The Shadow - review

[Han-Solo 0]

This season I’ve been jumping a new prototype suit from Phoenix called Shadow. It is basically a modified Vampire, where the wings have been cut shorter. Wing handle is about 10 cm and the leg wing is cut slightly concave from toe to toe. It has the deflector like Vampire, but with a lower profile. Arm wing air inlets are pushed back on the shoulders and have a more diagonal cut than the regular Vampire. Also the arms have gotten an extra layer of foam cushion to make the leading edge smoother and give it a little shape. There are no stiffeners in the wings.

Since I got it, I’ve put about 15 skydives and 35 basejumps on it, trying a range of different moves and maneuvers. My reference is pretty much from the GTi, but I’ve also flown the Firebird and the MTR3 suit on occasions. Little need to say that this one is quite different.

At first I found the suit to be a bit twitchy. I had trouble figuring out my speed in relation to the stall speed. Sometimes I felt I was going fast and steady but then all of a sudden after a slight flare it started to wobble and act “stally”. Other times I would start to flare the suit before the pitch and there where lots of power left. Since the suit is so much faster overall than my old GTi I really had to spend some time learning to read the speed. But once I figured that out it helped a lot. The stall point kind of sneaks up on you and I feel I have to be very gentle when trying to push for distance. But when I manage it has quite a bit of distance ability within it.

The speed of the suit is very high. Going at the same glide angle as my fellow jumpers, they really struggle to keep up. This provides very good stability when you’re not closing in on the stall point. Flying like this the power in turns and the general response is fantastic. I really enjoy having dynamic flights with it, picking up speed through a turn then flaring it out feeling the forces and then diving into another turn. It gives the feeling of riding on tracks. The diving ability of the suit is very good. With the steeper inlets arm wings stay pressurized and the whole suit is stable at glide angles as low as 50-60 degrees, at least. I have not done head down with arm wings exposed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone managed to. This steep flying ability opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to carrying the speed through a dive and into a flare.

Dirty flying at low speed is OK by just bending the knees and hips and stabilizing with the arms.

Barrel rolls are second nature (as with most suits I guess) and back flying is also easy to control. There are no back inlets, but it flies stable and as long as I arch my back enough it gives some distance as well. Performing two ways on my back with another pilot facing me shows that the other guy doesn’t really have to get dirty as long as I stay in position. Front flips are a bit trickier. Due to the relatively large leg wing the tuck has to be tight and firm to come all the way around. It requires some timing to fly it steady right afterwards. Sometimes I go into a dive and occasionally I’ve ended up on my back, sit flying it, and then having to flip it back into a dive… not a bigwall move just yet.

The suit comes (at least this one did) with a pouch, but in my opinion there is no need for it. The cut of the wings allows for a nice pitch from the BOC, unless maybe you have a very short container. Leg wing and booties does not really allow for a running exit, just a step or two. Landings with booties are OK for a larger canopy or a head wind.

These are just my experiences with this suit, and as we all know it’s mostly in the pilot. I don’t have a lot of experience with other suits apart from the GTi, which is somewhat different (basically just a lot slower and less glide ratio range). I was supplied with this suit from Robert to test it and tell you what I thought of it. My general opinion is that it is an overall good performance suit and fits the type of flying here in Norway very well, and it is also a blast from the plane.

Hans, VKB #11

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Thanks for the information.

With a name like Shadow, I am guessing it is a proximity flying suit.

I notice that the X bracing is gone from the legwing inlet. Interesting.

Kris.

[sdctlc 0]

At first glance it looks like a Vampire'ish leg wing and a Phantom'ish Arm wing. I dont see on the back shot pics any back inlets. What is the arena that the suit is designed for? Robi?? James?? any comments??

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[Han-Solo 0]

Maybe I wasn't being clear

Give a little distance, gain even more dive-ability. Get speed, easy (BOC) pull and handling as well. That's all.

ps. as I said; no back inlets...

[tr027 0]

The arm inlets being moved back didn't harm the pressurization speed on the start? Or if you just dive it right out the gate (as opposed to starting flat) then it doesn't matter.

"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

[KrisFlyZ 0]

X braced inlet on V2 for comparison. More than 50% of usable inlet area is covered.