Cobalt opening

[DBCOOPER 1]

From the Atair web site.

"Cobalts open best in a forward track. Generally the slower you go, the faster a Cobalt will open. Deploying in a track keeps your vertical speed at optimum for a slow 2-stage opening."

Havn't had a chance to hop and pop my cobalt 150 yet,anybody have experience doing it?

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[rgoper 0]

i did one or two with mine, a 170^2, the openings were "clear and pulls" with no more than a 3 second delay, this eliminated the "2 stage opening" but i had line twists each time.

--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

[imdskydiver 0]

I do hop and pops every weekend after deploying students , I find that my cobalt opens just fine ,Most of the time i do 7 - 10 sec. tracks on a down wind run but I always bleed off some speed and have better openings , I have done a few by opening straight off the step and the few times that i did times it took a long time to open and had some pretty bad line twists, so i guess you need to build up some speed for it to open well , With a 5-10 sec delay you should experience be no problems.

[rgoper 0]

the best opening i ever had on my Cobalt 170^2 was in a track at around 145 mph (according to my Pro-Trac) whenever i deplyed in this manner, it's chaacteristics seemed to perform the best. i can't wait to recieve my Competition model 170^2 and see what it's going to do!

--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

[Vallerina 2]

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was in a track at around 145 mph

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that be more of a dive than a track? The tracking dives I've been on have averaged under 100 mph according to my Pro-Track.

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[MonkeyLip 0]

Here are my findings under my Cobalt 120 loaded at 1.8:1

I find that with forward speed at pull time, I get a better opening than if am falling straight down. This seems to be the same thing that the other Atair pilots in the area think. Chuck was incidental in bringing Cobalts to the area. His guidance cured our bad and odd opening problems and his tour experience led to his ability to teach even my thick-head; it's all goody in the hoody!

JC aka KR

blic, blic, caw,caw

[rgoper 0]

i should have stated that 145 mph was the "max mph" on that dive, 123 mph was the avg mph. i've been as fast as 175 mph in an alpha position before and dumped with my Hornet....it was a trip, good opening canopy though.

--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

[andy2 0]

can someone identify the difference in the cobalt from other HP canopies that makes opening in a track more desireable? I was under the impression that ALL canopies should be opened in a hard arch to avoid malfunctions. I'm interested in the cobalt, as thats the elliptical canopy I wish to be flying someday when I get enough experience

---------------------------------------------
let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[DBCOOPER 1]

http://www.extremefly.com/aerodynamics/FAQ.html

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[skycat 0]

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can someone identify the difference in the cobalt from other HP canopies that makes opening in a track more desireable? I was under the impression that ALL canopies should be opened in a hard arch to avoid malfunctions. I'm interested in the cobalt, as thats the elliptical canopy I wish to be flying someday when I get enough experience

Actually all the canopies I've jumped open softer in a track. It could be due to the fact that I'm under 90mph in a track when I dump. That list includes crossfires, stilettos and cobalts, Derek also swears by it on his VX. Personally I didn't like the opening characteristics of the cobalt or the fact that if you didn't pack it just so it smacked the hell out of me and spun up like a top.

Fly it like you stole it!

[alan 1]

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"Cobalts open best in a forward track.

As has become apparent in this thread, this is a little vague. Many of us confuse a diving track with a flat track or don't even know about both.

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Generally the slower you go, the faster a Cobalt will open.

This seems to add some needed information, but does not rectify the fact that we most often are tracking away from other skydivers in our group after breakoff and really should be flat tracking at that time to get the msot horizontal seperation. The implication seems to be that Atair assumes most of us are in a diving track (perhaps correctly) when we track away, or should be.

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Deploying in a track keeps your vertical speed at optimum for a slow 2-stage opening."

They have already stated that the slower you go, the faster the canopy opens. Conversely, it should then be safe to say that the faster you go, the slower it opens. It would be nice if they would just say what is the optimum speed for 2 stage openings. As someone else in this thread has already stated, we are taught that a hard arch is the best position to open in for a safe, stable, on heading opening. We are also taught that to increase our verticle speed, we should arch harder, so shouldn't that keep your vertical speed at optimum for a slow 2-stage opening as Atair suggests without the need to track?

