Optimum Flight Performance Review

[morris 0]

Hi guys (and girls),

during the weekend I had the possibility to put some jumps on the new PD Optimum Reserve and I thought maybe someone might be interested what impressions I got.

I have an overall of 16 cut-aways and therefore some experience with different types and seizes of reserves under real conditions.

First I´d like to tell you what I think about the "normal" reserves on the market and take it from there...

To name some of the reserves I jumped so far (I might be missing some):
Raven 3 (ok that´s a main, it has just been used as a reserve in that rig),
Microraven,
Quick (from the german manufacturer Performances Variable, now the company is called Firebird),
Techno (Parachutes de France),
Speed 2000 (from the german manufacturer Paratec),
PD-R;

Out of those the PD-R is by far the best one out there to me. The only other reserve that comes close is the Speed, the "rest of the pack" is far behind. An experienced pilot will be fine with the PD-R even if it`s loaded VERY high (as long as he isn`t unconcious). The highest loading I´ve landed it with was about 2.1! I remember my very first cut-away with a PD-R taking place in Eloy a couple of years ago right over the main landing area. Due to the perfect spot I went for an accuracy landing and was overshooting my target at landing a bit cause the flare of the PD-R was so much more powerful than I expected... very nice!

Now to the Optimum:
I jumped the 126 doing videojumps and been loading it ( with all the camerastuff and the 10 pounds I gained over last winter for swooping reasons :-) ) 1.9
The control range is outstanding!
The stall point was almost out of reach for me and I got long arms!
The wing stays VERY stable even in deepest brakes (like it would be the tiny little son of me BlackJack 280).
If´ve been doing anything from straight-in student landings to 450s and anything has been very sweet.
In addition we´ve been doing team formation landings and I´ve been able to fly my slot in the formation (I´m usually using a Velo96 for this) with anything around my from Stiletto120 to Katana97!
Awesome!

Let me know if you got any more questions and please tell me if you already been jumping an Optimum in a real emergency or at least one that´s been packed like a reserve cause I now only know about the openings if it´s packed like a main (those are nice, fast AND soft).
Thanks for any information on that...
Morris

[morris 0]

Now I can add some information about the packing volume of the Optimum.
Two of my containers are TearDrops "Viper", both build for a PD-R 106.
I had PD-R 113s in those containers, fitting a little tight.
Now I replaced the PD-R 113s by/with Optimum 126s.
The packing volume of the Optimum 126 really is less than the one of the PD-R 113.
It fits very nice into those 106 containers!!
Once more I´m impressed by a PD-product!
For flight characteristics see my review on top/above.

[ErwinBDJ 0]

I totally agree with this!!!
I changed 2 PD-R reserves 113 for 2 Optimums 126 and they fit perfectly in the Micron V306 which are made for PD-R 113.

And the Optimum opens,fly and land AMAZING!

Powered by PD.

[skreamer 1]

Quote

I changed 2 PD-R reserves 113 for 2 Optimums 126 and they fit perfectly in the Micron V306 which are made for PD-R 113.

I've got an Optimum 143 in Micron V308 (sized for PD 126), fits nice. Also got to make 5 jumps on Optimum 143 demo canopy, flies great in both high speed and deep braked approaches. Great canopy!

[tylerexpress 0]

I just got my new Optimum 143 in that replaces a PD-R126. Ive never had a cutaway,,, nor do I want one!!! I am looking forward to putting some jumps on a demo to see how it flies.

Thomas C Tyler
AKA
T-MAN

[Buffdiver 0]

Just bought a "new to me" Mirage M0 which is sized for a 126 reserve. I was contemplating buying a less expensive standard PD-R 126 (which by the way is a great reserve) but felt with my jump #'s and for any reason unconscious under a reserve, I would like to have the biggest thing over my head.

I love the 143 Optimum I ended up going with. Fits great in the container and gives me the confidence that I can land that thing most anywhere.

I put 4 jumps on an Optimum this summer and absolutely loved it. My buddy and I Opened up near each other a bit far off the DZ and I had the same distance coverage, if not a bit more, with him flying my Sabre 2 150. We even considered buying Optimums and converting to mains for wingsuit just based on how good the openings were and what fun they were to fly.

I think that once PD has the R&D with the larger sizes, the Optimum will become the new standard in what a reserve chute is.