Stiletto 150 at 230 jumps

[5kyd1vergav 0]

Hey guys and gals,

I'm on the market for a 150 canopy.

The title pretty much says it all: I am wondering if jumping a 150 stiletto at my experience level is 1) accepted on DZs worldwide, and 2) Okay in terms of safety (concerning trim, recovery arcs, aggressiveness to different inputs etc)? Is there a major performance step up from what I have been flying?

I am 180lbs out the door and have been jumping 150 sabre 2 and 150 electra since ~ 100 jumps. i Have an irish issued USPA equivalent C-licence.

Thank you very much for your time.
Gav

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Hey guys and gals,

I'm on the market for a 150 canopy.

The title pretty much says it all: I am wondering if jumping a 150 stiletto at my experience level is 1) accepted on DZs worldwide,

No. Some countries and dropzones don't allow fully elliptical canopies for less experienced jumpers. Brian Germain's position is forbidden with fewer than 300 jumps and they count as a size smaller.

The Stiletto is the most responsive canopy PD ever built. PD made all of the following canopies (Velocity, Katana) less sensitive to toggle input because John LeBlanc observed jumpers having problems with roll axis stability when landing their Stilettos.

Small control inputs will quickly put the canopy into a steep dive that is not recoverable at low altitudes whether or not that's what you intend.

Here's a Stiletto 150 fatality with just a 1.2 wing loading and 480 jumps:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3709212

The control sensitivity (especially with the brakes stowed) also makes the Stiletto more likely to spin up if you don't stay level during opening and deal with any problems immediately.

A less aggressive non-square planform is a better idea. In no particular order that'd be Sabre 2, Safire 2, Pilot, Lotus, or Spectre. Flight characteristics and how the controls feel (deflection, weight) varies with different people preferring one over another.

[5kyd1vergav 0]

Yo,

I did a little more reading and found that you already took part in a discussion like this.

You gave sound advice.

Sorry I didn't find it earlier before wasting your time.

Something more friendly it is so!

Cheers Drew, sound out :)

[tristansdad 0]

Have you ever had to deal with your present canopy in an emergency situation? The first jump I did on my Stiletto was a H&P from about 7 grand at jump # 500 and something. Had line twists on opening that spun me into even more line twists & since I had the altitude I was able to clear it before my hard deck. If I would have jumped from 5k it would have been a chop. The point I’m making is you probably could get away with the ST 150 as long as everything stays hunky dory but why chance it. Stick with the SA 150 until that magic number 500. Stilettos have been around a long time and they won’t be going away anytime soon.