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Skydiving Gear and Equipment: Main and Reserve Parachutes: Big Air Sportz: Lotus

Lotus

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Item:	Lotus
Manufacturer:	Big Air Sportz (1432 Hits)

Purpose:	Main
Shape	Elliptical
Cells	9
Fabric:	ZP

Description:
The Lotus is BIG AIR's medium performance 9-Cell parachute equipped with “Airlocks". Similar in some ways to the PD Sabre, the Lotus is a versatile airfoil that will please both conservative experienced skydivers, and newer jumpers looking for a safe canopy. The rigid feel of the wing is reminiscent of the Jedei, but without the severe “ground-hungriness” or radical turns associated with eliptical designs.

Added: 2001-01-16 | Item ID: 74

User Reviews:

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Total Reviews: 11

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3 Recent Reviews:

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

high speed and a lot of fun

Rated by: ruudwas (more about me) on 2008-05-20 07:00:11 (user reviews) Review ID:1982

Pros: airlocks, glide ratio, flare
Cons: can not demo one in europe

I've started jumping the Lotus a couple of weeks ago...and I'm very happy with it's performance. Had a long spot and my friend flew a Safire 2...and I just flew right by him...going down at the same speed, but forward speed was much higher. To add to that...my friend was in rear risers and a was on half breaks ;) Even with a straight in approach you will get a great flare (thus landing) from this canopy. Because of it's high forward speed and the airlocks it has much less to coop with turbulence. All together, If you want a main that brings you back from long spots and great staged landings without to much hazard and you want to have a little less aggressive canopy you should get an Lotus Max.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Great semi-elliptical!

Rated by: moto89 (more about me) on 2008-03-11 13:16:16 (user reviews) Review ID:1951

Pros: Great bottom end flare, awesome flight characteristics, great canopy!!!
Cons: Openings leave a little to be desired, but not bad

A few weeks ago I bought a second hand Lotus 130 (custom size) with the Lotus MAX line trim on it. I load it at 1.23:1. I've got enough jumps on it now that I think I can give a fair review of it. First thing, above all else, is that I am VERY impressed with this canopy. I would agree that this canopy does fly a good bit like the Sabre 2, but I would say it flies a smidge smaller. Everything seems to happen a little sooner in the toggle stroke (flare, turns...) and the riser pressures seem to be a bit lighter. The flare is similar to a Pilot or Sabre2, with great shut down. Landings in no wind can usually be walked out. Add a little headwind and you can easily park the thing in a hover. I have not done any HP landings on it, but the front riser dive up high does seem quite aggressive. It definitely dives faster/longer than the Pilot, and probably a bit more than the Sabre 2 as well. The only thing that I'm not totally sold on are the openings. My canopy has a pocket slider on it, and I think this is pretty much necessary. The canopy always comes out of the bag right on heading and snivels for a long time, right on heading. Once the slider makes it half way down the lines, the outboard cells "pop" open, and the canopy has a tendency to dive to one direction or the other. It is not an overly aggressive dive which can be leveled out with opposite rear riser, and if you've jumped a Sabre 2 you would probably agree that the opening are more consistent on the Lotus. Ive found harness shifts during the deployment work better for keeping it on heading than rears, and if you're really on top of it it can be kept more or less on heading. Airlocks.... well, I'm not going to say that this is the reason alone to buy the Lotus. They are cool, and the wing is definitely very rigid, more so than a non-airlocked canopy, but I would not say that it is carte-blanche to go jump in stupidly turbulent conditions. Yes, they do make gathering up the canopy a bit tougher in a windy landing area, but it is no reason to not buy the canopy. So in closing, if you're in the market for a semi-elliptical or tapered canopy, I would whole heartedly recommend this canopy. It is by far my favorite of this class, and I've got a number of jumps on similarly sized Pilots, Sabre 2's, and Safire 2's. The Lotus is a little quicker and ground hungry than the rest, but it is still very comparable as a middle of the road canopy.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

put 50 jumps on one and you will love it

Rated by: Mindcake (more about me) on 2005-02-27 00:00:00 (user reviews) Review ID:1211

Pros: air locks, performance
Cons: air locks

I put 100 jumps on a 170 Lotus and also jumped a Sabre 2 around the same time. The Lotus has quicker handling than a Saber 2 but it does not open as slow as the Saber 2 does, that is not to say the Lotus openings are bad they are just chew up less altitude when they open. I have heard people call the Lotus "bumpy" I belive that this is because the air locks are doing their job of keeping the air in the canopy and that other canopies are not as "bumpy" because those canopies have more give in their designs. The only drawback to the Lotus is picking the thing up in a strong wind, man those air locks work good. Its been 1 year since I flew these canopies but felt I needed more jumps before I wrote reviews about gear. Jim

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