Diablo Discontinued

I have been jumping my diablo 150 for a little over 200 jumps now. I load my canopy at about 1.6:1. Here is what I have found:

Packing is easy, even when the canopy is brand new. It is not as slippery as any other new canopy that I have owned.

Openings are usually nice and slow. I have had a few that were faster than I would have liked, but are attributed to trash packing. It usually takes around 600-800ft to open. The snivel is somewhat like a stiletto, but I would feel comfortable if I didn't fly the opening (I always do). Offheading openings do happen, but can be controlled easily. Line twists need to be solved quickly. I have had a few occasions where 2 twists caused it to really start to spin fast.

Flying is a blast. I think that this is one of the fastest turning, non crossbraced canopies. A stiletto 150 seems about the same. I can easily see the horizon over the back of my diablo when I am jacking some turns. It does tend to have a large amount of oversteer. It is primarily due to the loading. It does have an extremely short recovery arc. I have to do a hook turn much lower than I would with a stiletto. I don't feel comfortable with that. The swoop is fair. I like to hook to get some nice speed, to improve the swoop. The flare is much less powerful than a stiletto, but more than a sabre. I have done CRW on this canopy many times. It seems well behaved, while doing CRW with: cobalt, safire, diablo, spectre.

Overall, if you are looking for a canopy that is more than a square, but are not ready for a very high performance canopy, this is for you. I am currently looking into something with a longer recover arc. Hope this could help.

M.

Diablo 150 loaded at 1.33 - I must've rented/demo gear enough to buy a rig. I tried Spectres, Sabres, Saphires, and any mid-performance canopy they would lend me on my search for my first canopy. I bought my D150 after appx. 40 jumps on a D170 making the next downsize step as to not get bored with my 1st purchase. Since then I have put at least 150 jumps on it and I still love it. This canopy is as fast and fun as you want to make it, yet puts you down safely on the spot.
Turns - VERY quick. You will notice it doesn't stop turning without a little opposite input - unlike typical 7 cells. You get used to it right away though - It spins so quick! Riser turns are hard to hold past 360, create good altitude loss, but recover to level flying very quickly.
Flares - Super Strong! I have found more flare power than on anything I jumped prior. It will dead stop 0-step land in mild winds. In no wind situations at 1.33 this canopy is fast but all that extra flare room slows it down just fine. I have a flawless landing record with it (knock on wood) despite some last minute course corrections, crosswind landings, off DZ, etc. Love that forgiving range - It's still VERY safe.
Openings - mine are slow...I might get a slightly smaller slider for that, and I quit rolling the nose. Otherwise, great, soft, and on heading unless the pack job sucks. Easy to steer the opening.
Overall - fun, agressive, and zippy, yet still very safe and reliable. Look for a good deal! I got mine brand new in stock red. slv. blk. (I don't like the std. stock colors) for $900. Don't turn low and have fun.

I have about 150 jumps on my Diablo 135 loaded at 1.33. First off... the Stiletto feels much less responsive in flight compared to the Diablo. On the other hand, the Stiletto 135 will surf about a third farther and the front riser feels about 15% lighter.

As far as the flight characteristics of the Diablo go, the turns are the fasted that I've ever experienced. It will dive straight at the ground and slump you in the saddle with G's. Where you might be used to using about 8 inches to get a minor correction on landing under a Stiletto, you only use 3 inches on a Diablo. 8 inches of control input on the Diablo will give you a speedy turn. 12 inches will get you a slicing diving turn. On my canopy, 18 inches of input lets you look over the top of the canopy and gives you the fastest rate turn. Be aware that the over-turning tendency of the Diablo is somewhat greater than the Stiletto, so practice the turns up high. The canopy doesn't 'breath' like some other canopies on turbulent days, and feels very solid. The openings are on heading 9 out of 10 times. While it is opening though, it definitely helps to think about distributing the weight equally between the two legs as shifting to either side can produce a speedy after opening turn. In my experience, both slow and high-speed openings are on heading and predictable, and never hard. Landings are a breeze. At 1.33psf you can fly straight in on a hot no wind day and bring it to a very slow speed soft landing every time. On cool days, or days with 5mph wind, you can bring it to a dead stop. On long spots, I leave my brakes stowed and float back with the best of them. In short, you'll love this canopy (after a few jumps) if you like fast and exciting flying. If you're into long swoops though, you probably won't be satisfied.

