I recently had the pleasure of demoing the S Fire in a 209 configuration. I was definitely pleased in the overall appearance, crisp material and easy to stow Vectran lines. The canopy is as advertised, no fuss 9-cell with pleanty of glide and good flare. the stabilizers do work well in flight but do nothing for head on openings. It gets moving in the toggle turns, but does not flatten out like some others (ie Pilot). My openings were a bit wonky and felt kind of slapped a couple times, not truly uncomfortable but not as sweet as similar sized canopies I have tested. I was unable to stall the thing with toggles alone, rear risers were not an issue. It responded well to harness inputs, and the pressure on the front risers was not as much as stiff as I had anticipated. It always opened well no matter how crappy I packed the thing. I have never flown a safire or safire 2 so I really can not compare it to its lineage. I had no problem figuring out the flare and it is easy to stand up your landings, not as powerful as a Sabre but wont leave you skidding through the DZ. It is a viable option and recommend a DEMO. I have an exit weight around 230-240.
