JohnSherman

Not a chance! Do you think we want hords of riggers stomping through our production facilities disturbing the workers and getting in the way. Do you think we want you to be stealing our secrets then going home and competing with us? Seriously; I suppose there will be something from some of the companies. We are not planning anything formal that I know of just come by and if we are open (normal hours, I think) someone will break loose and show you around.

We will be giving a class at the PIA Symposium on this subject. "Does Your Gliding Parachute Really Glide". We will discuss how to measure Glide Slope. How to develope a "Polar Curve"and show some data which we have taken. From a Polar Curve you can learn in what configuration your canopy glides the best.

I have a waiver for AAD's on the Tandem. I got it based upon the same arguement.

First of all I am Pro AAD, but not yet, they arn't ready. If a DZ required me to have an AAD I would ask them to sign a paper accepting all responsibility for my life due to any problems with the AAD. How can a DZ require you to equip a Certificated Reserve with a Non-Certificated device that might fowl that device?

None of which have ever been tested. Some of which won't pass any test. Some are good and some are bad. Do you know the difference? I don't!

From Page 10 of Racer Owners Manual, "What You Should Know About RSL's:http://www.jumpshack.com/download/RacerOwnersManualOctober2003.pdf "The entanglement scenario is prevented with the two pin RSL (one pin to each riser) system. However, it re-tains the “one side attached without enough drag to pull the pin” problem". The base reason for a x-conn is drag integrity not differential riser separation. All of the other systems fail in this parameter.

You kind of understand. Let me clarify. Certainly, if you want to disable it unhook one side, either side. But if you wanted to make it a single-sided system you would hook both sides to one riser. Probably the left one as it is most likely to leave last. Thanks for the FireBolt plug. Designing it some 10 years ago was one of the most intense times in my life. People do seem to like it and that makes me grin.

I am not sure what a Collins Lanyard is. Every time I talk to Booth he defines it differently. All I know is that it is part of an RSL system, which doesn't work when experiencing a bag lock and you are on you back. See: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4155226;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread I am sure that it is not a cross connector and that the “maled” main will loose necessary drag with an asymmetrical cutaway. I will be happy to compare Safety records. The Racer Tandem has over 5 Million jumps on it in the last 20 years and we have had one mis-rigged tandem and one RSL sport incident where the manual was not followed. There have been several other incidents where it was mis-used but without tragic results. A total of 4 of 5 total user errors out of 5 million jumps. No system failures!

She did have an incident with a Belly band. She was jumping "Gutter gear" for Style at the Nationals. An APT3 main container and a Chest reserve. The belly band from the chest reserve pulled on the base of the main container causing the bottom grommets of the 3 pin main to lock on the cone. She had a total, I packed her reserve so she could make the next load. She never checked to identify the cause of the first total nor repacked her main and she had the same thing on the next jump. I had to pack her reserve again. This was Jennie or as it said on the back of her jacket: "Jeannie McCombs; Lady Parachutist You Bastards"

I hope your Coach explained to you how to get out of a flat spin. Apparently Felix's coach did not either. This seems to be a forgotten skill. To exit a flat spin go into a track. It only takes a second it that position until you stop spinning then you can go back to you previously unstable position and re-enter the spin or you can correct you body position before the spin begins. Some folks who have had leg or ankle or even arm injuries have a kinesthetic issue with symmetry. This is where a good coach is invaluable. They can point out the asymmetry and show you how to correct it.

Thanks Jerry, I don't have any toughts other than "if it ain't broke don't fix it". I am trying to learn how it is broke. John

Why?

Does it do a 304 stitch or a 308? I couldn't find that info anywhere.

The Tandem is the same as the Sport rigs. See:http://www.jumpshack.com/download/RacerOwnersManualOctober2003.pdf On page 9 you will find: The cross connector/reserve lanyard may be optionally assembled to a single riser. This assembly method is preferred by some operators as it eliminates the cross connector feature. However, this method does make the system sensitive to the connected side. If the connected side of the main releases first a main reserve entanglement could occur, as with other systems.

Soft handles may not be Certificated (TSO'ed) on all rigs. You could be violating the Certification and rendering you rig illegal.

Sorry about that "retractable release". It was a third party design which wasn't properly vetted. It turned out to be not manufacturable. We took it off the market. This was during a time when I was inactive. Some times seemingly good ideas just don't work out. I'll bet that rig is still providing good service.

