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Main Riser Covers Not Opening

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I met a girl who told me she bought a new rig, (a Vector 3) and on her first jump the riser covers did not open, so she was at an awkward angle, and did not cutaway as the canopy was open and she was able (just) to steer it.

She thought it may have been a packing error, or that the fabric bing so new , simply offered too much resistance and therefore did not have enough energy to make the riser covers release. Either way it spooked her, and though she continued to jump with the rig, said that changed it as a result shortly thereafter.

I have just ordered a new Vector 3 and love them, so this I think was a packing error.

Either way out of gereral curiosity, I wondered if that happened to anyone on any rig, would it not make a cutaway redundant as, the main risers are effectively held in place by the downward pressure of the covers. ( I hope that makes sense.)

Also I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this scenario, and if so what was your course of action.

I had never heard of this before, and just got into a wondering state of mind.



[I've drunk nine beers, eight tequila slammers and half a quart of Jack Daniels, plus you'll notice I can't stand up, and you ask me if I've been drinking officer... of course I've been drinking, "]

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>would it not make a cutaway redundant as, the main risers are
>effectively held in place by the downward pressure of the covers.

Depends on the design. If the small ring is covered by the flap, and it's exerting a lot of pressure on the small ring, it may not release. However, if the small ring _is_ clear, it is very likely to clear the riser cover when you cut away.

>Also I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this scenario,
>and if so what was your course of action.

Yeah, on the first Reflexes, sometimes the main riser covers wouldn't release when the rig was brand new. After they got "broken in" they were fine. The only real problem we saw was when one would release and one wouldn't; you'd have to hold some brake to keep the canopy going straight. On heavily loaded canopies (say around 2:1) that alone could cause a mal.

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I don't know about the Vector 3, but on my wings i can pack a mal like that. If i were to pack the main riser under the tab the seperates the main and reserve risers, it effectively locks the riser covers in place. I guess thats why the flap has a lable on it that says to make sure that the risers go on top. Does anyone know if the vector has the same warning label?
-Fish


Blue skies, Soft landings

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Perhaps you could contack Rel Wkshp with your concerns - hell BillB is in the forums, maybe you can just PM him. Had BillV not chimed in about the Reflex I would think it highly unlikely that this occoured in the first place.

The Vector system is a well engineered container, hell there are many well engineered containers on the market these days and it is difficult for me to imagine that flap staying closed throughout the forces applied during the opening.

Curious to learn more.
Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

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I've seen the same thing occurr on a couple of Vector 3's. At least once was packing error, and the other was a mall that was cleared by reaching over a shoulder and tugging the flap open. Both were new rigs.

I personaly have had it happen twice on Sigma Tandem rigs with light weight students that were brand new, packed correctly, and happened to be pretty early serial numbers. Both were cleared by reaching over the shoulder and poping the cover free.
----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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I too have had this happen to me on my Wings container. Pretty scary when you have less than 30 jumps - the canopy actually opened out in front of me and I ended up in a belly-to-earth position. I was able to fix it by pulling on the risers. I don't know what made me decide to try that - it just seemed logical.

I wasn't always packing for myself, but I noticed that it always happened when I had someone pack for me. It was always easy to fix, and now when someone else packs for me, I always lift the riser covers to check the risers aren't tucked underneath anything - not everyone sees the warning label.

It's startling when it happens but it's never been a major problem.

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I don't know about the Vector 3, but on my wings i can pack a mal like that. If i were to pack the main riser under the tab the seperates the main and reserve risers, it effectively locks the riser covers in place. I guess thats why the flap has a lable on it that says to make sure that the risers go on top. Does anyone know if the vector has the same warning label?



Kelly F. confirmed for me that the Infinity has no problem with the main risers under both flaps (I have always used it that way). I asked after seeing the warning label on the wings.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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I met a girl who told me she bought a new rig, (a Vector 3) and on her first jump the riser covers did not open, so she was at an awkward angle, and did not cutaway as the canopy was open and she was able (just) to steer it.

She thought it may have been a packing error, or that the fabric bing so new , simply offered too much resistance and therefore did not have enough energy to make the riser covers release. Either way it spooked her, and though she continued to jump with the rig, said that changed it as a result shortly thereafter.

I have just ordered a new Vector 3 and love them, so this I think was a packing error.

Either way out of gereral curiosity, I wondered if that happened to anyone on any rig, would it not make a cutaway redundant as, the main risers are effectively held in place by the downward pressure of the covers. ( I hope that makes sense.)

Also I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this scenario, and if so what was your course of action.

