Inspection procedure for Cazer pilot chute?

[livendive 8]

I've had the same problem two weekends in a row now, a very lengthy delay between throw and snivel that had me reaching for handles when my canopy came out of the bag. The second one I got on video, and it's a good 3-4 seconds between the first "pop" and being stood upright (into 7ish line twists that I was lucky to get out of). I'd like to determine whether it's a gear issue or a packing error. I did notice that, when pulling from the base up through the mesh to the zero-p fabric, one side seems to hang a bit lower than the other, so I guess it's possible that it's "burping" air out one side. I wouldn't think that would be sufficient for the delays I'm getting (feels like a baglock), but it does seem possible. Alternately, the same person did pack both of these, so I can try to keep an eye on the critical points for obvious errors. Anyhow, does anyone have any sort of write-up for measuring a cazer kill-line PC to ensure it's within specs?

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[DSE 3]

you might call jim directly? He's great about taking phone calls and questions.

[billbooth 10]

Remember my rule of thumb: 0.4 - 0.7 seconds between pilot chute release and line stretch. Anything slower or faster, and you have a problem.

[darkwing 4]

Where is the apex in relation to the skirt? In other words, how far down is the apex pulled? It better not be below the skirt.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[livendive 8]

Quote

Remember my rule of thumb: 0.4 - 0.7 seconds between pilot chute release and line stretch. Anything slower or faster, and you have a problem.

I absolutely agree that I have a problem, as towing a bag & pilot chute for 3-4 seconds feels more like 3-4 weeks. Now I'm trying to nail down exactly what the problem is (likely a packing error, but possibly an equipment problem).

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[jheadley 0]

Quote

Where is the apex in relation to the skirt? In other words, how far down is the apex pulled? It better not be below the skirt.

I've seen two pilot chutes where it appears it was designed with the apex slightly below the skirt. This was on a Wings and a Voodoo IIRC but I don't know if the PC's were orginal or correctly made.

What I look for is to cock the PC then hold it upside down by the bridle and look at the center and kill lines. If the Center line tapes are taught and the KL has slack, the KL is an ok length. If the KL is taught and the CL is slack, the KL is too short, meaning it's partially collapsed even when fully cocked.

[popsjumper 2]

Dave,
Here's a link to a post about this from Bill Booth. Read Post #1 from Bill at the top of the page.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=133501;search_string=pilot%20chute%20check;#133501

Hope this helps...it did for me. Mine was getting wacky and this check identified the problem and my rigger fixed it. Viola! No more problems.


Side note:
From Bill's post I went around and checked several pilot chutes and found 1 that was really bad (owner was a youngster with only a very few jumps on it and didn't realize that his openings were abnormal) and 2 that were questionable.

I also found 4 that were made incorrectly with respect to the support tapes on the mesh not being "on the bias" as Bill mentioned. None of those were Cazer, I don't think. They all were unlabeled and Cazer puts a label on his.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[fcajump 153]

Quote

I've had the same problem two weekends in a row now, a very lengthy delay between throw and snivel that had me reaching for handles when my canopy came out of the bag. The second one I got on video, and it's a good 3-4 seconds between the first "pop" and being stood upright (into 7ish line twists that I was lucky to get out of). I'd like to determine whether it's a gear issue or a packing error. I did notice that, when pulling from the base up through the mesh to the zero-p fabric, one side seems to hang a bit lower than the other, so I guess it's possible that it's "burping" air out one side. I wouldn't think that would be sufficient for the delays I'm getting (feels like a baglock), but it does seem possible. Alternately, the same person did pack both of these, so I can try to keep an eye on the critical points for obvious errors. Anyhow, does anyone have any sort of write-up for measuring a cazer kill-line PC to ensure it's within specs?

Blues,
Dave

Echo: call Jim, he was quick to help me when I did.
I had a similar problem when I first went to the Cazer ZP, but when I talked with him he recommended that I swap from the larger model. Don't remember what canopy size he used as cut-off for his smaller ZP-PC, but for my SP-230 he definately wanted me to go with his bigger ZP-PC. Changed it and never had a problem with it since.

(The Other) JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...

[BillyVance 34]

Dave,

Jim Cazer lives about 10 miles from me. Call him. If you need his number, I'll PM it to you. I got most of my gear through him, including his pilot chutes.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[brianfry713 0]

I just bought another Cazer P/C, there were two different ZP ones in the gear shop, one for canopies bigger than 150 and one for sizes below 150 or something like that.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative