PD Storm

[DSE 5]

Here is an image of a Storm entering a stall. No wraps taken.
In his "Canopy Control: Core Essentials," Chris Gay also recommends stalling the canopy up high to learn it's stall point.

[matthewcline 0]

I have stalled a Storm with out wraps as well.
Why? Just to see how it would behave so I would know, I do not anticipate needing to use the info for any thing else.

Scott - I agree with the points of the stall being performed up high! I also follow your thoughts about the "why do it?" and understand the lack of it being needed or even capable with lots of the newer designs.

I still think knowing how any canopy will behave is good knowledge, and knowledge is power! (Good old School House Rock!)

I am one of those "Education" guys.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[stitch 0]

Y'all will be telling everybody not to run with scissors next.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[Renegate 0]

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.......and no need to stall a wing in order to land properly....

well I suppose that depends on what is meant by a proper landing. There is one type of wing that has to be stalled in order to land properly - its called an airplane (you pilots can correct me if you want, but that is how the most successful instruction book on flying an airplane, in the history of wing flight, describes a landing). You certainly don't have to stall a Canopy to land it, but a good and proper stall landing looks a hell of a lot nicer and easier on the body then most other types of proper landings.

Of course seeing that I do not have years and gazillions of jumps under my belt, I welcome any experienced person to tell me that I am speaking out of my ass (provided that they actually give a reasonable explanations as to why).

- It's okay to be happy to see me. Just because you're English doesn't mean you need to hide your emotions.
- I'm Irish. We let people know how we feel. Now fuck off.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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well I suppose that depends on what is meant by a proper landing.

When you don't have to run like hell and/or your joints are not hurting....

I got 2 canopies that I could not stall with full toggle stroke, but I could land them nicely.

[jumpwally 0]

Now the Pulse is out,,anyone jump it and a Storm ? How do they compare ? Is the Storm available with the Optima fabric bottom as well ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[LloydDobbler 2]

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Now the Pulse is out,,anyone jump it and a Storm ? How do they compare ? Is the Storm available with the Optima fabric bottom as well ?

Looks like Bryce already replied to your question re: the Storm/Pulse comparison here.

As for the Optimum fabric, nope - it's only currently available on the Pulse and the Optimum Reserve, and to my knowledge, PD hasn't announced plans to integrate it with any other canopies at this time.

Signatures are the new black.

[jumpwally 0]

As far as the OP fabric goes, if it does well with the Pulse as it seems to be, what would happen to flight characteristics if all conopies could have that as an option ? Is it strictly for the more docile canopies ? would hurt performance on the tiny swoop canopies ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[billvon 2,918]

>would hurt performance on the tiny swoop canopies ?

Since it is not ZP, I wouldn't expect it to be used on higher performance canopies. _Maybe_ for ribs or something where aerodynamic performance is not as important.

[jumpwally 0]

Bump.C'mon...with good weather there has to be some more current Storm stories, no ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[ljwobker 2]

A buddy of mine had a demo and let me put a couple of jumps on it last weekend. This one was a 170, my exit weight is about 240 (1.4 wing loading or so)

My "typical" landing these days is a long but relatively shallow carving front riser of about 180degrees. I have roughly 1600 jumps, with approximately 500 each on the Sabre2 170, Sabre2 150, and Katana 150.
I've also put a couple dozen jumps on an original Sabre 170, maybe 50 on spectres from 135-170, and about 20 on a Velocity 120.

Now, onto the storm.
1) openings: are very very soft, similar to spectres of similar wing loading. I would recommend NOT rolling the nose, the couple of pack jobs where I did that resulted in uncomfortably long snivels. I would have zero hesitation jumping a camera or wingsuit with one of these.

2) full flight: it flies a lot like a spectre. riser pressure is relatively high -- probably a little higher than my sabre2 and MUCH higher than the katana. Our spots were good so I didn't have to do much scraping to get back, but it seems like it would cover ground pretty well, especially with a little rear riser input. Forward speed was also spectre-like -- getting back from a downwind spot might not be as easy as on something else. It's not as responsive as the sabre2 at the same wing loading, but I don't think it's supposed to be. ;-)

3) landings: YIKES -- i was expecting the standard 7-cell flare... wrong! On a straight-in, zero turn approach the flare actually picked me up about three feet off the ground. A spectre (even a brand new one) would never do that. I found the flare power to be almost what I got out of my same-sized sabre2 and far better than a spectre or triathlon. I don't think that they're at all kidding when they say it lands like a 9-cell.

