Atair Aerodynamics - Customer Reviews



Reviewer: Grant 2004-09-01 I love my 170 CC and it has been working out great for me. I just roll the tail tight and keep an eye on it staying tight with great results, even at higher speeds. I got 7th place in the Word Cup Speed Skydiving Comp last Sat. (241mph in practice..of course and 225 in comp) and got to show off the double diamonds! Reviewer: Dave Cook 2002-03-19 This canopy rocks!! I had 56 jumps when I bought mine(150sqft) after jumping the "safire", spectre", "pro series", "sabre" this canopy wins in ALL aspects by a long shot (I now have 81 jumps). Packing, openings, landing, flying, far better than anything I've jumped. The non-slip material is so easy to pack, have never fought with any of my pack jobs, I was surprised the very first time I packed it. Opens soft and on heading, nuff said. My butt has not touched the ground since I started to jump this canopy.!! You get so much flare power (with the right loading) my landings have been sooooooo smooth. I'm loading it at 1.2:1 I weigh almost 180 with gear. Great flyer, toggle pressure is sweet, you really feel what the canopy is doing at all times, it is forgiving and very predictable. I actually do CReW with this canopy with some of my buddies. I just love flying it and always will. I high recommend it to those who are canopy hunting!! Reviewer: Bruce Hale 2002-03-11 I just purchased a Cobalt 95 with the comp. H-mod. I have been jumping a Jedei 120 and, admittedly, was a little nervous moving to the 95 comp.I have got to say, this is, without a doubt, the best canopy I have ever jumped. The openings are great(the 2 stage opening does take some getting used to), the response to toggle input is awesome, and the swoops are unmatched. Dan and Heather are terrific to work with. Customer service is number 1. I am saving for a second one!!! Way to go Atair. Reviewer: BERSERKR 2002-01-23 I just flew a cobalt 135 and i am in love , it was just amazing. I am looking to buy one now, I cant wait. If you want performance, the Cobalt is the way to go!!! Reviewer: steve 2001-07-16 I have flown several different canopies in the last 6-7 months looking for a good "all-around" canopy. I would find one that opens great, but has no lift. Then I would find one that had excellent lift, but would spank my ass on opening, then, and you knew this was coming, I would find one that would open halfway descent, land o.k., but was boring in flight. Well, not anymore, I have been introduced to perfection. The Cobalt was my answer all along. I fly a Cobalt 120 with a loading of 1.6. Granted, conciderably modest compared to some of these other "crazies" loading at 2.something to 1. I'm here to tell you that no other canopy opens like the Cobalt. Smooth, on heading openings are here to stay. I've tried to completely trash pack this thing and it still opens on heading and slow. I've dumped in a full track, in a stand-up, and sit and it still is smooth as silk. I did, however find out that a larger pilot chute might hurt you a little. So, keep that in mind. Now to the performance. What can I say, I am completely speechless. This canopy has the best in flight performance of any canopy I have ever flown. With my wingloading, I am comfortable, but fast. Turns are out of this world, and the "recovery arch" is quicker than any other elliptical canopy out there making a hook turn a breeze to recover from. I had the opportunity to see one of my "spirals" on video this past weekend and I'm wondering how my legs remained on my body. Man, talk about quick turns. And finally, the landing. One word- "gravy"... These canopies have the best lift I have ever experienced. Yes, much better than the Sabre. I swore by Sabre for 8 years for that very reason. Make no mistake about it, these canopies are the product of perfection. On landing, whether you are smoking in on a no wind day, or coming in with heavy winds, you are going to surf. And surf far. The greatest mistake you could possibly make is to think that you have to "run" this canopy out. It has got so much lift, that all you have to do is fly the canopy out until you can just "put you feet down"... Here is the best part. They are made with the South African Z-P, which makes packing a breeze. I bought mine brand new and did not have a single problem getting it into the bag and closing it up. To end this review the way it should be ended, I absolutely love this canopy. I have bought and flown at least 9 different canopies in the past 2 years, and I am happy to say, I do not have to buy any more. I am completely sold on the Cobalt. Way to go Atair and Thank you for making my skydiving experience a pleasurable one!!! Line twists? No problem! Reviewer: RS 2001-02-19 I tried line twists in my cobalt 85 (load for 2) for bad position (purposed) of the my body in the openning. They were three twists. Good