gus

pdr-126 loaded at 1.3

I had a reserve ride recently when my mate dumped me out by accident - whilst I was back tracking! It opened quickly but comfortably and with no line twists.

I was seriously impressed by this canopy. I did a couple of practice flares up high, expecting them to be a bit 'limp' but they were quite the opposite. Then I floated around in brakes watching my freebag and was very impressed with the slow descent rate. I landed softly right next to my freebag.

My next reserve will be a pd.

About me: 900 jumps in 4.5 years. Owned 2 Spectres (150,135), then a Sabre2 (120) before my Crossfire2 (99). I load it about 1.7. Have also flown: student Mantas, Paratec Quadra, PD 9 cell, PD Sabre, PD Stiletto, PD Vengeance, Atair Troll. 150+ jumps on my Crossfire2.

Openings: very consistent in the time/altitude they take to open, I'd say it takes 500 or 600 feet. 'Hunts' a little during inflation but not massively. Pretty sensitive to my terrible body position. If I really make the effort to concentrate on my body position during opening it's beautiful. I've had twists a handful of times and it's been very well behaved whilst I'll kick them out. I'm not really in to the whole 'steer your openings' thing, I think your likely to do more harm than good, so I just let it get on with it which it does just fine.

Flight: Have done some close flight with a Stiletto 150 (@ ~1.5) and found it pretty easy to fly next to one another, although I was deeper in to brakes as you might expect. Glide seems pretty comparable to most other canopies out there, maybe slightly better than average. I've certainly made it back from some spots where I thought I wouldn't. Toggle turns are a hoot and chew up altitude pretty quick. Seems very stable in flight. Recovered very well when my mate grabbed my bridle at 7k and folded the thing in half!

Landings: This is where it's at. I'm starting my carving 180 turns a little under 500 feet at the moment. I'm still a bit inconsistent but when I get it right this thing will generate a *lot* of speed and will let you swoop a fair old distance. The flare is a little different to the PD canopies I've owned but once you get used to it it's plenty powerful and it'll happily set you down gently on a nil wind day. My only complaint might be the front riser pressure which starts off nice enough but seems to build quite quickly. If I come out of my 180 too high it can be a real struggle to hold both front risers down for more than four or five seconds. I haven't really played with the rear risers on landing so can't comment on that.

Overall: Wonderful! A real joy to fly. I can't wait to move on to 270 approaches and unleash some of the real power of this canopy.

Gus

About me: 700 jumps in 3.5 years. 200 on my Sabre2 120 @ 1.5. Spectre 135 and 150 before that.

Openings: This is my only real quibble. The openings on my Sabre2 have ranged from absolutely text book, soft, on heading to the occasional one which dives and turns hard enough to put a twist in. Having said that I've never chopped it and I've been happy enough to jump it with my wingsuit.

Flight: Toggle turns are quick with little oversteer. Hanging on the rear risers flattens the glide noticeable. Flying around in deep brakes, bumping end cells with friends is easy and the canopy feels very solid. Front riser pressure is the lowest of any canopy I've jumped. Low speed stalls are gentle and predictable but the recovery can be quite violent.

Landings: Compared to my Spectres this canopy is an absolute dream to land! It has so much flare that even after a nice front riser approach and a little swoop it puts you down gently. It's rare that I have to run out a landing. Front riser input will dive the canopy more than I expected and you can generate quite a lot of speed, even with just a nice 90 degree turn. Pull off a well timed 180 and you'll go as far as many people on their Stilettos. Gentle carves during landing are quite possible, through leaning in the harness or steering with the toggles.

Conclusion: I've just ordered a Crossfire2 to quench my need for speed but my Sabre2 has been great. It was a definate step up in performance from my Spectre 135 but it was tens times more fun!

Gus

Straight of student status I bought a Spectre 150, I put about 200 jumps on it then changed it for a Spectre 135 - and I've put about 200 jumps on that too. I'm about 180 pounds out the door so that's wingloadings of 1.2 and 1.3 repectively.

Openings: I've flat packed and pro packed and the only difference seemed to be that pro packing gives more on heading openings. I've jumped some dubious pack jobs that have been shoehorned in on a 20 minute call and I've jumped some pack jobs that have been so neat they should have been photographed and saved for prosperity. It doesn't seem to make much difference: openings are soft and on heading the majority of the time. I don't know where Spectres got their reputation for loooong opening from though, perhaps it's my packing but both of mine open pretty consistantly in about 500 feet. In my 400 jumps I've had no more than 2 hard openings and a handful of line twists but those were probably my fault.

Flight: In full flight my Spectre feels solid and dependable. Turns from full flight are quick enough to give me a bit of a buzz and get my body nearly level with the canopy. It also feels solid in brakes, even right on the point of stalling. The stall itself is gradual and predictable - it's actually quite difficult to do. Turns in brakes are nice and flat and easy enough to perform close to the ground if necessary. Riser pressure seems quite high, although I don't have much to compare it to. I can pull a front riser down right to my shoulder but I can't hold it there for more than a 360. Snap turns on the front risers don't really build up that much speed - the recovery arc is pretty shallow - but pull off a nice carving 180 and on a nil wind day you can get more surf than you might think with enough energy for small carves and a nice soft landing.

Landing: I honestly don't remember the last time I didn't stand up a landing on my Spectre. In strong winds where I'm coming straight down, in nil winds where I'm screaming across the ground (relatively speaking of course!) even landing cross wind and landing out if you remember to flare allllll the way it'll set you down gently.

Complaints: My only complaints are with the glide and the forward speed. It's not that the glide is really bad it's just not that great either - but on a long spot you'll always want more glide that you've got! The forward speed is perhaps more a function of the wingloading but when it's windy I don't get much penetration and that's a bit frustrating.

Overall: Great canopy, especially for the 'novice' jumper but also for anyone who wants an easy, predictable canopy that's still capable of being fun when you push it.

Gus

Before I bought my Atom I asked everyone I saw with one on what they thought of it and all I got was positive comments. My rigger jumps one and he told me it's one of the most well made and durable containers about.
The reversed risers might not be to everyone's taste though. The theory is that they have one less grommet and that makes them stronger but I've never heard of any type of riser breaking.
I really like the bridle line protection, comming out of the pilot chute pouch there's just 2cm of exposed line, at the pin there's about 4cm.
The risers are well protected, I've never had the covers pop open.
The reserve pin has the best cover I've seen (aside from something like the Teardrop where it's actually between your back and the rig). The main pin is also well covered, with a nice long tounge that tucks up under main flaps and is about as secure as I've seen.
Even though the harness is a little bit too small (I bought the whole rig 2nd hand) it's really comfortable, especially under canopy.

I wouldn't hesitate in buying another Atom, after 100 jumps it's been absolutely faultless.