May 22, 2006, 11:17 PM
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Wingsuit: Cable channel turned to glue?
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I borrowed this wingsuit from a buddy of mine and when I assembled it, the excess cable would not seat completely in the channel. Just the part that houses the excess seemed to be stuck together. In the 2nd picture, My thumb is where the end of the cable is, and I had to push really hard to get the cable that far in. In the last pict, though not very clear, is the residue from inside the channel when I pulled the cable out. It feels like gaffers tape residue if left on for a long long time.
After only seating the cable about an inch inside the channel, it was pretty tough to pull out. The glue like reside significantly increased the pull force required to extract the cable.
I'm planning to fly this suit and am building some new handles for it. I'll figure something out about this channel, but has anyone else seen this in the past? Is there an easy fix for it? I believe he said it was a GTI suit.
Having a cable with a bit of excess is nothing to worry about as a gentle tug on the top and bottom of the suit along the tab section once the suit is rigged up will remove the excess and seat it.If the cable proves to be exceptionaly long, leaving it out of the housing is acceptable.
What I do not understand is why you have a sticky residue inside the channel and on the cable. That I can tell you is not normal. I recommend you clean the cable of any residue and talk to your friend about it. At a minimum, I would not put the cable in the channel until the suit can be washed and the residue removed completely.
Hey Gus, do you have any pictures of your cutaway handles? The originals were missing so I was going to make pillows.
Yeah, the sticky stuff is weird, its like the material melted together over time. I dont think washing it will work either. I suppose I could pull the stitches and replacing that channel.
Hey Gus, do you have any pictures of your cutaway handles? The originals were missing so I was going to make pillows.
Pics attached. I don't know anything about rigging so I won't comment on the construction, best to get hold of a set and have a proper look.
Gus
Thanks gus!
I was thinking that the handles would be made out of TypeIV, but I dont know what kind of material that is. I suppose I'll just use TypeIV unless anyone can tell me why I shouldn't. I got my pillow handles all made up, they turned out ok. I wanted to put a swage on the cable, but I found it too bulky and akward to route the cable, its a pretty big spread coming out of the handle.
I dont think washing it will work either. I suppose I could pull the stitches and replacing that channel.
Why don't you think washing will work? It certainly sounds like the easiest thing to try first so no harm in giving it a go right?
When I said that the channels were stuck together, dont think like a tacky kind of stuck, its more like a rubber cement (the material has fused with itself) kinda stuck.
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