I had never heard of this before, and just got into a wondering state of mind.



I would be slightly concerned about pulling the cutaway in this situation. Might be that the main would not leave cleanly (or at all until very low). I am thinking that a fully deployed and flying canopy is to be worked with... seems like most replies address the correct approach, that of pulling at the offending covers.

The Vector 3's I have seen all have the notice concerning riser/flap order.

Blue ones,
Jim
Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

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i saw that same thing happen on vector 3 after incorrect closing of riser covers. Riser was under both flaps.



Happened to a belgian skydiver in Spain. Packing error by the packer. The packer had put it under the flaps of his reserverisers. There was no label on these flaps on his older vector 3.
It caused a spinning main (uneven risers, only one was trapped). I think (but I am not sure) that he did a cutaway but that the riser was stuck under the flap and that he had to grab the riser before it cleared.
I 'll ask him. It happened a few months ago.

Jurgen

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This happened to me with a brand new Vector 3. I didn't have many jumps on it yet and the main risers were stowed under the middle flap by mistake.

My rig has a warning label that instructs that the main risers be stowed above the middle flap. I know someone else with an older V3 that doesn't have the warning label, but says that the manual that came with it warns to stow the main risers above the middle flap for the first 50 jumps on the rig.

I guess somewhere between his rig and newer ones RWS decided that it was never a good idea to stow the main risers under the middle flap...

In my case, I cut away without knowng what the problem was exactly. My head was pinned down and I thought the risers were twisted behind my head. When I talked to the friend that packed my rig for me that day and my rigger later I realized that the flaps had been stuck.

I guess that the sudden change of angle on the risers after the cutaway allowed the riser covers to open and the risers to clear.

It seems that making a mistake stowing the risers on a new V3 isn't so brilliant an idea. :$
Owned by Remi #?

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I witnessed exact same thing, but the new jumper decided to land the weird config by correcting the spin wioth opposite input all the way to landing.......When I inspected the rig the riser was caught under the flap with the warning label...NOTE the warning label is not on both so a quick pack job by a packer or someone not paying attention, could cause this malfunction.......be carefull ...

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Kelly F. confirmed for me that the Infinity has no problem with the main risers under both flaps (I have always used it that way). I asked after seeing the warning label on the wings.



I have experienced very off heading openings with my Katana in my Infinity when I put the risers under both flaps. This problem was resolved by stowing them on top of the one set of flaps (as you would with a Wings etc).

What is VSE's actual recommendation on this as the manual does not seem to address it?
"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

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Kelly F. confirmed for me that the Infinity has no problem with the main risers under both flaps (I have always used it that way). I asked after seeing the warning label on the wings.



I have experienced very off heading openings with my Katana in my Infinity when I put the risers under both flaps. This problem was resolved by stowing them on top of the one set of flaps (as you would with a Wings etc).

What is VSE's actual recommendation on this as the manual does not seem to address it?



As I said, I talked to Kelly about it. He is VSE.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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It caused a spinning main (uneven risers, only one was trapped). I think (but I am not sure) that he did a cutaway but that the riser was stuck under the flap and that he had to grab the riser before it cleared.
I 'll ask him. It happened a few months ago.

Jurgen


Happened to a lady friend of mine with a brand new Javelin, same error: packed under reserve risers, even though there is a warning label.
The two covers remained in place, she was in an awkward position, she cut away, but everything stayed in B|place. By chance she landed that way (she wasn't very heavy.
They were able to reproduce the incident on the ground. scary.....

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It caused a spinning main (uneven risers, only one was trapped). I think (but I am not sure) that he did a cutaway but that the riser was stuck under the flap and that he had to grab the riser before it cleared.
I 'll ask him. It happened a few months ago.

Jurgen


Happened to a lady friend of mine with a brand new Javelin, same error: packed under reserve risers, even though there is a warning label.
The two covers remained in place, she was in an awkward position, she cut away, but everything stayed in B|place. By chance she landed that way (she wasn't very heavy.
They were able to reproduce the incident on the ground. scary.....



Had a packer place my main risers under the reserve riser flaps on my javelin. Upon opening my head was pinned down and at first thought I had riser twists, but I could tell with my hands the riser weren't twisted and brakes were still set. At first I thought about cutting away but I had altitude and I could tell canopy was flying straight and probably ok.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw how the risers were stuck and gave each a tug with my hand and they became unstuck. Landed short of the dz in a farm field.

Scary thought about cutting away and three rings not releaseing. Riding main down and wondering if at 100' the rings might release.

Why did she not pull the reserve after cutaway?

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