glide path

[fktifino 0]

I am thinking about buying a nova and I was wondering about its flight caracteristics. What other canopys it compares to. I need info today thank you

[ramon 0]

Aside from the infamy that it killed some people, I know a deaf guy that has one and he surfs it pretty well. It is hard to communicate with him, but the gist I have is he only does light left then right alternating carves to land it. He does not do any snap hooks.(he passes his hand under his throat like death when he shows how he flies it)..he is an excellent pilot and his other main is a small vx.
Hopefully someone with real expeience on one will reply to this before you buy.
bloo skies
ramon

[skybytch 259]

There may be a reason the Novas were grounded, removed from the market and then the company became Flight Concepts...
If this isn't a troll - you'll get more performance from a newer design canopy. I wouldn't recommend spending even $100 on a Nova.
pull and flare,
lisa
----
I don't think much, therefore I might not be

[Kris 0]

The Nova was the only collapsible parachute to go along with your collapsible pilot chute.
If you ever meet a skydiver named David Feree, ask him about his old Nova. He has the x-rays to prove it and enough metal in him to make any airport security guard nervous after his collapsed on him at about 70' AGL.
Kris

[lazerq3 0]

I'm new to the sport and was just wondering whats with the NOVA's> ijust read this thread and was curious. Are they a high performance chute!
jason

[Lindsey 0]

Didn't you post this on wreck.skydiving about a month ago or so? Responses here are a lot different....hmmmm.... My husband still jumps his Nova....loves it! But he can't keep up with ME!!!!!
Peace~
Lindsey

[cobaltdan 0]

one of our top factory pilots, caven warren has over 1600 jumps on the smallest nova made before switching to alpha's and then cobalts.
i looked into nova's after 'red' owner of flight concepts called me and asked if we were interested in resurecting the nova design.
what i concluded from speaking with caven and other past nova pilots, accident reports and talking with howard adams (rigger from glide path), is that i am guessing there must have been construction flaws.
what i mean by this is that the airfoil used in the nova seems to be very sensitive to particular construction tollerances. i believe this fact was not realized during construction and many nova were effectively out of required spec. there were many accidents and fatalities where a nova simply collapsed on a turn. then there were particular nova's that were flown to the limit for 1600+ jumps ie. caven warren 540 king, without incident.
overall my sugestion would be to avoid an old nova, as you never know...?
sincerely,
dan
atair

[riggerrob 558]

Funny, last year I picked up a used Nova 150 for $100, put 50 jumps on it and enjoyed it. My Nova 150 flies much like a Sabre 150. It was re-lined at the factory before I bought it. The only thing I didn't do with it was radical hook turns close to the ground. Mind you, I don't do radical low hook turns on any canopy.
A co-worker did more than 800 (or was it 1600?) camera jumps with Novas in the violent desert turbulence of Hemet California. He only twisted his ankle once, when he admitted to messing up his approach.
What is the fuss?

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

The Nova did get a pretty bad rap. This after quite a few people smacked in while jumping in slightly windy conditions. The Nova was a nine-cell non-eliptical zero-p main. It was a direct competitor to the PD Sabre. They were pretty damn popular in the south and mid-west for a while. Chris Gay used to jump an 88 back when the smallest PD main you could get was a 120. He jumped one even smaller for a while. As Dan said, they were just plagued with bad press and certainly with poor construction oversight. Those problems caused the company to "go out of business", or in actuality, rename. The Nova became the Esprit in it's later incarnation.
Chuck