Info on Viper canopy ?

[teabag 0]

Someone who stopped jumping a while ago has given me a Viper 135.
Anyone have any experience with this canopy ?
What are the opennings like, etc ?

Thanks!

[councilman24 37]

When I borrowed a Viper 150 the owner warned me that it took 800' to open and not to cut it away. It did and I didn't.

YMMV

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[teabag 0]

slow openning is actually good news right now,

any more info out there ?

thanks !

[Canuck 0]

Vipers became Alphas, Alphas became Cobalts; they're all basically the same...

It's a nine cell eliptical, designed (at the time) for high performance flight. I'm thinking that they are at least 12 years old. Put it in the same class as a Stiletto, only without PD customer service.

Canuck

[councilman24 37]

Not when you get out at 2000'. But it was ahead of it's time.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[SWATcop 0]

I used to own a Viper 170 and jumped two different Viper 170's back in the mid 90's. The demo canopy smacked me harder than anything I had ever experienced (was later told the person who packed it last caused it). Subsequent jumps with it were ok.

The one I purchased usually opened ok but once every 10 jumps or so would whack the hell out of me for no apparent reason. The flair on that canopy was fantastic and it was EASY to pack because of the special type of zero-P material it was made out of. That canopy also uses a smaller diameter zero-P pilot chute. Be careful it does not fit too loosely in your BOC. Mine was a little loose in my ROL (what we used back then) and caused premature deployment while back flying that tore my ACL and damaged my hip socket.

Kevin

Muff Brother #4041
Team Dirty Sanchez #467

[skydivinmartin 0]

I jumped a Viper 135 for several years. I bought it used, the previous owner put a full pocket slider on it so it may have opened a bit stiff as delivered but it was usually fine for me, line twists were rare. A good first elliptical in my opinion, front riser pressure was reasonable and the canopy can swoop well with good response through deep brakes.