experience. To canopy it rotated slow and it let me to undo the twists without cutting. Until today I always had to do cut when line twists in elipticals load more than 1.4. More points in favor of the cobalt. Excels in opening qualities Reviewer: RS 2001-01-15 I jumped vary times Cobalt 85 and my opinion is the following: - RW Jumps to 12000 feet - Load at 2 and 2.1 - Container: Power Racer - F111 kill line pilot chute 70 Cm - wind 0 (null wind) in more jumps Openings: Very good, Impeccable, aligned and soft, previsible, without excessive retard Glide ratio: Balanced, without excessive ground hunger. Hears two jumps in that we were out of Drope Zone and me I had occasion of comparing the flight of the cobalt with stilletos 135 and 170, sabres 190 and a spark 190. I verified that the cobalt has a good slope with the brakes to half. Control of front risers: good, not excessively heavy. Landings: Excellent, total controls, same windless Summary: For besides the qualities of the finishes and construction, for me the cobalt excels all of the canopys in opening qualities, in flight and landing, without rival and much better than any other HP canopys than I already flew even today (Stilleto 107, 120, 135, 150, BT 40/50, BT Pro 120, Contrail 95, 105, 120, 135, SViper Alpha 94 and 105, Jedei 105, Hate Wave 150 and 170 etc) Another satisfied customer Reviewer: Rob 2001-01-08 Just got back from Florida where I demo'd a Cobalt 135. I only had 250 jumps so I was a little skeptical about flying an "elliptical" canopy, but it was amazing! I've been primarily flying Sabre's, and have also tried Safire's to slowly enter the elliptical scene, but the Cobalt fantastic. The openings were a dream, and consistent. This was welcome from the ever surprising Sabre slam that comes when you least expect it. Under canopy, it was like driving a Ferrari as opposed to the sedans I'm use to. What I like the most was that I never felt "out of control". Front riser turns were extremely responsive, but smooth. Toggle turns, even down low were very smooth, and allowed me to be in full control at all times. I'll second some previous comments about never having to run out a landing! On no wind days, my Sabre still comes in fast, but the Cobalt was so controllable and produced so much lift, that the only landing I ever had to come close to running was a full down winder. Even that was uneventful. I would recommend this canopy to anyone who feels they are ready for an elliptical, or partial elliptical canopy. I just wish I wasn't back up in the Northeast so that I could fly it some more! Another satisfied customer!!! Give Cobalt a try if you are looking for a nine cell elliptical. Reviewer: shogo sasaki 2001-01-03 Chuck Blue has said a lot of things that i was going to write on this review. I would like to add little more. I recommend reading Chuck's review if you are interested in jumping Cobalt. I jumped three different cobalt 95 demos at 1.75 wing loading. I also have jumped alpha previously. Dan from Atair explained about the flight and opening characteristics before I started jump them. So I expected the canopy to open and fly "well." I jumped the first one twice and it slammed me really hard. I told Dan "hey the doubly staged opening is not there at all." He gave me his rig which was hooked up with another Cobalt 95 which he said had about 400 jumps. This one opened really nice and gentle as Dan and the Cobalt brochure explained. Dan told me the first one I jumped was extremely out of trim from swimming in the pond so much. I guess the opening characteristics depends on line trims very much. Might be a good indication for the line replacement The third one I jumped was brand new and it opened and flew identical to Dan's canopy which already had 400 plus jumps. Openings: The opening is really soft. There cannot be anyone who can complain about the opening characteristics of Cobalt unless the fast opening gives you psychological comfort. (I have met a few "experienced" jumpers who like fast openings because the part of skydive that contribute to most malfunction is over quickly.) In my opinion, the Cobalt did not open slow compared to other nine cell ellipticals. It might open a second or a fraction of a second slower, but you would not have doubts if it would really open or not. My first malfunction was a streamer and I don't like too long of a snivel. The Cobalt did not snivel but instead it opened in stages. The stages can be seen easily by looking up the canopy and these stages can give you some idea if the canopy will give you a malfunction(s) or not. It does open very gently, but it doesn’t open slow. I hope you know what I mean. A friend of mine demoed Cobalt 135 at 1.63 wing loading. I saw his opening from the above and from the side during different skydives, his Cobalt 135 opened nice and soft in both occasions. Looking from above, it opened