Botellines 0 #1 March 31, 2003 Hello, i have recently gotten a new parachute. The main canopy is a PD-9 cells 190 square feet. I was told before i bought it that the main canopy had a total of 250 jumps. I don´t have any reason to doubt the guy who sold it to me, but he bought it to someone else (so it is third hand). I think that it could have more jumps than that. I had it inspected by a professional rigger and he told me it was allright. My concern is to know when the canopy starts becoming unusable and therefore risky to jump with. I have heard that a F-111 fabric canopy with 1000 jumps would most likely be in pretty bad shape. Could anyone help? Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,577 #2 March 31, 2003 Its flare will get worse and worse, and landings will get harder. It'll be gradual. If that's OK with you (i.e. it's plenty big), it'll be a long time before the fabric is too deteriorated to be safe. As in more than a thousand jumps. Consider student canopies, after all -- they used to be used until they were too ragged out, and that might easily be more than that. And F111 used to be the standard, so people would jump them a lot longer than 3-500 jumps, because they couldn't afford to replace them. A pull test, along with checks, will tell you if it's getting weak. But you'll probably get sick of it long before then. Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerry81 10 #3 March 31, 2003 Hi, I'm currently flying a borrowed Falcon 215 with well over 1000 jumps on it. It's not the most fun I could be having under canopy (and I'm so more aware of this after trying a 150 zp elliptical this weekend), but it still performs admirably. True, the landings can be hard, but I usually bring it down with front risers and this way it still generates enough lift so that touchdown is like stepping off the sidewalk. [edit]The openings I really can't complain about. I roll the nose lightly and the tail tight, make sure the slider is all the way up and it snivels beautifully. Compared to the 270 student Skymasters I started on, it's a dream. Well, that's my experience with ragged canopies, but anyway, if you really have 50 jumps (as your profile says), Wendy is right- you'll get tired of your canopy a long time before it becomes unusable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TALONSKY 0 #4 March 31, 2003 As Wendy stated long before there would be a concern about the canopy structural integrity; you will definitely start seeing some changes in flight characteristics. As F 111 starts to degrade there will be less flare, and you may start noticing a change in how the canopy will open. My first canopy was a Falcon 195 (made from F111), it had 800 jumps on it when I bought it. Since then I added 150 jumps to it then change to a different canopy. On the last 50 jumps the canopy started opening really hard, and from the start it did not have a ton of flare. Now that canopy is on a shared birdman suit and I can say it really has not much flare left of course it now has over 1000 jumps on it. Kirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Botellines 0 #5 April 2, 2003 Thank you all for the info.!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #6 April 4, 2003 I've got an older Falcon that seems to have plenty of life in it. It has over a 1,000 jumps on it. It still lands okay, but it is fairly big for my weight. I use it for a backup rig.....Steve1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
