26 ft lopo round

[avenfoto 0]

just acquired one on a free rig. seems to be in great shape. dom 1970, was in-date as a reserve as recently as may09. lines still sharp white.

how do i pack this? any cool stories or tips regarding this canopy?

i was thinking about jumping it at bridge day this year...

[crustySCSA69 0]

Quote

just acquired one on a free rig. seems to be in great shape. dom 1970, was in-date as a reserve as recently as may09. lines still sharp white.

how do i pack this? any cool stories or tips regarding this canopy?

i was thinking about jumping it at bridge day this year...

are there steering holes in it ?? if not, how much do you want for it ? seriously, I need a main.

[councilman24 37]

Cool stories or tips? I pack more of these than anything else right now. In pilot rigs.

I also have one hooked up on three ring risers in a bag with a throw out PC. Flake it, S fold it into a bag, stow the lines and away you go. Also have a Phantom 28 set up the same way.

Get someone who KNOWS what they are doing with a round. And I'd test it out before bridge day.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[jimjumper 25]

Is it diaper deployed? If so make sure you verify that it's either a full stow or half stow diaper. If you stow all the lines at once in a half stow diaper you greatly increase the chance of a line-over. It happened to mine and the line-over burned big holes all over the canopy. Fortunately, I wasn't under it (6' 230lbs). I had loaned to a 130lb girl and even at that weight she injured her back. The canopy was destroyed!

[RiggerLee 63]

That may have happened but I don't buy that that is why it happened. Strongs were often packed with full stows. It's the most secure form of deployment and never prone to an increase in malfunction rate.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[jimjumper 25]

That wasn't what I tried to say. The Strong Lopo can be packed reliably with either full stow or half stow diaper but each type of diaper needs to be packed as designed.

[jimjumper 25]

I finally found my Poynter's manual. Check page 239 for a full description. Most rounds were converted to full stow diapers back in the 80's but I'm sure some half-stows are still out there.

[captain1976 0]

I don't think I would jump it off a bridge. They don't land all that soft as I had a couple rides on them years ago. Packing is typical round but don't expect it to open as fast as a square. I know a guy "Gary Freidrickson" who did a base jump with one back in the early 80's. It didn't open in time and we all went to the funeral.

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[ripcord4 0]

Quote

I finally found my Poynter's manual. Check page 239 for a full description. Most rounds were converted to full stow diapers back in the 80's but I'm sure some half-stows are still out there.

Yep, I have my 26' steerable conical with half-stow diaper in a Strong Stylemaster container. Still airworthy after all these years! (The canopy, I mean!)

[likestojump 3]

Quote

I don't think I would jump it off a bridge. They don't land all that soft as I had a couple rides on them years ago. Packing is typical round but don't expect it to open as fast as a square. I know a guy "Gary Freidrickson" who did a base jump with one back in the early 80's. It didn't open in time and we all went to the funeral.

that's just too funny. Many MANY people (myself included) have done BASE jumps with rounds from cliffs and bridges (into water of course). You just have to remember that rounds take a bit longer to inflate at those airspeeds and don't slow you down until full inflation. So use a large pilot chute, and give yourself proper altitude. Done at Bridge Day (876ft) by many jumpers, and at Perrine (486ft) by even more...

of course "back in the day" many did their first BASE jumps with rounds as they simply used their regular skydiving containers with no mains :)

[shropshire 0]

Does it have Mesh? if so have you had an Acid Test done? I had mine condemed by my rigger (oh a few years ago now) - Just a thought.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[likestojump 3]

Quote

Does it have Mesh? if so have you had an Acid Test done? I had mine condemed by my rigger (oh a few years ago now) - Just a thought.

I don't believe Strongs were not subject to mesh problems. I bet it's the older one with large hole mesh as well. also, the acid mesh was not "introduced" until the 80's. But good idea to do the pH test just for the sake of it. Also a better idea is to do a pull test.

[shropshire 0]

Cheers -

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[riggerrob 643]

Only two manufactures were not affected by acid mesh: Strong and Free Flight, because they are the only manufacturers who stuck with MIL-SPEC mesh.

The acid mesh problem was limited to round reserves made in the 1980s. The problem surfaced in 1986 or 1988.

[jimmytavino 16]

"that's just too funny"


what the hell is so FUNNY about someone going in???

jmy

[likestojump 3]

Quote

"that's just too funny"


what the hell is so FUNNY about someone going in???

jmy

Nothing is funny about someone going in. But I never said that it is. You are reading what's not written.

What's funny is that the person suggested that the round should not be BASE jumped from a bridge, whereas that would be the safest place to use it from.

[RiggerLee 63]

Or a nice clean cliff with a garentied deep water landing. A round doesn't need to "fly" to work and they have a much lower forward speed. Wall strikes aren't quite as big a deal under a round.

