CANOPY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NOVICE SWOOPER

[RichM 0]

Trig, I hear the shop at Nethera is due to get 1 or more demo Cobalts in. Will call them tomorrow and let you know what I find out.

Rich M

[Chief 0]

Does the Heatwave complete your new set of gear? fHappy trails!

[TALONSKY 0]

I went through this same thing just about two months ago. I was flying a Safire 169 (is actually closer to a Sabre 150) doing 90° front risers landing for the last 120 jumps. I now have a Crossfire 2 130 and love it. I know that a lot of people will find this kind of jumps way too aggressive but after talking to the S & TA along with several others they felt for me this would be an ok change. I have a lot of learning to do to master this Crossfire 2 but I do not regret making the choice I have. I find the hardest thing to really get use to is harness input. It has taken me a few jumps to stop adding extra-unwanted harness inputs when landing and I still occasionally find some being added anyway. Oh my exit weight is 225 lbs. so I am wing loading at 1.73 to 1. Whatever choice you make please be safe.
Blue Skies
Kirk

[RichM 0]

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Trig, I hear the shop at Nethera is due to get 1 or more demo Cobalts in. Will call them tomorrow and let you know what I find out.

Point Zero have 135 and 150 demo Cobalts inbound, due next week. Give them a call to get your name on the demo list - 01980 844130

Rich M

[brits17 0]

i'm just going to tell you to take a few that are the most recommended and demo. i got so much feedback from both the icarus fx and the pd velocity but there's no comparison to demo-ing. some swore by the fx but after 50 jumps on each canopy, it was obvious the velocity won my favor hands down. and a lot of people who've done the research and the demo-ing will agree with my decision on the velocity. its simply the best, but never take anyone's word, try it for yourself.

ps- i'm not recommending either canopy, hehe. just advice on a way to go about choosing the right wing for you :) c ya!

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[RichM 0]

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i'm just going to tell you to take a few that are the most recommended and demo.

Would love to but demo canopies are hard to come by over here (UK). I keep trying for a Sam demo, but Brian just keeps selling any he builds to punters - so thoughtless I wasn't expecting a Cobalt to become available which is why I'm chasing it down - I agree with completely - jump everything and decide from personal and 3rd party experience.

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ps- i'm not recommending either canopy, hehe. just advice on a way to go about choosing the right wing for you :) c ya!

Thanks. I wouldn't buy either of those canopies for the following reasons:
1) At 100 jumps a year with occasional 2 or 3 month breaks I don't consider myself current enough.
2) Local DZ has a large PLA but really wierd winds due to local geography resulting in occasional off landings, which can be into tight fields in turbulent air coming over hedges.
3) Derived from the above 2, I like being able to walk

Rich M

[bobsled92 0]

AggieDave! I'm at 210lbs, what did YOU think of the Cobalt 170(as much input as possible please).
I'm going to be trying one next month. I have a (demo)Sabre2 190 now.
Thanks,
-Grant
[email protected][email]

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[Austin 0]

Bob,
I'm about 210-215 geared up and I jumped a Cobalt 170 early this summer and loved it. Since then, I have jumped two other 170's (at the time I owned at Tri190, now have a Safire 189), a Sabre 170 and a Diablo 170. I felt that the Diablo and Sabre were indeed faster canopies as Atair says. The Cobalt was a very fun canopy and was not hard to fly at all in my opinion.

Austin

[Pablito 0]

Hey, I did a transition from a Sabre 150 to a Jedei 136. My recommendation, Demo a few canopies in the range that you feel confortable flying. I became an airlock lover. I jump a Vengance 120 and a 135 now and I'm really happy with them. I jumpes a Samurai, the only thing i don't like from it is that the recovery arch from a snap 180 turn is short. The vengance sims to have a longer dive. It gives me time to figured out what is going on. Be conservative and higher is better than lower. And fly what you feel confortable flying.

"If you don't overcome your fears they will overcome you first"
Shady Monkey/6Segundos Rodriguez/AKA Pablito

[Iflyme 0]

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i made most of my jumps on a sabre 170, i now fly a cobalt 120 (not recomending to drop down that much at one time for anyone)

Just curious ... did you downsize from the sabre to the cobalt in one step?

[f1freak 0]

Yeah, but is wasnt the smartest thing to do.

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

[bobsled92 0]

Thankyou Austin. Even after 11yrs at this it's still going to be my first fully eliptic canopy and even the guys with 14,000(yep) jumps has no knowledge of ATAIR's Cobalt. My drop zone is:PD/Icarus/Aerodyne.
I'll be the 1st fly outside of the the 3.

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[ramon 0]

stilleto...still surfs long, hard f. riser pressure snappy toggles, flat glide, good openings, short recovery arc

cobalt surfs long, really soft riser pressure, little more sluggish toggles, flat glide good openings (hear about lots of spin ups though) can have long recovery arc ,shuts down good soft riser pressure makes correcting turns easier

vengeance surfs longer than stilleto (vs cobalt, debateable, comp cobalt will out swoop), soft riser pressure, even more sluggish toggles consitesnt ok openings but typical 180 off heading,not so flat glide, long recovery arc (will bite you if you do not add 100"ft to stilleto altittude good practice for FX), shuts down good.

Crossfire, good openings (really long 800 '), med riser pressure, med recovery arc, surfs pretty good (I thin vengeance and comp cobalt are better)

Nitro (or nitron)...don't hear anything good from anyone that can actually swoop well. might be a good learner

cross brace canopies....forget it for now, waste of pack volume at the wingloading you should be jumping.

"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

[RichM 0]

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stilleto...still surfs long, hard f. riser pressure snappy toggles, flat glide, good openings, short recovery arc

cobalt surfs long, really soft riser pressure, little more sluggish toggles, flat glide good openings (hear about lots of spin ups though) can have long recovery arc ,shuts down good soft riser pressure makes correcting turns easier

vengeance surfs longer than stilleto (vs cobalt, debateable, comp cobalt will out swoop), soft riser pressure, even more sluggish toggles consitesnt ok openings but typical 180 off heading,not so flat glide, long recovery arc (will bite you if you do not add 100"ft to stilleto altittude good practice for FX), shuts down good.

Crossfire, good openings (really long 800 '), med riser pressure, med recovery arc, surfs pretty good (I thin vengeance and comp cobalt are better)

Nitro (or nitron)...don't hear anything good from anyone that can actually swoop well. might be a good learner

cross brace canopies....forget it for now, waste of pack volume at the wingloading you should be jumping.

Ramon - thanks man, brief and to the point, a very informative addition. I accept it's one persons view, but I personally don't know anyone with that level of 1st hand experience, so I'll have this vodka to you *burp*

Rich M