riggerrob

Spring-loaded pilot-chutes are not the most reliable way to deploy main canopies. If you are stable, main pilot-chutes often hesitate on your back. They fell out of fashion during the wing-wars of the late 1970s, when huge jump-suits caused huge burbles and too many pilot-chute hesitations. The solution was to develop hand-deployed pilot-chutes that are tossed off to the SIDE of the burble. HD PCs deploy far more consistently. The second round of the wing-wars now (since 2000) sees people jumping wing-suits so huge that one guy has survived landing a wing suit (without deploying a chute) ... and talk about holy huge burbles!!!!! Spring-loaded main PCs would never work consistently with large wing-suits.

Did our Jim Hooper write "Black Vortex?"

"... the manufacturer of Raven canopies ... would not ... sign off on any canopy that was about 15 years old or older ..." ............................................................................ Several other manufacturers (GQ Security and National come to mind) - of round reserves - have published 15 or 20 year service limits to encourage owners to replace canopies that suffered from acid mesh. Acid mesh was a quality control problem back during the 1980s, that grounded thousands of round reserves and pilot-chutes. Many were re-certified, but the incident convinced most skydivers to convert to square reserves. By the mid-1990s, many major parachute dealers (e.g. Square One) refused to sell round canopies.

.................................................................................. Some manufacturers publish short service lives to limit their liability, while others publish short service lives as a sly way of saying that their earliest products were not nearly as good as current production. For example, Raven reserves debuted about 30 years ago, circa 1984. Back then nobody loaded mains at 1 pound per square foot, so no body was loading Raven reserves at 1 pound per square foot. I only did one jump on an early Raven 2 (215 square feet). I loaded it less than 1:1 and thought that it flew as well as its competitors. Since not all of the first-generation Raven reserves opened fast enough to satisfy FAA TSO C23C, Precision soon offered free bikini sliders to speed up openings. First-generation Ravens should have their orange warning labels marked "-B" to indicate the new slider. A few years later (late 1980s) they did a major redesign (V-tapes, new airfoil, etc.) to produce the Super Raven-D series. ... that basic design continued in production until the early 2000s. They went all the way up to the Raven Dash-M series. By then, skydivers routinely loaded ZP mains far heavier than 1:1. The Raven Dash-M developed a bad reputation after a California skydiver tore a Raven Dash-M 282 when he was over-weight (more 1:1), over-speed, and unstable when he scared his Cypres. Sometime during the free-fall, he also dis-located his right shoulder. Even though he survived, he ruined the reputation of Raven reserves. It took a second accident (in British Columbia) before local skydivers started to take seriously my sarcastic comments about "stupid, fat white men jumping tiny Ravens." After a B.C. jumper broke multiple bones, while panic-turning and stalling his tiny Raven to avoid wires, as he landed off-DZ after scaring his Cypres ... The price of second-hand Micro Ravens dived to near zero after that incident. By that time, Precision was already working on their next generation of reserves, the "R Max." I have only done one jump on an R Max 118 reserve. Even though I loaded it at the top edge of its envelope (almost 2:1), it still landed me softly. The moral of the story is that Precision would like everybody to trade in their old Ravens for newer R Max reserves, because R Maxes vastly increase your chances of walking after landing.

... just another way of phrasing: "What is the oldest chute you will repack?"

If you wear a Pro-Tec, stuff an audible in one ear, then cut out the cross-bars on the other ear. That will allow you to wear earplugs for the plane ride and freefall, but you will still be able to pull out one ear-plug after opening. That will allow you to hear what the student is saying while hanging under canopy. Hint: if you get the cheap, industrial ear-plugs - with cords - you will be able to pull-and-forget the ear-plug under canopy. The cords also make it much easier to keep track of BOTH ear-plugs.

When you meet that rigger, how are you going to interview him ... to evaluate his expertise? What is the oldest PEP you have packed? Do you like Phantoms? Can you certify a Phantom as "acid free?" Do you know how to replace broken springs in Quick Ejector Snaps? What type of closing loops do you install in Security Safety-Chutes? Can you tighten up the loose, third pin on my Para-Cushion back-type PEP? How do you prevent the pilot-chute from shifting sideways and poking me in my delicate back-side? Can you dye these faded shoulder straps to match the rest of my PEP?