like a BASE canopy. (The Cobalt opening seems like a BASE canopy opening after slider down jumps.) You should see the opening pictures on Atair website. Flight and Landing characteristics: It flew like stilleto. The toggle movement was really smooth and it is not too heavy. The front risers were light. (I cant say much more because I believe it takes about 100 jumps to know a canopy.) You really should give Cobalt a try if you are looking for a nine cell elliptical. It seemed to me that it was easy to gain speed doing a curving turn. I was jumping Cobalt in a really windy week. (20-25mph with gusty wind) I still had a nice swoop and the Cobalt flew nice in high winds. The Cobalt by Atair is one hell of a nice canopy. Reviewer: Larry Pennington 2000-12-22 Background 7,000+ jumps, 21 years in the sport & I Skydive for a living. First off I have no Ax to grind no ass to kiss. I can jump whatever brand I want. The Cobalt by Atair is one hell of a nice canopy. I load a 105 /2.1 and get absolute good openings and very soft landings. It packs up nice, wears good and the price is fair. What more can you ask for? I have been jumping Ellipticals since Stilettos first hit the market. This is a great parachute. At this writing I have 50+ jumps on the 105. Dan at Atair is very easy to deal with and will take care of any problems you may have. Don't jump one unless you are ready to buy it, it is that good. The Alpha was good, the Cobalt is better!! Smooth opening and fun to fly Reviewer: G. Roth 2000-12-12 Cobalt 85- This is a smooth opening and fun to fly canopy. Less agressive then it's PD counterpart, allows for downsizing. Good parformance at a good price. If you are in to canopy flight, you have to spend a day under the double diamonds. Reviewer: Dr_Groove 2000-12-08 It is nice to see the canopies start getting the attention they deserve. I have been under one since the beginning of the season; loading a 120 at 1.875 and have had the pleasure of turning a few people on to them. Every one who tried them at Quincy seemed to have a good time on them whether they were feeling out an elliptical or were doing a 90’ in to 270’. Like all other elliptical canopies they are prone to similarities. There are a few differences that do set this canopy apart from the pack. Some folks who have jumped the canopy have actually said that they don’t like the openings. This I could not believe. However, after consideration and reflection I came to the idea that if you have hundreds or thousands of jumps on a certain canopy whose opening characteristics are not the same; you’ll have to first be open to the idea that different canopies will open differently. So sometimes you really cant compare the two. For example I used to jump a saber. If you get used to that type of opening you may be uncomfortable not feeling the opening sensation riddled through your body. Personally I wont fly a canopy that doesn’t have this soft of an opening. I always have time after pull to get in to a good body position. I never get slammed on openings, and it opens on heading. Some one must have really thought this out… Opening is not an exclamation, but a process under this canopy that is Soft, accurate and predictable. Flying characteristics are such that transitioning from a saber to the Cobalt is practically instinctive. The transition from one to the other is natural with a low learning curve. Weight dispersion is evenly swept through the middle of the canopy giving it some flying characteristics of a glider. Accomplished canopy pilots seem to effortlessly swoop and carve. Other ellipticals tend to weigh down the nose, making them less forgiving. In wind and properly flown you can, as I have been observed, tacking and getting lift. (A large easily observable, enviable amount of lift.) This is one of the coolest things about flying the canopy. The canopy, when properly weighted has the tendency to glide out of the corner. Even when you are tight in it. I have seen people with less then 150 jumps getting impressive swoops. If you are in to canopy flight, you have to spend a day under the double diamonds. Dr_Groove D-23206 Blue Sky Ranch This is all around, the best canopy I have ever jumped. Reviewer: Mike Gocke 2000-12-04 I think Chuck pretty much went over the background of the COBALTS. I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I started jumping these canopies at the beginning of this season and now have about 250 jumps on various sizes of the Cobalt. There is so much to say about these canopies that the only way to sum it up is "WOW" You have to fly one to believe it. From the moment you get this canopy and feel the unique South African zero p (which packs like F-111) with the double diamonds sown as part of the canopy, not sown over existing fabric, you will soon realize how easy it is to pack. Now its pull time you throw out you pilot chute to