I recently had the pleasure to demo the Samurai. I currently jump a Stiletto 120 and I made one jump on the 120 and six on the 105. I believe those were the 7 best openings I have ever had. I am not one for extremely long snivels, so some may say it opens a little quick. I was leaving the nose completely exposed, so making it snivel longer should be fairly easy. The snatch force is softer than my Stiletto or any other canopy I have jumped. The snivel little shorter than the usual opening of my Stiletto. The inflation was a little faster than my Stiletto as well, the slider comes down very quickly on the Samurai I jumped.
The glide was much flatter than I expected, but not as flat as a Stiletto. I recently made six jumps on a crossfire 109 and the Samurai seemed to fly just a little flatter. It dove very similar to a Stiletto, but it didn't flare itself at the end, if you turned too high. I was still able to get a decent surf when I conservatively turned to high -- The same turn on my stiletto would have left me 15 ft off the ground with my toggles touching the keepers. The Samurai didn't dive as long as the Crossfire, but the Sam needed much less input to place me under the canopy, which is what I would prefer.
Compared to my Stiletto, I didn’t notice much difference flying in turbulence -- Although the stall point seemed much slower and the stall recovery was much more predictable. Seeing the canopy still inflated on the ground after landing, I have to think it would be safer to fly in turbulence. The Crossfire I recently jumped concerned me some (although it may have been more noticeable with its recent issues floating in my mind). The Crossfire I jumped had a new (unaffected) line set and the riser pressure quickly fluctuated one time when I hit some small rotors -- Although all the other jumps on it were smooth and I couldn’t get it to buck on front risers.
One of my concerns with jumping an airlocked canopy was controlling the canopy on the ground after landing in windy conditions. Brian gave me some advice on what to do after landing before my first jump on the Sam in 28 mph winds and I had no problems. Packing wasn’t any harder than my Stiletto either, another worry of mine with airlocks. The last thing I would like to mention about Brian and this great product is his service. He mentioned he could custom make the Sam to my specific specifications. Aside from building any size I wanted, he could also customize trim and slider to make it fly and open exactly how I wanted it to. He also mentioned he personally test flies the ones he customizes and builds himself. From what I also understand, he doesn’t charge any extra for building it himself or the customization, although the canopy would not be discounted from the retail price.
Samurai
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in Main Canopies
The glide was much flatter than I expected, but not as flat as a Stiletto. I recently made six jumps on a crossfire 109 and the Samurai seemed to fly just a little flatter. It dove very similar to a Stiletto, but it didn't flare itself at the end, if you turned too high. I was still able to get a decent surf when I conservatively turned to high -- The same turn on my stiletto would have left me 15 ft off the ground with my toggles touching the keepers. The Samurai didn't dive as long as the Crossfire, but the Sam needed much less input to place me under the canopy, which is what I would prefer.
Compared to my Stiletto, I didn’t notice much difference flying in turbulence -- Although the stall point seemed much slower and the stall recovery was much more predictable. Seeing the canopy still inflated on the ground after landing, I have to think it would be safer to fly in turbulence. The Crossfire I recently jumped concerned me some (although it may have been more noticeable with its recent issues floating in my mind). The Crossfire I jumped had a new (unaffected) line set and the riser pressure quickly fluctuated one time when I hit some small rotors -- Although all the other jumps on it were smooth and I couldn’t get it to buck on front risers.
One of my concerns with jumping an airlocked canopy was controlling the canopy on the ground after landing in windy conditions. Brian gave me some advice on what to do after landing before my first jump on the Sam in 28 mph winds and I had no problems. Packing wasn’t any harder than my Stiletto either, another worry of mine with airlocks.
The last thing I would like to mention about Brian and this great product is his service. He mentioned he could custom make the Sam to my specific specifications. Aside from building any size I wanted, he could also customize trim and slider to make it fly and open exactly how I wanted it to. He also mentioned he personally test flies the ones he customizes and builds himself. From what I also understand, he doesn’t charge any extra for building it himself or the customization, although the canopy would not be discounted from the retail price.
Good job Brian!
Greg Rick
D-22597