jcbfly 1 #1 June 18, 2008 Our skydiving club is considering the purchase of Aerodyne Solo student main canopies to replace our PISA Skymasters. I've been told that most of the PISA design and testing staff is now working at Aerodyne's factory in South Africa. Is the Solo simply a "rebranded" Skymaster, a modified version of the Skymaster, or is it a completely new design? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DougH 270 #2 June 18, 2008 I can't say if they are similar but I was very happy with the jumps I put on the demo that aerodyne sent me. It opened great. Couldn't say enough good things about the openings, even when loaded way way up with weights doing my best fat student impression. It was a little more peppy then your older style student canopies, but not overly so. I think it would offer a good frame of refrence for students moving down to an intermediate canopy like a pilot or safire. If you do a search you will see the post that I made about the Solo. It recieved a number of good responses."The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #3 June 18, 2008 Skymasters are rectangular, while Solos are slightly tapered, so Solo is a completely new design. Skymasters have a slightly better flare than Manats, while Solos have an awesome flare, more like hovering! Yes, Solos do turn quicker, but they also have a ridiculously short recovery arc. This means that even stupider students will limp away from botched approaches on Solos. This also means that radio instructors are becoming overly cocky and turning students - under Solos - far lower than survivable under Mantas. I am afraid that this habit teaches students tight landing patterns that will hurt them when they transition to smaller Pilots, Safires, etc. One other note, since Solos are measured by a different formula, they "fly" bigger. A new Solo 270 is about the same size as an old Skymaster 300. Pack volume is about the same. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcbfly 1 #4 June 20, 2008 The nice folks at Aerodyne answered me directly with the same basic info riggerrob gave me: >>>>>The Solo is a completely new design. The Solo is in smaller sizes and has a slightly tapered trailing edge. The Skymaster was larger and rectangular in shape.<<<<< Thanks for helping me out with this! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
