I spent the past weekend demoing the Stilleto 150 and 170 and the Pilot 150, 168 and 198 (I think that was the size of the large one). I weigh 245 out the door and found I really liked the way both the Pilot 150 and the Stilleto 150 flew. The first thing I have to say is that the Pilot has incredibly soft, on-heading openings, everytime, even in a track. Secondly, the key to performance of both canopies is wing loading. Both the Stilleto 170 and the two larger Pilot's flew like buses to me, and landing in the larger canopies was far from fun. However when loaded at 1.67:1 their performance was fantastic. I loved the way the Stilleto flew, and it is definitely a higher performance canopy, however out of 25 openings, I only had one really soft, on-heading opening, no matter how it was packed. Most opened off heading, some were very hard and none were ideal. I only jump about 300 times a year and I would not want to jump the Stilleto regularly unless I could jump a lot more often. The Pilot on the other hand opened great every time. It also flew almost as good as the Stilleto with a very flat glide path, long range, and responsive toggle input. While it isn't as high performance as a Stilleto (and I will probably end up with both), it is a near perfect all around canopy. I am comfortable flying it in large formations, with a wing suit or just for fun. I would highly recommend the Pilot with a higher wing loading for advanced intermediate flyers and with a lower loading for beginners since it can be brought straight in very easily as well. I just ordered a new Pilot 150 and I will be keeping an eye out for the Stilleto 150 in the future.
