hornet

[chester 0]

what`s your opinion about hornet parachute

J-S
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[SCR10480 0]

I had a Hornet 170 and I liked it very much, but still prefer a genuine Sabre to the copy.

[lazerq3 0]

There ar plenty of threads on this topic of the hornet ..I fly a 150 and love it!! theres a lot of people that say "oh they dont make it anymore so be carefull about buying one cause of the resale..... but I say F$CK THAT!! hornets are a great canopy to learn on ..just causethey dont makeem anymore doesnt mean they go to shit!! If you find a good deal on one PICK IT UP!! or you could spend an unesissary (sp) 1700$ for a saber2 ...Arent manufature markups great !!

jason

Freedom of speech includes volume

[racer42 0]

I have about 70+ jumps on a Hornet 190. it's just a great canopy.

L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

[SCR10480 0]

Oh yes! If you find a good one get it. Even though they (Hornets) are no longer produced, Aerodyne Research supports them...fully.

[riggerrob 643]

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I had a Hornet 170 and I liked it very much, but still prefer a genuine Sabre to the copy.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Are you sure?
Our junior jumpers have been jumping Hornet 190s since before PD introduced the Sabre 2.
Our junior jumpers liked the rental Hornet 190s that couple of them bought new Hornets.

[bmcd308 0]

I love mine. Search the forums and read the reviews. I have 200 jumps on a Hornet 190 at just under 1.2 / just over 1.1 depending on the size of my lunch. I will never swoop it 400 feet, but it's a fun canopy to fly.

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www.jumpelvis.com

[nicknitro71 0]

Quote

I had a Hornet 170 and I liked it very much, but still prefer a genuine Sabre to the copy

If that is so how come the Hornet came to the market one year ahead of the Sabre 2?

I had a 150. Great canopy regardless if you are a PD snob or not.

Memento Audere Semper

903

[Squeak 17]

Hornet 150 pilot here. "I LIKE IT"
But I've only flow this and student gear so I don't know shite about comparisons.
But conversely I don't need to know about them My Hornet flys above my level of experience yet safely gets me down they way I fly.And it was 1/2 the price of almost all other canopies.
And I dont give a shit about resale either.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[skymedic 0]

SCR10480,

How is it that you can say a Hornet is a copy of a Sabre 2...when the hornet was being produced at least 2 years prior to the Sabre 2's release?????

and it definately isn't a copy of an original sabre...as the hornet is lightly eliptical...

I just dont get how a Hornet is a copy of anything....

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[SCR10480 0]

Answered via PM so as not to upset the delicate balance of these forums.

[Tonto 1]

The hornet is a light eliptical - so cannot be a copy of the sabre - which is square. It was also released before the Sabre 2 - so I'd like to hear your reasoning behind it being a copy.

Sounds like your mouth went off before your brain fired up.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[SCR10480 0]

Okay, here we go again...I never said copy of the Sabre2. and the first "Hornet" was Pioneer's, it was seven cells. PISA didn't release one til well AFTER the May 1990 Debut of PD's Sabre series. and finally, the eliptcal (if you can even call it that) shape is more "stop gap" than performance.

Prove me wrong, I would appreciate the educational value.

[Squeak 17]

ooo fight fight fight fight fight
Get him Tonto push him over


Put the slipper in go on get stuck in

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[skyhpp 0]

I have used Hornet 170's almost exclusively for demos for +/- three years now - and our ground elevation here is 5000 ft AMSL. Great canopy - very solid and reliable, can be swooped very impressively or be brought in nice and slow into a tight landing area. Good flare on landing.

I pro-pack them and have 99% smooth, on heading openings - occasional "banger" opening if you're not careful about pulling the slider forward and wrapping the tail tightly.

Brilliant all round canopy!

[fudd 0]

I've been jumping a Hornet 170 for my last 150 jumps or so. I love it. I load it at about 1.1-1.2.
Don't understand why it gets compared with the original sabre. In my opinion it's a completely different canopy. From people trying my canopy I get responses that it's somewhere between the sabre2 and the electra.

It opens great most of the time. Had a slammer on one or two of the first jumps, but not since. Don't know if thats due to my packing getting better, or if it opens better when the lines have gone slightly out of trim after 150 jumps. (Actually it feels like they go into trim, or maybe I just have gotten better at canopy control
It's responsive but feels solid as a rock. Performs well in turbulence. Got caught by a thermal at very low altitude once, and I think it saved my butt.
It has a very good glide ratio which I like.
At aprox 1.1 it's very forgiving, but can be flown aggressive. Swoops well.
I have not started hooking it in for landing yet, but do straight (or 15-30 degrees) frontriser approaches.