We were introduced to 3M Dual Lock about 35 years ago when I worked for Chrysler. We used it to hold on door trim panels. To stiff for toggles or to sew. Glue on mostly. We tried to find an application in parachuting for it but no luck.

No hole. The snap is attached via an appliqued tab like Deyan says. This tab keeps the release pull direction to straight down.

I can't agree with that Wendy. The stows are the same length in both cases. The Bight of the stow is longer (25% of bag width). If people are making shorter stows on the bags with the hesitator loop moved inboard they are defeating the system. Stows should be width of the bag no mater where the rubber bands are located. With the inboard stows the mass of the stows is balanced limiting line dump. See:http://www.jumpshack.com/default.asp?CategoryID=TECH&PageID=NEWSTOW&SortBy=DATE_D and http://www.jumpshack.com/default.asp?CategoryID=TECH&PageID=Speedbag&SortBy=DATE_D

So is everybody. Rubber bands are used for a reason. Each release causes an acceleration of the mass. Each acceleration is a step toward full acceleration. Without these steps openings will be more sudden. Additionally, rubber bands keep the lines orderly, miniminize their entanglement potential. Good luck on reinventing the wheel. Remember you must fully understand the original design before you can change it. We made several thousand jumps with no bag, pilot chute or rubberbands. We just coiled the lines in the tray and pulled the canopy out by the bridle attachment with a pull-out handle. It can be done but there are complications. Remember, It must work the same way every time. Reliability of function is paramount. We did rubber band the slider up to the "B" line attachment.

Kinda - Sort of. Yes, it does. More importantly it applies big brakes by pulling down the tail which prevents the canopy from surging forward. When the Strato Star first came out it had ropes and rings reefing. This was a system where the outside edge had rings attached with a draw string running through it which was attached to the pilot chute. The pilot chute drag worked the draw string like a pack of tobaco. This system did not require brakes as the draw string held the tail down. We renamed the brakes to "Surge Inhibitors" and continued to use them as we were doing 10 way and we wanted to open without surging into each other. When I designed the Firebolt we found that because of the unique planform we had "end cell closure " on the center cells even with brakes set. We then tried to brake the center cells. It worked but the opening were to prompt with that configuration. We found a better solution with the double brake lines which you see today. BTW: Just because you set the brakes doesn't mean they didn't fail. There are toggles out there which will self release from the inertia of lifting the risers out of the pack.

If your hardware is an MS22040 friction adapter and your webbing has a yellow trace along the edge then they are incompatable and will slip no matter what you do. The yellow trace webbing is Mil W-4088 Type VII has been studied, by Bordoin Forge, for slippage, in hardware used on personel harnesses. They all slipped. This is the reason the military requires, and some manufactuers use, Mil W-4088 Type XIII harness webbing, which has a black trace along each edge. It was designed speciffically for use with the hardware used on personel harnesses (a hold over from cotton harnesses) and doesn't slip.

Over stuffed reserve containers have led to bag extraction problems and slow or no reserve deployment. Unless you know some secrets about the reserve pilot chute I would limit the extraction force to 18 pounds. That is the maximinum drag/lift available 1 second after a cutaway and there are several pilot chutes which will not provide even that much drag/lift leading to a slow reserve deplotment.

No big deal. That is if you maintain pin tension and provide adequate bag tension such that if the container comes open while walking to the plane the bag doesn't fall out. This is necessary to provide staging for deployment. The bag cannot be extracted until you have positive pilot chute drag. It's a nasty sight to look over your shoulder and see you bag above your pilot chute.

Mark, What I may have or have not said on another thread is not germain to the question of this thread. The question is: If you don't clear the inside of the canopy will you get burns. I said, I have never seen such damage. If you have photos of such please post them so we may be enlightened. In as much as the photo you did post was damage to a a center tail seam. It is apparant that it was probably done by an inside line, as you say. However, the line didn't jump out and burn a spot on the perimeter. The cloth was improperly placed while clearing the permiter. That has nothing to do with clearing or aranging the inside lines and material. BTW: I would appreicate it, if in the future, when you quote me, you provide accurate source information each time you make a quote. I am getting older but the phrase "accidentally pre-packed malfunction" is not familure to me.