has contributed 49 reviews

(Review ID:2226)

16 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

I love this canopy!!

Rated by: Jeth on 2009-08-05 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Nice openings, very responsive
Cons: none

I have been jumping a Pilot 168 for about 200 jumps. I have always liked my canopy, but I am under-loading it and decided it was time for me to experience a higher wing-loading. Wow, it is fabulous!! I went down to a Pilot 140, and am in love with it!! The responsiveness I am getting at the higher WL is awesome. The turns are so much quicker, and with less input. The flares are awesome! I am having better landings with less input. I landed it in fairly high winds with no problem, and also on a no-wind day I got a great flare and ran it out. On the bigger canopy I did not get very good penetration into the wind. What a difference on the 140! I am able to get much better drive, and I actually get some penetration on final instead of coming straight down.
Another thing I really like is that it recovers really quickly from turns. I can whip a 180 and it comes back up really quick - it's so much fun! I demo'd some other 150's (Safire 2 and Pulse), and those were totally sluggish in comparison. A half flare on the Pilot was way better than a full flare on the Safire.
The Pilot is truly a great canopy. The openings are always on-heading and quick, but still soft (the way I like it). At a low WL, it is very easy to fly and forgiving. And now at a higher WL, I am really getting some sweet performance out of it that is really fun. (And I am still very conservative at 1:1.2. I imagine it only gets better as you increase.) This canopy rocks!!

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(Review ID:2220)

10 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

Pilot ZPX 188

Rated by: coldsteel on 2009-07-24 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Superb performance, Packs easily and small
Cons: You'll have to get in line to order one

The Pilot has always had a solid reputation as an all-round good canopy but the ZPX fabric makes this an exceptional canopy. I jumped a Pilot ZPX 190 today loaded at 1.1. I packed it with a Precision style "psycho" pack job which gave me a nice orderly on-heading terminal opening. The ZPX fabric makes the Pilot way easier to pack than a traditional ZP canopy...suprisingly so. My Wings W-21 main container designed to take a PD 190 ZP was almost too large despite shortening the closing loop to a couple of inches. In flight the ZPX flew and turned in both full flight and braked turns with suprising speed, flat glide and precise handling. Near no-wind landing was an easy standup with a two stage technique. This is a great product! Well worth the ordering wait and the extra $200.

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(Review ID:2198)

4 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Pilot's Are for Pimps

Rated by: Etch5 on 2009-06-11 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Openings, Flight Characteristics, Flare
Cons: None

I've jumped Sabre2, Safire2, and Pilot. Of the 3 I feel the Pilot is the best canopy. I've owned a Pilot 188, 168, and just started jumping my new 150. They have all been consistent with soft on heading openings, great toggle and riser input response, and a sweet flare. My definition of a brisk opening on this canopy is what others have told me is soft on comparable 9 cells.

Color coded packing tabs are a nice luxury, but not necessary.

People say they don't like the short recovery arc. But I think it's nice since I'm not swooping it can only help me out in tight landing situations.

Pilot's are for Pimps!

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(Review ID:2190)

16 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

Great all-around semi-elliptical canopy

Rated by: surfbum5412 on 2009-05-29 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Openings are soft and on-heading, fun to fly, colored tabs on lines
Cons: None that I can think of

I was loading my pilot at 1.55 (150 square feet).

Openings: Great openings with almost all being on-heading. I usually rolled the nose just a little and I swear I didn't feel any snatch force on opening. Mine took about 500-700 to open depending on if I rolled the nose or not.

Performance: I had a lot of fun with the pilot loaded at 1.55. It has absolutely no over-steer. Along with the short recovery arc, the pilot does what you want when you want it to and feels very intuitive.

Landings: I do 180 and 90 degree approaches and I'd get some good swoops from the canopy. It has a short recovery arc and liked that. I myself was practicing more aggressive approaches on the pilot and I liked this feature because it reduces a little margin for error if you take a turn too low.

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(Review ID:2187)

5 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

Superb all-around canopy!

Rated by: vehkis on 2009-05-27 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: openings, easy to pack, control, flare power
Cons: quite short recovery arch

I bought my used Pilot 150 last summer. It had around 300 jumps before me and now I've put over 150 more. My wing loading with the canopy is 1,57 and the results have been amazing!

Openings with Pilot are great. They are soft, constantly on heading and predictable. I also use my Pilot when I'm jumping with my wingsuit and even if my opening position isn't straight and some linetwists occur (I've had 7-8 full rounds sometime) canopy still opens nicely and most of all it flies straight! Which means that after opening my arm wings I have plenty of time to undo the twists without any fear that canopy starts to spin. :)

I've also tried 150 Sabre2 and comparing to that Pilot is a whole different canopy to fly. Glide angle is really good when flying on rear risers and I've managed to land to the landing zone from really long spots. Pilot is easy and fun to fly. Comparing to Sabre2 or Sabre it's much more aggressive but still easy and safe. When flying with Pilot you can actually feel the canopy and canopy goes instantly where you want. My friend also compared Pilot to be much like a PD's Stiletto when talking about flight characteristics. This is of course when flying on higher wing loads. I'm sure that with wing loadings around 1 to 1.3 the Pilot is perfect canopy for beginners.

I'm doing 90 and 180 degree turns from front risers and it gives good speed for landing. Still with WL of almost 1.6 I can do a stand up landing without even taking a single step in no-wind conditions which represents of huge flare power of this canopy. Only negative thing what comes to my mind is that recovery arch is quite short but I understand it perfectly - Pilot isn't designed for swooping.

All in all, I recommend this canopy so much for beginners or those who doesn't want highly elliptical canopy. Pilot is a great combination of good openings, great flight performance and fun! And I almost forgot: the fabric of this canopy is so easy to pack comparing to PD's fabrics!

Great canopy! :)

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(Review ID:2156)

5 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

Awesome intermediate canopy!

Rated by: linebckr83 on 2009-03-18 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Opening, control, easy but fun
Cons: none

I bought my Pilot 188 a few months ago and have put about 75 jumps on it. At a loading of about 1.28 / 1, it is responsive yet forgiving. I have done several high altitude hop n pops with it to really get used to different combinations of inputs. It can be extremely responsive for my skill level, which i love, but only when i want it to. Otherwise, its a great ride. The one somewhat difficult thing to get used to was the longer brake lines. They are longer to prevent buffeting of the tail when front riser inputs are applied since your hands are still in the toggles. This moves the optimum flaring positions lower in the stroke. It only takes a couple jumps to get used to, and is really appreciated when fronts are being used.
The openings are awesome! I havent had a single "brisk" opening, and over 90% are straight on heading. On the other hand, it isn't terribly difficult to speed it up if necessary. Right now, it opens consistently in about 800-900 ft, and I'm not complaining. I've had 2 gear-damaging slammers and would be happy to never have to experience that again. Great all around canopy! I think it's a perfect 2nd or 3rd canopy in the progression of downsizing.

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(Review ID:2019)

3 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Great all around canopy!

Rated by: beatcreation on 2008-07-10 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Pilot in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: Soft on heading openings, fast recovery, great flare
Cons: every once and a while will take 1000 plus feet to open

Been jumping a pilot 168 at a 1.1 wing loading for around 60 jumps. The pilot opens great, flies great and lands great. Packing is easy with the color coded lines which makes packing a bit faster for me. The pilot does pack a slightly larger than similarly sized canopies though. The landings are perfect, however the flare did take a little getting used to seeing how I was jumping a sabre 2 prior to this canopy. The pilot I found does not need a two stage flare just a nice smooth and consistent flare from top down and just keep pulling.

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