Aerodyne supports it fully, so it doesn't matter that it's out of production. It's a shame however because its a great canopy.)
When it comes to resell value, I would not worry to much. When I got mine new for $850 I don't mind. Also, since no canopy is available at those prices anymore, maybe it's resell value actually increases (I'm allowed to hope, ain't I )

Anyone jumped both the Hornet and the Pilote that can give a comparison?

There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

[freakygirl 0]

i was trying to find information on this type of main b/c i have a line on a good 170 hornet and want to learn more about it before i make a buy. even if it is a good deal. still no where near the actual buying stage though so i want to find info on it(the girl i'll eventually get it from if i buy it is still using it until she gets her new rig, which will be a while since she can't jump until july or august due to some injuries). so, if someone can help or send a pm or whatever on where to look for info, i would really appriciate it. thanks.

[darrenspooner 0]

I did 40 jumps on a Hornet 150, and it was a slammer. I managed to just about tame it to make it acceptable on openings. But then I could afford a new rig, so I bought a Sabre 2 150, which dives hard to the right on opening, and itsnow back with PD after it dived so hard it twisted up and went into a high speed spinning mal requiring a cutaway. Meanwhile, I've borrowed another Hornet 150, and its a slammer!

Thinking of going to rounds.

The Hornet flies great once you get over the opening.

[katzurki 0]

Hornet is probably the best canopy out there for the buck. A pocket slider and/or psychopack does wonders for hard openings. I fly a Hornet 170 and plan to keep doing so until it disintigrates of old age, or I can afford a Pilot.

Also, if you search for "hornet", hundreds of threads will start coming at you from all directions :) (Not to forget the 35 5-star reviews in the gear section.)

Hornet is most commonly compared to Sabre2. I've heard people say that a noticeable difference between the two only becomes apparent when the canopy is heavily loaded.

[bseriesboosted 0]

I put some jumps on a 170 and i loved it but it allways opened with closed end cells and 99.9% of the time it was off heading but none of that would keep me from recomending it to anyone

Pruitt

Skydive The Farm

[FrogNog 1]

I wish I had bought mine used to save a few bucks, but I'm glad I bought a Hornet (190) regardless.

Out of a couple hundred terminal openings I've only had a couple hard ones. I turned my brain on and started putting my (stock) slider hard against the grommets and now it's always "medium". Not uncomfortable and not snivelly. (Except when I get low. Then it snivels. )

The opening heading on mine is like a wheel of fortune. 90 degrees is most common, but sometimes it's on-heading or 180, an equal direction turner. The turn is always right at inflation time (the final opening phase).

The things I would fault in my Hornet are the flare power (good, but not excellent) and front riserability (with as much brake line lengthening as I could get and still land the canopy in no wind, it still bucked quite a bit). I don't fault the off-heading openings because they're just part of the ride, nothing worse.

Everything else about it is to love. I got mine with zero jumps on it and packed it almost without trouble right from the start, because it's made from a less slippery type of ZP. Mine has colored line attachment points which is helpful for a new packer. And it is a great flier in the "not a rocket" canopy category.

I personally think the Sabre2 is a similar, superior-flying canopy but it shows in the price tag.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

I did 40 jumps on a Hornet 150, and it was a slammer. I managed to just about tame it to make it acceptable on openings. But then I could afford a new rig, so I bought a Sabre 2 150, which dives hard to the right on opening, and itsnow back with PD after it dived so hard it twisted up and went into a high speed spinning mal requiring a cutaway. Meanwhile, I've borrowed another Hornet 150, and its a slammer!

Thinking of going to rounds.

The Hornet flies great once you get over the opening.

I've got 400+ on my Hornet 150 and ony 2 slammers, both down to body postion or packing errors. If it's packed right they have brisk openings but not hard.
My canopy is probalby dolar for dollar the best gear purchase I've made so far. It flies great, carves nicely when flown by a good pilot, and I would recomend it to anyone for a first canopy.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Peej 0]

I've put about 50 jumps on a hOrnet 170, there's absolutely nothing wrong with these caopies, i lovemine. Like someone else said: roll the tail, stuff the nose and they're wicked.

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[MarkM 0]

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Thinking of going to rounds.

This made for a good laugh. I have a Hornet 150 and had been getting some nasty slammers recently. I started stuffing the nose of the canopy and that cured it though. Now I have nice, soft, off heading openings

I'll get it perfected out eventually though.

[darrenspooner 0]

Yeah, I guess I agree. My recalcitrant hornet was probably a friday afternoon canopy, although the one I have borrowed is a bit dodgy too. Yeah yeah, I know what your thinking, I can't pack worth shit. But the same thing has happened when 3 other people packed it, and the same thing has happened to the poor chap that bought it off me. I have also read lots of posts on her about spankings from a Hornet. Luck of the draw I say