PD Storm to Katana

[Heycharger 0]

How would I find going from a PD Storm 150 at 1.5 to a Katana 135 @ 1.6? Happy currently doing 90's, but looking for something a little more "sporty". Anyone have experience jumping with similar canopies?

[apagios 2]

Without knowing your skill & knowledge level (or personality) personally, it's difficult to say.  

While looking at it from a wing loading perspective, admittedly you're not changing too much.  But from a wing perspective, you are jumping from a 7-cell rectangular to a 9-cell fully elliptical.  Conventional wisdom would suggest trying a Sabre2 150, then Katana 150 to work your way through the various flight characteristics of the wings prior to downsizing to a Katana 135.

Admittedly, I prefer to progress faster than conventional wisdom as well, this is where I mention your personality & knowledge level.  Are you the type of person to take some canopy courses and work with a canopy coach to learn the flight dynamics of a wing, before deciding "hell I do 90's on a Storm 150, I'm sure I can stab the Katana 135 out if need be"?  The Storm 150 to KA135 is not so unmanageable a jump that I wouldn't expect someone who takes it slow and conservatively learns the new wing, couldn't do it safely.  But self awareness of our own limitations is often a rare trait in skydivers.

Taking bigger steps in your progression requires a self awareness of your own limitations and discipline to not seriously hurt yourself.  It also requires honestly learning about the flight dynamics of a wing, understanding the changes from the wings you are used to, and lots of practice up high.  Don't rush it and "femur it in"

With that in mind; ideally you could demo or borrow a friends Sabre 2 150 (they are pretty common), and demo a Katana 150 via PD. I'd highly suggest at the very least demo a Katana 150 first, demos are pretty damn cheap for getting 2 weeks to fly the hell out of a wing!   Even if you Demoed both it would only cost you $190 in demo fees to work your way through over a couple months.  Spend some time on the demos doing high pulls and get as much time in the saddle as you can! Enjoy them! :-)

(Demo fees << health insurance deductibles for biffing it in!)

Also, I loved my Katana 120 and put 100+ jumps on it.  An amazing wing to progress on, and sadly gets an undeserved bad rap for being too steep in full glide.  But as a bonus for you, it makes buying used ones much cheaper! When you get under one, explore the flight range, mine got me back from some very long spots riding the rears, it's not as bad as some may say! :-)

 

 

[Pobrause 6]

Having flown everything from Pulse to Peregrine/ Petra I‘d say it’s one of the biggest steps one could make following the path of the PD-lineup, which would actually be more along the lines of: ST150, SA150, SA135, KA135 
The Storm, being the sportier one of the two seven cells from PD is still a noticeable step in performance behind the Sabre 2. And the Katana flies in a different world compared to the Sabre. 
If I had to choose which canopy to progress my swooping skills on up to 270s I‘d always opt for the Sabre as it offers a reasonable amount of safety due to its quicker recovery arch while still being a breeze to learn to fly those rears on.

also you’d still need to be very precise while swooping the Sabre (same as under the Storm) which pays of bigtime in the longrun leading to you being a much more consistent, therefore safer and much better canopy pilot.
 

If you‘d be good under and able to handle the Katana can‘t be answered here on this forum. Go and discuss it with somebody that earns money sharing his CP-skills 

 

ETA: 

I LOVE Katanas bigtime 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Pobrause

[Wirzael 0]

I took a similar step. Went from a 135 storm to a 120 Katana.

Storm is quite sporty and ground hungry for being a 7 cell. So the step felt smaller than expected. Yet the canopies are as different as they could possibly be.

Body position during the opening, wasn't really something I had to be aware of before. The way I had to fly the canopy to keep my position in the pattern compared to the other canopies became different. So no more 360s for fun before you start finding your slot, more flying in brakes to keep your position. After opening, traffic and planing my landing became much more important. 

If you only want something "a little more sporty" I would probably not get the Katana, as it is the wing you buy if you got Xbraced in mind and you want to really work on becoming a swooper, You need to be dedicated if you wanna fly this canopy. 

I personally would still take the same step. I don't know you. But If you plan to take this step, definitely do some hop&pops to get the feeling before you take it into the traffic with the other canopies. And please get coaching, this will increase your chances of not getting hurt.

[20kN 93]

Certainly not. That's a massive leap. You're basically asking something along the lines of going from a Pilot 170 to a Sabre 2 120 in one jump. The Kataka is super ground hungry and dives like a brick with any input. If you want something more sporty, the Stiletto is very responsible to input and will feel like a race car compared to your Storm, but the trim is much flatter so it's easier to manage on landing if all you're doing is 90s.

Edited June 27, 2020 by 20kN

[Heycharger 0]

Thanks for the input guys, When I initially posted this I was uncurrent and hadn't jumped the katana yet. I have since jumped it maybe 60+ both H/P and terminal. Ack everyones points, I am also an experienced AFF/TM Instructor and relatively conservative when it comes to Canopy. I am not a canopy coach and would not recommend the same approach to others, but I have had no issues on openings/landing and quite enjoy the canopy. Should have been jumping this years ago.