sneaky 0 #1 July 5, 2003 I need to hear some honesty people.I would like to hear from anybody who jumps a Spectre 120 or any Spectre Loaded at 1.4 ( approx ).Im not worried about the loading ,Im more interested in these questions; 1: Consistency of openings over 500 jump period 2: Performance in Turbulent conditions 3: The Flair and swoop performance. 4:The sink rate,and glide using risers or brakes. 5:How the canopy performs as a work canopy.... I need to get a second rig and this is an option I am seriously considering,but the only spectre120's I have seen are jumped by Skysurfers...and I put 1 jump on one which was nice but not enough to form an opinion. I am more concerned with question 1 and 5.... Big it up and Blue Skys Sneaky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cornholio 0 #2 July 5, 2003 Talk to Deuce. I think he has two 150's that he loads at about that or more and he uses them for work purposes. Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast! Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool! bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skytash 0 #3 July 6, 2003 Mine's not quite that old yet It has just under 400 jumps but is starting to go out of trim. I am still happy jumping it for now, but will buy a new set of lines when I'm in Florida at the end of the year. At the moment it has a tendency to open with a slight right turn. As I know about it, I compensate in the harness. If you are looking at a Spectre with over 500 jumps, check that its lines have been replaced, or bargain the price down so that you can pay for a new line-set. I don't surf it, as I can't , but have a friend with over 1,000 jumps, mainly on Spectres (135's and 120's) and she does, so does one of our camera men so it is obviously possible! I have been jumping the 135 since my 80th jump (with hindsight I'm scared that I downsized so quickly at the time!), so have little experience of other canopies to compare it with! I'm happy with it and having learned a lot more since I bought it, will probably not downsize for a while and am thinking I will jump it until it is dead! The main 'concern' I have with it is that it snivels when I flat fly. It makes it more comfortable on opening, but I would say it takes a good 6 - 7 seconds to open. Again, being used to that it isn't a problem and I pull accordingly slightly higher (around 2,800) and have never been told off by anyone for pulling high! I have been free-flying quite a bit recently and it opens faster, presumably because despite washing off speed on my belly at the end of the dive I am still going faster than if I had been on my belly for the whole jump. No idea about question 5 - I currently don't work for a living and am unlikely to take up skydiving for work! tashDon't ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is a special occasion. Avril Sloe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #4 July 7, 2003 I have a couple of 150's that are fairly new, and I load them just over 1.5. Each has about 150 jumps on them. My first 200 jumps were on a Spectre 170. It's the only canopy I've owned, and is the only canopy I plan on ever owning. I fly camera every weekend, and fly a very heavy camera setup for fun. The openings are very consistent and on-heading (with one dramatic exception) Very dependable in turbulent conditions. At our boogie last September I flew through something like a dust devil and had the 170 completely collapse drop me about 20 feet and reinflate. I was too busy flying it to see it, but I was told it was a crowd-pleaser. My DZ is windy and turbulent and I really like the way the Spectre handles it. Flair is great, and the canopy can be very accurately landed. I generally do a 90 degree front riser to final approach and can get a decent surf. I do it mostly to just get a better flare, not to impress the chicks. Mad John, a big-time organizer and local, swoops his through the pond, and occasionally into it They are great casual CRW canopies, we use them for that on our DZ regularly, so riser and brake control is superior. And I wouldn't want to be jumping anything else with a heavy helmet on my head. I also look at what the veteran camera guys are flying, and lots of them are on Spectre's. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sneaky 0 #5 July 7, 2003 Hey thanks Guys this is great... I come from the xbrace clan and its hard to get peoples opinion without it being biased. I need this type of canopy for work,openings are everything and the last thing i need is a chop when I have a student to worry about ( Im going for my AFF finally ) so i need total peace of mind ( well a bit ).Problem with my FX is your have to fly it out of the bag. I actually refer the FX openings ( sorry Jyro.. I owe you a beer ) as a box of chocolates because you never know what your gonna get!! With only 1800 on them so far... i would say its consistanly good but not enough to for what I want a canopy to do.( I timed my descent from opening to Landing once and it was 50 seconds.. and that is no spirals and a few turns for setup ,oh and I am under canopy by 2k normally ).Oh and boy do the spin on a twisty one!!! I have seen the Spectre only a few times and to me it looks awesome..The guys fly it nice and it looks solid and lands great. ( These are skysurfer dudes ). OK I order a 120 and will post feedback when I get it and test. Big it up and Thanks !! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkwing 4 #6 July 9, 2003 I have a Spectre190 loaded at about 1.3 and have put 450 jumps on it. Openings have been very consistent. I had one slammer about 50 jumps ago. A couple of years ago I had a tension knot in the right toggle which prevented me from releasing the right brake. I steered and landed comfortably using only the left. This was at Lost Prairie, so I had some altitude. I'm not sure how many other canopies would have been landable under those circumstances. Trim-- the outboard A lines are about 3 1/2 inches shorter than trim specs. I'll probably get it relines soon, and hope to demo a 170 Sabre 2 when I do. A spectre can't compete in swooping, but it can do it. I am a very conservative pilot though, so I don't get to say much about it. I think a Spectre is a great canopy. -- Jeff My Skydiving History Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lauras 0 #7 July 10, 2003 Get in touch with Tony Hathaway at Zhills. I figure he's loading his Spectre 120 at about 1.4ish and with 10,000+ jumps is more than qualified to give you all the feedback you'd need. He puts about 1000 jumps a year on his Spectres and knows them inside and out. Oh, and he can swoop the snot out of it. www.tonyhathaway.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
