Vision 132 demo

[billvon 2,400]

I put a few jumps on the new Vision 132 demo at Perris this week. All in all, I wasn't too impressed.

Packing - nothing unusual, although they did color code the line attachement points. Sorta cool. I would imagine this could help newer jumpers learn to flake their canopy. Fabric was the usual slippery nightmare stuff, although the ribs were F111.

Openings - very Stiletto-like. Long snivel, with the canopy "hunting" as to which direction it wanted to open in. One opened fine, just off heading. On the second one I tried a bit of body steering to keep it on heading. It sniveled for two seconds, then the slider slammed down and the canopy went into linetwist. I kicked out of it before it could spin up, but I could feel it start.

Flight - very sensitive to toggle pressure, even with the demo's 4"-too-long brake lines. Like the Pilot, it had an eerily slow response to front riser pressure. Much more responsive than the Pilot, but still not nearly as responsive as, say, a Safire 129. Glide angle seemed about the same as the Pilot.

Landing - No problems. Flares like an Icarus rather than a PD, with a long toggle stroke and flare all the way to the end. An attempted front riser hook was cut short when I released the riser and BAM! back to level flight within a second. I tried again with a lower turn followed by double fronts, and it just didn't add much speed after the canopy 'recovered' to front-riser flight. This canopy is sort of the opposite of ground-hungry.

This is odd considering their web page, which says this parachute is for "Those who want a bit more…faster turns, higher speeds and longer swoops in a canopy that feels as though it can almost anticipate what you want it to do." Maybe you could get those longer swoops out of a toggle turn hook (I don't do them) but I think a Safire would both give you better swoops and better openings.

So I'm not sure of the market for this canopy. For an intermediate jumper who wants a good canopy that will open well, land them well, be pretty stable etc they have the Pilot, which I think is a great canopy in the Sabre2/Safire category. This is a step up from that in performance, but are there people out there who want Stiletto-like performance without Stiletto-like front riser swoop ability? Maybe there are, or maybe this is a canopy for people who prefer toggles over front risers.

[sid 1]

very nie review - thanks Bill

Pete Draper,

Just because my life plan is written on the back of a Hooter's Napkin, it's still a life plan.... right?

[Remster 24]

I know I could look for another one of your reports to find out your weight, but what was your wingload?

Remster

[AggieDave 6]

Bill,

How does the canopy fly compaired to the PISA Hornet?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[PhreeZone 15]

Bill answered in another post.. he's never got to fly a Hornet.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[AggieDave 6]

How did I miss that? Ok, editing my other post since I have royally stuck my foot in my mouth.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[billvon 2,400]

Here's an update:

After seeing this review, Ian Bellis called up Square One and had them send the canopy back. They did and got a new one a few weeks later. I jumped the new canopy last week (this one was a 124.) I put four jumps on it, then put a few jumps on a Crossfire 129 for comparison. (My usual canopy is a Safire 119.)

The major differences from the old Vision:

The new Vision hunts less on opening. Openings are just as soft but the canopy is less sensitive to body position. Once open, it will still respond to body turns. It shares the characteristic of the Diablo that unless you release the brakes it will start gradually turning and eventually spin up in one direction or the other (unless you counter it with body turns.)

The recovery arc is a lot longer. Not quite as long as a Stiletto, but it's a lot easier to set up front riser approaches with it. Four jumps wasn't enough to get it completely dialed in, but I did pull off a few really nice front riser swoops where the canopy planed out with just a tiny bit of rear riser input and flew forever. As I was being conservative this happened 3 feet off the ground, but it was clear that it had a longer arc than the previous canopy, though still not as long as a Stiletto. Front riser pressure is still high.

[VectorBoy 0]

Bill, dude while you are at it review the crossfire that all my buddies suggest I demo too, please. In fact that would be about my size .