Alpha

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Item:	Alpha
Manufacturer:	Atair Aerodynamics USA (1149 Hits)

Purpose:	Main
Shape	Elliptical
Cells	9
Fabric:	ZP

Description:
The ALPHA PARACHUTE is an elliptical ultra high performance 9Cell Zero-P Canopy for experienced skydivers.

Added: 2001-01-10 | Item ID: 34

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Total Reviews: 5

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3 Recent Reviews:

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

IMO the best 9-cell.

Rated by: nicknitro71 (more about me) on 2005-03-28 00:00:00 (user reviews) Review ID:1240

Pros: All!
Cons: They don't make them anymore!

A bit of history first. Stane Kranjc, founder of Atair, released the Viper canopy in the mid nineties. By the way Stane is a great engineer, designer, and a great, humble, smart guy too. The canopy was labeled Winchester Technology UK and imported in the States via Skydepot. This was a fully elliptical canopy, not semi like some think, made out of Galvanor fabric. The Viper flies like a modern 9 cell fully elliptical canopy like the Crossfire 2 or even the Katana. It was a decade ahead of its time, really. Few years later the canopy was modified a little, I cannot tell the difference, very minor stuff indeed, and named Alpha also known as Impulse or Space. Again the Alpha was a helluva canopy and people started loading them up (2.0 and higher) and swooping the living crap out of them even in competition against X-braced. Few years later the Alpha became the Cobalt: The changes were a different top skin 18 pieces vs. 9 and the absence of cross-ports on cells 4. The overall platform and trim of the Vipers, Alphas, and Cobalts, are virtually the same. I think that Vipers and Alphas have more consistent openings though. Anyway I have jumped Vipers 150s, owned a Viper 135, jumped Viper 120s, and currently owned a H-mod Viper 105 and an Alpha 99. I load the Viper 1.66 and the Alpha 1.76 and 1.88 if I jump with lead which I do on RW and FF jumps. I used the Viper for WS jumps and the Alpha for the rest. These canopies pack nice due to the less slippery Galvanor fabric. This fabric though packs a bit larger than the garden variety (DuPont Solarmax). The openings are fantastic. On heading, a nice snivel but not a 1000� snivel like in some canopies. I have end-cell closure on both these canopies on every jump, not a big deal. Both canopies have 28� ZPo-PC. On few WS questionable deployments I had line twists on the Viper. It never spun on me once and kept flying straight. The front riser pressure is pretty light on both, a bit heavier on the Alpha. Of course on a front riser turn these canopies drop down the sky like a bomb. The recovery arc is longer than a Stiletto of the same size I would say like a Crossfire 2. Rear risers and toggle turns are fast but who cares of those anymore? For front risers 180 approach pick 400�, for 270 500�. At these altitudes the canopy will plan out on its own and give you plenty of outs. For lower hooks you will have to go for the rears or toggles for the first plane out. The flare is powerful more so than a Stiletto of the same size. I think those canopies have the best bottom-end of all 9 cells ellipticals. Just amazing! You can actually do a straight in approaches and still get a nice swoop and come to a full stop. One more thing: You might have heard about that those canopies �fly big�. That�s a misleading statement that means absolutely nothing. Those canopies are very, very efficient. You will get more flare than, for instance, a Stiletto of the same size or even a size bigger, but that does not mean that they will turn and lose altitude like a bigger canopy. An Alpha 99 will turn super fast, and scare you just like any another 99, the only difference is that you will have more flare power than many other 9 cell ellipticals. So before going down two or more sizes, think�

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Good to Go

Rated by: Kintz (more about me) on 2001-10-21 00:00:00 (user reviews) Review ID:407

I transferred to an Alpha from a Sabre 135, after trying a heap of other canopies. First of all, it is a lot easier to pack and performs heaps better. It took me a while to dial in the openings - you have to be really symmetrical at opening time - but now they are smooth and soft. I have lost a lot of weight since buying the canopy (I started at a 2.0 wing loading). I would suggest sticking to the recommended wing loadings to get the best out of the canopy. I probably need to go down a couple of sizes to get the performance I once had. Overall it is an excellent canopy that performs really well and swoops far

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