be welcomed by the "LEXUS" of openings. Cross ports in all cells but 3rd and 6th allow for smooth, controlled, 2 stage soft openings. Next, you look up to see the unique double diamonds found only on the Cobalt canopies. If you like attention, the diamonds are definitely the way to go. So now you start flying around, doing spirals and just checking out the whole behavior of the canopy. The best way for me to explain it is very "user friendly." This thing feels like it is part of you. It responds immediately to you every command. But wait, that’s not even the best part. Since jumping the Cobalt canopies, I don't even think I remember how to run out a landing. I have never taken more then 3 steps on landing with the Cobalt. It has so much lift it will amaze you. This is all around, the best canopy I have ever jumped, and I plan to keep on jumping them as long as Atair Aerodynamics keeps making them. I recommend the Cobalt to everyone. From the new guy who wants his first high performance canopy, to the most experienced jumper who is looking for that 100 yard surf. Like I said before You have to try one to believe it. Thanks - Mike Gocke D-23590 Reviewer: Chuck Blue Me: 2,600 jumps, with over 400 jumps on mains smaller than 100 square ft in the past year. I Currently own a VX-74 loaded at 2.4 After I got my Alpha 84 early this year, I couldn't believe how much I loved it. It was one of the very last custom-color "Alpha's" produced before Atair stopped making the "Impulse" as it was known overseas. Oddly, just as word was spreading about the swooping performance and overall great opening/flying characteristics of the "Alpha", the truth came out about the way they were being marketed in the US by SkyDepot. The fact is that the "Alpha" and "Space" were actually made by Atair in Slovenia and sold in the US with different badges on them. Neither of these canopies (actually the same main!) are made any longer, but the good news is that the replacement, the Atair Cobalt, is a BETTER parachute. This parachute is not available through SkyDepot; only Atair USA and it's dealer net. The Cobalt looks almost identical to the old Alpha (or Impulse), but is sewn differently accross the top skin, thus loading the ribs differently and providing for a stiffer wing. The top skin of a Cobalt is made of 18 seperate pieces of fabric, unlike other mains. This means that you can load the Cobalt heavier than you could the Alpha/Space. I was loading my Alpha 84 at 2.23 and it flew FANTASTIC. Also, the double diamonds that are sewn to the bottom of every Cobalt are parts of the bottom skin, not appliques just sewn on. The Cobalt is made of the non-slippery zero-p fabric produced by Gelvenor Textiles in South Africa, making for some very speedy pack-jobs. Canopies are shipped with microlines on mini-links. Custom colors are available in about 6 WEEKS, can you believe that? The opening characteristics are fantastic. They open slow and on-heading every time..period. The guys up at The Ranch were dumping in tracks after Freefly jumps to see if they could make them "snap", and none had anything bad to report. There are two ribs that are not crossported on the Cobalt; this allows the center cells to inflate and start decelerating you before the end cells come open. It is just NICE. Flight characteristics are pretty similar to most other performance mains- meaning the control range and the recovery arc are much longer than a Stiletto. Turns are not snappy unless you want them to be, but when nailed hard Cobalt spins around and just dives at the ground and keeps picking up speed. If hooked high enough, the Cobalt will come around the corner with tremendous speed and you will have control high up in the control range. Surfs can be quite a bit longer than the Stiletto; actually almost as far as my current VX! Otherwise, if you hook low, you will have to "dig" out and pay the price with a shorter surf, like the 21 and 27 cell mains. The Cobalt is interesting in that it will continue to provide lift and glide at a much slower airspeed than most performance canopies. It takes a while to get over the temptation to put your feet down at the speed you would under say a Stiletto or a Velocity. Keep your feet up and you just keep swooping along, without the fear of "bow-tieing" your main and eating it. This is a result of the center of gravity being placed back toward the middle of the canopy. Do not be mislead; the Cobalt is distributed exclusively by Atair USA in New York. The websites is www.atairaerodynamics.com; check them out. His dealer network is expanding quite rapidly and now more and more Cobalts are showing up. If you were an Alpha afficionado, then you will really love the new Cobalt. I know I do. I really like my VX, but I LOVE Cobalts and old Alphas. Chuck PS: I am not sponsored in any way by these guys, so I am not blowing smoke up anyones ass.