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GregAndrea

Sabre 3

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I am going to be getting back into the sport after a 10 year hiatus.  I have 65 jumps and am planning to do 10 coach jumps to dust the cobwebs off:-}  When it comes to new gear, I was considering a Sabre 3 230 as my main canopy, is this too much for someone with my skill level.  My wing loading would be right around 0.96 on a Sabre3 230.  In all honesty, I do need to work on my flare timing but curious to see if you all think the Sabre 3 is too much.  Thank you all in advance for taking the time to answer my question.

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The school at the drop zone you go to will have their own ideas about how to get you recurrent. And you will do it on their student gear. Wait until you are going through that process, and talk to the instructors and canopy coaches there. Then you will have a better idea of what gear to look for.

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1 hour ago, GregAndrea said:

I am going to be getting back into the sport after a 10 year hiatus.  I have 65 jumps and am planning to do 10 coach jumps to dust the cobwebs off:-}  When it comes to new gear, I was considering a Sabre 3 230 as my main canopy, is this too much for someone with my skill level.  My wing loading would be right around 0.96 on a Sabre3 230.  In all honesty, I do need to work on my flare timing but curious to see if you all think the Sabre 3 is too much.  Thank you all in advance for taking the time to answer my question.

I'd suggest shooting for a WL of 1.1 which is what I'm at after 42 years...still very docile, very easy to land.  

Which canopy you use matters not much at a low WL such as this.  Just about any sport canopy you can normally get as a 210 or so will likely seem wonderful to you.  No reason to think the Sabre 3 has special qualities, just avoid purpose built CRW, winguit, accuracy canopies.  The Sabre 2, Spectre, Silhouette, Storm, Pilot, Omni, Safire, Sfire, Fusion, and others would be great choices. 

 

 

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On 7/9/2022 at 2:42 AM, sundevil777 said:

No reason to think the Sabre 3 has special qualities, just avoid purpose built CRW, winguit, accuracy canopies.  The Sabre 2, Spectre, Silhouette, Storm, Pilot, Omni, Safire, Sfire, Fusion, and others would be great choices. 

That's quite a statement. All these canopies have different opening, flight and flare characteristics. In some cases very different. Not to mention company support and resell value.

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Wow, 10 year hiatus. Welcome back. When giving feedback, I always start my comments by saying check with your instructor or coach before taking into consideration any comments from these website and anyone on the internet. 

Taking into consideration your 10 year hiatus, I would suggest renting first and determine what your comfort level on the various canopy characteristics. In addition, I would highly suggest to do some due diligence and conduct some personal research on the canopies. Each of the canopies mentioned or suggested have varying glide characteristics, opening characteristics, flare power and so on. I have tried (rented) several of the canopies mentioned above but I will only comment on 3 features due to my preferences: opening, glide ratio and flare power. I pilot a Sabre3 170 but I also liked the Spectre. Both canopies have soft openings. Sabre3 has a steep glide so it is very fast. Spectre is more docile or more of flat glide if you compare the two. Sabre3 definitely has more of a flare power. 

Lastly, with 65 jumps, if you haven't already done so, since you didn't mention it, I would highly highly highly suggest taking a canopy course such as Flight1 or any canopy course. It is night and day in comparison to your AFF course. 

Hope this helps on your journey. 

Blue Skies and Fly Happy! 

Add me on IG: _planetrio_

     

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29 minutes ago, GregAndrea said:

Thank you all for your input regarding my question and yes, I will be taking a canopy piloting course here in the near future.  Since this post, I have also been looking at the Aerodyne Pilot 230, any thoughts?

 

Greg

Hi Greg,

Also consider the 7-cell Pilot.  It does come in a variety of fabrics, fabric combinations.

The hybrids would be easier to pack.

Jerry Baumchen

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On 7/8/2022 at 4:27 PM, GregAndrea said:

I am going to be getting back into the sport after a 10 year hiatus.  I have 65 jumps and am planning to do 10 coach jumps to dust the cobwebs off:-}  When it comes to new gear, I was considering a Sabre 3 230 as my main canopy, is this too much for someone with my skill level.  My wing loading would be right around 0.96 on a Sabre3 230.  In all honesty, I do need to work on my flare timing but curious to see if you all think the Sabre 3 is too much.  Thank you all in advance for taking the time to answer my question.

Greg - your post made a couple alarms go off in my head. A 10 year break for someone with 65 jumps is a loooong time. You didn't mention where you live, but if it's in the U.S. we have protocols for returning after layoffs.

I suggest going to the DZ before making your first jump back and discuss things with an instructor. The DZ personnel can walk you through everything.

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On 8/3/2022 at 3:28 PM, chuckakers said:

Greg - your post made a couple alarms go off in my head. A 10 year break for someone with 65 jumps is a loooong time. You didn't mention where you live, but if it's in the U.S. we have protocols for returning after layoffs.

I suggest going to the DZ before making your first jump back and discuss things with an instructor. The DZ personnel can walk you through everything.

Chuck, I do apologize for the delay, I am located in Phoenix and I am currently working/jumping with one of the instructors at SDAZ.  Will probably be doing about 10-12 coach jumps as well as 10-15 min of tunnel time there.  After some discussion with my instructor, I am leaning more towards a Pilot or a Safire 3, but nothing has been ordered until I get more jumps.  Thank you for your input! 

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21 hours ago, GregAndrea said:

Chuck, I do apologize for the delay, I am located in Phoenix and I am currently working/jumping with one of the instructors at SDAZ.  Will probably be doing about 10-12 coach jumps as well as 10-15 min of tunnel time there.  After some discussion with my instructor, I am leaning more towards a Pilot or a Safire 3, but nothing has been ordered until I get more jumps.  Thank you for your input! 

Well played, brother. Thanks for the reply.

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On 12/16/2022 at 1:04 PM, GregAndrea said:

I am leaning more towards a Pilot or a Safire 3

If you're considering used, then again I'll say you should consider lots of other possibilities.  The Safire 3 is newer and more glamorous than the Pilot, but why those 2 options?

Realize the trusted instructors, riggers, and other sources of expert advice can all be trusted to give you advice and it will not agree.  Assume everyone is biased and are prone to biased assertions of good and bad this or that Ford vs Chevy stuff.  Keyboard warriors such as us can help sort it out with time, at least you can get a multitude of opinions, you will learn, and it helps kill time.  

I've been using a Pilot 210 for the last 12 of my 42 years jumping, now at 1.1 WL.  At such docile loading, there are a lot of good options that you'd like.  Read all the marketing you can, that way you'll learn some and be reassured, because they'll all tell you their stuff is the best, so you can't go wrong eh?  

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