Cobalt opinions

[mujie96 0]

I know this topic has been beat to death many times before but I would like to hear from any lower time jumpers who have jumped a lightly loaded Cobalt. I was contemplating demoing a 135 after Eloy, which would mean I'd have about 150 jumps or so, most of them on a Sabre 150. My exit weight is between 140 and 145 and I have been assured that to demo even a lightly loaded Cobalt means certain death (of course, the gentleman that offered that opinion probably weighs close to 160-165 without gear and attempted a jump with a 105 and may have hooked it in on the jump in question, while I still land very conservatively).
So, (and I have already bothered cobaltdan with my questions far too much), is it a stupid idea? Should I stick with another Sabre? Any other suggesitons for a next canopy, preferably a 9 cell?
Thanks.
Jess

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

[PhreeZone 20]

You are about the same experience and loading that I was when I first demoed a Cobalt last spring. I was about 165 pounds and jumped a 150. Compaired to my Spectre in my log book I've got wrote it was faster and felt better on the glide.

Honestly, at that loading even a Cobalt is'nt going to be that bad. I'd at least do a few jumps on a Sabre 135 to get used to the smaller size and a few on a Sabre2 135 would be ideal since it flies just a bit more aggressivly then a Sabre2 does.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[LouDiamond 1]

If you've already talked to cobalt dan and picked his brain I think only you can best answer that question. Honestly rate your canopy flying skills and if there is a doubt in your mind then maybe you shouldn't. If you do fly conservatively like you stated then you *shouldn't* have any issues. To ask someone on the net who's never seen you fly your canopy is bound to get you several different opinions. Best bet is ask someone at your dz who is a good canopy pilot about your choice and bounce it against your self analysis and go from there. ( My opinions, take 'em or leave 'em)

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Austin 0]

I demoed a Cobalt 170 when I had around 75 jumps or so. CobaltDan told me that it was the appropriate size for me (I owned a Tri 190 at the time and I'm about 210-215 with gear). I found the Cobalt to be very easy to fly. Also, Since jumping that 170, I have jumped (not many times) a Sabre 170 and a Diablo 170. Both of these canopies felt signicantly faster than the Cobalt, just as Dan assured me. Currently I'm jumping a Safire 189 (~174ish) and that's just because the deal on a used Cobalt 170 fell through. Remember that the "light" recomended loading on a Cobalt is 1.2:1, I jumped that one at about 1.25:1 and didn't think it was that big of a deal. I say go for it, have fun and decide for yourself if you want to do it again.

Austin

[ramon 0]

You will be fine....I promise...
as long as you follow your flight plan...don't get down wind of any obstacles and have plenty of room to land straight in. Make sure you wear shoes and land in grass.
(probable worst case is anything other than that
If you land conservatively.. downsizing such that you will increase your loading from sub 1 to a little over 1 will mean that your canopy will be more stable in turbulence and you will get a little more penetration (my main callling in life..j/k )

bloo skies

ramon

P.S. talk to someone (prefferably instructor type, not "know it all..do this do that cuz I am a guy with over 200 jumps" type about the specified outs on your landing area.

"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

[JFC3 0]

sucks

"Five days? But I'm angry now!"

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

You will be fine under that 135 assuming you practice good common sense. Cobalts fly big and at that wingload and I doubt you will sense hardly any differences in the speed of that and the Sabre 150 you have been jumping.

As for the one-word response left by the inexperienced last poster: get a grip.

Chuck

[Jimbo 0]

Quote

sucks

Please tell us why.

I put about 30 jumps on a Cobalt 170 and I absolutely loved the way it flew and landed. In fact, if I hadn't had issues with a few rather brisk openings I probably would have tried to by the demo from Atair.

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[rmcvey 0]

Hi,

I started jumping my 135 when i had about 100 jumps, and i also weigh approx 145 lbs with gear.

I too was at first concerned with the "too" light wingload, but the only thing you may notice is sometimes an end cell will stay closed for a few seconds longer than normal, but apart from that it flies just fine with my skinny arse under it.

The openings are .

I could not believe how it opened. It opened so good it scared me. And i have to agree with Atair's website, they are robotic.

Before i jumped the cobalt i did 75 jumps on a Spectre 150 @ 0.99 lbs/ft2 which flew like a dog.

