gobbi

If it worked, this would be a great toy. This thing has so many software bugs that I can't believe. Battery leaks fast; it turns on when local pressure changes in your closet, and will go into aircraft mode; beep volume will drop before battery dies completely (dangerous!!!). In short, it is a piece of junk.

With such small air inlets I wonder how are the openings...

Fact. I saw it on tv yesterday. Cani made jumps with a 3-canopy system, he made 10 jumps without landing the 39. At the 11th jump he gained confidence and landed the vx39. Very smooth landing for what it is. They also showed him flying the canopy next to a guy in wingsuit for several seconds.

>And assinine blanket statments like that have recieved the respect from the industry that they deserve. Little to none. Looks like you have a problem with atair. What else has made feel that way about them?

> so being as you are a student to high performance landings, what makes you think you have the "credentials" to be dispensing knowledge regarding hp landings and hp canopies? A PhD degree in fluid mechanics.

> I don't know what canopy he's going for now... He was giving advice to someone on the french forum asking about the sabre2, telling him to get a silhouette OR a stiletto. That's strange. Isn't the sabre2 somewhere between the silhouette and the stiletto in overall performance?

> Mate,like me[ASSUMING your profile is correct]you're at relative newbie and for the love of DARWIN sometimes [in my opinion]it just pays to shut up and listen. You' re also assuming I only know from my experience and that' s incorrect. Most of what I know is from what I listen/read/see/reason. I have seen too many " experienced" (high # of jumps) skydivers get injured from landing, some of them did not survive to tell what went wrong. I am learning HP landing myself and I will always be glad to share what I know and what works for me with other people. If you feel I don' t have the necessary credentials, ignore me.

>> it's not appropriate to suggest a moderate wing loading (for him) to swoop I agree but... what do you mean by words like "moderate" and "appropriate"?? Atair suggests the cobalt loaded at 1.2-1.4 for beginner skydivers (go to www.extremefly.com FAQ for more accurate info on this). Some might think this is way too high... mg

>> Mate....ASSUME=ASS-U-ME..please refrain from assuming anything esp when giving advice You mean not every skydiver should know that this is a risky sport - maybe the least forgiving of all sports - and that high performance landings tops the list...?!?!

>> Swooping is done with speed carried over from an approach, and can be done on almost any canopy. I never disagreed with that. > It's not a matter of the type of canopy, but how good the person is underneath it. Here is what I disagree with: people swoop because it is a pleasurable thing, because it is great to feel the ground going 40mph 2 inches below your feet. Now, FOR MOST PEOPLE, it is much easier and more fun to do a long swoop underneath a more efficient canopy than underneath a large canopy. If it worked otherwise we would see a lot more people swooping PD230's. aying that swooping has nothing to do with the canopy is like saying that the performance of a formula 1 racecar has nothing to do with the car, just the pilot. Having said that, I do agree that a canopy won't swoop by itself and that it does take a long time and a lot of experience to do it safely.

I have read somewhere (might be an article by J. LeBlanc, but not sure) that the Stiletto performance peaks at a wing load of only about 1.4. Can anyone confirm (or contest) that?

I believe you. I have seen people do 200+ ft swoops with a PD210. It's not my point though. My point is this: a smaller canopy will usually be more fun to fly and to land. Needless to say that you can kill yourself a lot easier, but I am just assuming every experienced skydiver knows that... mg

By no means I meant that you cannot swoop with a Silhouette - or any canopy. From what I understood the original poster wants to adopt swooping as his modality. Swooping necessarily requires a higher vertical speed approach and converting that speed into drag+lift=horizontal speed, and that higher speed is harder to acquire with a larger canopy. In a smaller canopy, you can start swooping with no front riser input at all (straight in, or turn) and make progress faster. If I want to advise an experienced skydiver about buying a parachute for swooping, I am not going to recommend a Silhouette, or a PD-190 or even a Sabre, because there are better choices. That's why I told him to try doing the basics with his current canopy, or borrow someone else's parachute BEFORE he spends money on something he is going to want to sell after 150 jumps. Now if you just want to swoop to have a bit of extra fun in your jumps, then it's a different story... mg

Forget about silhouette for swooping. You have to get an elliptical/semi-elliptical wing loaded at 1.2 minimum just to start to have fun. If you have no experience at all with fast approaches for landings, before you buy a new canopy, experiment with yours or someone else's (the basic things apply to any canopy, even a PD-210). Start using straight in aproaches with 2 front risers, then 45, 90, 180 degree turns (with front risers). Allways, when experimenting, start your turn high and with little riser input (very long open turns). It is a lot better to be too high than too low on final. Make small corrections from one landing to the next and try to learn something from every landing. Idealy, you should be able to spend the last 5-10 seconds before getting to the ground level with no riser or toggle input (except to save you life!!), and use toggles just to plan out (first input) and flare along the swoop. Video your landings!!!!! Ask experienced people to look at your landings!!!! Be safe!!!!! mg

Safire (1 or 2) and Sabre 2 are similar canopies. They are both lightly elliptical and both have recovery arcs that are longer than the sabre 1 or stiletto, but shorter than say a crossfire. If you plan to change to elliptical (Xfire, Katana, Cobalt, etc) sometime soon, just buy one that will sell easiest when you need to. Again, the safire and sabre2 at the same loading will provide similar performance. mg