My summary is that this is probably a fantastic canopy for almost any skydiver -- it's NOT a swoop machine, but just about anything else is going to be really really useful. it's probably a great low-timer canopy at low wing loadings, and a very stable platform for cameras or wingsuits at higher loadings.

[jumpwally 0]

good info , thanks,,my mind is almost made up...

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[DSE 5]

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A3) landings: YIKES -- i was expecting the standard 7-cell flare... wrong! On a straight-in, zero turn approach the flare actually picked me up about three feet off the ground. A spectre (even a brand new one) would never do that. I found the flare power to be almost what I got out of my same-sized sabre2 and far better than a spectre or triathlon. I don't think that they're at all kidding when they say it lands like a 9-cell.

My summary is that this is probably a fantastic canopy for almost any skydiver -- it's NOT a swoop machine, but just about anything else is going to be really really useful. it's probably a great low-timer canopy at low wing loadings, and a very stable platform for cameras or wingsuits at higher loadings.

Funny thing you'd mention the flare. It saved me from a broken something or other this week; I have video to prove it. I'd been warned about landing in that area by Cookie. Dunno why I ended up over there. I could blame it on kangaroos in the landing area as a distraction, but they were behind me already.
Stupid Spot

The flare on the Storm is quite powerful. Everyone that has seen it has commented on how deep it is, and if you want to pop it, very easy to do.

[Skwrl 56]

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The flare on the Storm is quite powerful. Everyone that has seen it has commented on how deep it is, and if you want to pop it, very easy to do.

+1 to that.

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

[nomal2day 0]

Following on from my post several pages back and several more jumps on my STORM 190:

I still love my STORM!!!

'To fly is heaven, to freefall is divine'

'You only need 2 tools. WD40 for when it doesn't move but should, and duct tape for when it moves but shouldn't'

[jumpwally 0]

Its been 6 months,,any other people with demo stories ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[tbrown 26]

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My 9 cell Pilot has a much flater glide angle but now I'm finding the steeper the angle the easier it is for me to "pick the spot that doesn't move" and land there. Plus my Pilot is a 168 and I'm demoing a 150 so I'm coming in faster too. So at first I was scared out of my mind but now I'm getting use to it and I like it better!

I demoed a lot of canopies before purchasing my Pilot and maybe it's because now I'm a little bit more experienced (and I emphasize a little bit) but I truly feel I'm just beginning to learn how to fly a canopy!

Very exciting and very FUN!

I've been jumping Pilots for the last 8 years, after having briefly owned a Spectre (got hurt, which was my fault and NOT the Spectre's). I've been very happy with Pilots, except they frustrate me on my no wind landings. I've tried everything - including 3 canopy courses over the last six years, but I can't get a Pilot to plane out for shit.

So I'm VERY intrigued with the Storm and plan on demoing one soon. I'm a relative worker who enjoys a fun canopy, but basically wants a nice ride back to the dropzone and a great landing. I know everyone has to trot some landings out now & then. I also understand that the Pilot is a 9 cell and the Storm is a 7 cell, so this is something of an "apples & oranges" comparison.

But I'd love to hear some comparisons from anyone with experience under both canopies.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[sundevil777 102]

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I can't get a Pilot to plane out for shit.

I have about 200 on a Pilot 210 with the ZPX material at 1.15 WL. For the first several landings, I didn't realize that it took a deep toggle stroke to get it to shut down (there is a normal amount of slack). I find it planes out rather easily, and can pop up if I want it to. I started grabbing the toggles at the top - at the line attachment so that I get a few more inches of toggle stroke. Doing that, and realizing it takes a deep flare to shut it down on low wind days completely cured all landing problems.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[in2jumping 0]

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I've been jumping Pilots for the last 8 years, including 3 canopy courses over the last six years, but I can't get a Pilot to plane out for shit.

It only took me 2 months and 25 jumps to figure that out :). Ya Pilots have a deep azz backwards flare making them difficult to time and land in no wind.