The amount of glide was amazing after the spectre, and the power in the flare was good.

Even at my wing loading front riser input is easy, and i agree it flies "bigger". I jumped a Xfire2 149 and it seemed as fast if not faster.

Like the rest said, respect it and fly defensivelly and have fun, but be 100% in yourself and all that comes with a fully elliptical.

Hope this helps.

Rob.

[Austin 0]

Jimbo,
Was the Cobalt 170 demo that you tried yellow with blue diamonds?? That's the one I had and I had one rather "brisk" opening that was hard enough that it actually slightly loosened my left leg strap and induced a left turn. I told a friend of mine about my experience on that canopy and he said that a guy at his dropzone had the same canopy and had opening issues with it also.

Austin

[Jimbo 0]

That's the one. :)

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[skygod7777 0]

the cobalts fly "big" compared to other canopies. so it won't feel quite as small as it sounds. the speed should be about the same as your sabre 150.

i have demoed the 85 comp. i personally didn't like it. it didn't have the dive of my fx, and i didn't like the short toggle stroke. the openings weren't bad, but not as good as a crossfire. the speed wasn't all that great either. dan said that i should try the 75, but i never did. but now i want to try an ONYX.

later

[DaMan 0]

I liked the 170 I demoed-I was at about a 1.1:1 and had been jumping mostly Sabers & Spectres. My only complaint was end cell closures-most likely due to the light loading (don't worry, you can clear them with a deep, gentle flare). Enjoy & remember:

Z-Flock 8
Discotec Rodriguez

Too bad weapons grade stupidity doesn't lead to sterility.

[cobaltdan 0]

please note: the offending 170 demo has been removed for repairs.

sincerely,

dan<><>

Daniel Preston <><>
atairaerodynamics.com (sport)
atairaerospace.com (military)

[VectorBoy 0]

I had around 90 jumps when I borrowed a dudes cobalt 150 loaded at 1.25. Before I did this I got a ton of advice from jumpers with 8,000 + jumps experience and the DZs S&TA all of whom had watch me fly and land. It was after all a fully elliptical right. The guy was going to trade for my spectre. I loved the cobalt but he didn't want to trade. I said don't worry cuz I was going to buy one anyway. After I got to about 130 jumps I couldn't take it anymore and demo'ed and bought a 135.
While waiting for it to arrive from the factory I demo'ed everything I could get my hands on Diablos, sabre 2 of all sizes and smaller cobalts. In the end I am very happy with my decision. In the rare event of line twists ( due to bad body position )my cobalts just fly out of them. I have two cobalts loaded @1.4 and 1.6 and I love them. I take alot of flak for useing them for wing suit jumps because of my relative little jump experience, but I get the best deployments from them, as good as my spectre did.
The cobalt is not a death trap unless you don't respect it like it sounds what your friend did. I will warn you though don't try one unless you are gunna buy one.This is not just my sentiment but that of many people I talked to during my advice gathering from experienced jumpers. Have respect & have fun and you should be all right. Glen.

[kbell 0]

I demoed the yellow w/ blue diamonds 170 (loaded at 1.5) and it slammed me too. The good openings were the two that had 4-5 twists... at least it flew straight and level while I kicked out. I really liked the way it flew and landed, but couldn't get past the openings.

Kevin

[Jimbo 0]

Your experience seems to mirror mine. It's nice to see that Atair has removed that particular canopy from the demo program.

I'll likely give the 150 a try over the summer, loading should be just a hair over 1.6.

-
Jim

"Like" - The modern day comma
Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

It's nice to see that Atair has removed that particular canopy from the demo program.

I had a demo 170 (loaded at 1.64:1) that was white with either blue or black diamonds (I can't quite remember which). Eitherway, no matter what I did (even after taking the steps that Dan Preston and I talked about during a 20 minute phone conversation), it opened very very poorly. I had the worst opening of my life on it, much worst then any I ever had under the original Sabres. I had to literally shake my head to clear it, check my canopy for any torn cells/broken lines (which it didn't have), then do a quick check to make sure my body was still intact, it opened that hard. It flew fairly well, not unlike a Stilleto of the same size (although it had a longer recovery arc and wasn't "twitchy"). Eventually bought a Heatwave instead, it opens much better, flies very well and cost considerably less. 100 jumps later on my Heatwave I'm very happy with my decision.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."