Sabre1Lucke

PD Sabre 150 PD Sabre 135 PD Sabre2 120 Maybe a smaller PD Afterwards back to a Sabre2 190 because I'm getting to old to jump high performance canopies

Already doing 45-90° front riser approaches?? Why do you want to downsize then? You can learn a lot on your current canopy; 90°, 180° and 270°. Before you have these things under control I don't see the advantage in downsizing. I learned all my approaches on a Sabre1 150 loaded at 1.32 before I downsized to a Sabre1 135 loaded at 1.47. Going from 1.32 to 1.47 was already a big difference in speed if with front riser approaches. For normal landings the difference was not that big. A Sabre2 150 will give you a wingload of 1.634. That 's already a high wingload which can be dangerous for somebody with your experience. Be safe!!

Just started with frontriser turns 90° Check the video on http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2400 Just tell me what you think? The canopy is a Sabre1 135 loaded at 1.46 All good advice is welcome! Thanks.

Sabre 150 loaded at 1.32 for me and now I'm on a Sabre 135 loaded at 1.46.

I've been learning to swoop on my Sabre 150 (1.32lbs/sq ft). Now I'm using a Sabre 135 (1.46lbs/sq ft). You can already make nice swoops with this canopy. For me and for my experience this is a perfect choice before I buy another canopy.

He is still in 'THE FLIGHT-1 TEAM' so I doubt that he has left PD.

I have now: 169 jumps on a Falcon 195 (1.01), 137 jumps on a Sabre 150 (1.32) and a little bit more than 20 jumps on a Sabre 135 (1.47). This Sabre 135 is also a great canopy and I really like the way it flies. With a wingload from 1.47 you can also make very nice swooplandings. I tried a Stiletto 135 but didn't liked it, except for the openings. My next canopy will be for certain a Sabre2 120ft² (1.65). But first I will learn as much as I can on the one that I have now. This because, even if you think that you know your canopy pretty well, you can't and will not get all the performance out of your canopy unless you have several hundred jumps on the same canopy. So don't rush yourself to downsize but try to learn as much as possible before you decide to buy a smaller canopy! I didn't had any problems with downsizing from the Sabre 150 to the 135. Concerning the Sabre2 I can only say that I jumped a few times with a 150ft² and if I compare it with the Sabre1 150 that I had during that time I didn't noticed that much difference except that the turns were a little bit faster and the riser-pressure was a little bit lighter. The Sabre2 also dives a little bit more but not much more the Sabre1. All these things also depends on the wingloads I guess

I used the following canopies: 1 - 31 jumps : Skymaster 260 (0.76) 32 - 201 jumps: Falcon 195 (1.01) 202 - 338 jumps: Sabre 150 (1.32) 338 - 356 jumps: Sabre 135 (1.47) Did a few jumps on a Stiletto but I didn't liked it. At the moment I'm jumping the Sabre 135 but I'm thinking about making the switch to a Sabre2 120 (1.65) Most of the time I'm doing 180° HP landings. You can make pretty nice landings with the Sabre if you want Never injured.

This is one of mine in my first attempt in hybride. Thanks to two of my team-mates it turn out pretty well Sorry for the quality of the picture and yes I know I normally do RW The photo was taken last january this year and it was freezing (-22 °C) at 13.000 ft

Any news yet?

I needed between 10 and 15 jumps. After that I could sit stable and could switch between standup and sitfly even with a flip in between

Check out the site from Performance variable site: http://www.myskyshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21/products_id/61 In general the Demon is more aggressive than the Stiletto. If you are looking for a copy of the Stiletto, the Contrail from Performance Variable is it. Put them on top of each other and you don't see any difference. Only the fabric feels a little bit different. In Belgium and Germany there are a lot of people with a Demon. Greets, Lucke

Hi, Which canopy is the best for swooping; The Stiletto or the Sabre? I currently fly a Sabre 150 loaded at 1.32. The Stiletto I tested last weekend is a 135 ft² loaded at 1.47. Landings where good even with frontrizer approach. Now I was wondering witch canopy is the best for swooping if you take the same size and wingload? A 135 ft² loaded at 1.47 in this case. The frontriser-pressure on the Stiletto felt much more heavier then on the Sabre and I have the feeling that the Sabre dives longer (but not as radical) than the Stiletto. Also the Sabre feels more stable than the Stiletto when it comes to landings and it feels like the Sabre flair-power is bigger. Any good advice is welcome because I'm not sure which one I have to take if I want to make progress in swooping. Thanks in advance Lucke

For me there is only one: Mirage

How is the full version called on skydivemovies.com? Thanks in advance for the info. Lucke

Yes Gandalf, Thats' what I meant with the picture links. Lucke

Question: Is it forbidden to use the chest-belt as grip if you do a hybride-jump? To explain what I mean you can take a look at: http://www.valschermsport.be/ (The picture will not stay there very long) or http://www.blokki.be (under 'la gallería') Someone told me that the stitching from the chest-belt is not bild for this and the same for the buckles. Can somebody with a good knowledge of rigs tell me if this is true? Greetz, Lucke

This is some pretty good advice that you all gave me! I will certainly keep everything you guys said in my mind. At the moment I have more then enough fun with improving my swoop without using backrisers. Thanks!! Lucke

Thank you for your fair answer! I raised the question because I was curious and because I'm very satisfied with the characteristics of my Sabre. I just wanted to be sure that you don't need e.g. a Velocity to do this. I'm also not planning to do this in the near future because I know that I have to less experience to do this. But thanks again and keep up the good work!! Regards, Lucke

You are 100% right in what you are saying but consider this: You can also do 'safe' 180° turns on frontriser if you start it high enough and if you make the turn big enough! Not that I have that many jumps but still I can land on a certain spot that I've chosen during my approach to the dropzone and this 10 times on a row depending on the traffic in the air. The air-traffic is the first thing you have to take into account and if necessary I prefer a normal landing instead of a swooplanding. It is also depending on the canopy you jump with. In my case it's not a small HP canopy. On the type of canopy I jump it's also easy to correct your misjudgement and the speed is not as high as on a HP canopy. I also ask very experienced people to watch my landing and let them give remarks. The most important think you have to consider before you go up is: If I want to do this, do it on a safe way and don't put your limits to high and don't bring other people in danger. I've read this kind of post often enough and I think that what you are writing is certainly correct so please don't feel like I'm attacking you. I just wanted to give my opinion.

Hi, I'm flying a Sabre 150 and I was wondering if it's possible to use the backrisers when swooping to gain distance. My wingload is 1,32 I don't now if a Sabre is the right canopy for this At the moment I'm doing, for the approach, most of the time a 180° frontriser turn but sometimes I'm also doing a 270° approach. Of all the landings I did I'm always trying to be as carefully as possible,.. with good results. It would be nice if someone could give me good advice on this! Thanks!! Lucke

Not at all! He gave me advice concernig the flightpattern and how to start a swoop. Like it's better to make a big long turn instead to hook it. His advice was much more detailed!! I know I still have much to learn and maybe at the end of this year I will downsize. But the year just started......

Hi Bartje, It doesn't matter what he said. You gave me a lot of good advice a few months ago! I made a lot of progress since you gave me those few hint and tricks. See you this year at Spa! Greetz,

I started 'swooping' this year with 200 jumps on my Sabre 150 loaded at 1.32. First I started coming in on double fronts in a straight line. That went very well and now I'm doing a 180° turn. I keep on doing this until I have that perfectly under control. Even if it will take me a long time. Greetings from Belgium