O.K. I promised you an update so here it is. I purchased a Diablo110 a little while back. I am now loading it at 1.6. I definately have this thing dialed in baby!! Turn and burn!! I've put 40 or so jumps on it now and now that I have the true feel for the canopy I really am enjoying myself. Openings, I've had quiet a few openings that started in a dive. I have even double checked my body position on opening. Sometimes it happens. I have found that immediately upon opening steering out with the rear line groups ends the dive immediately. It's like once this canpoy decides to start in a dive it will stay until definate toggle pressure causes it to level out. At least at my wing loading. I just expect the diving opening now and correct as necessary. I can ALMOST get out of the dive by shifting weight in the harness, if I shift the weight early I can prevent it. Flight characteristics,, At 1.6 where I am if you are in a full turn with the rear risers cross steering is necessary, if in front risers it pretty much stops turning when you do flying straight down "almost :)" until you tell it not to. You have to be looking WAY ahead under this thing. It is fast. I have now learned to look much farther ahead in my flight path and am extremely comfortable under this canopy in relation to 20 jumps ago. I have pulled at altitude 90% of the time under this canopy to insure that I learned the flight envelope and didn't put anyone other than myself at risk. I still normally beat half the jumpers down and normally the plane. This is dumping at 13k!! It will dive baby!!! Try a front riser turn going inverted then bury that leg in the harness!! IT will stay in a slow corkscrew flying almost straight down with minimal effort. Landings,, at first I was uncomfortable now I feel much better and have utter confidence in the bottom end. I have stood up every landing under this canopy. Or any for that matter. I find myself coming with extra speed "in the sweet spot" without even thinking about it now. I just end up that way out of feel in the canopy. If you are the type that learns by feel like I do you will enjoy this canopy. Packing,, easy as can be.. I've had no problems.. Blue skies!! Rhino

I have put about 20 jumps on my new diablo 135 @ 1.40 wing load and love it. I moved from a triathalon 160 after getting current again after a few slow years and couldn't be happier. The first sub terminal opening was a little freaky but since then it's been nothing but fun. Incredible turns and is even very stable in high winds. Had to make a down wind landing straight in on a long spot and it set me down very nicely. Great design.

I always thought that the Diablo was just a Triathlon with the back corners knocked off and it couldn't be all it was bragged up to be. Well I demo'd one ...a 135 at a 1.4 loading. This canopy is incredible! It turns very fast. It is nimble yet stable. The flare is strong and controllable.
I love my Heatwave, I like the Stiletto, I enjoyed jumping the Vengence BUT... This canopy blows them away in all around performance. I do wish it would surf better though.

I'll be honest with you I didn't like this canopy for the first 20 jumps I put on it. When I say I didn't like it I mean on landings. Up high turns were amazing, it dropped out of the air like a f16 going straight down in front riser turns, LOTS OF FUN!! The bottom end envelope on my canopy seems to be very thin, although I have stood up every landing on this thing. When they say the more airspeed you come in with = more lift under a "smaller" canopy they are very correct with the Diablo at this wing loading. I have this canopy dialed in now on landings. It does require extra air speed to get a decent flair on landing. Flying straight in is something that I won't do unless I absolutely have to under this thing. I've jumped other canopies at similar wing loadings "crossfire, extreme fx" that could be flown straight in with no additional air speed and have PLENTY of bottom end flair power compaired to this. Would I recommend this to someone else? Not above 1.5 I wouldn't.. I jumped the Diablo120, 20 times and needed much less airspeed for a "easy" landing. I'll update later as I put more jumps on this canopy..

At my wing loading I can beat the pilot to the ground poping at 13k.. What is that 4000ft+ a minute fall rate? I didn't say it wasn't fun :)

Rhino

First let me say i only have just over 100 jumps and this is the first rig and canopy ive owned.. i had been flying the safire 189 for my last 40 jumps and this was the canopy i wanted to but but i didnt want to wait 3 months for it, so i started calling around and found the ad im sure we have all seen CALL RALPH so I called HIM..well ralph talked me into getting the diablo 170 i explained to him what i had been flying and he assured me i would love the diablo and offered me a money back guarantee (i weigh 175 lbs without gear) i was a little weary after reading alot about the canopy but was willing to give it a try..SO this happened to be the weekend when me and a few jump buddies had a trip planned to NYC to fly at the ranch.so there i was at 13 grand with a brand new wings container on my back with the diablo 170 inside and a dash mz 181 reserve and cypress of course and thoughts running through my head like i hope this bloody works,,, WELL it did 5 times as a matter of fact i did 5 jumps on it that day and i must say it opened smooth and on heading every time the first thing i noticed was the responsiveness and it seemed to be the first time i really enjoyed the canopy ride now landing is a different story from what i was used to ,it definatly comes in faster than other canopies i have flown ( sabre 170,safire 169,safire 189,)but is more responsive while u are up there.OUT of 5 jumps the first 1 was nice stand up with maybe 2 steps, second landing found myself running as fast as i could, 3rd landing was on my ass, 4th landing running and slipped to my ass, 4th ladning was kinda dragging 1 knee accross the grass, SO all in all i guess its gona take me a few more jumps to get the lading thing down (this was a total NO wind DAY) 1 other thing i noticed was everyone around me was complaing about turbulence over the trees and the landing area(ranch is a breezy dz) but i noticed nothing with the diablo it seems to stay inflated no matter what with no "jellyfishing" wich is a good thing,
so at the moment i still like it alot its loads of fun and cant wait to get back to skydive america to try landing into 10 mph wind as it should make it somewhat easyier soon to be pics at www.tumblefuqs.com blue skies n soft landins hope ive helped someone else choose a canopy..

