Electra

The Electra I base my review on: 700 jumps, 74 on new line-set, flown by me at 1,9 WL.

Easy to fly no matter if it is in deep brakes or, aggressive flying on front risers. It was turning at a decent rate with harness and when I didn’t give it any input it wanted to level out quickly. The landing was smooth and the wing produced way more lift then I would expect out of a hybrid canopy with a recommended WL at 1,0.

Not much more to say that hasn't been said already. Top canopy that deserves to be more popular than it is, and a bit of a cult connoisseur item. Those who join the club are never disappointed.

The Electra 150 is a great canopy in any ways ! It has unique flairing skills wich allows you to land perfect (fast or slow) in any weather and wind conditions ! It has smooth, on heading openings and reacts great on toggles or front riser inputs ! I really recommend buying this great canopy !

Pros: consistently good openings, pretty fast
Cons: heavy front risers

I bought my electra 170 4 years ago soon after I qualified. initially I found it hard to get used to because it is a nippy canopy. however as I continued jumping I grew to love it. it is very responsive in the turn but front riser pressure is a bit hard. a pro is that it has a very good glide ratio similar to the new PD Pulse. I have also jumped the PD Pulse and could see the similarities. I have jumped Sabres, Sabre2s and Safires. I recently purchased an Electra 150 (loaded at 1.3) and another container to hold it and will most likely keep the same planform for the future. I think they are quite a rare breed of canopy I don't know many people who own one and I'm glad I have this one now

I've flown my electra for a couple of years, at a 1.6 wingloading.

The canopy has progressed along with me 180 jumps upwards, and been awsome...

I Demo'd / owned a safire 2 190, Saber 2 210, and a spectre 170, before buying this canopy, and felt that for consistant openings, glide, and flare an electra wins hands down.

It opens without a massive 1000ft snivel unlike the safire.
Has flare power at both the top and bottom end unlike the saber 2
Has Better Glide and swooping responce then the spectre.

I have put around 350 jumps on my Electra, and its been awesome, Its been a great choice, and PDF have made an awesome peice of kit.

Highly recomended!!

Been using this canopy for the last 40 jumps with a 1.25 W/L.
The openings arent as snivelly or as long as a sabre2 or safire 2 and i always get a good jerk just as it finishes opening; I roll the nose each time.
Never get endcell closure like sabre 2's.
Canopy maintains good speed after turns, the front riser pressure is a tad heavy, but nothing a pump of the brakes wont sort. It even responds well to harness input and carves quite well.
Openings are on heading.
I would definately recommend after flying similar safires and sabres.

Since buying my Electra 170 I've fallen in love with it. It's openings are extremely reliable and soft, on heading. The only harder opening I had was when I packed badly and managed to twist my front & rear risers (yikes!) However the canopy still flew incredibly well & landed me softly. The flare characteristics are fantastic and toggle inputs are very responsive. Collapsible slider is a doddle. I receive constant compliments on the canopy as well as the Atom Legend container. Initially getting the canopy into the bag was a real sweat but with time & practice this has become no problem & packing anything else now seems sooo easy. Love it to bits!!

I've been using an Electra 170 for my last 100 jumps (I have 250). I chose it after having tried almost 10 different models.
What I love about it is that it allows you to do pretty much anything (OK, you won't swoop for a hundred yards...)feeling secure. It is very forgiving when you learn to flare: you always have some power left even if your last turn was too low...
For the cons, you need good biceps to use your front risers at every jump... And you really learn to pack! But once you're used to it it's nothing terrible!

After jumping a Sabre1 and quite some F-111 only canopies I did a demo jump with an Electra 150 (wingload 1.1). After the first jump I was convinced and bought it. Very soft and on headings openings (around 300m) which is probably due to the large but easily collapsible slider. The canopy is very responsive even "normal" turns are a charm and only rarely make use of the front risers.

I've only seen them very seldom in Germany yet but I would recommend the canopy for any intermediate pilot.

I'm 89kg and jump an electra 190.I've only got 55 jumps but feel really safe amd secure under this canopy.I find it really resposive during turns and it recovers fairly quickly.The best thing about this canopy is the flare.You can feel yourself slowing right down even as soon as you start pulling down.Another thing I have noticed is that when I do practice flares and bring my hands up quickly, you dont get that surging sinking feeling. Just a nice gentle recovery which suits me fine!

I jump an Electra 170 at a windloading of 1.2. It is a very good intermediate canopy to jump after one is off student status and is allowed to buy their own gear.

The Electra is a well behaved, stable canopy. Good flare characteristics. A relatively flat glide slope and excellent half brakes distance capabilities (it'll get you back from a bad spot). The recovery arc is fairly short, what you'd expect from an intermediate canopy. Toggle and front riser weight fairly heavy but responsive. Again characteristics of an intermediate canopy.

A down point is that the bottom skin is made of F111 fabric. I guess therefore it wouldn't last as long as a fully ZP canopy.

Another down point is that you can't get custom colors. They have stock canopies in various nice color schemes from which you can choose, though. The canopy looks very nice from the ground though, with the "smiley" in front.

All in all I highly recommend it as an intermediate canopy.

since this is my first owned rig I don't have much to compare it to. However every one thats packed it say's it's a pain to pack. I agree. Compared to a similar size and age sabre its awfull to pack. I have had about 25% off heading openings since using it but it always opens, sometimes too fast.
On the good side, i can agree with the sales pitch, it's a great way to discover performance canopies. Even after a couple of uses i was maxing out the brake lines and doing 360's and never felt unsecure.

Hallo,
Ik heb een Electra 190 gekocht en ben er echt super blij mee. Ik heb er nu 5 sprongen mee. En ik hoop er nog een heleboel mee te maken.
De Electra is echt een aanrader.
groetjes

Chantal