From: sparkie@spock.cs.wisc.edu (Mark Horn)
Newsgroups: rec.skydiving
Subject: Opinions on a Glide Path Nova (**LONG**)
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:10:29 GMT
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept

Hi Y'all,

Well, I just got back from Tennessee and I can't stop talking like a south'ner.   
Anyway, while I was down there, I got to jump a Nova 110 for three jumps.  Nova  
is a new line of zero porosity canopies manufactured by Glide Path  
International.  The smallest of which is a 99 sq. ft. canopy!

This is an overview of everything that I could think of doing when I was  
playing with the canopy.  Yeah, I only made three jumps with it, but I tried  
just about everything I could think of at least once.  I would have made more  
jumps on it but the Glide Path Rep was very busy trying to distribute the  
canopies to everyone who wanted to try them.  Anyway given that I only made  
three jumps with it, a lot of what I say should be taken with a grain of salt.

The canopy is really impressive.  I currently own a Sabre 150.  I have some  
jumps on a Sabre 135 and quite a few on an Excalibur 135.  The Nova 110 is  
"supposed" to be in the same size/performance class as these two.  But, IMO the  
Nova 110 is superior to the Sabre 135.  And, it's almost as good as the  
Excalibur 135.

Glide Path says that the Nova can be wing loaded greater than 1.0 #/sq. ft.   
Which is how the canopy recommended for me was a 110 sq ft canopy (I weigh  
135#).  Despite this fact, I could still get a really good glide ratio out of  
the canopy and had no trouble getting back to the DZ - even on the one bad spot  
that occurred while I was jumping the canopy.  I know some people who wing load  
their Sabre's this much and then sacrifice a LOT of glide ratio for it, and  
thus are really picky about the spot.

The canopy flies fast.  There was a Sabre 135 and an Excal 135 in the air while  
I was flying it, but since I tended to pull high it was difficult to tell if it  
was faster or slower than either of them.  From intuition, it seems to be on  
par with both of those canopies in terms of forward speed.  It has a 3.0 aspect  
ratio which, in theory, provides a more efficient wing than a Sabre's 2.5  
aspect ratio and an Excal's 2.7 aspect ratio.

The canopy turns faster than the Sabre and not as fast as the Excal and it  
dives quite a bit in a toggle turn.  A few toggle turns and you can lose a LOT  
of altitude.  The toggle range is shorter than the Sabre but longer than the  
Excal - pretty close to half way in between.  The toggle pressure is light at  
the top of it's range but gets harder near the bottom of the range.  In terms  
of stability, you can hold a horseshoe on this canopy much easier than you can  
a Sabre, but not as well as you can on an Excal.

The risers that this canopy was on didn't have dive loops :-(  So it required  
some strong fingers to do a front riser turn.  Nonetheless the front riser  
pressure was light.  Front riser turns are a little faster and dive a little  
more than a Sabre.  But they aren't as fast and don't dive as much as an Excal.

Landings were trickier than under a Sabre, but easier than an Excal.  Trickier  
because the flaring power of the canopy is not as strong as a Sabre.  To get a  
really nice landing you had to build some extra speed.  There was one landing  
where I didn't do this and I ran out of flare.  However, since the toggle range  
is longer than an Excal, the flare is not as touchy and thus easier to land  
than an Excal.  Let there be no confusion, though - you can get a really nice  
turf-surf out of this canopy - especially since the front riser turns are  
faster than on a Sabre.

The first jump I made on the canopy, the Glide Path Rep packed the parachute  
for me.  And it opened in what I would describe as a snivel.  The Rep rolled  
the four end cells on each side and stuffed them into the center cell, then  
rolled the tail up over that.  He spent quite a bit of time rolling stuff.  He  
said that if I didn't do it right, I could get a pretty strong opening shock.   
He was right.  When I packed the canopy I tried rolling things the way that he  
did, but apparently was unsuccessful.  I got some pretty severe opening shocks.   
MUCH harder than a Sabre 135 and a bit harder than an Excal 135.  I also  
noticed, however that packing the canopy was easier than packing other zero-P  
canopies.  The canopy is so small and the chord (sp?) is so short that you  
don't have to spend a lot of time trying to contain the canopy.  Getting the  
air out of the canopy is just like getting the air out of any zero-P canopy.   
But since this canopy is so small, keeping track of the entire canopy is much  
easier.  Also because the canopy is so small, it has a small pack volume.   
Which is nice for those of us who really like small containers.

Overall I was really impressed with the canopy.  The performance of the 110 is  
much closer to the performance of an Excalibur 135 than a Sabre 135, plus it's  
made of zero-P material, which (at least according to rumor) should last much  
longer than the Excal's F111 material.  It carries a $1400 list price which  
includes spectra (micro) lines.  This is competitive with other high  
performance canopies.  If you're considering purchasing a high performance  
canopy, I would recommend that you consider this one.  I had a lot of fun with  
it.  I wish I would have known about it before I purchased my Sabre.

---- DISCLAIMER ----
The opinions expressed herein are totally and entirely my own.  I represent  
only myself.  My opinions do not represent Glide Path International.  My  
opinions do not represent Performance Designs.  My opinions do not represent  
the United States Parachute Association.
	
Jumping high performance canopies can be dangerous and can cause serious  
injury, even death.  Before attempting to jump a high performance canopy, make  
sure that you have had adequate training and that you are fully aware of the  
performance characteristics of this type of canopy.  Anything that happens to  
you as a result of jumping a high performance canopy such as the one described  
in this article is the result of your performance and not a result of anything  
explicitly or implicitly stated in this article. 
---- END DISCLAIMER ----

Blue Skies!
--
- sparkie (Mark Horn)		C-21100, IAD JM
- sparkie@spock.cs.wisc.edu	<-- NeXT Mail
- NeXT Campus Consultant	U. of Wisconsin, Madison
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