I just assembled and packed a shiny, new Icon Next Gen. Quality of workmanship was first-rate. But I took me three tries to find the pocket for the packing data card. I eventually found the pocket tucked into the top of the padding that covers the horizontal back strap. Holy parts count Batman! Just the back-pad has more parts than my entire Eze-Fleyer (1980s-vintage, Canadian copy of a Wonderhog). The data card pocket starts with a piece of Type 4 webbing, then they sew on the TSO label, then they bind a plastic stiffener, then they sew the plastic stiffener to the Type 4, then they sew it to the pad ... Have wrinkled data cards become the biggest hassle for yuppy skydivers????? Since this was the first time I had packed a Skyhook into an Icon, I had to go back to the manual three times, before I figured out that photo #6 was taken from thee opposite direction from the other photos. GRRRR! You would have thought that Aerodyne would have learned from R.I.'s (mid-1980's Talon 1 manual) mistake. ................................... Sandy used to say "If you don't understand something, copy it exactly." Ha! Ha! Remind me to give the Aerodyne factory an earful, when I phone them Monday morning to order some soft links. The Icon's (Parachutes de France) Atom heritage revealed itself when I packed it. That icon was as easy to pack as any Atom, all he parts work together so well. The Smart 135 reserve just "fell" into the free-bag. And I did not notice how tight the container was until I started to close the side flaps. By the time I closed the last flap, it was a perfect fit.

***... the Icon tends to put you in a sitting position more than other harnesses. ... .............................................................................. Yes. Icons tend to have longer horizontal back straps and shorter main lift webs, which hold you in more of a sitting position.

Hee! Hee! Maybe the FAA is a few years behind the fashions. Other - more advanced nations (Canada, France and Switzerland) - certify young riggers to pack round OR square canopies. For example, the last course I taught in Switzerland included 4 skydivers who were only interested in learning how to pack square reserves into modern (1-pin) skydiving containers. OTOH the pair of glider pilots were only interested in packing rounds into PEPs. The different groups wrote different exams. The skydivers had to answer a couple of pages of questions about AADs and 3-Rings, which were not on the glider pilot's exam. Meanwhile the glider pilots had to answer a bunch of questions about round canopies, that were not on the skydivers' version of the exam. The different groups graduated with different ratings, issued by Swiss Skydive.

... work with an experienced rigger before trying this on your own. ...

... That rigger ... would be subject to severe pier ... review. ... ...................................................................................... Sounds like being beaten with a plank from a dock. Sounds painful! Ouch!

This one long-haired, dope-smoking hippy-type freak bumps into another long-haired, dope-smoking hippy-type freak ....

"... it sounds like more fabric is better. ..." ................................................................................ We only hear the truth from children and old folks.

... I would really like to know why I am not allowed to put a larger higher drag PC in my reserve. ... Lee ...................................................................................... If yo install a humungously, ginormous, over-sized reserve pilot-chute, it might create so much drag that it exceeds the ability of the safety-stow to hold the free-bag closed until line=stretch. Instead, it will jerk the free-bag off your back so quickly that you will suffer bag-strip, which will leave you still iin free-fall ... but without your free-bag and pilot-chute. The reserve canopy and lines will still be flopping about on your back. Sometime late, a side gust might push the reserve canopy off your back ... line stretch ... inflation ... etc. It is rumoured that this killed a Golden Knight about 30 years ago. That was back during the early days of square reserves. That accident motivated Para-Flite to invent Safety-stows (mid 1980s). Safety-stows are less likely to suffer bag-strip because their line stows are balanced.

Most reserve pilot chutes are made of F-111 fabric, while a few are made of ZP fabric. New F-111 fabric will pass zero to 3 cubic feet per minute of air, while new ZP fabric passes zero cfm. That makes for an insignificant difference in porosity and drag. At those porosities, the pilot chute configuration and number of needle holes make bigger differences. Porosity will only change after 40 or more pack jobs - roughly 20 years in service. By the time a pilot chute is 20 years old, many riggers will refuse to repack it.

That would induce an extra vortex every time the two pieces of trailing edge were not even. Extra vortices create extra drag, but no extra lift.

Warning! Be careful about what you post on the internet, because the Norwegian Border Guards are watching.

Mischevious .... How do you count Magnum pilot-chutes? They may have a cone of fabric and a cone of mesh .. similar sizes, but there is an extra cylinder of mesh hanging out the bottom .... because of the extra-long spring. Hee! Hee!

What size of main are you planning to buy?

***I think they should be called low or high aspect ratio canopies. ... .................................................................................. Oversimplification! Precise landing canopies are truly "low aspect ratio" with span under 2 to 1. Most 7-cells have "medium aspect ratios" of 2.2 to 1, ... while most 9-cells are "high aspect ratio" in the 2.6 to 1 range. If you want to see truly "high aspect ratios," look at para-gliders! Hah! Hah!

Glad to see that you have the after-market flat floor installed level with the door sill.

Safety whistles Propeller brakes a tilting floor for students who are slow on climb-out a clicker for AFF Instructors a jumpsuit with electronic aids to assist students in arching a puffer to blow air up students' noses to remind them to breath tow wigglers to remind students to relax a suction bag for riggers

All the lofts that re-certify Strong tandem gear are supposed to have a permeability testing machine.