Aerodyne riser cable housing slipped out!

[ernokaikkonen 0]

I bought a brand new set of Aerodyne Miniforce risers a couple of months ago, but didn't get a chance to install them until now. I was inspecting the risers when the bendix housing slipped out! All I had to do was apply a small amount of force(less than, say, a descending slider would!) on the top end of the housing, and the bottom end of the housing just came out of the pocket.

The only thing holding the bendix housing inside the pocket was three wraps of "Super tack", sewn through the riser and the pocket, and around the groove at the end of the housing(see left picture in the attachment). It looks like the tacking just wasn't tight enough.

Also, there was nothing to keep the housing from slipping upwards.

I'm probably going to have the risers modified to resemble other brands of "armored risers", with diagonal stitching keeping the housing inside the pocket(see right picture in attachment).

I've notified Aerodyne of this.

[PhreeZone 14]

Companies need to start building their inserts like VSE does. They have an AMP fitting right on the end of the housing that gets pressed right into the grommet in the riser. There is no way for it to slip that way. Totally bombproof.

Aubery, you were looking for input... there is some

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[GravityGirl 0]

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I've notified Aerodyne of this.

Good job. That is exactly what you should have done.

If they haven't already fixed the problem, I'm sure they will now.

This kind of thing comes up with all manufacturers more often than some people expect.

There are three lines of defense.
-Final inspection at the manufacturer
-Inspection by your Dealer/Rigger
-Your own inspection

Looks like you caught yours on #3.

I encourage people to become insanely curious about their gear. Know how it works. Inspect the various methods of construction and assembly. And ask, ask, ask. If you don't know how something works or why it is the way it is, find an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[mjosparky 3]

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I encourage people to become insanely curious about their gear. Know how it works. Inspect the various methods of construction and assembly. And ask, ask, ask. If you don't know how something works or why it is the way it is, find an answer.

Good advise for all skydivers regardless of experience.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[ernokaikkonen 0]

I managed to get hold of a digital camera, so here's a picture of one of my risers.

[flyana3 0]

yep. i've seen this happen on mirage hard housings also. get yourself some infinity (vse) risers. infinity has the only risers that are tacked down and therefore they will not have this "slippidge" problem. while you're at it get an infinity rig to go with the risers. best rigs out there.

NO aggiedave, i am not sponsored. i pay for my gear. i just love it that much. i just feel that safe in my infinity.

(hey kelly, can i have a rig?)

[RMURRAY 1]

Jumpshack has tested their risers (and red cable) and say they do not need hard housings - avoids the potential problem all together. I have never cut away from severe linetwists so cannot comment on how they work.

rm

[billbooth 10]

Just like everything else, there is a right way, and many, many wrong ways to install riser housings. Infinity's method is good...so is Relative Workshop's. Some others I have seen are not. Improperly installed risers housings can kill you if they prevent you from cutting away. They are worse than no housing at all.

1. The housings should not be able to move downward toward the riser closing loop. The housing could interfere with the 3-ring.

2. The lower housing ending must be visible, and the channel around it tight, so that you cannot accidentally insert the cutaway cable in between the housing and the channel. This is a very hard, or no cutaway situation, even without riser twists.

3. The upper end of the housing must be capped, so that excess cutaway cable cannot stick out. With twisted risers, this would be a no cutaway situation.

[aubsmell 0]

Erno,

Thanks for notifying us... we have changed this in design a few months ago. I am out of the office but I'll post a picture of the way the risers are being manufactured now. (basically a full wrap around the end with a slit, and super tack) So even if the tack loosens the hard housing won't slip. We addressed this a couple of months ago.

For your risers, I would suggest re-tacking them tightly following the threading of the cable housing at both the top and bottom.

Happy new year....

"Those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it"

[FrancoR 0]

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I bought a brand new set of Aerodyne Miniforce risers a couple of months ago, but didn't get a chance to install them until now. I was inspecting the risers when the bendix housing slipped out!

Mine slipped in.

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[diablopilot 2]

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Jumpshack has tested their risers (and red cable) and say they do not need hard housings - avoids the potential problem all together.

I'd disagree with that.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[Hooknswoop 19]

From the risers I have seen, only RWS and VSE do riser inserts correctly.

They need to metal. The argument of "What if I slam my rig in the door of my ca and the housings pinch the cables?" is a joke. First, if you slam your rig in your car, you are an idiot. If you manage to do that and don't inspect/get your gear inspected afterwards, you really are an idiot.

They need to be capped. This prevents the excess from sticking up past the housings and, more importantly, prevents the insert from sliding ot of the housing and through the white locking loop of the 3-ring if whatever is holding the inserts in place fails.

If you do not have inserts, get them. If your inserts are not metal, capped, and secure like VSE's or tacked tightly in place like RWS's, get them fixed. Proper inserts can save your life, improper inserts can kill you.

Derek

[skygod7777 0]

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First, if you slam your rig in your car, you are an idiot. If you manage to do that and don't inspect/get your gear inspected afterwards, you really are an idiot.

nice, straight to the point.


but you are right


and like you said, riser inserts need to be capped and tacked, if not your asking for trouble really.


later

[faulknerwn 36]

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Jumpshack has tested their risers (and red cable) and say they do not need hard housings - avoids the potential problem all together.

I'd disagree with that.

