FireBird (formerely known as Performance Variable, manufacturers of Demon high-performance elliptical and Rush and Quick reserves) have introduced new canopy:
Description on their web-site is a little bit confusing: first they say that it's a bad-ass "high-performance canopy for experts", then however describe it as a good all-arounder...
Among new features: -inflated stabilizers (idea taken from NEOS?) -new ZP material made exclusively for them, which is 35% lighter and thinner than regular ZP
Has anyone got more details on this canopy and the material it's made out of? What kind of line-set do they put on it? Is it more high-performance than Demon or just more expensive?
Re: [Sabre1Lucke] New canopy from FireBird
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This canopy, the chilli, should be the replacement of the demon. We have somebody at our dz who is flying a 120. It's for sure not a all-round canopy.
Great! We found somebody, who has actually seen one in existance! Maybe you can find out, what kind of lineset they put on that canopy? Or any general feedback from the person, who jumps that canopy on your DZ: openings, recovery arc, soft front risers or not so soft? any details are welcome!!! Or maybe even photos in flight:)
Re: [Sergey-san] New canopy from FireBird
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Don`t want to disappoint you guys, neither to spoil firebird business BUT... I have seen a lot of these cannopys cut away (about 10 of them). The problem is their brisk and unpredictable openings which result line twists, and cutaway. Of course - we can discuss packing technique or body position, but I don`t think that is the case, when we are talking about common cases, not occasionally ones.t This apply for both - demon and cayene. And that`s not only from my perspective (rented cayene for 8 jumps) but also from well-respected people (2000 and more jumps). Maybe its just bad luck, because we have a lot of them here, I don`t now. I hope, that this cannopy will be better then previous models.
Re: [Sabre1Lucke] New canopy from FireBird
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I have about 400 jumps with a Demon. First 100 on a standard, next 200 on the competition and the last 100 on a Demon competition 90ft². No problems with openings, line-twist or what ever!
I even have one of the landings of that Chilli on video. What I already heard about the openings, ..sensitive on bodyposition but soft. Dives a little bit more then the standard demon. For the rest, I will check what lineset is on it (I now they have the same colour as vectran) and maybe I will do a few jumps with it myself......that is,... if I can leave my Velocity behind ;o)
Re: [Sabre1Lucke] New canopy from FireBird
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Hi guys,
i did a jump on the chili.
The openings are very nice. Soft and On-Heading.
The pressure on the front-riser is not hard. You can out the risers easily down even in full flight. The canopy has a little longer recovery then the normal demon.
But when you use the fronts for landing you maybe have to put longer steeringlines on the canopy. Because i normaly land with double fronts and a 270 turn. For me the steeringlines was to short.
The new zp is really good. No big packvolume and the canopy isn´t heavy.
The lines are like HMA with an single attachment pionts for the lines.
I normaly jump a demon competition 110 and tested the chili in the same size.
Re: [swish] New canopy from FireBird
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Don`t want to disappoint you guys, neither to spoil firebird business BUT... I have seen a lot of these cannopys cut away (about 10 of them). The problem is their brisk and unpredictable openings which result line twists, and cutaway. Of course - we can discuss packing technique or body position, but I don`t think that is the case, when we are talking about common cases, not occasionally ones.t This apply for both - demon and cayene. And that`s not only from my perspective (rented cayene for 8 jumps) but also from well-respected people (2000 and more jumps). Maybe its just bad luck, because we have a lot of them here, I don`t now. I hope, that this cannopy will be better then previous models.
p.s. Sorry for English - not my native language
Sorry to disappoint ya Swish, but since all demo canopies we're on a demo tour through Italy with Rob from 1Olav or in France with Alex Lemaire. (Except for the one from Luc) I wondered how you could have seen those 10 cutaways.
The canopy is really sweet on the fronts. The openings are really soft and easy. But the openings have to be controlled on the rears if you wanna avoid a twist due to a bad body position. The canopy was mainly developed with Alex, a well known french swooper.
It's rather replacing the demon and was made for frontpullers (us newskoolers). And the lighter and thinner ZP is really easy to pack.
Try it.
(This post was edited by asphaltpussy on Nov 1, 2008, 8:02 PM)
Re: [asphaltpussy] New canopy from FireBird
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Not disappointed, just placed some thoughts what I have seen and heard. As I sad before - maybe just bad luck. Edited to add: asphaltpussy - I was talking about previous performance variable products - re-read my post
(This post was edited by swish on Nov 3, 2008, 12:48 AM)
Re: [swish] New canopy from FireBird
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Thanks swish, it wasn't meant to offend ya and I'm sure you understood that. Yeah, bad luck or bad packing, bad position, bad pilot. That's most of the time the reason for a cutaway. It happened with Firebird products as it happens with all manufacturers. I saw dozens of Velocity cut away, but it's still a damn good canopy, if not one of the best cross-braced. People tend to blame the gear, not themselves. So, next time you're in Germany, come by and try the new products. You won't be disappointed. Blue ones
(This post was edited by asphaltpussy on Nov 3, 2008, 2:29 AM)
Re: [swish] New canopy from FireBird
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I had a Cayenne 170 for nearly 100 jumps (my first canopy). I think it is very nice piece of equipment. I was little blaming the canopy till I moved to Sabre2 150 ... regards Janusz
