friflaj

Up to the point that you're altering your trim... search around these forums and you'll find more people (like Phree) commenting on the longer flare stroke. I've jumped the Safire2 and the rep said that that's just how she flares. It's not bad, it has a very nice flare, but if you're used to the typically shorter PD stroke it takes a few jumps to get used to it, is all.

The flare stroke is deeper on the SafireII than on the SabreII but I didn't find it any more difficult to land, and it was much fun to fly too. But I am in total agreement on the SabreII openings... varied between slightly (as in 90 deg) to violently (as in all over the map, steep dive, spins) off heading . I had a opening videoed (sp?) and it showed 1) me totally stable, 2) a very nice and smooth 1st stage opening, until 6 or so cells were open, and then 3) a violent diving 360 turn. I went back to the demo centre and had them put back my Stiletto, which had *lots* better openings.

Which color is COB? I only see BBY MAG NEP WAT TGR LEM YEL GOL LGR JAD KGR WHT LBL TUR RBL NBL RED SIL BLK ORA

I've jumped similar-size Safire2s and Stilettos, and am having 0 problems with those. Surely a Sabre2 should be easier to control than a Stiletto.

These were demo canopies flown in my own rig, which usually houses a Stiletto There's others at my home DZ that jump the Sabre2, experienced people too, that come back with the same complaint. One of them switched back to her Stiletto because of the better openings

that sounds exactly like my packjobs Yup, same here.

> have you tried stearing the openings with your rear risers? that helped for the occasions it had only minor off-heading (90 deg or so). For the diving 360s, all I could do was finish the 360 to get on heading again (stopping the turn was not really feasible), and levelling it out. It's not that they're dangerously uncontrollable, but they're certainly uncomfortable, and I wouldn't want to have been in a zoo-load 10 way with those diving 360s... the openings suprised me a bit since I was considering the Sabre2 for birdman jumps, and I didn't feel comfortable doing them with my Stiletto. Although my Stiletto openings are usually on-heading :/ go figure.

> try leaving nose alone I don't do anything with the nose > wonderful canopy (but why would you trade Stiletto for it? Birdman?) Yup.

Hi folks, I've been demoing a Sabre2 for a week, and while the flight characteristics were good, the openings, well, the openings *sucked*. Not hard, but invariably off-heading. The mildest I had was a sharp 90 degree turn, some would bank one way then immediately turn the other way, and a couple even went into a rather violent diving 360. I've jumped two different Sabre2s (from different dealers in different countries), so it isn't one particular 'bad' canopy. Other people that I know that own Sabre2s complain about the same thing. I had several different people pack it to see if that makes any difference. I don't look over the shoulder to watch the opening. I took all the time in the world for a couple of openings to make sure my body position was good -- no luck. I had one of the openings videod by a buddy, and it showed a nice stage 1 opening (6 or 7 cells open, flying straight) only to dive sharply to the right just after that. I currently fly a similar-size Stiletto, and I'm not having these same problems on that canopy. I know this has been discussed on and off on here, but what I couldn't find was anyone that had the same problem and then managed to correct it. If you have actually been able to tame the Sabre2, please let me know. [Edited] OK, I noticed the thread Saber 2 and End Cell Collapse just after I posted, the threads do overlap a bit but I'm specifically looking to cure the offheadings

> Not knowing your preferences, I would say you need to jump the canopy to see if you like it or not. It's coming in for demo jumps soon. > However, from my experience 1.4 is about the limit for a ZP 7-cell. It's definately going to be > 1.4. > If you could find a Spectre at a 1.2 or less I’d say it would be the perfect canopy for camera and birdman > jumps. That would mean a 150 for me... I tried the 135, and while it's probably a good canopy, the canopy I'm going to pick will become my main canopy... let's just say I didn't run out to sign the purchase order after the demo jumps. I want to do some birdman, but it's not likely to become a major part of my skydiving, and frankly, I'd sooner rent/lend a suitable canopy for those few jumps than have a Spectre 150 for all of my jumps. Thanks for the pointers.

> Catch here is we are talking about a jumper at a higer > wing loading. The Spectre is a great canopy with a large > control range, start over loading it and she'll sink. So the question then becomes, is 1.45 overloading it? Would the Sabre2 hold up better?

> how would it be loaded 1.45 > how would PD recommend it ?? 1.3 for expert, 1.6 max. > I guess because the Spectre is a "less" performing > canopy compared to the stiletto, and that it is > "better" to have "lighter" wingloadings on a spectre That's what I figured, but then why the low WL for expert and max? I can understand for students, but they also make a 97... I can't imagine a student on a size like that.

Hey people, Can someone shed some light on why the Spectre and the Sabre2 have lower recommended weight per size than the Stiletto, for example? I've flown the Stiletto 135 for a while now, and I'm looking at the Spectre 120 for some camera and birdman jumps. How does increasing wingload affect the Spectre, and how would that be different from an increased wingload on the Stiletto?