You would be surprised at the difference though. I think I'm at 16 cutaways now or something like that - 12 or so with red teflon cable and 4 or so on yellow. Its a night and day difference between the two. Probably 50-75% of the cutaways involved twisted risers of some sort (either CRW wraps or spinninng ellipticals) and the only 2 that were difficult chops were on yellow. I remember how shocked I was the first time I cut away with the teflon cables - it was very noticably easier...

W

[3ringheathen 0]

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This kind of thing comes up with all manufacturers more often than some people expect.

There are three lines of defense.
-Final inspection at the manufacturer
-Inspection by your Dealer/Rigger
-Your own inspection

Looks like you caught yours on #3.

I encourage people to become insanely curious about their gear. Know how it works. Inspect the various methods of construction and assembly. And ask, ask, ask. If you don't know how something works or why it is the way it is, find an answer.

Amen.
I've seen and heard of some pretty crazy mistakes from all sorts of manufacturers.

Missing stitching on everything from harnesses, to toggles, to canopy line attachment points.
A canopy without crossports.
Correctly made, but mis-assembled parts, and so on.

They make mistakes just like the rest of us.
It's pretty rare, but it happens.

Know your gear. Inspect your gear. Ask questions.
-Josh

If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

[crazydiver 0]

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The argument of "What if I slam my rig in the door of my ca and the housings pinch the cables?" is a joke. First, if you slam your rig in your car, you are an idiot. If you manage to do that and don't inspect/get your gear inspected afterwards, you really are an idiot.

No kidding. The same argument could be applied to complete cutaway and reserve cable housings. "What if the housing gets smashed by a weight." Well, I guess the only solution would be to use soft housings like some rigs still have. But time and injuries/fatalities have proven that soft housings are not good for many reasons. There is an if and when situation for pretty much every part of every piece of gear we have in this sport. Its the "best" option that we should chose. What "if" my main parachute malfunctions?...well...reserves have malfunctioned too so we better not rely on those...

Cheers,
Travis

[billbooth 10]

Very simple advice: Take the time to learn how your gear works, and inspect it before every jump. Someday it will save your life.

I am always amazed that SCUBA divers spend much more time inspecting their gear than most skydivers do...and total equipment failure in SCUBA usually is not a problem.

[mjosparky 3]

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Very simple advice: Take the time to learn how your gear works, and inspect it before every jump. Someday it will save your life.

I am always amazed that SCUBA divers spend much more time inspecting their gear than most skydivers do...and total equipment failure in SCUBA usually is not a problem.

Bill,

Great advice. The problem I see is skydivers not taking the time learn enough to inspect their gear.

SCUBA divers and skydiver have a lot in common. When they run out of air they are in big trouble.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[billbooth 10]

Good point!

[davelepka 4]

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SCUBA divers and skydiver have a lot in common. When they run out of air they are in big trouble.

At least the SCUBA guys have a buddy.

[kelpdiver 2]

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SCUBA divers and skydiver have a lot in common. When they run out of air they are in big trouble.

At least the SCUBA guys have a buddy.

Don't assume that. I've written down "Han Solo" a couple hundred times in my log book. And there are millions of SOBs (Same Ocean Buddies) who think the only purpose of the buddy system is to save their own ass.

While Bill may have lots of contact with the Florida tech diver society, most divers are much worse about gear concerns than they should be, and probably much worse than the typical skydiver. Regulators tend to get a yearly overhaul, but BCs may never be fixed until the inflator system sticks.

[nate_1979 9]

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SCUBA divers and skydiver have a lot in common. When they run out of air they are in big trouble.

At least the SCUBA guys have a buddy.

Yea, about that..... Now if only I could keep my buddy near me for a whole dive ALL of the time instead of MOST of the time

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[Islandcool 0]

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Very simple advice: Take the time to learn how your gear works, and inspect it before every jump. Someday it will save your life.

I'd love to learn more about my gear. Just like I'd love to learn more on just flying my canopy and such. I gotta admit I just don't make the time for it and I should. I had a rigger in San Diego named Martin. He was a great guy and great attention to detail. One of those guys that are never to busy to school you about the sport. Just before I moved I asked him if he could go over my gear with me and all the components when I had my next repack. I offered to pay him for his time. I was surpised when he said he would. He expressed there was no need to pay him and he was happy to show me. He said people don't usually ask but he was thrilled to show me. Well.. geeeez.. I really didn't expect that answer. lol I missed the opportunity because I moved. I haven't really developed a good relationship with any riggers since. I usually just drop the rig off for re-pack at the gear store and head out. Any info on any kind of formal training to get more info on my gear?

[Casurf1978 0]

Would you guys recomend this type of riser to only those who are flying highly loaded ellipitcals or if you can get them then install them. I'm asking this question since I just bought my first canopy sabre2 170 (wl of 1:1) and my rig, Talon2 made in 1997, has the hybrid hard housing. I already have the mod to make it full hard housing and might has well drop everything off so my rigger can put it all together at once.

[AggieDave 6]

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Would you guys recomend this type of riser to only those who are flying highly loaded ellipitcals or if you can get them then install them.

If you can get them, install them, if you can't get them I recommend buying new risers with them.

Even lightly loaded, you still have your bodyweight + gear suspended and twisted up it could lock your cables.

Good move getting the 1/2 and 1/2 hard/soft setup fixed as well.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."