Sentry

With the military discount they offer, I couldn't even get a well used canopy at the price they offer for a new one. Red was perfectly reasonably communicative via email. It sometimes took a couple of day to get a response, but I consider that reasonable when ordering a product that takes a while for decisions, production, and shipping. Their reported manufacturing time of six weeks was only two for me. I was pleasantly surprised. I took a stock (yellow) reserve to save production time. If my reserve is out, I don't care what color it is. Yellow lets people know there was a problem anyhow. Shipping was fast. The colors were what I wanted.

I took the canopies and container to my local DZ (France) and had the rigger put it all together with a new Vigil 2 he sold me. Then, I paid someone else to pack it. I learned some nifty new cuss words in French. Wings says a 210 will fit in a W-22, and it will...but apparently it takes some cussing to grease the fit. That's why I paid someone else. The next pack went better. Not the canopy's fault. Just a tight fit.

The first opening was looong and incredibly soft. I don't think I've every had an opening that soft before. The left end cell seemed to be the last part to inflate and I was a bit concerned it wouldn't do it, but it did. Handling was great. Turns were responsive, but overly so. Flare seemed really good in the air. I did some 360's and S turns. Everything checked out nicely. In a 14mph wind, I was barely making headway on final. The flare was predictable and strong. I only used about half the toggles to set down to a perfect landing. The canopy didn't fight me in the wind after landing.

The second jump was about like the first. Soft opening on heading. Predictable response and flare. It's not sporty, but it is a good canopy for a newer jumper (57 jumps to date).

David

This is my first canopy (beer!). I have 30 jumps on it now. From what I have heard this canopy is marketed to compete with Sabre2 and the Pilot. I dont have any first hand experience with the other 2 but can compare to other people I am flying with who are at a similar WL. The canopy I have is a 190 at WL of 0.98:1. It doesnt feel super sporty but that could be due to my WL. Turns are not fast - I wish they were faster. It seems to fall fast and landings seem pretty fast. I usually beat others to the ground even if they have slightly higher WL. It really seems to sink in a toggle turn and toggle turns are terribly slow compared to front riser. Maybe thats normal. Only complaint is the snivel is >1000' but that is probably due to the way I pack the slider or some other aspect of packing. The positive is that the openings are super soft. The negative is that usually during snivel, it starts bucking and usually will do a 180 on full open. Again this is probably due to my pack job.

More to come once I try out the competitors.

I am pleased with the sturdy construction and performance of this FC product. It flys almost as well as a PD Silhouette.....similar performance and nearly as easy to pack. Those qualities make it a solid choice for some looking for a reasonably priced mid-performance-range canopy. Excellent choice for someone transitioning from rental gear to first rig. Red at Flight Concepts does a pretty good job with customer service....... if you keep after him.

I had my first jump on a brand new FC Sentry canopy, and we been droped away from the DZ, when I opened the canopy and figured where I was, I was sure about making it back to the field, but NOT to the target! I coudnt belive my eyes, when I made it back, completed a landing patern and had a softest landing
straight on target in a couple of years of skydiving and dozens of different canopies and sizes I tried through the years !!! And I had it when a couple of more experienced jumpers didnt even made it to the DZ!!! NOW, the bad side of a story. When I ordered it, I selected a colors and all the options I wanted, I discused it with a FC rep and we got some aggriments, then, 6 weeks later, when my order should be shipped, I called 'em up and found out, that nobody even started it yet, and have no idea about my order! Then, 3 days later, Im getting a call from FC, and they telling me that nobody started it yet, cause they dont have a color I ordered in stock, and it will take 'em 3 month to get this color and 6 more weeks to make it! or if I like they can make it in some other colors! I sended 'em a pic. of my container and asked 'em which color
will match the best, they e-mailed me a color, and when I got a little concerned about a match, they said its a browsers fault, it destroys the colors, etc. And when I got it,(4 month later!) IT DIDNT MATCH!!! IF IT WONT TAKE 'EM SO LONG TO DO IT, OR BE HONEST ABOUT IT FROM A 1st
DAY, I COULD BE A LOT HAPPIER! SO IF U PICK A THIS NICE CANOPY FOR YOUR RIG, DONT BE EXITED ABOUT GETTING IT ON NEXT DAY...
YOU BEEN WARNED, USE WITH CAUTION !!!