This weekend Rick and I headed to Start Skydiving in Middleton, Ohio with our friend Joe for a weekend of “all you can eat” skydiving as we were calling it. They were running a special, $210 for all the jumps you can make in a weekend. We had to take advantage of that!
The first day we made 10 skydives, so Sunday we jumped for free! That’s good stuff right there.
We also were able to make night jumps for our D-license requirements. This is a great dropzone to do night jumps, the LZ is huge and the hangar lights shine into part of the designated landing area so if you’re accurate you can see your feet as you land, making it pretty cakey if you ask me.
Lots of great freefly jumps were made this weekend, too! More docks than I’ve ever made in a single weekend, and my partner and I realized just how much we’re getting it together. Fall rate is less of an issue than it’s ever been and we spend most of our jumps face to face, docking on each other. I LOVE skydiving with him!! 
I also was able to demo a “new” canopy this weekend. On the first jump of the weekend we were teamed up with one of the local freeflyers who mentioned that he had a Sabre2 for sale. This got my attention as that’s what I’ve had my eyes open for lately – but when he mentioned it was a 120, I was hesitant.
After a few conversations with trusted friends and fellow jumpers, I felt confident that I could fly it. So I took it for a spin on a hop ‘n pop. I went without a weight belt, or even a jumpsuit, just to get a flavor of how it flew. It opened like a dream…definitely a different story than my Sabre 1. The responsiveness is incredible, pull a toggle and it goes! Landing was a breeze too – the flare is nice and strong, so even coming in a little hot I’m able to get it to slow up enough to tiptoe out.
So, I decided to take it for a full-altitude skydive on the next jump, weight belt, jumpsuit and all. Sure enough, I loved it just as much on this jump too!
I continued to use this canopy throughout the weekend – even through night jumps. It finally feels like I’m in charge of the canopy and I can make it do what I want…and I’m not staying in the sky for 10 minutes! So I brought it home for my rigger to inspect…fingers crossed.
Now, here’s my disclaimer. For anyone who is counting, I skipped a step in the canopy downsize process. I started on a Triathlon 160, downsized to a Sabre 1 150 and now I’m on to a 120. As I mentioned earlier, I was hesitant when he said 120, I even mentioned that “it’d be great if it was a 135,” but given that I’m about 130 pounds out the door, those with much more experience than me advised that I’d be alright.
Normally, I wouldn’t recommend people skip steps in downsizing like this, but every person is different and it all depends on your flying ability and what you want to do with the canopy. After almost 10 jumps on it, I definitely feel confident. This canopy gives me room to grow. There’s so much I can do with it over time. And for right now, as a pretty conservative canopy pilot, it gets me to the ground quickly and safely.
So when it comes time to downsize, demoing is a good idea. You never know what you might be getting yourself into, so try before you buy and see what’s right for you.
Blue skies!
Ashley
I was at the American Boogie in Davis, CA this weekend, and Aerodyne was there with demo canopies. All I could think about was your experience with aerodyne, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try one out. I decided to go with the Pilot 132 (coming from a Sabre1 150), and I’m about 180lbs out the door.
The opening was fine, and the responsiveness was impressive. As you said, you pull the toggle and it turns really quickly. I was a bit disappointed with its performance, though. The landing wasn’t anything spectacular. I came in at a slower speed than I would have with my Sabre 150 and the flare didn’t seem to be any different.
I only did one jump on it (which is not a very good sample size), but I was definitely disappointed and would not buy that canopy. I would either try a different brand or go down and try a Pilot 124.
One other interesting note is that I jumped someone else’s Sabre1 150 and it felt completely different than mine. It was smoother, more responsive, and seemed more forgiving. It might just be that mine is much older, but it was definitely surprising to find out that the same model canopy could be so much different.
In the coming months I’ll be trying out a Sabre2 135, Safire2 129, Sabre2 120, and Safire2 119. We’ll see how it goes.
Ashley, I have been getting that same advice. I’m on a Sabre 1 150 right now and everyone tells me to just go to a 120. I have been a little hesitant on this advice, too, but I think you may have just convinced me
Don – haha, sorry that I got in your head about Aerodyne. I still tell that story, but I’m sure it was a fluke. Bummer that it didn’t give you the performance you wanted. Definitely try a Sabre2…semi-elliptical and really fun to play around with. Granted, I did all my playing well above 2 grand cuz I’m a chicken…but when the day does come that I want a little more performance this one definitely has potential. Try PD
!!
Kristen – SOOOO glad to hear I’m not the only one who is hearing this advice from other jumpers (I have been getting 50/50 mixed messages for a while now). Post that on Facebook for me, will you…haha. I guess there are a lot of really conservative downsizers up here…I used to be one of them. But if you’re careful and aware, demoing it and playing around up high is a good idea. Never thought I’d be at a 120 yet…NEVER. But now I realize just how huge that 150 was for me. Definitely a decision I feel good about.
p.s. – My family is here from California, and they are all over me about not coming out this spring. Looks like I’ll be planning a trip come fall. REALLY hope I get to see you then
That’s very cute and all, but being able to handle a 120 for 10 jumps in good onditions does not mean that you will have just as positive experience when flying in gusty winds or landing it off, or dealing with malfunctions that will be much more pronounced as compared to your current 150. Conservative downsizing is not a derogatory term.. BTW, you say your exit weight is 130 – does that mean you weigh 100 to 105 lbs ?
Thanks for the comment, anonymous “jumper.” There’s nothing “cute” about what I’m discussing here. Downsizing has to be a decision that is made not only from the advice you receive, but from experiences as well. I jumped this canopy in VERY gusty conditions (which included some wicked thermals… in hind sight, we probably shouldn’t have been jumping), as well as a typical light breeze day and in no-wind situations during night jumps. No one can be sure how a canopy will handle when a malfunction hits – you can’t be sure of this under any canopy of any size.
And yes, this does mean that I am a very light individual. It also means that I have put all my gear on and stepped on a scale.