Unstable

While I agree with 99% of your post, I see no information to support this assumption. There are many reasons a company such as Chemring would choose not to continue to supply product. If Aviacom was returning a significant number of cutters for replacement as part of a contractual agreement, then they may have decided to 'cut them off' as part of a business decision. Companies do that all the time ~ Chemring is owned by the HiShear Group, a MAJOR supplier to the big dawgs in Aerospace and Defence - so they're not going to spend time, money, or engineering hours working with a company like Aviacom. Back to my risk analysis, why WOULD a compnay like Chemring/HiShear supply to the parachuting (or really any civilian...) market? I am not playing devils advocate, and I am not standing up for Aviacom. I certainly feel they made major mistakes in the design, development, and risk management of their product. However, do not feel that we have enough information to assume that just because Chemring discontinued supplying Aviacom, it was reasonable evidence that their stock cutter is not appropriate for the application.. *Edited for punctuation and verbage. =========Shaun ==========

Back on the original subject ~ does anybody know if the Astra is still in production? I noticed that Paragear took it out of the latest catalog while leaving the FXC 1200-series units in........ =========Shaun ==========

What were the concerns with the cutter, cable and Battery box. (IIRC, doesn't it use a machined billet for a battery box?). Do you think these improvements have been made? =========Shaun ==========

Sounds like a testimant to the ASTRA to me....The unit worked (and cut through the loop!) =========Shaun ==========

Man, that's a good looking loop. Would you provide me the number of the rigger who made it?

Extremly Interesting. VERY good information. I'll put on my Quality Engineering Hat, and lets look at the Quality Management System Aviacom maintained ~ 1. Prior to 2007, no hardness specification was given for the cutter blade. Even without understanding reliability engineering, this should have been identified as a safety-critical quality characteristic and stated on the print. 2.Failure to provide a cause and corrective action for the reported customer complaints (failures) show a major breakdown in their quality management system. Even if Aviacom believed that some of those "failures" were due to other circumstances (poor rigging, bad loops, et cetera) a root cause analysis should have been drawn to show all contributing factors and thus provided reasonable points to effectivly manage risk. For Example ~ lets cite the Titanic. Boat Sank, lotsa people drowned. You can blame the ice berg, guy with binoculars looking out, the Captain, boat designers, whatever. I'm sure lots of factors contributed. Not all factors contribute to the same failure modes. For example, putting more lifeboats on the Titanic won't make the icebergs go away, nor will choosing a different route save more people if you still only have like 10 lifeboats. 3. Failure to Manage Risk . This goes with the example. I'm sure if they would have drawn up the risk in their product, they would have identified various cutter characteristics to control, or software parameters, et cetera. Again and again, we heard from Aviacom that their quality system was good becaue they inspected X-number of cutters from a lot, fired them, and recorded the results. The truth is you cannot inspect quality into a product. Another good example is having a critical part of your unit with only one supplier. I don't know how Cypres and Vigil do it, but if you only have one source for a critical component, you need to sit on that egg. 4. Failure to Manage suppliers Enough Said. If your own supplier is not willling to work with you, or is cutting you off because to them, your company is not managing risk at an appropriate level, that's a big red flag. A quick google search of Chemring Energetics shows both plants in the US (ND and IL) to have an AS9100 certificate, which more of less means they should know how to manage risk. I can't find any info on their UK facility, but I can only assume that they also harbor those best practices. I think Aviacom would have been a fun company to audit for their quality management system. It's sad to see them go down the tubes, I myself am going to buy a new 2-pin AAD from somewhere. I think that these findings show an incredilby unhealthy quality management system which does not inspire confidence in the overall reliability of their product. =========Shaun ==========

I'm frusterated with this for a number of reasons. First, I bought a new 2-pin argus in 2008 after seeing enough data to convince me that it was a reliable product. My container manufacturer still approves the argus, but this puts me in a situation where I have an AAD with no replacement parts, and perhaps a service center, if any will be willing to service it when it comes due. Several jumpers at our DZ are in the same boat. =========Shaun ==========

I don't think anybody can say the didn't see this coming. =========Shaun ==========

Coming down Friday, leaving Sunday. It's going to be glorious. =========Shaun ==========

Ah, My apologies for Sounding Terse, Chris. I'll be there! I'm actually moving to KC, and hoping to have a good time playing with your new toys.

Ah, so you do not allow Argus AAD's on rigs that have, after their own research, concluded not to extent the ban? =========Shaun ==========

I'd agree ~ but I find that there are too many different variations of packing data cards in use to make an efficient purchase. I learned to sign cards in a unique enough way to reduce the chances of an effective pencil pack. Mediocre solution, but it works. =========Shaun ==========

I'd just give him a free cab ride to the fire station closest to ground zero. Let those boys take care of him. =========Shaun ==========

Issa Wings! No! Issa Icon! No! It's a Seven! =========Shaun ==========

I am keeping mine in (Racer, not banned) but I have a lot of folks at the DZ with Argus units in their dresser drawers. If anything, I'm surprised Sunpath hasn't removed the ban, given the location of the cutter.... =========Shaun ==========

Yeah Man, there is good camping there. A great DZ, good 'home town' vide, and $12 jumps with 5 minutes between loads. What more could you ask for!! =========Shaun ==========

I agree that using steel balls is not the best idea, but given the price of lead shoot, and the current restrictions many places put on lead shot (hunting waterfowl) ~ it would SEEM like a logical choice to use. I actually use stainless stell ball berrings ~ they don't rust, but the principle for using them instead of lead is clear. =========Shaun ==========

+1 on just communicating. Our dropzone has quite a few younger jumpers with their Argii units taken out and sitting in their dresser drawers in little plastic baggies. =========Shaun ==========

I think the 10 days is up... Is Aviacom going to go through with this lawsuit? =========Shaun ==========

Nay. I try to keep closing a container simple. I've gotten to the point where I can estimate the force required to extract the reserve pin as I close the last flap faily accuratly. I guess I just like my method. =========Shaun ==========

Did you try this idea for a Paper Seal yet? [Damn! Did somebody beat me to this joke yet....] =========Shaun ==========

Agreed, I've been following this thing for a bit now. More of less he fell behind a payment, then started running a ponzi scheme to keep enough cash flow to stay 1 order behind. I'll be he didn't realize the shit he dug himself into before he had carried it on too long.... =========Shaun ==========

Those are words to live by... =========Shaun ==========

All 3 are okay, as long as "au naturale" is still under control.... =========Shaun ==========

Man, prayers and vibes to Japan. I'm sure OPEC will use this an an excuse to raise oil up another $1/gal. =========Shaun ==========