JerryBaumchen

Hi Shane, I do not know what a Broadcast Engineer is; I am a Mechanical Engineer. At two jumps I would not expect that you know. The RAX System ( just like the SkyHook ) is a system to pull the reserve canopy out of its container and free bag when cutting away from a malfunctioned main canopy. This is best shown in the video with the clip that was filmed from directly behind the jumper; the clip where the jumper is waving his right hand up and down. If upon viewing this clip and not still understanding what the system does, then I would suggest that you sit down with your skydiving instructor(s) and see if he/she can give you a further explanation. At one point in my life I also had only two jumps but gear was MUCH simpler in those days. I hope that this helps a little, JerryBaumchen

Hi Kelly, Thanks for stepping & carrying some of the load. I am starting to get a little tired. JerryBaumchen

Hi Half, Please do not take my response as being derogatory towards you. The Collins Lanyard ( and Bill Booth is the very best person to explain it ) functions when you have your RSL-side riser break or disconnect. At that point it pulls the cable holding the non-RSL-side riser onto your harness. The Collins Lanyard, and of itself, will not cutaway your main canopy. That is what your 3-ring handle is for. You are not alone in not completely understanding this. Parachute gear is increasingly becoming very complex ( sub-systems after sub-systems ) and one must carefully read the manuals to understand their gear. And merely reading the manuals may not be sufficient. End of rant! JerryBaumchen

Hi Jan, I simply do not understand this sentence. To ensure that one's main is completely cutaway is to pull your 3-ring release handle. The RAX System ( like the SkyHook ) is a connection between the RSL and the reserve bridle line. Good catch; it took me a long time to actually see that. As regards the pilot chute pulling tension, at this point everything ( main, risers, reserve pilot chute, etc ) is gone so it is insignificant if the reserve pilot chute inflates or not. The RAX System, at the connection of the RSL/bridle line did not disconnect. The only time that the RSL/bridle connection disconnected was during a 'normal' main canopy cutaway and the 'garbage' was flailing and drifting in the wind which resulted in the RSL/bridle connection disconnecting. But at that point, so what? The connection is at 5 ft ( 1500 mm ) from the top of the reserve bridle line. I stole that distance from Bill Booth. I understand & that is not the purpose of the video. Hopefully it will all make sense when you have the mockup and the instructions in your hands. Have I answered your questions? JerryBaumchen PS) I need to get busy & makeup some more mockups; this posting is generating a lot of emails.

Hi hackish, Why? As I have posted in the past, at the PIA/Reno '07 Bill Booth informed me that he had not submitted the SkyHook to the FAA as a Minor Change. He told me why and I accept his position. A few days later, in a conversation with Derek Thomas of Sunpath, I concluded that they also did not submit their SkyHook to the FAA. Again, I accept their position. Now, given that, I see no reason why any rig cannot have any MARD-type of device installed and never advise the FAA of the installation. Other people may disagree with how I feel on this matter. JerryBaumchen PS) Michael, this FAA-TSO discussion, IMO, has little to do with the video of the RAX testing. If you would like to continue to discuss this why contact me via personal email and I will spend as much time as you would like discussing it?

Hi g2g, Did you get the reward money? JerryBaumchen

Hi bigway, Let me nit-pick a little. The way you have framed this poll you should be asking 'What is your favorite container?' IMO, a 'dream container' poll should ask which features, considering all features on all containers out there, would you like to see in your Dream Container? Now, given that, what features would anyones dream container have? Mix & match features is what it is all about. JerryBaumchen

Hi Jan, Unless I am mistaken, every student rig has this situation. I do not know of any system that will cutaway the RSL riser in that situation. Now, just because I do not know of one does not mean that one does not exist. I did; my son is a lawyer ( don't ask me about what it really costs me for his advice; ever price law school? ). As he says, nothing is absolute. I just want to put some distance between the plaintiffs and myself. Maybe one day I'll learn never to volunteer anything. I volunteered once at 19 and ended up in uniform for four years. When Andre ( above ) gets the mockup that I sent him back to me, it will be on its way to you. It really all depends on those folks in the Canadian mail system. JerryBaumchen

Hi Andre, Please do not blame me for the Canadian mail system. Personally & professionally, I think your other comments on dead-on. JerryBaumchen

Hi Ion, None as of this writing. JerryBaumchen

Hi hackish, So you were the 'Michael' giving me all of the crapola. I did not put your actual name with your 'handle' here on this site. Had I done so my responses to you would have been different. Folks, tell me about it. Obviously, I agree. Michael, I ( obviously ) disagree. Let's accept that I am biased, OK? However, when I try to look at both systems objectively I do consider the RAX System to be substantially simpler. I said that I was biased. You may get the chance sooner than you think. JerryBaumchen

Hi Blink, Kelly Farrington came up with the original concept. I then took it & 'ran with it' so to speak. I have done the development work to get it to where it is today. The ultimate manufacturer(s) will be any rig maker who wants to install it on their rigs. Does this answer your question? JerryBaumchen

