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Skydiving Gear and Equipment: Main and Reserve Parachutes: Aerodyne Research Corporation : Solo : Reviews

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has contributed 1 reviews

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(Review ID:967)

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

Aerodyne Solo 270 is boring
Rated by: riggerrob on 2004-04-04 (user profile) (user reviews)

Review of: Solo in Unknown Tag: 'cat_linked'

Pros: great flare, soft opening
Cons: Slider draw strings

Today I jumped an Aerodyne Solo student canopy and got bored.
The secanrio included: sea level, about 65 degrees farenheit, 10 knots of wind and a test jumper with 4300 jumps and 190 pounds (before dressing).
I rolled the nose a little and packed the Solo 270 into a Student Sidewinder container (made by Flying High Manufacturing of Alberta). The new Solo has about the same pack volume as a Manta 290, while its combination of ZP top skin with F-111 bottom skin made it easy to compress, even for a brand new canopy.
My jump was a 2 second delay from a Cessna flying at 80 knots, 3,000 feet over the DZ. Opening was so slow that I regretted rolling the nose at all! Line twists were easy to kick out of.
Toggle pressures were light. When I pulled a toggle to shoulder level, turns were boring.
When I pulled a toggle to hip level, turns got fast enough to be interesting.
Stalls were impossible at the factory settings. However, when I took one wrap and held my hands all the way down, the Solo stalled deep enough to fold up and bump the rear corners together. The surprising thing about a deep stall with the Solo 270 was that it continued to go straight ahead, with hardly any buffeting. As soon as I released the brakes, the Solo quickly recovered, with minimal dive and end cells remained fully inflated through the stalls.
At about 600 feet, I initiated a half-brake 360 degree turn. I was pleasantly surprised when I was easily able to complete the turn and raise the toggles in plenty of time for a stock standard, one-shot student flare.
The Solo hovered! It stopped completely and I hovered with grass tickling my toes for three seconds before it set me down softer than I have landed in years.
Next time jump I will not roll the nose at all. This is good, the less you have to do while packing a student canopy, the less likely to mess up on a busy day.
I found the Aerodyne Solo 270 to be a boring canopy. Turns are docile with the toggle-to-shoulder technique preferred by first-timers. Packers won't whine, students won't complain about hard openings or hard landings and ambulance drivers will get bored, really bored.
In conclusion, I would cheerfully hang a first-jump student under an Aerodyne Solo 270 canopy.

Rob Warner, CSPA Instructor since 1982

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