Seems as if what Atair is really saying is that the Cobalt opens best if there is an increased horizontal (vectored)component to the vericle speed.

alan

[Yoshi 0]

just get a crossfire an you wont have to worry about hard openings or opeining in a track:
-yoshi

_________________________________________
this space for rent.

[skycat 0]

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just get a crossfire an you wont have to worry about hard openings or opeining in a track:
-yoshi

It's like falling into warm ice cream

Fly it like you stole it!

[Yoshi 0]

I heave never jumped a canopy that opens nicer...
-yoshi

_________________________________________
this space for rent.

[DBCOOPER 1]

Then I would have made a post asking Which canopy opens nicer

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[FlyGuy 0]

I have about 30 jumps on my cobalt 150 and I don't open in a track and I love the openings. I have done 4 hop & pops with it and can say that it does not have two stage openings in that situation. It did take a while to open, but wasn't bad at all, and no line twists either. At first it took a few pack jobs to get it to have the two stage openings, but now all is good. If you are getting good openings with the way you are packing it, I would say don't worry about hop & pops.

[aufreefly 0]

I sometimes got openings like the beginning of the sdafreefly video on
http://www.auburn.edu/~huntmic/freeflyvids/

No matter what I did it seemed to slam me one out of five jumps.

[crazy 0]

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They have already stated that the slower you go, the faster the canopy opens. Conversely, it should then be safe to say that the faster you go, the slower it opens.

I'm wondering why nobody uses this marvelous reefing system for reserves. Cutaway at 100 feet and it snaps open; have a premature opening head down and it opens slowly.

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to increase our verticle speed, we should arch harder, so shouldn't that keep your vertical speed at optimum for a slow 2-stage opening as Atair suggests without the need to track?

Maybe their test pilots have a higher vertical speed while tracking than while arching.

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Seems as if what Atair is really saying is that the Cobalt opens best if there is an increased horizontal (vectored)component to the vericle speed.

Maybe it's what they try to say... However, i can't figure out why the reefing system would care much about the vertical/horizontal thing. Mysteries of physics!
Did anybody try to open a cobalt while tracking backwards?

--
Come
Skydive Asia

[ramon 0]

I dump in a track all the time.

Competition cobalt 105 loaded at 2.1

I used to dump in a track all the time on my space/alpha 150 (precursor to the cobalt). I had to stop doing that on my FX...doh

The most important thing for me is symetrical packing and body position.

good luck

ramon

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

[sducoach 0]

Reading FAQ's I see that if a canopy is lightly loaded there can be end cell closure due to the light loading. Would that not be the same as a slow airspeed opening?

Is not the two stage opening set up due to the lack of crossporting on the center cells?

Is the line twist caused by the design, airspeed, asymmetric inflation, body position, stability, or what?
Your help is appreciated!
Blues,
J.E.

James 4:8

[rgoper 0]

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Help me out here. I've got a demo coming and I'm confused. How does a clear and pull eliminate the "2 stage opening"?

clear and pulls i've done were out of a super otter and i believe the prop blast alone inflated the canopy before the 2 stage design had a chance to develop.

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Is the line twist caused by the design, airspeed, asymmetric inflation, body position, stability, or what?

all of the above. my Cobalt 170^2 was the most missbehaved canopy i've ever owned, but that said, in Atair's defense, they took the canopy back, and are building me a brand new Competition 170^2, i will have it soon. i originally bought the Cobalt because of the softer 2 stage opening, but was soon disgruntled. i've since bought and successfully fly a HeatWave 170^2 without incident, each sky dive a "kick in the ass!" but i can't wait to see how this Cobalt Comp 170^2 will open and fly, when i get it i'm going to SkyDive AggieLand, and AggieDave and i are going to try our best to "put it through the paces" we'll see if it's all good, or all bad!?!?

--Richard--
"We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

[sducoach 0]

The canopy fly very nice, slow on the toggles but nice profile on risers. All the video shows center cell inflation quickly while the others fought to inflate causing the very long deployment. Wide span and short chord on the planform compared to Vengeance or Stiletto.

Two more weeks on the canopy before I make a firm decision.

Blues,

J.E.

James 4:8