And just for the record, depending on the cercumstances, some one going in can be rather funny. If your around long enough and see enough people die... I'm not saying it isn't sad but you eather develop a sence of hummer about these things or you have to take golf, or tinnas, or putput for the truely tromatized. See there's a joke, funny yes? Trust me by the time you run out of fingers to count the "good friends" you'll eather have developed enough perspective to laugh about some of these things or you'll have a nice handy cap. See another joke.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[erdnarob 1]

I have had a Strong Lopo round reserve and I made 3 cut away including 3 beautiful rides with that kind of parachute. I even made the bowl one time with one of them.
Packing is the same than any round reserve and has to be done by a rigger endorsed for round reserve.
IT IS:
0) perform a 4 line check, check lines, connector links screws, the cross connector if any, bridle cord and pilot chute...
1) flaking the 22 or 24 panels after squaring the skirt and the crown
2) lay the canopy on one side
2) open symmetrically and clean the folds and line at attachments points with the use of a line separator after checking the "wind channel"
3) do the 45 degrees both sides
4) fold the whole thing in a 3 way folding on the total of the length if in a chest mounted reserve or in 5 way folding if in the piggy back reserve
5) Now depending if you have the lines stowed in the container or on a diaper stow the lines accordingly
6) put it in flat folding in the container for a chest mounted reserve or sideway folding in a piggyback reserve
7) have the closing loop(s) passing thru the middle of the folding for a piggyback reserve
8) close the container according the manufacturer's spec.

This is a summary of packing a round reserve but I repeat, it has to be done by a rigger.

If you don't want to use it anymore, cut the lines and sell it to a school gym.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[RiggerLee 63]

Fuck that! If you don't want it any more give it to me.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[jimmytavino 16]

Ah.....
i see.

my bad... sorry.

thanks for explaining

jt

[councilman24 37]

The diaper on a strong lopo is exactly the same for full stowage and all the lines under the diaper or only half the lines under the diaper and the lines stowed in the container. The diaper can be packed either way. A Strong LoPo in a Strong pilot rig must be packed with a half stow diaper and the lines stowed in the container. Including brand new ones sold today. ALL Strong LoPo's in Strong Pilot rigs are half stow with the lines in the container.

The same canopy with the same diaper can be packed in anybody else's rig with a full stow diaper.

There were some OTHER half stow diapers that were only for that use. BTW the original post didn't say strong. Lot of other people called their reserves LoPo's and still do.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[erdnarob 1]

Hi Rob, I have seen acidic mesh on a pilot chute in the era you were jumping at Embrun ON. You almost could tear apart the mesh like a piece of toilet paper. It was in the Eighties.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[RiggerLee 63]

I didn't follow him at first eather. I think he was refering to the old two stow diapers as half stow.

There's also the posability of some one makeing the error of stowing those first two or three stows with both line groups and then stowing the rest of the lines in the bottom of the container. On extraction the diaper opens as it lifts before it reaches line streach eliminating any bennefit to the stageing.

Don't forget the other classic error of closeing a full stow diper from bottom to top rather then running the lines up under the diaper and stowing them from the top down. With out the lines ripping the slider open the diaper can be locked closed by the twisted bands. Black Death.

Lee

Lee
lee@velocitysportswear.com
www.velocitysportswear.com

[riggerrob 643]

Quote

Hi Rob, I have seen acidic mesh on a pilot chute in the era you were jumping at Embrun Ontario. ... It was in the Eighties.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Yes,
... and it was my pilot chute ... an Arrow from Sky Supplies ... the original manufacturer of Mirage containers.
Fortunately mine was only mildly acidic and we were able to wash out the acid and the piltochute is still airworthy.

[riggerrob 643]

LoPo = low porosity fabric.
Cloth, parachute, nylon, Ty-3, 30-50 cfm,
Specification: PIA-C-44378
Weight: 1.2 oz.
Tear/strength: 5 lb/45 lb
Indentification: ripstop nylon
Common use: Lopo reserve canopies
from FAA Parachute Rigger Handbook, 2005 written by Sandy Reid

Early sport canopies were made of low porosity fabric, similar to MIL-SPEC ripstop nylon, but calendarized (hot-rolled) to reduce porosity to 30 to 50 cubic feet per minute.
Starting in the 1960s, most sport parachute manufacturers (GQ Security, National, Pioneer, Strong, etc.) made 26 foot conical Lopo reserves.

Modern reserves are usually made of similar fabric (generic name F-111) that has been further calendarized to reduce porosity to 0 to 3 cubic feet per minute, while modern mains are made of silicone-coated fabric that has ZERO porosity.
All these steps - of reducing porosity - were made to speed inflation and soften landings.