SA2 170 opening characteristics

[3mpire 0]

I was talking with a team mate today about the opening characteristics of the sabre 2 170. I load it at just over 1.1 and I have end cell closures and off heading openings on most jumps. Very minor. I'm so accustomed to it I automatically have my hands on rears to pump and steer the opening while looking for traffic.

My team mate jumps a SA2 190 and he doesn't have those issues. Where my slider needs rear riser or a pump of the brakes to get it to come down the last few inches, his never does.

However when he jumped my 170, even though he loads it at 1.4, he had my normal experience.

Does the 170 commonly open a little differently than the 190 and 150 or might this be a bit of an aberration?

Just curious

edited to add: yes I know sabre 2's commonly have end cell closures and that they tend to seek and pick a heading anywhere from 45-90 degrees off heading.

i'm specifically wondering if these characteristics change uniformly as the wing shrinks in size. my thinking is the 170 may exaggerate some of these characteristiics more than the 150 or 190, but i'm not an expert in how the changing size of a canopy affects a design's flight characteristics to speak intelligently about it

[boyfalldown 0]

Not really aimed at the sa2 but still relevant here... I have 3 different Katana 120's and they all open slightly different with regards to tendency to open on heading. They all "feel" slightly different from each other.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

I have a SA2 170, loaded at a bit over 1.1:1.

On heading is a rare thing, the "hunting around" is common, sudden turns of up to 90 degrees as it opens are also common.

But I've almost never had issues with the end cells.

Nor do I have any issues with the slider.

Just one data point, but there ya are.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[mattjw916 2]

It happens on the small ones too at lighter loadings. Small ones at high loadings, not so much because of the increased speed of pressurization.

From a practical perspective it's not a big deal IMO.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[Bluhdow 31]

I had a SA2 135 loaded around 1.4 for about 200 jumps and had a similar experience. I wingsuit so I needed more reliable openings.

I sold it for like $1,300 and bought a $600 Sabre1 (with a pocket slider).

Best decision I've ever made. When this canopy dies I'm going to have to convince PD to make me a new SA1.

Apex BASE
#1816

[3mpire 0]

cheers, all!

[Trafficdiver 8]

I jump a Sabre 2 170 at 1.4 and I get them 90% of the time when I pack my self and 50% of the time when I let a packing professional handle it.

[Southern_Man 0]

I jump a 190 loaded just over 1:1. I am a packer. I noticed a significant improvement when I started using a semi-stowless bag. I still get some off heading (but more 45s and less 180s). I have not noticed any difference in end-cell closures.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[mrkeske 0]

I have a Sabre2-170 currently loaded at 1.5. It's very normal for it to do a turn during opening (usualy between 90s e 180s) and having the cells not inflate right away.

Some times the turns can be even bigger, I've got already some full 360s and 270s during opening with my canopy.

If you have Sabre2 it's something you need to get used to. I've noticed that it also takes quit some altitude for getting 100% open, usualy about 800-900 feet(maybe because of WL?)

[shawnaraemarie 0]

I have a SA2 170 and have off-heading openings and end-cell closures on every jump-sometimes the openings are so off that it throws me into line twists. I have been researching SA2 170 opening's for a few weeks now because I was convinced it was my pack job that was causing it-obviously not :-(

My wing-loading is 0.9 and this is my 1st canopy. I bought it when I had 27jumps and have put 50jumps on it. I am very much a baby jumper but have been packing for myself since I was licensed which is what led me to think it was me. I had my reserve repacked along with my main by my home DZ's rigger and the heading was still off and I had end-cell closures.

I am beginning to think it's the canopy & I may need to consider a new one.....

[Bluhdow 31]

Try not wrapping the tail as much.

I had the same issue with the SA2 but I found that it was because I was wrapping the sh*t out of the tail. The cocoon would come out of the bag and then spin up before the tail unwrapped itself.

Lighter wraps, and less wraps gets the cocoon open faster and before it can spin up.

You may have the same issue, but to a much less degree. I've seen other people have better SA2 openings by following this guidance recently as well.

Apex BASE
#1816

[3mpire 0]

Quote

I have a SA2 170 and have off-heading openings and end-cell closures on every jump-sometimes the openings are so off that it throws me into line twists. I have been researching SA2 170 opening's for a few weeks now because I was convinced it was my pack job that was causing it-obviously not :-(

Off heading openings are common but line twists are absolutely not in my experience on my canopy. There are only two or three instances of line twists I've experienced in ~450 jumps on my sabre 2 and all of them were on wingsuit jumps and all of them were only 1-2 twists that were very easy to get out of as the canopy never seemed remotely interested in diving.

If you are getting line twists it could be packing or body position that is adding the extra energy to spin you up.

That said, if you aren't happy with it and you don't want to spend much time digging into the body position or packing angle, you can always find a different canopy to try and see how it treats you. However, if you have packing and/or body position issues, all canopies will respond to that, so it might be best to sort those two variables out regardless of what canopy you're on.

It sounds like you have a local rigger, spend some time with them to look at your packing more. Talk to some folks about body position and ask someone with experience to watch you deploy to see if you're doing anything there.

good luck!

[theonlyski 8]

I had a SA2-190 and a SA2-170 that both had the hunting and end cell closures. Only once on the 190 did it almost get chopped because of a severely deflated set of cells on one side, but I got it worked out.

I got used to the end cell closures as it just usually meant letting it fly for a few seconds or throwing some rear risers in, but eventually got tired of it and got a Safire2-169 with an oversized slider. Haven't had any issues with it hunting or having end cell closures (at least not as bad as the SA2's). Much nicer openings too.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
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