orgabay 0 #1 September 9, 2006 hello friends, I want to buy a new and frist canopy. I gat a headache from all the reviews about the safire2 & the pilot, please help me to choose one of them. my girl friend want to sleep you need to use any minute becues you nevr know when it's end. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #2 September 9, 2006 Jump them and decide.I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sockpuppet 0 #3 September 9, 2006 Quotehello friends, I want to buy a new and frist canopy. I gat a headache from all the reviews about the safire2 & the pilot, please help me to choose one of them. my girl friend want to sleep As above. Also go to your instructors with case of beer and ask for thier advice. ------ Two of the three voices in my head agree with you. It might actually be unanimous but voice three only speaks Welsh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,070 #4 September 9, 2006 They are both good canopies. Avoid Safire1's if possible. The larger Pilots have slightly more consistent openings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GravityGirl 0 #5 September 10, 2006 Where do you jump? How is the landing area? Surroundings? The Pilot has a longer glide. The Safire2 has more "bottom end flare". Both great openings, and good response to toggle input. If you jump somewhere where long spots are common place, go for the Pilot. If you jump somewhere where the landing area is tight and you need to sink it in more, go for the Safire2. It's hard to choose when there are so many great canopies on the market. But the good news is, you'll likely be happy either way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,407 #6 September 10, 2006 What Bill said. I own both a Safire2 169 and a Pilot 168. Both have similar flying characteristics, while both have dissimilar openings. The Safire2 opens softer (longer) but will usually not be on heading, whereas the Pilot opens faster, more symmetrical and consistently on heading. The Pilot has a better stall point, but I get a little more swoop out of my Safire. I like both canopies equally, but for different reasons. I'm loading them at 1.6Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,407 #7 September 10, 2006 Since we both have different opinions on which one has the bottom end flare or more glide... I wonder if loading plays a factor on performance.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydivefive 0 #8 September 10, 2006 I was just between the Sabre2 and the Pilot (150) I went with the Pilot and love it! I would refer to a previous post... jump them both, then decide. It took me a good six months to decide, and lots of demos It isn't what it could be, or it what it should be, it is what it is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #9 September 10, 2006 Quote Since we both have different opinions on which one has the bottom end flare or more glide... I wonder if loading plays a factor on performance. Honestly I think it comes down to not which one has "more" bottom end flare, but how the control stroke differs between the two canopies. Icarus typically has a longer toggle stroke when compared to Aerodyne, especially when compared to PD. Once you learn the difference between the differences all three have a lot of bottom end power, its just at different points in the flare and you acheive it with a slightly different control stroke. Which one is right for which person? Well, they're going to have to jump the canopies and decide for themselves. There's a reason why there are multipul canopies on the market. For instance, I consider the Sabre2 to be the best all around canopy on the market, followed closely by the Safire2 and then distanced by the pilot. However, that is my opinion and different people will disagree for different reasons. The individual jumper will have to jump those canopies and decide for themselves which canopy is for them regardless of which canopy is the most talked about or the most popular at their DZ.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 4 #10 September 10, 2006 Buy one of each.My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joellercoaster 6 #11 September 10, 2006 Funnily enough, I may be in the position of owning one of each fairly soon. Go figure. (FWIW, in answer to the original question, my profile obviously says I went with the Pilot first. But I know nothing about canopies compared to pretty much everyone - I just bought the one I liked the most out of those available to me, but couldn't even articulate why at the time I did it.)-- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,407 #12 September 10, 2006 Quotebut how the control stroke differs between the two canopies. Icarus typically has a longer toggle stroke when compared to Aerodyne, Now that I think about it... that's true.Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dorbie 0 #13 September 11, 2006 Don't be too woried about your final choice you won't go wrong with either of these. With what should be a light wing loading your experience with these canopies will be different from some of the posters. After jumping each of these as rentals I had a preference for a safire 2 but a used pilot became available and I got that instead and I'm happy with it. The only issue I have getting new from Aerodyne is resale, I purchased a new triathlon from them and a year later they dumped a load of brand new triathlons on the market for $750 with a lot of publicity just before I wanted to sell mine. I'd be very reluctant to buy new from Aerodyne again after that, although there's a lot of happy Triathlon owners out there now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #14 September 11, 2006 the sale didn't seem to hurt me that much in reselling my '98 model for about what I paid for it, minus the use I put on it. I used the sale to upgrade and do a minor downsize. It's not clear that the Triathlon is part of their product line anymore. It's not listed in their ads since they made the ownership change. I think this sort of fire sale is less likely to happen with the pilot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HydroGuy 0 #15 September 11, 2006 QuoteAs above. Also go to your instructors with case of beer and ask for thier advice. Lots of DZ's and instructors are sponsored and expected to push offerings from the sponsor. Doesn't neccesarily coincide with impartiality for the consumer...Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snafuhere 0 #16 September 11, 2006 "Pilot opens [...] on heading" right, I have a very good filing about pilot, go for it and personally I don't like the way Saphire flares BTW I love Icarus (have two XF2 canopies) https://www.facebook.com/1skydive/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
