The cobalt flies great. It is a good transition canopy that can be forgiving. The front riser pressure is average (a good baseline for HP ellipticals). The flare gives a significant amount of lift which can give you an ok swoop or an easy landing, depending on what you are aiming for. For learning to swoop, it is much better than a stiletto ("spinletto"). All in all, it is much better than a stiletto. However, I feel that I must point out the inconsistentcy of the openings. I have flown 3 different cobalts (2 150sq ft, and 1 135sq ft) and also have known 3 other owners (all have different cobalts than I flew) and the first thing that comes out in a conversation is how hard this canopy can spank you. It's either an opening that is good and opens in about 800 - 1000ft, or as little as 200ft. Aside from downsizing... the other major factor was that at the time I pitched out, I would be wondering if it would be a hard opening or a good one. This was consistent among other cobalt owners I have known. This was explained to me by Atair (who are very hard to get ahold of) that the canopy was out of trim. How can a brand new canopy be out of trim? How can the other 2 canopies, as well as my 3 friends be flying the same situation? It comes down to quality control and poor manufacturing. One advertising point is that you can "safely have an opening while going head down or sit flying." If you look at the promo video on their website, you will see someone who did that, and it didn't look like a "nice" opening. It looked like something that every canopy would do under the same situation. I may be very biased as I am flying a crossfire 2 at 129sq ft. If you are looking to transition to elipticals, you might want to consider if you are willing to risk being stuck with a canopy that can open poorly against a good flying canopy. If you are flying an elliptical already, go to the crossfire 2.
