach I have the toggles all the way up or only slightly pulled down (literally only a few inches.) When reaching flare altitude (when feet are about six feet off the ground.)pull down on the toggles smoothly but at a moderate rate. As soon as the canopy begins to plane-out is where the real work begins. The idea is to continue to pull down on the toggles but vary your pace depending on the the conditions. Some people call this a two-stage flare but I don't like the term because it implies that you hold or stop the flare for some distinct time period. I think of it as "milking the flare". If I find myself a little high during the plan-out phase I slow down the rate I pull down on the toggles. Conversely, If a little low, you'll need to pick up the pace. If done correctly ( at least in my mind.), as you reach the end of the plane-out phase and you're skimming above the ground about a foot (it's imporatant to be very close to the ground if you do this.)pull quickly done on the last bit of control range that you have left, and the canopy will lift you up just a bit as it stalls and losses all or most of it's forward speed. At this point it will drop you to the ground quite nicely and all you'll need is a step or two for the last bit of momentum you might have. Nice landing!
This method has worked consistantly for me. I've stood up every landing except two, once I dialed it in. So that would make about 65 jumps total.
Front riser control takes a little bit of muscle but not bad for diving turns. Pulling down on both risers requires some real heft. It's essentially like doing a pull-up. I'm not an expert in front riser maneuvers so'll I'll just leave it at this.
This canopy is a blast to fly. It may take a little more attention at first, but the investment is well worth it.

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