Electra

[BPO 0]

Hi all,
I am looking for a good first canopy. Has anyone made any jumps on the Electra (Parachutes de France) yet? Can anyone tell me more about its flying and opening characteristics? The only source of information I am able to find is the Parachutes de France - homepage, which I don't consider to be an objective source of information :0)
Can this parachute be compared to (let's say) a Sabre?
Any information would be appreciated.

[richclive 0]

Turns a lot faster than a Sabre, and overall is much more responsive, but doesn't have the twitches of the Merit, the PdeF chute it replaces. Nice and stable in turbulence, and big long surfs are easy. More impotantly, compared to a new Sabre, they're a LOT easier to get in the bag. I'm waiting for mine right now . . .

[skyd 0]

Hi BPO,
I've just got my Electra 150, weather permitted me only one jump now. It opens softly, long snivel (I was used to the Merit), very responsive on toggles, stable at stalling point and forgiving landings. Too soon to say anything about frontriser feeling. When I've got a couple of jumps, I will give a follow up. The Sabre 150 I demo'd required too much of toggle pressure, and was not very responsive. BTW: I'm loading it at 1.13
Blue sky

[BPO 0]

Thanks for the input, I hope you soon get to jump the Electra a bit more Blue Skies!

[skyd 0]

Hi all,
This weekend I've got 8 jumps on my new Electra 150 (total of 11 jumps on it). When you leave the nose hanging open, just roll the tail a little, you get a shorter snivel without loosing to much altitude (~700 ft). The heading can easily be controlled with rear risers. Doing 360 degree toggle turns you can burn up altitude (compared to the 190 Merit I was jumping before).
When I first tested front riser behaviour up high, I was a bit uncomfortable because the chute was breathing (pumping spanwise), but after my rigger/instructor had tested the chute, he told me this was nothing unusual (just unused for me). Toggle lines are not to short, we checked this out.
So I tried some front riser turns, front riser speed ups (I dont know how to call it when you pull the two front risers down symetrically) and it behaved fine. On landing it likes to surf but still stays forgiving when flaring too soon and you must land close to the stall point. BTW my exit weight is 172 lb.
electra in two words: fun & safety
blue sky
skydaemon

[BenW 0]

Hi,
I've been test jumping an Electra 150 all week at the Langar boogie and have just put an order in for one. I currently jump a Sabre 170 and my exit weight is 210lbs which loads the 150 at 1.4 lbs/ft^2.
Without rolling the nose but giving about 5-6 rolls to the tail, it opens quickly but relatively gently. It needs a little steering during opening (just by leaning in the harness) while it gently searches for a heading. It's never opened more than about 10-20 degrees away though. Turns quickly but loses height quite quickly. Riser pressure is light, as is toggle pressure. Comes in to land quite quickly but it has a great amount of flare.
Great canopy really. I can even pack it too! Seems small for the quoted footage though.
Hope this helps.
B.

[skyd 0]

Hi,
>Great canopy really. I can even pack it too! Seems small for the quoted footage though.
Parachute de France has a different method of measuring the area. I compared my Electra 150 to a Sabre 150 and 135, and it's comparable to the 135 Sabre. I think PD takes the average of topskin and bottomskin (probably inflated) and PdF mesures topskin uninflated.
skydaemon

[BenW 0]

It did seem to more than 20 ft^2 smaller than my Sabre 170. Much smaller to carry around after a jump too! Does anyone know the exact way the two different manufacturers come up with their figures?
B.

[octo 0]

Hi,

I have pretty much the same questions about the Electra.
Since I'm in France, I have easy access to PF's canopies, but it's more difficult to try other brands.
I've just graduated from student status, and intend to put a couple of dozens jumps before buying my first rig. Let's say after 100 jumps...

Is anyone able to compare Electra to Safire2, Pilot, Triathlon, Spectre, or other intermediate canopies on the market ?

I'm currently flying an Electra 210 (a new regulation in France restricts the sizes of canopies) and could go soon with a 190 (not less before a while...).
I like my Electra, smooth openings (a bit long, though), nice glide and safe landings. I'm not experienced enough to really play with it for the moment.
Packing a new one is awkward (especially in a tight pod !)...

I'm looking for a canopy you can play with, with quite a flat glide, nice openings and forgiving.

Thanks for your advice,

[xpug 0]

I've put 350 on an Electra 170 (loaded at 1.25) and have 10 jumps on a friends Sabre 2 170 to compare them. I prefer the Electra - it feels much more responsive.

The toggle stroke to turn is much less, the turn is initiated faster, it dives faster (lost more altitude than the Sabre 2 170 on a 360 say) but seemed to recover more quickly.

On front riser turns, the pressure builds up more quickly and the recovery arc is shorter, but it is an intermediate canopy. For instance, I found it very difficultly to hold double front risers for more than 150 feet even when hanging off the dive loops. I'm not sure how this characteristic changes at higher wing loadings though.

There was less flare 'power' at the bottom end of the toggle range than the Sabre 2, but that's not to say there isn't enough. I have managed to get some very nice mini swoops out of it.

Regards pack size, it is considerably smaller than an equivalent 170 ZP. The top skin of the Electra is ZP but the bottom is F111 which also makes it easier to pack.

Like skyd and BenW I also suspect it is smaller than PD's 170.

BTW, I recently demo'd a Safire 2 150 and I was surprised that it didn't feel much different to the Electra on turns with toggles. Front riser pressure was a lot less and it dived quicker. But that is more likely a consequence of higher wing loading.

I'm just about to swap it for a Stiletto 150, but I will miss it!