Canopy Ideas....

[Dean358 0]

>I've been to the Ranch once and hope to make it back to another larger US DZ before the end of the season, but can't guarantee it.
And it was fun jumping with you there -- something I may not get to do in the future if you don't chill out a bit with your canopy selection.

Remester is correct: not a brilliant plan downsizing and changing canopies at the same time. A Stiletto?!? If you really must trade in your Spectre please talk to Sonic at the Pro Shop about appropriate canopy options.

Cheers,
Dean

www.wci.nyc

[billvon 2,995]

>I was recommended to go to a Stiletto because it's not really a
>full on elliptical, and the shorter recovery etc.

It's more elliptical than most other canopies like the Sabre2, Safire etc. It's also a bit of an older design and likes to spin up.

If you want suggestions I'd recommend a Safire2 129ish or a Pilot/Sabre2 of similar size. Or try a Nitro 135. The Nitro is considerably more aggressive than the Spectre but is also fairly well behaved. I've had one loaded at 2 to 1 for a few years now, and it doesn't wind up even when I have a premature brake fire.

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hey,

I've never seen, nor heard of the Nitro. Someone PM'd me suggesting a Fusion, and I noticed they also have a Nitron, but apparently they are not one and the same.

What are the characteristics of it as far as opening, flight, flare etc..?

Thanks!

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[billvon 2,995]

>What are the characteristics of it as far as opening, flight, flare etc . . .

Nitro and Nitron are basically the same canopy, just different manufacturers. Nitro is Hiper, Nitron is Precision.

Openings are firmer than a Pilot, not as hard as a Sabre 1. I've had one or two slammers, but the rest have been very nice (out of about 800 jumps.) Openings are almost always on heading. Recovery arc is longer than a Sabre 2 but not as long as a Katana. VERY stable in brakes, which is one of the things I like about it.

Lines are non-cascaded HMA. Can be replaced without very much sewing at all.

Glide is pretty good, comparable to a Pilot. Flare is quite strong and goes fairly deep. No problems downwinding it even without a swoop (provided you have a good runway of course!)

Overall I'd put it somewhere between a Sabre2 and a Katana. Similar class to the Crossfire - a high performance non-crossbraced moderately tapered elliptical.

(Note - all my experience is on 108-120 sized Nitros, so YMMV.)

[idrankwhat 0]

I can't say enough good things about the Pilot. It's what I purchased off of student status and I have had absolutely no regrets. It packs easily, opens easily and on heading, it's very responsive, stable and forgiving. Front riser pressure is not as heavy as the Sabre2. It's got a rather short recovery arc but at my experience level, I don't mind that. If I'm going to do something stupid then I have to be really committed to it! I'm loading it at about 1.2 and I can induce a nice little swoop if I want it. It's also got tons of flare! The Doc says no jumping for another couple of months (soccer's dangerous!) so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by West Point and I'll let you take it for a test drive.

[damion75 0]

Quote

Part of the idea in my head around an elliptical canopy, is the fact that my instructors are recommending that for me. .... I guess I just don't know why instructors that I fully trust and are well respected would recommend I do something that may "cause" harm to me...

Slight tangent to the discussion, but I think that sometimes Instructors who are very experienced and used to flying small Xbraced canopies of their own can forget how things look from the less experienced end of the scale. For someone with 1000+ jumps on a Velocity 90, that Stilletto 120 is going to look very tame and manageable, and they may sub-consciously have that feeling in their mind when they make recommendations, not realising that to someone with 100 jumps who is used to a Spectre, that same Stilletto is going to be a very major high performance step.

As someone else said, the Stilletto used to be the cutting edge. Just because the cutting edge has moved forwards, the Stilletto has not got any less high performance. People tend to forget that.

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Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.