Hi Jan, You, the jumper, are in a bad situation. Given a perfect world Parachute Patents, Inc. would license the Collins Lanyard as a seperate license; they have chosen to license it only with the SkyHook. In reality, your situation would not be good but would the situation result in the reserve opening along side of the 1/2 of the main canopy that would still be connected: I do not know. I do know that if you are currently jumping a 'normal' RSL ( no SkyHook or RAX System or any of the others that are being developed ) then there is still the possibility of the reserve entangling with the 1/2 of the main canopy that is still disconnected. This does not seem to be of concern to anyone. (You may remember that this was a problem with the Skyhook early on.) What happens if the main opens and then the reserve opens (by an AAD fire) and the bag of the reserve starts to fall downwards (as opposed to opening)? (aka will the system cutaway the RSL riser in this situation?) What happens in two out situations? stack, side by side or downplane? 1. will the system cut away the RSL riser without jumper input 2. if the jumper decides to cutaway the main, what happens to the system (are there lanyards sent flying to half hitch the reserve)? What happens in a main canopy entanglement or horseshoe? (This scenario was never tested on the skyhook because it is too dangerous.) *** Yes, it can be a very dangerous scenario. Kelly & I have come up with a couple of ways to test this; one using two AFF-type jumpers along with the test jumper & two using my drop test dummy with two AFF-type jumpers along for the testing. I will not be doing any additional testing on the system because of the weather situation here in the Pacific NW. At least not in the forseeable future. Also, my position is that each mfr who wishes to install this system on their gear will do the testing that they are comfortable with. Once any mfr installs the system on their rigs I consider it to be their system; not mine. I am not licensing this system & I am not charging any $$$ for it. I feel that if I were to license it then I could possibly put myself in financial jeopardy; I prefer to not do that. Also, I would probably have to setup some type of seperate company to license it and at this point in life I just choose to not do that ( I'm a pretty old guy & not getting any younger ). I hope that this answers your questions. If not, contact me and I will give it another go. JerryBaumchen PS) My personal email is in my profile. Contact me and I will send you a mockup to look over. I only ask that you return it to me within about two weeks. NOTE: I will NOT send mockups to every Tom, Dick and/or Jane who wants one. I will choose who I send them to.

Hi g2g, Oh, goody; the very first response is from someone who was present during my goofy mistake. Re: The RAX System did not fail. It was a 'failure' of the main riser/RSL connection. We were just finishing up re-assemblying the system from a previous test jump and we were getting 'hurried' by the DZ management to make the load. The test jumper ( an old friend of over 35 yrs now ) reacted back to his early training days on gutter-gear & launched the belly-mounted reserve. Had he thought of it he could have easily just pulled the 'reserve' ripcord and landed under the back-mounted ram-air canopy. Lesson #1) Do not hurry when you are involved in test jumping ( don't hurry no matter what, really ). Lesson #2) When you are also developing a 'new' main riser/RSL connection do not try to assemble it while looking at it upside down. I hope that this clears this up for you. JerryBaumchen PS) This very same situation occured during Aerodyne's testing of the SkyHook; a main riser/RSL disconnect problem.

This is a demo video that I have made that shows some of the testing that I have performed with the RAX System. This not all of the testing that I have completed. I developed this system for mfrs to use should they so choose to do so. I am willing to answer 'some' questions but I reserve the right to not answer 'some' questions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqxjHOSKTT0 JerryBaumchen

Hi Gary, I don't know about that 'knowledge of the history' you speak of but as an engineer we were always taught to use 'worst case' situations. Therefore, the worst case ( weightwise ) would be if he had to make an emergency bailout, then the reserve would have to support everything that he was wearing. Just my thoughts . . . JerryBaumchen

Hi Terry, I try to keep up with this ongoing battle but will never say that I know it all. So how can AirTec stop it? Just asking, not arguing. JerryBaumchen PS) It is my understanding the FAA only says something regarding the maintenance of the unit(s).

Hi Rob, OK, I'll take a shot: Waiting for the AAD to fire? JerryBaumchen

Hi lucky, A couple lifetimes ago I made some shorty sleeves for PC's. No, do not ask me to do it now. I would suggest that you merely flake & fold the canopy and then take some measurements. Anything within a 1/2" is real close. Have fun, JerryBaumchen

Hi pat, Is that main container some type of homemade item? I don't recognize it as being one of the mainstream rigs. Especially with only the one elastic. JerryBaumchen

Thanks, Prof: Is not ignorance a wonderful thing: PRICELESS JerryBaumchen

Hi Andy, So is Russian Roulette until 'OOOOPS.' JerryBaumchen

+1 JerryBaumchen

Hi hackish, It's not just the chemical guys. ASTRA Corp will not even sell you grommets if you tell them that they will be used in parachutes. They will not sell anything to you if they know that the products will be used in parachutes. I have talked to them at length about this and it is all about liability exposure. I would not be surprised to see this trend spread among many raw material suppliers. JerryBaumchen

Hi Woody, Then there was my old pal Rich Johnston (D-134) who put two MA-1's in his CrossBow reserve container. I had heard that he had done this and I told him that I did not think it was possible. He pulled the ripcord and out they both popped. A very tight packjob, JerryBaumchen