Jumped the diablo the other day a 150 loaded at 1.3 .openings were very nice ,it was easy to pack ,turned very fast and lost altitude very quickly, did not have the glide of a nine cell so turf surfing is not a strong point landings were very easy.carving front riser turns were steady and strong.i do not believe you will see the diablo win any turf surf or blade running competitions.

Jumped a Diablo 190 this weekend, loaded at 1.2 (almost minimum weight for this canopy). I have 100 jumps, most within the last year. Diablo is by far the smoothest all around canopy I have jumped. Opens very sweet, long snivel, and on heading. Turns are instant and crisp. Loses lots of altitude real fast in front riser turns and hard toggle turns, but will float if you need it to. Plenty of flare for landings - it wants to turf surf even at this light loading. Way easier to pack than any other ZP canopy I have jumped. I love the fabric! I also liked that Aerodyne sends its demos ready to jump - collapsible pc, D-bag, and risers already attached. I recently demoed a Spectre. It was just as sweet opening, but not quite as crisp in the turns (it was a 210). Lots harder to pack. The Diablo can be had for half price, brand new, with all the options this month. No contest. Downside: you only get the demo for one weekend, and backorder can be 10-12 weeks. Someone else must like it, too.

I demo'ed the Diablo 170 this weekend in my search for the main of my dreams. All I can say is... I found it!!!

I have just under 100 jumps but am very current, making several jumps each weekend since getting my A license. I demo'ed about everything that I could to figure out what I wanted, and ended up being comfortable with a 1.38:1 wing loading.

The diablo packs as easy as most F111 mains that I've packed, and makes it very easy to get the chute in the d-bag with out pulling out all your hair. Seems to pack up to about the same size as other 170's that I've tried, so nothing to talk about there.

The openings (which I only did at terminal) were soft and on heading. Only the Triathalon and Spectre that I tried open as softly.

The turns are hands down, the most exciting I've tried to date. This canopy responds instantly to toggle input. Thankfully the control range is long enough that the input feels responsive not twitchy. You will need counter-steer to terminate turns, and it may take a bit of flying to figure out how much, but all in all it feels fast but managable. If you have short arms like I do, don't reach up and pull on a rear riser to get to your slider as it will put you into a turn right then! (Suprised me, although it shouldn't have..) :)

The front riser pressure felt good to me. Not light, but far from heavy. It seemed the same as a spectre of similar wingloading, and turned me parallel to the ground within about 90 degrees. If you keep holding the risers you will get a nice carving turn without too much work, but once you let go you will have to wait for the airspeed to slow back to normal flight before you can pull any more as you are pulling too many G's to take in any more front riser.

Good sink rate, it got me back from a long spot on my first jump. I've been told from AeroDyne the trick is to release the brakes, and then pull a little bit of rear risers (about 2-3 inches, while in full flight) and you should make it back pretty far.

The landings are smooth and easy! It's real easy to plane out the canopy, and the flare is very strong. Landings are comfortable even with the faster ground speed. Even with the no wind days I had it was easy to stand up the landings with just a few short feet of turf surfing.

This has to be the best, fastest, most fun canopy I've tried yet, and the only thing I could say after the first jump was "Damn, I don't want to get it back!"

You should do yourself a favor and try one out when you get a chance, I think it will please you.

With only 13 jumps on my new 135 Diablo. my review is still a little weak , but here it comes anyway. Openings - always on heading without much of a snivel, the worst one was after a 4 second delay on a hop and pop, it buckecd from side to side for a few seconds but still opened on smoothly and on heading, It seems to like the terminal openings better.

Stability - Watching other canopies landing after i had already landed over the weekend i saw a lot of canopies bucking from the turbulance , It didn,t bother me in the least." Very stable" !
Turns - whow! what can i say , This thing turns and dives like a fighter aircraft with a anti- aircraft missile locked on to it's tail. A lot of turns will get you to the ground in a hurry.
Glide - On a long spot with a friend (150 Saber) on a no wind day i beat him back to the DZ easily.
Landings- It dosen't take to much to land this canopy, the brakes are so powerful and want to stop you in a hurry , even on a no wind day. So far i haven't been able to surf this thing too far, Maybe i have been riding the brakes too hard, time may prove me wrong , (I hope so ) cus i like to surf.
Front risers - Very heavy , it takes a hole lot of muscle
Packing - I Psycho pack because i i could never seem to get my pro pack into the bag , there was always some material poping back out some were, Psycho packing fixed that in a hurry , but this canopy makes even that seem so easy. (Great packing material)