First canopy decisions

[fpritchett64 0]

Hi, just looking for some advise on a first canopy. I just completed AFF and did my first solo this past saturday. My first 4 jumps were on a PD 260, I had great canopy control, good soft landings, even one stand-up landing. My 5th jump was on the reserve since on opening I had a spinning line twist due to a toggle coming un stowed on opening. Jump 6 was a Manta 288 and I must say that it was slower than a snail, I even had to choke up on the steering toggles to get any response out of the canopy. After that jump, since the 260 had not been re-assembled yet, I begged to jump something smaller than the 288, after reviewing my canopy control, the dzo decided to let me try the 210, so technically that was a 78 square foot downsize from what I last jumped. It was almost like jumping into a sports car, extremely fast compared to what I was used to. I still had a soft landing but was anything but a stand-up landing. My last solo jump was also on the PD 210 and I finally got a stand-up landing from that. I weigh with gear approximately 190 lbs and after speaking with my instructors and dzo we've decided my first canopy should be around the 190 range. What would be some good idea's for a first canopy I've heard both good and bad things about the sabre's and sabre 2's, also with the information that I have provided so far, does this sound like I have a good learning curve on canopy control, or is this about average? Any advise would be greatly appreciated

[Peej 0]

Hey dude,

To me it sounds like you are following a pretty standard student progression in terms of canopies.

My first few AFF levels were on a Skymaster 288, then down to a 235 i think and lastly on to a 200 where i stayed till i got my first rig with a 170 in it. I jumped that for the first time at 42 jumps.

With regards to your learning curve, it's hard to say without seeing you actually land. Keep aiming for stand up, on dz landings though! It sounds like you are doing fine.

Canopies that you should look at will be the Safire 2 from Icarus, the Fusion from Precision Aerodynamics, The Sabre 2 from Performance Designs, even the original Sabre will do. Also look at the Pilot from Aerodyne. These are the most suitable canopies for your level of skydiving. If you are in a position to demo, then do so.

And good luck!
PJ

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[skybytch 273]

Some canopies that are suitable for a first rig include PD’s Spectre, Sabre and Sabre2, Aerodyne’s Pilot and Triathlon, Icarus Omega, Omni, Safire and Safire2, PISA’s Hornet, Big Air Sports Lotus and Precision’s Synergy. The Spectre, Omega, Omni and Synergy are all “semi elliptical” zp seven cell canopies; the Triathlon is a rectangular zp seven cell canopy; the Sabre is a rectangular zp nine cell canopy, the Lotus is a semi elliptical airlocked nine cell and the rest are all “semi elliptical” zp nine cells.

You may hear good and bad things about all of these canopies. Best way to decide which may be the right canopy for you is to jump as many of them as you can.

[fpritchett64 0]

[the Lotus is a semi elliptical airlocked nine cell

I've never heard of the lotus, I have heard of all the others. From everything I have read and heard about Airlocked canopies, it really sounds like something that I would be interested in, I know there are a few cons, but all the pros I have heard about the airlocked design make it sound much safer and possibly more fun to jump. The only concern I have is would this be considered a conservative canopy for a beginner as I know if I were to go out and jump a vengeance or jedei or similar I'd be frowned upon, although I know these are elliptical and not semi elliptical....Ok, enough jabbering on..lol. Back to my main question...would the Lotus be considered a safe canopy for a beginner? I guess thats what I'm really trying to ask

[GravityGirl 0]

I consider the Lotus suitable for a novice jumper.

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